No Tricks. Just Treats.

Did you have a great end to October? I'm having a REALLY hard time believe October is over.

Our last weekend in October was fantabulous. R had his coaches clinic all weekend (more on that later). I love having visitors over the weekend that he's gone. Hopefully we'll continue to have visitors over Halloween!!!

Friday I ate dinner with Ang and the boys and we met my sisters and Mo&Madd at Living History Farms. Saturday (after pictures) (and a nap for Maddox) we took Maddox for some trick-or-treating in the next town over (ours was Sunday and he wasn't going to be here). When we got back, we carved a pumpkin and Uncle R had some tricks for Maddox. "All in Halloween Fun" was Maddox's favorite saying of the night. :) He LOVED his pirate-o-lantern and showed his appreciation with BIG hugs. Made me feel good considering no one else can probably tell what it is a picture of! :) I'm curious- a lot of the kids we know wore different costumes for different Halloween activities. Is this pretty common or do I just have great friends that know the importance of good dramatic play?

Hope you all had a great Halloween!

Side note:

Now that October is over, we've pulled out our November Blessings calendar again. Are you going to do one this month? Or do you do something similar year round?

Pirate Party

Mr. Maddman is 4. Well, he's been four for four weeks (or so) now. I'm just now going forth and posting his fourth birthday party fourtos. Well, four of them anyway.

What's that? You only see two? Well I guess I forgot the others. Oops.

fishing

Maddman is here tonight. We were pulling up some of his photos. I found this goodie.

I love these guys!

It's The Little Things

It's the little things that I don't want to forget. The little things that make my 365 posts but don't make a blog post. The little things that aren't printed off and hung in a frame. The little things that no one else will probably ever mention again. But they're important to me. And I want to remember them. Like this- the facebook conversation between my 4 year old niece and the love of my life. And the way she smiled at me and squeezed my arm when she wanted to tell him that he was for a very special girl. How is it that a little girl so young can be so overflowing with love? That such a little thing is really such a big thing?

P Fest

Our town festival was this last weekend. Maddox came up for his birthday pictures on Friday. We got some fun pirate pictures and a few 'Maddox pictures' too. :)

He was really happy for pictures to be over and loved getting to roast his own marshmallows that night. He talked about it for quite a while.

We got up early in the morning for the 5/10k. (No.... we didn't run it. But we did cheer on Sara and Uncle T!) The race route went along the street behind our house so we didn't have to go far to get to a good spot to cheer!

Since we've been in town, we've started a tradition of heading downtown during Prairie Fest for most of our meals. Some people we know (but Maddox had never met) sat down next to us at the pancake feed and Maddox quickly decided their little boy was his best friend. I love the age he is at right now!

Sara was up there and we (I?) made her put on her medal from the race for the obligatory photo op.

Cy made it down for the parade.

R skipped his duty in the dunk tank this year. I think the questionable condition of last years dunk tank scared him off. We did briefly check out the craft fair and other things going on. We went back up in the evening with the P family for the Hog Roast. The boys checked out all the emergency vehicles.

We stuck around for the magician and the atmosphere. Once we got home R started another fire pit and brought a mattress up from the basement for a makeshift wrestling ring. It also made a good sitting spot to watch the fireworks from our yard. I love that we can see our town and the neighboring town's fireworks without leaving the house.

Today we are bumming around, getting geared up for another week. Happy Sunday!

Morganisms

"I'm already beautiful but a little make-up is okay if you want. It makes you extra really beautiful. Then you put your arms in the air like this and shout woooo hooo cause you look so pretty!"

-Morgan, age 5

.

Rusty's cousin just saw her husband off to Afghanistan. They have two little girls.

I can't imagine.

But I'm thankful.

(Des Moines Register photo)

Back in Iowa!

We're back from the wedding. And there is no shortage of wedding pictures.

You can check out my pictures here.

Amy's pictures here.

And the chapel has pictures up too. (Along with the wedding video).

It was fun playing photographer. Though I imagine it's easier to play photographer when you are not also personal attendant, moh, baby sitter, make up artist, etc, etc. ;)

We had a great week. R had a great birthday. And soon I'm sure I'll have tons of pictures posted from it all. For now, we're recovering on the couch. Happy Weekend!

This Life

This life. This life of excitement. Of good friends. Fun. Family. Abundant blessings.

This life is better than I deserve.

Today is a good day.

Found!

The lost pictures from Mo's party. :)

I told you about the amazing cake she and Maddox decorated.

And what a great photographer she is.

But I forgot to tell you how incredibly cute she is.

Especially when she had several false alarms and attempted to blow the candles out on her cake sooo many times during that long 'Happy Birthday' song. She'd catch herself and stop herself from doing it each time and was a little shy about it. But oh so happy when she finally got to blow them out at the (almost) end of the song. :)

I love this little girl soooo much.

Mo's Party

I had been procrastinating on posting Mo's party pics because I couldn't find them..... I have no idea where the memory card is with her party pictures on it. So these couple that I pulled for 365 will have to do.

Morgan requested chocolate cake. Pink and purple balloons. And Taylor Swift.

The first two were easy peasy.

Taylor Swift. Well. Turns out she's pretty busy and hard to get for a 5 year old's birthday party.

We improvised with microphone cakes (she had a Hannah Montana guitar last year so we couldn't redo the guitar cake) and a Taylor Swift dance party. Morgan and Maddox decorated the microphone cupcakes 98% on their own. I decorated a little purple cake for Mo, we put a microphone on it. And Mo & Maddman got to decorate their very own cake. I have some awesome pictures of it and as soon as I find them I'll post them. The cake was pretty amazing! :)

We grilled out, did cake and presents, then Mo had a swimming lesson. It was fun to watch her with the kids in her group. (I got pictures there too I want to post! Ugh, memory card!)

After lessons it was back to grandma's house to check out some of the birthday presents. She is already very good at the camera we got her. (Ah. I bet SHE has some great birthday party pictures!) And she got her very own real guitar. She's already gone through 3 (4?) Hannah Montana guitars.

She's definitely a rockstar.

And she's crafty too. Those birthday hats? Made by Morgan! (And she so lovingly handed them out and made sure everyone had the chance to wear a birthday hat.)

I love this little girl!

"Oh no. I'm so sad."

Last weekend, when Maddman was here, a storm came through. We had 70+ mph winds with tornadoes nearby. Needless to say, we were all up in the middle of the night listening to all the debris slam against the house. Maddox was so afraid, but not for himself. He just wanted Dakota up in bed with us so he would be safe. So R, Maddox, Dakota, and I were all piled into the bed. (It was short-lived though, Dakota knows better and jumped down as soon as Maddox would let him.)

We were blessed to only have minimal damage. Our porch was rearranged. The neighbor's trampoline found a new spot. Part of our sideboard blew off. (Thankfully Gabe had recently fixed our siding!) But the bean bags forgotten in the yard from yard games were left untouched. (Oh, and someone cashed in on the bag of cans out in the street.)

When Maddox looked out the window in the morning, he said, "Oh no. I'm so sad." I suppose it was the thought of the neighbor kids not having their trampoline though because on the way to church when we saw huge trees down, roots ripped out of the ground, trees on houses, and on broken power lines his response was, "Whoah!"

Last I heard on the news tonight there were just a couple houses left without power.

Makes me so thankful for the AC and the power that runs it this time of year.

Maddman

I'll post some pictures from Mo's birthday party as soon as I get them uploaded but this gem was mixed in with my photos from Zane's session and I had to post it. He's a pretty special little guy. He likes to play 'ice road truckers' on the dining room table. He loves "The Stinky Cheese Man" and he eats garlic toast for breakfast. Yes, breakfast. In a pinch, when he really wants to spend the night unannounced, he can make size 6-9 month pajamas found in our basement work as capris. And he makes them look cool. He rarely sits still to let me get a picture of him. In fact, you can probably tell by his face that he didn't know I had the camera out. Once he realized it, he quickly went back to his food. I said, "Hey, Maddox, turn around and smile." So he, of course, turns his head the other way and says cheese. And I got a nice snapshot of the back of his head. I'm sure the smile that I couldn't see was amazing.

Gotta love him.

Happy 5th Birthday, Morgan!

Yikes. Didn't I just post this post the other day?!?!

How is she already FIVE?

Dear Morgan,

Happy 5th Birthday! I can't believe it was FIVE years ago that you were born. Five years ago I was working for I-JAG and came to the hospital after work to await your arrival. Five years ago I excitedly brought your baby pictures to work to show Rusty. Five years ago I became an aunt for the first time. Five years ago I saw your teeny tiny little face and I loved you right away. Just because you are you.

I try to tell you to stop growing so fast, but it isn't working. Every time I see you, you have grown up more and more.

You are a people pleaser. Whenever you come to our house you are a big helper. You love Dakota. We rarely have a conversation that you don't ask about him. You follow me around and want to do what I'm doing. You LOVE taking pictures. You don't know it yet, but at your birthday party Friday you'll get a present from Rusty, Dakota and me that will help with that. :) You like Taylor Swift and Hannah Montana (still) and are quite the little rockstar. While I'm not sure I knew what a computer was when I was your age, you are quite savvy on it. You love your cousin Maddox. You swim like a fish. You requested a Taylor Swift birthday party with pink and purple balloons and chocolate cake. This year you graduated from pre-school and gave yourself a haircut. It was scary at first but you rock it pretty well. You pose perfectly for pictures, but I have to be quick, because when you are ready to be finished times up. You have an extraordinary fashion sense. I like your style. I like your smile. I love you.

Happy FITH Birthday!

Love you soooo much!

-R, H, & Dakota

Holly's Shower

Holly's wedding shower was a couple weeks ago back home. The big Vegas wedding is THIS month and the reception will be down home in August.

The shower was a Pampered Chef shower. I love Pampered Chef bridal showers because there's time to socialize and there's no need for the circle of everyone watching the gift opening. I remember at my wedding shower everyone was so generous and the gifts were really great. I really did love them all but it was so embarrassing because afterwards I realized I said, "OH I just LOVE it!" after about every gift I opened. I guess I didn't think about other things to say when you open a gift (I really did love them all though!).

Yes, we used the cliche shower snack trays and punch glasses. I like them 100x better than paper. Even if they are cliche. :)

Pampered Chef sells an apron that you can use as a sign in but this is just one I made. Not as fancy but a lot cheaper and more personalized. The 'chargers' are actually just textured scrapbook paper.

Instead of a card basket, we had guests bring a recipe to share with Holly. Rusty might argue that this recipe is not the best meatloaf recipe ever, but this recipe has a lot more meaning behind it to the bride than Rusty's favorite meatloaf recipe.

Next time you see Holly, ask her what Peggy's note means...

Oh and do you notice the blob? Mo & Maddman were helping me set up the day before.... They signed in for the party too! :)

The lovely Pampered Chef Queen. (She demonstrated veggie pizza, of course!)

Quick slideshow I put together of Holly & Andrew's engagement pictures.

From Holly's yard. I want.

We played two quick games. Andrew's sister was in charge of that department (you know how bad I am at planning shower games!). The center pieces doubled as favors for the guests.

We were so excited Aunt Diana was in town for the shower!

Recognize the littlest in the picture? I'll be seeing her again next month for 6 month pictures. Hard to believe she'll be 6 months already. It will be her 3rd visit for pictures!

Orange Wedding Shower Punch:

6 oz frozen orange juice concentrate

64 oz apricot nectar juice

1/2 box orange sherbet

2 L sprite or 7up

Lots and Lots

I have lots and lots of updating to do. I haven't even posted a picture on the Hickstionary in forever way too long. So hopefully before the busy weekend I'll get a chance to get caught up around here.

Starting with Mo.

Can you believe she'll be FIVE this month? I cant. And I'm not sure how I feel about it.

She came for her 5 year pictures and did a fantastic job. She's such a sweetie!

She even had her own ideas about where and how she wanted to do her photos. "You know, Heidi. I was thinking we should do my pictures down by the big jungle and the treasure." (Remember our treasure hunt from last time?) :) And she's full of unsolicited poses. At one point I asked her why she had her hand in front of her face (she was pulling at her mouth). She said, "I'm trying to make it a BIGGER smile!" :) So definitely check out her pictures. She's a doll. I may be a little biased but I think you'll agree.

Not much of an update on Dakota. He's been out of his kennel for a few months now and he loves it. So far he hasn't messed a single thing up being out (not that he ever did before) so it may be time to officially retire the kennel. He doesn't even go into it on his own anymore like he used to. He's still not so sure about all of these people at our house and he's definitely not sure about all the cute puppies that have been around. Especially the one next door that gets way more attention then he does. We are trying to decide if he is bike ride trainable. I got a new bike so R & I have been going for lots of rides. So far we haven't taken Dakota along. Poor guy!

R & I have been staying super busy with work. {captured by} heidi has taken off 100x bigger than I ever dreamed. I've exceeded my original goals and am now set on bigger sights. God is good. R has been working with the basketball program and for his friend Nick. I'm working on a little page for them. Check it out: West Central Tree Service. (And call them- unless you have a neighbor with a hitch and a video camera for youtube!) ;)

We've been trying to get as much sun and fun in as we can. Hopefully I'll remember to take some fun pictures of this weekend. Happy 4th!

summer lovin'

There's so much I love about summer.

Here's a tiny part of it. In no particular order.

Sun. Lunch dates with R. Lunch dates with J. Swimming. Plates of Banana Bars. Sun. Fun. Watching R work. Bike rides. Bike baskets. Junking. Thrifting. Shooting. Designing. Free Tanning. Sleeping in. Peaches 'n cream. Fire pits. Lightning bugs. Tomatoes. Flowers. Friends. Family. Sun. Porch swings. Pet rocks. Being outside. Catching up with friends. Tuesdays. Sundays. Mondays. Yes, Mondays. Sunsets. Smores. Corn on the cob. Uncle Doyle's ice cream. Walks. Roller blading. Lemonade stands. Sun.

i. love. summer.

A Sneak Peek

One more day of fun.

But I've had multiple requests for picture posting.

So here's another sneak peek into our long weekend.

Fun.

Love.

And loving that we have another day of fun.

VEISHEA

I love VEISHEA. I've celebrated so many of the different parts of VEISHEA over the years, but one of my favorite VEISHEA activities (besides pancakes and cherry pies) are the horse rides after the parade. There's just something about illegally signing away a child's life that doesn't belong to you and seeing their face light up when they are on top of such a tall animal. We used to get to ride horses growing up. We had horses right outside our front door. We don't anymore so this is a fun way to get to share this experience with our niece and nephews. Without having to scoop poop. Ahhhhh VEISHEA.

(Sorry for the bad picture, but it's the only Cy sighting from the day!)

Maddox really enjoyed the Ames High Marching Band.

Two of our favorite girls got to join us (three counting their mama)!

Mo figuring out what the surprise that required her boots (vs flip flops) was- and very excited about it!

Both of them did such a great job and I think they really loved it!

Ahhhhh VEISHEA!