Sorry, it took me so long to get these pictures up...the reality is that I knew I didn't have very good picture to show off!

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I do, however have a good story to go along with halloween this year. On Friday morning we wake up and start to get ready. I tell Caleb that he can put on his construction worker costume. He immediately falls apart, crying and screaming "I don't want to go to preschool!" We try to console him, tell him he doesn't have to wear a costume if he doesn't want to, this doesn't work. We send him to his room to calm down. Eventually Erik goes in to talk to Caleb. Caleb finally confesses that he doesn't want to go "because Jane is going to be a skunk." (side note for those of you that might not know this: Caleb is terrifed of skunks. We have no clue what brought this on, but every night we have to pray for skunks. When his bed was just on the floor, he wanted to sleep in our bed because the "skunks will get me." We put his bed on a frame and to this day we are still praying for those skunks!) My poor son was terrified to go to school because Jane was going to be a skunk. He obviously knew this because they talked about it at school on Monday. Why didn't he mention it then? But as soon as I told him to put on his costume he remember Jane! And...of all the costumes out there they pick the one Caleb is afraid of. Anyway, we got out the door with most of the costume on and headed to school. I warned the teachers of the "dilema", I was curious to see what happened. Well, in walks Jane and Caleb didn't do a thing. I am not sure what he was expecting her to look like but when he saw her he realized it was just Jane. After school he said to me, "Jane wasn't a scary skunk, she was a good skunk."

Here is Caleb's class. Caleb picking his nose...nice! Jane is the one in the front looking at Caleb.

This is the best picture I got of Jackson the train conductor. Pitiful.

Construction Worker.

After school we ran home, packed up the car and drove to South Haven, MI for a weekend away with some friends. We were the first ones to arrive so we checked out the beach. We lucked out with the weather.

The boys couldn't have been happier!

Carving Pumpkins

Tonight we went over to my parents house to carve pumpkins with the Rills and the Penners. I had no clue that my boys would enjoy this so much!

Jackson drew on this little pumpkin.

They both enjoyed taking out the "guts".

Here we are, hard at work.

Notice how all the other pumpkins are lined up to take a picture, but Caleb is still going.

Here are the finished products.

Olivia, Jackson, A, Caleb, Grayden, Brixton and Skylar

With candles.

And back to carving! He also colored the pumpkin on the left.

Still going!

Finally, the finished product. He has already asked to carve some more on his pumpkin.

More Leaves and Painting...

We made our own leaf pile in our backyard this morning. As you can see we had fun!

I love this progression of pictures.

Caleb really wanted to paint today. I was glad because I had canvas' that I wanted each of them to paint. It started out very neat and clean...

...then Caleb decided to "get all messy."

He painted this little mustache on himself...too funny.

This is what they looked like at the end. Fun was had by all and their paintings turned out perfect!

Young Adult Retreat

This weekend we went to Covenant Harbor for a Young Adult Retreat. The boys stayed with my parents and had a great time. Here we all are at the Giant Swing.

On my way up.

Constance making sure Erik is ready to go.

All the way up..the trees were so gorgeous!

The release! No hands!

The men of our group.

Later that afternoon we did a little pumpkin bowling.

Sonja and Linnea came up for the day on Saturday. We were all happy to get our baby fix...I couldn't stop taking pictures of her.

FALL!

Our neighbors made a pile of leaves, so the boys enjoyed jumping in it.

My attempt at a picture of both of them...will they both ever stay still?

What could be more fun than a pile of leaves?

High School Dunes Trip

This weekend we headed to the Warren Dunes with the High School students. (Thank you Strom's for watching the boys!) It was a great trip. We had so much fun playing in the dunes all day Saturday, eating together, singing and playing games. The nights were pretty chilly, but we managed to get some sleep.

This is the whole group.

Erik doing a back flip.

The crazy kids who went in the water.

Hobo dinners...so good!

Singing around the fire.