Clean the Bathroom....Or Carve Pumpkins???

Pumpkin Carving won out!!!

Emmalee picked out one, "just her size"

Zane playing with the pumpkin guts!

We even carved out our mini pumpkins!

Callum carved his "free-hand"--without a pattern.

Brienna with her pumpkin

Emmalee holding her pumpkin's hat

Emmalee had a blast painting her pumpkins--I helped carve her little one.  She also had fun getting paint on her belly, ears, face, & the floor.

Our pumpkin/jack-o-lantern family.  The big pumpkin is waiting for Ethan to carve it.  He wasn't feeling well last night, so he just sat & watched us (& blew his nose).  He is determined not to get sick!

Some of our Halloween decorations. 

This morning it snowed a bit, and it is very cold--about 36 degrees at 2 pm.  I love our wood fireplace!!!  I think winter is poking his nose into autumn!

Ethan's Senior Day

October 17, 2009

This was Ethan's last home football game of his high school career.

He's pointing to the referee to make sure he is on the line of scrimmage.
Here is his sack of the game--giving him #3 of the season. He has the most sacks on the team!!

And even though you can't see the ball, he is about to make a catch--with a gain of 14 yards. He doesn't play a receiver very often.

Ethan at half time when they honor the seniors & their parents.

And here we are--Rusty (holding Benjamin), Ethan & Michelle (that's me).

We won--60-25. It was a wonderful day. We had a community chili dinner after the game. I made a pot of chili & some corn bread. We had plenty of food!

I can't believe how much Ethan has improved over his football career. And even though the roster says that Ethan is 6', I think he has grown an inch or two!

I have enjoyed watching Ethan play--& hope he has an awesome game this Saturday!

Sorry it has Been so LONG.....

But I think I am finally able to get a few pictures posted.

We have had a lot of activities this month.

This is my "baby" girl looking way too grown up. She is dressed for a performance of singing & playing her flute at the Jr./Sr. High School potato-bar fundraiser earlier this month. (Zane also played, but the pictures didn't turn out--just the video). Zane plays the trumpet & both Brienna & Zane are talented musicians!
She had her friend help her with her hair--got it crimped. She looked beautiful. My camera wasn't cooperating, though. So I told her she needs to get all dressed up again soon!
I didn't get to see all of the performance because I had a scout meeting--but I did hear about 45 mintues of their performance.

Cute Emmalee getting ready for bed--she too is growing up way too quickly!

Here is Brienna at the 4-H Awards Banquet. She was in 4 activities, and earned blue ribbons. I need to get pictures on here of them with their projects now!

This was Callum's first year--I think he was involved in 8 classes/projects. He was excited & had a wonderful year.

Zane also took 8 classes/projects. He would have loved to do more, but we were gone for some of the classes.

These kids took more than 5 classes/projects.

Callum worked really hard on his cake decorating (1st year)--and received the trophy for any year of cake decorating. (I will try to post the pictures of the projects later). I love his grin!!

These are the kids that received trophies in their categories.

Saturday (the 24th of Oct.) was Ethan's last game of the season (before play-offs). But it was in West Yellowstone. I decided I really wanted to go and watch him play. I have enjoyed watching him, & it is his last year to play. So I had planned on taking Brienna with me to help watch Ben & Emmalee. Rusty & the boys were going to be deer hunting (last day of that season). So as I was loading the van, Rusty pulls up with the boys. He decided he didn't want me to drive "by myself" with the little ones. So we changed plans, & we took everyone except for Brienna--who stayed home (she wasn't feeling that good).

So this is how Emmalee entertained herself on the way home--putting her leftover stickers all over her face & hair.

Ethan actually started in the center position--he has never played that position before this week. But there were a lot of sick kids last week, & the team rule is you miss playing 1 quarter of the game for every practice you miss. Since the center & back-up center were both sick during the week, the coach "taught" Ethan how to play center--snapping the ball to the quarterback.

Ethan played 2 quarters as center--and I think he did an outstanding job--especially because he had just learned how to play that position! He blocked really well & kept the other team away from our quarterback.

Our team didn't play up to their usual potential during the first half, so in the end we lost 32-38. So we placed 2nd in our conference, even though we have a better record than W. Yellowstone. Since some of our games (including when we won against W. Yellowstone) were not "conference" games, we are in 2nd place.

So that means we will be playing Reed Point, MT in Lima, MT (about 45 minutes from us) on Saturday (Halloween). And this week has the forecast of snow & cold (highs in the upper 30's). So that will be fun!!!


Ethan was nice enough to get his picture taken with Callum & Emmalee after the game.

Coming next...........Senior day

A Little Bit of this....

A Little bit of that.....

I wanted to post some pictures that I haven't gotten to this past month.

This is the batch of cupcakes that I made from a cake mix. Big deal, you say. But this was the first time I made them WITHOUT eggs, (Callum's allergy) & I only used 1 can of pop (I used a caffeine-FREE, diet cola). I added a bag of chocolate chips, & they were soooooo yummy & moist!

Callum's birthday: Callum turned 9 on the 25th of September! I can't believe it has been 9 years! He really wanted a "real" football & a kicking tee.

And a "real" hammer to go with all of the real tools Santa gave him.

Callum has been wanting a pair of overalls for a while, & he found a pair at the DI thrift store. So we got them for him (even though they are 3 sized too small & about 3 inches too short). He loves them!

Last spring Callum asked if he had to have cake on his birthday. When he found out he could have any dessert he wanted, he asked for his favorite--pumpkin pie.

That was before we found out about his allergy to eggs--but I made the pie using egg replacement powder, & it turned out good.

Blowing out his birthday candles--I wonder what he wished for?

Benjamin--got comfy on the little couch to watch some more football. This was after Ethan's football game on Saturday. He is too cute!

Emmalee loves to pull faces at the camera.

She likes to see her hair after I do it for school--so I aways take a picture of it, then show it to her. 2 years ago, she didn't have enough hair for even little barrettes!

Typical picture of Ethan :)

Nice glasses, Benjamin! (The better to see you with!)

Benjamin wearing Ethan's football pads--I hope he doesn't grow into them very quickly!

Even though this picture was blurry, I wanted to share Emmalee's "surprised" face. The kids were wearing the "hunting" hat.

Ben's turn.

Okay, Mom--that's enough!!! No more pictures, & no more wearing this hat!!!!

Hunting...

Rusty took the boys hunting this past weekend. He finally drew out on the antelope hunt (hadn't since he was a teenager), & really wanted to go out on opening day. But he ended up having inservice/training that day. So he went last Saturday--didn't get anything.

I love Callum's 'coon hat!

And then they went Friday, October 2nd. And found this nice buck.

The boys like to go with dad--Zane will turn 12 next summer & can't wait to hunt himself!

I have never liked the wild taste of antelope, but this buck didn't run, & when Rusty cut the meat last night, it didn't stink too bad. So Rusty is going to try some of it as steak, & then make a lot of jerky & salami.