All Over In October

These pictures will fill in the gaps of the rest of the October.

 Adley is our little cereal girl!  Even before she goes to bed she asks if she can have cereal for breakfast!  

Parker and Adam took Daddy golfing on his birthday (after his morning bike ride with Nate). They had such a great time together.  These two just melt my heart!

The weather has been absolutely gorgeous!  We spent a few evenings watching the horses at Danada Farms.  Again, Adley says "Come and eat me up, horsies!"

Silly girl.  She's so tiny and so big at the same time.

During rest time one day, Parker re-created the calendar that Papa and the Ross boys are in.

He was so excited that he had all the same equipment at the picture.

The Lego guys are my Dad, and my uncles Bill and Gary.

This is next year's calendar picture of Papa and Parker, since Parker is going to farm with him someday.

Doing some pumpkin preschool with daddy.

 The kids love 'raking' up leaves and hauling them off the driveway.  They make a pretty great team!

Selfies with Mommy!

I did aerial yoga with someone who needed some people to help her finish her training hours. It was really fun and I made new friend =)

Goebberts Pumpkin Patch With Friends

We actually went to Goebbert's the week before Halloween - I got a little excited to publish the last post, haha. That place never ceases to amaze me, and it was the most BEAUTIFUL day!!

Haskells, Glendennings, Borst's and Knapps

Train Ride

Pig Races

This is my favorite smile of Adley's.  She does it quite often and it cracks me up!

Halloween

We asked the kids a few weeks before Halloween what they wanted to be.  Parker wanted to be a Robot, and Adley said Ballerina Princess. Ryan instantly had the robot planned out in his mind and executed it perfectly. He and Parker had a great time working on that together.  

There was a costume contest in downtown Wheaton at 10am on Halloween morning.  Ryan was frantically putting on the finishing touches (flashing lights) and it was pouring rain!  Adley and I dropped Ryan and Parker off a block from the contest tent and went to find a parking spot.  It was so cute watching them walk down the street.

They showed up at the tent right as the 4 & 5 year old contest finished.  Ryan asked the judges if Parker could squeeze in the 6 & 7 year old division and they gladly accepted.  Adley and I got there just in time to see that he won "Most Creative Costume!"

We walked around to the stores downtown and stopped for a while at one of our favorite coffee shops - River City Roasters.  The people there started asking if they could take Parker's picture, and every few minutes someone would come up to us and say "that's the best costume I've seen all day!"

What a cutie pie ballerina princess!

We heard Mariano's had candy, too. Since it was still pouring, we headed there. That turned out to be the highlight of the day. Our little robot was turning heads like crazy. One guy we passed was in the middle of a conversation on the phone and he said, "Oh my gosh, you have to see this. I have to take a picture of this so you can see it."  Then he asked me if he could take Parker's picture.  When he got back on to the phone he continued going on and on about how it was the best costume he's seen in his life!  I was laughing so hard.  More people wanted to take his picture, and one woman even gave him a dollar.  She said, "I just feel like I have to give him something!" Then she noticed Adley and gave her one, too ;)  Right before we left, the manager brought Parker a balloon and told him it was the best costume he'd see all day.  It probably took us an hour to walk through the whole store.

That evening we went to the Martinez's house for Marlowe's costume party and trick or treating.  These little princesses had a lot of fun getting candy.  They look so cute with their coats and big poofy skirts.

Earlier in the week, Ryan carved an Adley pumpkin.  If you haven't noticed by now, Ryan is a man of many MANY skills =)  

The next morning we walked into church. The greeter asked the kids if they went trick or treating and what they were. Parker said he was a robot, and the greeter responded, "Was that you at Mariano's yesterday?!  You're costume was awesome!"  

A 5K For The 5 Year Old

Last year, Parker did the kid fun run at NCA's Curramus.  It was only about 50 meters long.  This year after he ran 2 miles at the track, he said he wanted to do a 5K.  We signed him and Ryan up and he was so excited to do a race with Daddy!  

On your mark, get set, GO!

Adley and I helped out at the kids tent during the race.  She got her face painted like a princess.

I figured we would go back over to the finish line at about 35 minutes. I was determined not to miss the finish of his debut race!  I wasn't there long and I spotted this cute little dude in the distance running my way!  I was shocked that he was already about to finish.

  

He crossed the finish line at 39 minutes!  Wow, Paker!  Awesome job!!!

He was so happy when they were done and gave me a big squeeze.  Ryan said he was explaining to him during the race that when they heard the music, that meant they were close to the finish.  When Parker heard it, he leaped in the air and said, "I just feel so proud!!"  Parker was excited to tell me he ran the whole time and only walked when they got a drink of water.  I could tell Ryan was on cloud nine when they finished. He said he got tears in his eyes a few times during the race because he was just feeling so blessed to be running a race with his son. <3 nbsp="" p="">

It started pouring shortly after they were done running. It was an early morning, too, so Adley and I took a little snooze when we got home =)

Parker said next year he wants to do a 6k =)

Visiting Daddy

If Ryan works on Sunday or has a 48 hour shift, we usually go visit him at the firestation. 

The kids love it there =)

Playing Paramedic

"Adley, we got a call!"

The more I learn about what it's really like to be a paramedic, the more I realize it something I could absolutely never do.  I have so much respect for Ryan and have no doubt he is doing what God created him to do!

Harvest Time Is Here

Harvest time is here - happiness and cheer. I think that's how the song goes.

For the past few years we have been going out to my parent's for a week in October for Ryan to work on the farm and for me to re-live my unique childhood and share it with my family.

The kids absolutely LOVE this week. They're farm kids at heart.

 Reading books with Grandma after a great day of harvesting.

We had such a great week. The kids and I were riding in the semi, combine or tractor as much as possible.  I got to deliver food to the field (don't underestimate the complexity of this job ;) and we spent time with Aunt Bonita and Grandma Ross, too.

On the way back to Wheaton, we stopped by the Pumpkin Patch.

Adley and Ryan were taking a nap in the car while we picked the pumpkins.  

Then Adley woke up and we got some cider donuts =)