Happy Halloween from Anya the Octopus! Even though tomorrow is officially Halloween, Pleasant Hill (and all of Des Moines) does beggar’s night on the 30th! So, we went to most of the houses on our street and Anya showed off her outfit and did pretty good in the candy department. We even made it back home to see most of the other kids on the block. It was fun, but alittle cold…good thing that octopus costume was nice and toasty!

This weekend the Miller’s were in town for another home Iowa football game. When they got home from the game, we dressed the kids up in their costumes and went to Night Eyes at Blank Park Zoo. It was alot of fun–you walk through the zoo and they have little tents set up along the way that the kids can “trick-or-treat” at. Then at the very end they have big blow up things that the kids can jump in or slide down. Their were alot of people at it and I think the kids had a great time. Here are a few pictures of Night Eyes and of Anya dressed up in her costume.

Hope everyone has a Happy Halloween!

The last few days have been pretty uneventful around here….seems like a few quiet days were just what we needed. We got a few projects done around the house, watched a few movies, baked a few goodies and spent alot of time just hanging out. Jason didn’t even complain too much about the Hawkeye loss on Saturday…which is a small miracle. So, all in all, we had a fun and relaxing weekend. Here are a few pictures of what Anya has been up to.

Today Anya had her 15 month check-up. She really didn’t mind it too much until the nurse came in with the shots…then things went downhill fast. Actually, she was such a brave little girl and I was so proud of her…she tried so hard not to cry. Anyways, the doctor said she is a very healthy and happy little girl…which we already knew (but it always nice to have a second opinion!) She weighs 23.9 pounds and is 31 inches long….such a big girl!

This weekend my mom was in town again to help us do some outside odd jobs and boy did we get alot accomplished! Jason has been dreaming of putting in a fire pit in our backyard since before we moved here. So, luckily, after finding this special “pyzique” brick and a wheel rim from my mom’s work we now have ourselves a full-functioning fire pit. We burned some branches and sticks we picked up and even had a marshmallow roast while we had the fire going. It was pretty fun!

Another major task we got accomplished around here was moving the play yard from the previous owners. They had a swing set installed and had filled in around it with wood chips and contained by railroad ties….right in the middle of our backyard. It wouldn’t have been so bad if the weeds hadn’t started to grow up through the woods chips and if it hadn’t been smack-dab right in the middle of the yard. So, Jason and my Mom worked like troopers getting the woods chips and weed paper up off the lawn and they even managed to get the swing set moved to its new location. It looks so much better and makes our backyard look twice as big. Now, our big chore will be getting grass to grow next spring in the spot where the whole ensamble was. Here are a few pictures of all Jason and Mom’s hardwork over the weekend.

We had JUGs night on Tuesday night at Steph’s place. We ordered pizza and carved pumpkins. It was alot of fun and here is a picture of our creations. Pretty good…don’t you think??!!

Thanks for the picture Steph!

Thanks to Grandma Barb’s visit a few weekends ago, Anya has the “Uh-Oh” bug. Everytime she drops something we here several rounds of “uh-oh”! It is so cute, and I think Anya has started dropping stuff on purpose just so she can say it. Silly Girl!!!

It was another home football game for the Hawkeyes, so Jason, Jill and their kids were here for the weekend. We had a good time with them and Anya loved all the excitement of having Zachary, Noah and Aubrey here. Here are a few pictures of their fun.

Tomorrow Anya has her first day in the “older walker room”….she and the other 7 kids in her room have graduated to the next level. She is very attached to one of the teachers in her old room, so we will see how this goes. I am sure it will be fine and her favorite teacher said she would check in on Anya often to make sure all is going well. I will let you know how the transition goes….

Despite the fact that the Hawks didn’t win against Ohio State, we still had a very fun weekend. Brad & Sarah flew from St Louis to stay with us for the weekend and go the game with us. It was so fun to have them here and catch up with them as we haven’t seen them since June 05′! They also got to meet Anya and, as usual, she had a ball being the center of attention most of the weekend.

My mom was also in town over the weekend to babysit Anya while we were gone at the game. She stayed until Monday afternoon and did alot to help us get our store room and garage in functioning order. Seems like we always put her to work when she is in town.

Both our Dads are busy harvesting in the field right now and this weather we have been having has allowed them to get alot done. Hopefully things will continue to go smoothly–it always amazes me all they have to get done in just a short period of time!

Here are a few pictures I posted. More later.