This has become one of Andy’s and John’s favorite part of our evenings – reading John’s library books. It’s so great to see John so excited to have Daddy read to him!
The Little Things…
Nearly every day after I put the kids in the bus, I hop into the truck for my drive to work. I usually end up following the kids’ bus. As I pull up to the stoplight at Rangeline and Brown School Road, the bus is usually beside me because the driver cannot turn right on a red light. I look over and see two round heads waving at me and smiling away. I wave back and smile just as big. The little things in life are the ones that make it worth it…
Busy Sunday!
It’s been a busy weekend so why should Sunday be any different?!? After Church and Sunday School, we headed to Rockbridge State Park to take some pictures of the kids and experiment a bit with the Canon Digital Rebel. I think we got a few decent shots…
…of Laura (seriously, this kid just *knows* how to pose for photos)
…of John
…of both of them
…and, well, it got a little goofy at times…
As soon as pictures were done, we headed for Shryock’s Corn Maze for the last day of the season. What fun even though John was a tiny bit tired. We wandered through the maze and found some of the checkpoints. We had some hot chocolate and Tiger Stripe ice cream while the kids played in the dried corn bin. We enjoyed watching the three-story gumball machine deliver gumballs to the kids.
After all the excitement of the day and weekend, we headed home for dinner, bath, and early bed. I think it is safe to say that *all* of the Kassels were tired! It was much, much needed sleep after four busy, busy days.
Busy Saturday!
It was a busy, busy Saturday! First up, we went to Home Depot for Kids’ Workshop. This month the kids got to build a tabletop ship or “The Mayflower” as Laura called it. John got to build first and was the picture of concentration. That boy loves swinging a hammer!
When it was Laura’s turn, it hit me that she actually reads the directions now and tells Andy what step is next. She also does most of the building herself. She is getting so big!
After a tasty lunch at Lone Star Steakhouse, we headed home to get ready for the second part of our day – the invasion of the Creech children! Reagan, Wilson, and Jackson arrived about 2:45 to spend the rest of the day with us while their parents went to the MU football game. To say the kids had fun just *might* be an understatement! It was a crazy rest of the day, but it was fun. At one point, we had as many as seven kiddos running around our house. We will definitely have tired kids (and adults) tomorrow!
Did I happen to mention it was ALSO Andy’s and my 17th wedding anniversary? Oh, I didn’t? Well, it was. Don’t worry, we will get date night next weekend while the kids attend the Camp MUDD Reunion. 🙂
Amazing Sky
The view off our back deck this evening
Halloween!
Ah…one of my favorite holidays of the year. We continued Kassel Family tradition by eating chili with great friends, drinking Great Pumpkin Ale from Flat Branch (*EIGHT* growlers this year!), and taking the kids Trick-or-Treating. We had another large pack of kids this year, leaving only the baby behind at the house. We all had a great time, adults included! Thanks to everyone who came out to enjoy the evening with us and especially to B, Dan, and Megan for staying behind to pass out our candy so the rest of us could go with the kids. I’m already looking forward to next year! Now, on to pictures!!!
This is the beginnings of the Great Pumpkin Ale from Flat Branch that, again, did not disappoint. Fantastic beer that makes Halloween even more fun!
We had more people than we have ever had at our house this year and it was just so much fun! We did miss our Jeremy though!
Before we would allow the kids to begin the trek for candy, us adults practiced torture by making them pose for pictures in front of our big spider web. Ah…the joys of being an adult!
Of course, a few of us adults have to get *our* picture taken in front of the big spider web too!
We hit up a lot of houses for candy. I loved watching the pack of seven kiddos go to door after door. They had a great time trick-or-treating!
We were followed at one point by a man with an ax! Thanks to Randy for the scare!
How do you know that another great Halloween has come to an end? Super-tired kiddos with sugar highs and empty growlers… It’s on to next year!
Chili!
I came home from work to smell fantastic chili cooking on the stove! Bring on Halloween complete with Andy-made chili, Flat Branch’s Great Pumpkin Ale, Trick-or-Treating, and time with great friends!
