Halloween and Random Fun!

Maddox giving Katelyn a big hug at her last soccer game. Katelyn and Maddox worked as a team the last couple of games. They'd pass to each other and help one another score!! Maddox would yell across the field 'Katelyn pass me the ball!!' Maddox meant business by the end of the season. We were really happy with her growth. I think she scored 3 goals the last game, with Katelyn's assistance.  We are looking forward to the spring soccer season. 

Halloween was chilly this year but that didn't stop the kids.  Eric took pirate-Kennon and Elsa-Maddox out to gather candy.  I stayed home this year to meet and greet the kids in the neighborhood with treats. The wind was directly out of the north so the kids did a point to point trick-or-treat.  I drove the three of them up Judge road to the north and they walked with the wind at their back's (a runner's technique) to gather candy. And they sure did get a load! My goodness we have generous neighbors. 

 We attended the Family Museum's Halloween Party the Sunday before Halloween. The weather was much kinder!!  The kids enjoyed crafts, games, and the beloved bouncy house.  

 Rowan (Anna) and Kate (Elsa) are two of Maddox and Kennon's buddies from Our Savior. They don't go to Our Savior anymore but Rowan happens to be in Maddox's dance class so they've been able to rekindle their relationship. They joined us at the Halloween party. 

 The museum was all decked out with crazy, and some SCARY, Halloween decorations. 

Getting ready to hit the streets for CANDY!

 Eric and I attended the Community Foundation of the Great River Bend Area's annual celebration a couple of weeks ago.  Eric and I have a donor advised fund through this foundation and get to pick various charities to receive the dividends from our accounts.  We also help this Foundation by reviewing grants that are submitted monthly.  The charitable work that is being done in the Quad Cities each and every day is amazing. 

 Eric and I attended the Northwestern vs Iowa game the first of November. It was a fabulous game with a victory for the Hawks!  Thanks to Grandma Jean and Grandma Jim for keeping the kiddos for the weekend. I'm going to the Wisconsin vs Iowa game this coming Saturday! Brrrr, I hope it warms up a bit. 

 Two weeks ago we attended the Pleasant View Grade School's Fall Fest Fundraiser.  My good friend and neighbor Kim Millage invited us to the fun. It was a great opportunity for us to see the school and for Maddox to start to know about her new environment for the coming school year. There were tons of games set up along the halls of the school, several games in the gym, silent auctions, a cake walk ( hoping to help out with that next year ) and of course a bouncy house!!  The kids both had a ball and 1/2 our neighborhood was there so it was nice to catch up with everyone.  Kindergarten round up is March 6th!!  I can't believe it. We'll have a Kindergartener in the house. Does that sound totally crazy!!!??  

Brecken-2 (he'll be 3 on Thanksgiving!!)  Maddie - 5  Maddox - 5  Kennon -3  Parker - 7 

Last Sunday we tagged along with the Millages and headed out to Wildcat Den near Muscatine. The Den was hosting a  50K trail run where several of Eric and I's running buddies were running as well as Kim's husband Tim. So all of us hiked out on the trail….that would be Kim, Eric and I plus all the above kids and 7 month old Hudson on the front of Kim in a baby carrier (we took up most of the space along the trail as you can imagine) …..to meet and cheer on the participants.  The kids' bright, happy, faces and bright, fun colored coats were a welcome site to the participants as they jogged along the very hilly, unforgiving, terrain. We had a grand time and the weather was just perfect!!  Thanks for inviting us Millages. We are so thankful to know you all!

 Most of you know I am taking a cake decorating class Monday evenings in November.  The above cake was from week two.  I am having a fun time learning new decorating techniques and learning how to make the perfect tasting frosting (although I've found there is a learning curve with both!!)   Get ready to eat some cake as I'll be toting a cake pretty much every where I go for the next several months :)  Practice makes perfect!! Maddox and Kennon are certainly happy I signed up as I bring home a newly decorated treat each Monday night.  It is really fun! I am enjoying being out of the house and learning some new skills. 

 We've graduated from the 5 point harness to just the regular seat belt for Maddox.  However, as you can see from the picture, we have a little work on getting the technique down pat.   I will say these darn winter coats are certainly not fun!!  The kids and I are still getting used to the big, uncomfortable, but necessary fluffy coats. 

 I'm always surprised to see what Maddox picks to wear 'post nap'. She most always has a dress on and it is ALWAYS not what she had on in the morning. This dress is from the girls across the street and is a dark green velvet. So cute. She is planning to wear it to The Planning Center client holiday party in a couple of weeks.  

 With the snow Saturday night, it was time to take the riding toys over to The Planning Center basement so the kids can still ride all winter long. Eric had a client's birthday party Saturday night just down the street from The Planning Center so the kids and I packed a picnic dinner, the bikes and a movie and set up shop at the office while Eric enjoyed the party down the block.  The three of us had a great time in the basement getting our sillies out doing obstacle courses, practicing Maddox's dance steps from class, and trying to convince Kennon he'll be "FAST" when he learns to ride without his training wheels. The little guy doesn't want to take the training wheels off because he thinks he won't be fast.  It is our goal for the winter to make the transition. We are so thankful for The Planning Center and it's success.  

Watching Cinderella on the big screen! 

The kiddos are super into MUSIC right now.  Eric and I are looking into getting a sound system for a house as they kids love to have 'dance parties' as we call them. We have started substituting most of our normal 'cartoon time' for music time per request of the kiddos.  Most often Maddox disappears upstairs to put on a dress ( notice she doesn't care that this is a summer dress and it is freezing cold out)  for the event while Kennon is happy dancing about in whatever clothes he has on. They get each other going and feed off of each other as you can imagine. It is really fun to watch them!  I happened to have my video running to catch this last night…rest assured he was fine!!  We didn't have any music 

during this event as Maddox and Kennon created the music themselves! 

We are gearing up for the holidays and to meet the newest member of the Knowles family. It is sooo nice to not be working, although I have picked up some chart audits in the last couple of weeks and am training a new physical therapist.  But, I haven't committed too much time to VNA with the holiday tasks in que.  I'm still trying to find the right balance.  The kids both have Thanksgiving programs at school this week. They are both singing and then Maddox's class is having a Thanksgiving feast. They only go to school Monday and Tuesday next week and then not again till after the holiday. We hope everyone has a Happy Thanksgiving. We are so blessed. 

Pumpkin Picking and Family Fall Photos

Two Fridays ago we called up our buddies, the Wentlands, to see if they'd join us on a blustery morning at the Apple Orchard in East Moline.  They decided to brave the wind  and took on the challenge!  We got to feed some goats, cackle with a few chickens, ride around on the hay rack pulled by a big John Deere tractor, stand in a short but 'long' line to pay for some Carmel apple suckers :) ha ha ha and even pick a couple of apples.  Megan managed to grab the picture above.  I think this is the first time we've managed to get all Kies and Wentland kids smiling and looking towards the camera!! Way to go Megan…super mom, physical therapist, home organizer, and PHOTOGRAPHER!!! 

Sunday, of the same weekend, we headed back to East Moline just a mile or so down the road from the apple orchard and went to Shady Knoll pumpkin patch.  It is our favorite local patch. There was very little wind and the sun was a shining. It was a beautiful day!  We found a few pumpkins after some searching….lots of green ones still for some reason. 

The chosen few…..now placed on our front porch next to our milk jug ghosts. 

Since I'm home this Halloween ( not 'working') I've become rather interested in making all sorts of fun kids' Halloween treats.  The kids helped me dip marshmallows last week!!  I've made homemade peppermint patties and we have candy corn rice krispie treats to make still.  We are planning to hand these special treats out to our closest buds in the neighborhood…...whatever we don't eat!! 

Last Tuesday we decided to get all gussied up for our fall family pictures. My good friend and neighbor, Kim, met us at Devil's Glen park where the oaks were a perfect shade of burgundy and provided a great backdrop for the pictures. I  think we got some great shots!!  Kennon took his super silly pills just before we left…as I'm sure you'll see in some of the shots. 

I love this one….

Just a quick update on the kids since I haven't include any of their milestones lately in lieu of just uploading pictures. Both kids finished their soccer season in blazing fashion a couple of Saturdays ago. Maddox made absolute leaps and bounds improvement in the last year and scored 3 goals in the last game for a total of 6 all year! Her coordination, aggression, and willingness to just 'get in there' and get after the ball was absolutely amazing at the last game. We even caught her throwing a few elbows to claim her space on the field….what you say…?? Maddox?? Yes… she is definitely becoming more interested in the game and Eric and I couldn't be more proud of her. We'll certainly hope she says 'yes' when we ask her if she'd like to play again in the Spring.  Kennon scored 1 goal during the season and too was really getting ' in the scruff' as Eric calls it. He is more aggressive than Maddox but doesn't have the game skills she does quite yet. In fact I found he spent a lot of time on the ground…but in a comical way. He'd be in the middle of the group of players both his team and the opponent and be like 3 feet from where the ball was and the next thing I knew he'd be on the ground…for no real reason but with a big smile on his face…so we can't complain. I don't think he had one tantrum on the field and only a couple off the field related to someone getting a snack that he didn't or something along those lines!!  Despite both kids seeming to love the game they are still extremely interested in the snack post game :) but what kid doesn't love snacks!  Kuddos to Eric for coaching Maddox's team and for being a backup coach for Kennon's team when coach Ken was out of town. 

Maddox is enjoying dance class on Wednesdays. She seems to be building her skills working on listening, respecting others, galloping, skipping…basic coordination stuff that she'll need for bigger skills in ballet later down the road.  Kennon loves his 1 on 1 time with me  in the museum while Maddox is in class. 

Both kids seem to be waning on their naps a bit in the last couple of weeks.  I think Maddox would sleep longer but Kennon is rather loud and boisterous when he gets up and generally wakes her up. He's only been sleeping 1 to 2 hours lately….ugh…and really still needs a longer one. We'll see how things play out in the coming weeks.  ( funny…as I type this he is almost to 2 hours…! )

Both kids seem to be doing well in school.  Maddox really loves her teacher Mrs. Roseman and she is excelling at her writing her letters and has even started to read a bit with some coaching ( thanks for the Bob's books suggestion Jody!!..)  She is excited about the prospect of being able to read on her own so I'm hoping we'll be able to run with it in the coming months.  Kennon too is learning all his letters and I'd say he knows them all by sight and even the sound that they make. We have started having him write his name and he has almost mastered the K and N and of course the O.  His hand coordination doesn't seem quite as good as what Maddox's was at this age but then again he is a boy.  Maddox loves to sing and dance and currently has a make shift dance floor set up in the living room. She has become slightly more interested in what she wears to school although most days she is happy to put on what I have picked out for her.  If she does pick it out it is sometimes a dress but not always.  She is FINALLY willing to wear jeans and looks so darn cute in them.  Most of the jeans we have are hand me downs from Addyson and Rayna across the street and are all worn in and comfy! She'd paint her nails everyday if I let her and has become very interested in girly makeup…although only gets to wear a hint of lip gloss when we have special pictures planned. Kennon continues to be all boy and would play outside till the cows came home if I let him. He recently spent some of his own money on a grabber ( 'thank you' Stegemann's ). A grabber you say?? Yes, a grabber to grab rocks, leaves, branches, his sister's hair, and move it from place to place.  He is thrilled that I finally gave in and bought him a sword to replace the plastic sword that 'vanished' last year since he was hitting everything and everyone with it.  The new sword is FOAM and will go perfectly with his pirate costume tomorrow.   ( Maddox is going to be Elsa) He has been testing the waters lately with is behavior, both at school and home,  but we are holding on tight to the roller coaster of child phases and trying to always praise the positive!!  It's always so funny to me when one kid is really having a hard time the other kid really seems to shine!  Maybe that's why God gave us temper tantrums.  I am signed up for a cake decorating class that starts on Monday.  I'm pretty excited about it and hope for it to lead me down a new life path in the coming years.   Eric is busy at work and The Planning Center continues to grow and be just a really great place to work.   He signed up for another 1/2 marathon for the Spring. I think I"m going to take a season off and am back to attending lots of classes at the Y rather than getting miles in.  Eric and I will be attending the Iowa game on Saturday. We are happy to be at the game but even happier to have some solo time. Thanks to Grandma Jean and Grandpa Jim for taking the kids for an overnighter.  All is well!! Take care.