Carving Pumpkins....

Kennedy, taking a break from digging out the guts!

Hayden has figured it out that he can make funny faces in photos. Great.

T Ok, this one is a bit better... he looks like he's doing an Elvis impersonation!

Diggin out his pumpkin! (Should I admit that my son doesn't really enjoy getting his hands messy in that goop?!)

Kennedy enjoyed it MUCH better!

Well, we came, we saw, we conquered our HUGE pumpkins last night. The Thompson's managed to carve out 4 of the 7 pumpkins we have. Hayden, of course, wants all 7 to be carved, but I'm putting my foot down and telling him the other three are for decoration after Halloween! It took us forever to clean out those guts/seeds/ickies and then carve them. But, it was fun! Here are a few pictures of our carving chaos....

More shots of Homecoming 2008

GO VANDALS!!!!

Hayden, Trevin and Sam - best buddies...

Little Miss Kennedy - new haircut and all!

Just now downloading some of my own shots from the Homecoming parade. Word on the street is that it was the biggest Homecoming parade in years on both the attendance side as well as the entries. (Not sure why as the Vandals are NOT doing well this year!) Anyway, like I said earlier, it was a huge win for the Vandals and a beautiful day to boot!

UI Homecoming 2008

Little Miss Kennedy with her new haircut... why she's sticking her tongue out, I have no idea!
Hayden with his best buddies Sam and Trevin. GO VANDALS! (And, yes, they are all the same age - my son is just a giant!)

At the homecoming parade from l - r, Olivia (Sam's 4 year old sister) Sam's eyes, Kennedy, and Acacia (Trevin's 5 year old niece) Yep, a niece that is one year younger than he is, it's his older sister's daughter.

The whole crew waiting for the parade to start!

Well, UI HOMECOMING 2008 was a success with both the football team and volleyball team. It was a sweet victory in the Dome for those mighty vandals and it was quite a game! The Thompson kids were all decked out in their Vandal garb and ready to cheer on the silver and gold! It was a beautiful day on the palouse, so beautiful I'm not sure I'm ready for the white stuff just yet. Kennedy had just gotten her hair cut the day before, we cut about 3 inches off! Needless to say, the last two mornings I haven't had to take a brush to her hair - YIPPEEE!!! (Can you see me doing the happy dance?!)

Are you ready for some FOOTBALL?!

Hayden, pay attention... I think you need to block!

At least he's listening to the coach...um, I'm pretty sure that's a second grader he is standing next to (Hayden is in the back with the black and white pants on with black sleeves)...So my child is going to be tall!!!

Hayden's in the grey hoodie...I think he's ready.


Fall is in the air as well as the coole crispness that at times makes you think you are in Alaska. Sitting out to watch your son play flag football, is pretty priceless. Now I have to admit, I had my doubts about him playing flag football. I mean, here I have been the past 6 years of his life telling him to be nice, don't push, keep your hands to yourself, yadda, yadda, yadda. Now, those rules don't apply for football and we're cheering him on to get the guys flags, block him, GET HIM!!! Oh boy, am I going to be one of those moms?!

It's pure comedy to watch as these kids are learning the game. Hayden comes out with a smile as he's bouncing on his tip toes. He imitiates the NFL and college games while watching them on TV. Last night, we had a practice and he couldn't quite get the running routine down. So maybe he won't be a running back? Oh well. He enjoys it and that's what matters. But, I've got to brag, once he got the running thing down, he caught the ball, first time - WOO HOO!!!!! That's my boy.

A pumpkin picking day at Greenbluff...

Hayden's had to have weighed over 25 lbs - I think he switched to a different pumpkin!
Kennedy wanted a small one... go figure, she knew she had to carry it! :-)
At least I'm looking at the camera.
One final shot of the day, on our way to eat lunch at Red Robin!

For years I've heard about how great of a place Greenbluff Orchards is to go pick pumpkins, fresh fruit, whatever. Finally, yesterday, mom and I took the kids on the long jaunt to find those perfect pumpkins. First of all, we printed the map so that we wouldn't get lost. I had the bright idea of going through Rockford, which worked fine and dandy til I took the wrong turn and headed towards Sullivan rather than Argonne. (When will I finally know those streets in the Valley?) Anyhow, once we got on Argonne, it was smooth sailing and we finally hit Walter's. It was very busy and full of activities. Not only were there hundreds of pumpkins you could pick from, you could also go and pick your own apples if you wanted. We were going to, but after being there for a good couple of hours, we decided against it. From the pumpkin picking to the pony rides to the hay maze (I forgot I was allergic to hay until I started having a hard time breathing in there - lol!) and even the wiggle worm tractor ride, it was a great day! We bought over 50 lbs of pumpkins!!! The kids picked their perfect ones.

APHI 80th a success....

Off to the social at Prichard Art Gallery

A sign was made for us at the Club...

Me and Pilch---Love this girl!

Pledge Class of '92 at the dinner...

The 80th Anniversary celebration of Beta Zeta was a hit. Thankfully, it mostly went off without a hitch. I'm not exactly sure if the Vandal Trolley showed up, but other than that, it was pretty good. From the social, to the dinner and everything in between, APHI's from Idaho had a blast. I had too much of a blast and was a bit under the weather on Saturday, but other than that, all went well! Here are a few pictures from the memorable event!

Tap dance begins....

Big brother Hayden took this picture.

Her TAP SHOES!
Dancing with the ribbon sticks...

Kennedy started to actually "tap" last week. She LOVES it! This class is made of 3-4 year old girls. There are only 3 girls enrolled in the class (two girls actually listen while one other random is off doing her own thing and not getting disciplined by her mother.) Thankfully, this last class, the instructor finally said something to the mom, to basically take her home since she's distracting from the class - woo hoo!!! The girl was driving me nuts!

Anyway, Kennedy loves her tap shoes and enjoys dancing with her instuctor, Shelley. It's so great to watch her get creative!