Fall Decor and a New Do

Fall is my favorite time of year. Seriously - it is leaps and bounds ahead of all the other seasons. The last few days have been cooling down and the smell in the air is changing and I just love it! Sunday night I pulled out all the Fall/Halloween decorations and the kids helped put them up.

  

 

 

 

The yellow balloon moon is courtesy of Berlin. She brought it home from a birthday party and put it there. Pretty crafty little girl!

The best part of the day was when everyone tried on Berlin's wonder-woman wig from two years ago. Ryan's new look was the best.

 

I love Fall! I Love Halloween! I love my crazy family - wigs & all!

Date night with Finn

Ryan and Berlin went to the RSL game on Saturday so Finley and I got to spend some time together. He asked to go to Menchies (our favorite place for fro-yo) and I was more than happy to oblige. I had so much fun talking to him about school, girls, his friends, and just life. 

There were 2 boys that he recognized from one of the higher grades at school. Their table was covered in tons of sample cups and they kept going in and getting more - each cup overflowing with all the flavors. Finley asked me why they were doing that. In his mind wasn't it being dishonest because they weren't buying anything? I said yes - the samples are to help you decide what flavor you want to buy, not to just score free yogurt (which is what they were doing). These boys were so proud of their resourcefulness and were gloating to the rest of us patrons outside. All I can say is that I am so glad they weren't my kids. Finley summed it up best when he asked me, "Where are their parents?" Exactly - where were their parents? Just another example of what a good kid Finley is and how aware of right and wrong he is. I loved my date-night with him. 

Afterwards we went shopping for a samurai sword for his Halloween costume. He was one happy kid after we found what we were looking for at Big Lots. Success!

Ninjas

That's the name of Berlin's soccer team this season. This time around she is playing thru Impact and so far she is loving it. She never complains about going to her weekly practice and is happy to play hard in the games. Even her soccer skills have improved so much from last season. Berlin isn't afraid to get in the mix when needed - especially when her favorite Aunt Val comes to watch her play :)

 

bowling & glow golf

We had a groupon for dinner, glow golf, and bowling at Fat Cats that needed to be used so we took the kids for a mid-week family night. First we golfed. Ryan and I realized that this was the first time we had taken the kids miniature golfing. Finn did ok, but Berlin was the stiffest golfer I have ever seen. She struggled with it and ended up hating it. She was very happy to move on to the bowling part of the evening.

 

 

They are so much fun to watch bowl. Finley has improved a ton this Summer and no longer uses the rack. He has a couple different throws that he uses to get the ball down the lane (sometimes slow, sometimes fast). He even had a couple strikes and spares. Berlin still uses the rack, but insists on doing it all herself. The poor girl can barely hold the 6 lb ball, but she wants to do it all her own - which she did.

I love family nights like this. It was so much fun to hang out together and goof around. Love my little fam!

First Day of Kindergarten - Berlin

Augh! My baby is going to Kindergarten today. Crazy crazy stuff. She has been so excited for this day to arrive. When Ryan gave Finley his Father's school blessing last week (the big kids start a week earlier than the kindergartners) Berlin wanted one too, so she got a quick one. But last night she got another one - the real deal Father's blessing and it was really nice.

Being that it was her first day of school, she got her Kinder-cone. It's a German tradition to give a "Schultute" to kids on the 1st day of their first year in school. It's usually filled with school supplies, but in Kindergarten you don't really need much in way of supplies, so she got some pencils, spiral notebook, a pencil case, a new pair of shoes, pj's, leggings, chap-stick, and a mini lego set. Lucky duck. Here she is with the Schultute that I made for her.

 

Making Silly faces ... She is one goofy kid - so glad she's mine.

She is officially a Raccoon for the next 7 years of her life.

She was so excited when she woke up that she asked me to do her hair in Gretel braids. GASP! Unheard of from the girl who loves to leave her hair down (and uncombed) most of the time. 

She was also so proud of her backpack. She took it to Germany a year ago and it drowned her. It fits her so much better this this year.

 

Here she is with her good friend, Miss A. They are in the same class together and are very excited! 

I am so excited for her in this new adventure. Now, what shall I do with 3 hours to myself each day?