The Fighter's

Ava & Kate had a blast! Ava couldn't wait to get into her Thomas costume...choo chooing every 5 minutes and at one point saying to me..."mommy...what does a train say when it stops?" To which I replied, "I don't know hun ..." and tried to imitate a screeching brake noise. She very confidently exclaimed..."no mommy...it goes..." and she let out a " shhhhhh " sort of noise that sounded like a compressor releasing air. I was impressed...because she was so right! She has this train thing down pat! Grammy came to trick-or-treat, and helped pull Kate in the wagon. Towards the end Kate was anxious to walk, and once out, walked right up to a front porch, arms outstretched going " teet ", " teet ". She picked that up pretty quick (anything with food!). Here are some pics! Waiting anxiously... Us and our girls before the big night... Our little Thomas... Grammy & Kate... Enjoying their bounty... Our good friends the

Kate is a character and is constantly doing things to crack us (and herself) up. Tonight at dinner she grabbed the top of a Tupperware container and started smashing her face up against it, and then would make a gargling sound or say " buuue " (her sound for blue), cracking herself up the whole time. My favorite was when she did the gargle sound while licking the container, nose smashed, eyes darting side to side...priceless image for my head! While all this was going on, Ava was having the cutest conversation with Grandma & Grandpa Conover ...talking about going to "Toot- Toot's " this weekend...her favorite train restaurant outside Toledo, and telling them about her day. Every once in a while she would say...."grandpa...see Kate" and hold the phone up to "show" grandpa the face smashing show Katelyn was putting on. Here's a shot of her on the phone tonight...so grown up having real phone conversations now:-)

We carved our pumpkin today. Ava named him Harry. She wasn't so sure about the sliminess of the pumpkin seeds and left most of the scooping up to me, but was particular about what shapes to use for the face and repeatedly said..."we're making a jack-o-lantern " and "Happy Halloween Mommy":-) When we were finished she asked if we could carve another one...so I think she enjoyed it, despite the sliminess.

A Fighter family favorite...Buckeye football Saturdays. Not much gets better than this on a beautiful October Saturday, especially when spending it with family and friends. After an 11 hour night of sleep (yes we...including Doug & I...went to bed at 9 last night and slept until 8 and it was wonderful!), woke up to coffee, cartoons, newspaper and anticipation of a fun football Saturday. Doug was most eager of all...totally giddy. Our great friend Dan was nice enough to share one of 2 tickets to the game...5th row, 50 yard line. Amazing seats for one of the best games of the season against #3 Penn State! We ventured down to campus around noon for a tailgate with good friends. Uncle Robert and his father in law Jim, made it in for the tailgate and game which was an added bonus! Ava is totally into OSU...loves getting dressed up in her Buckeye gear and today asked for "bows like a cheerleader". Throughout the day you could catch her yelling "go Beanie" and singing

Here are a few pics from today. We had a great one! Nature hike at Blendon Woods this morning with my good friend Kristin and her mom's group. Ava loved the nature center and all the "stuffed" (aka taxidermy ) animals in it. Kate squealed at the birds and squirrels in the bird viewing area. A few other fun moments from today: Ava & Kate's fascination with their toothbrushes. Ava loves hers because it sings a 2 minute thomas the train song (which she knows all the words to) and I think I heard that song at least 25 times today. Kate just likes to sit with it hanging out of her mouth. Not sure why, but all I know is it keeps that kid still for more than a minute and I'll take it! Ava trying to show Kate the ropes...gently (and sometimes not so gently) with a sweet little.."come on Katie Kate" (her newest nickname for her) and a hand on her back/outstretched hand. Love it! The girls in the back seat doing the motions to "if you're happy and

This season I have just been extra aware and thankful for the beauty that surrounds me. Not only have the radiant orange and red Autumn sunsets and the beauty of many colored leaves caught my eye as they often do this time of year. But in the usual season of harvest and giving thanks, I have been especially thankful and aware of the blessings that surround our family. Fall…change. Things happen to stir us up inside. To force us out of our comfort zone to reflect. 2008 has been a year that has stirred us up! It has been a happy year with many, many ups, but also a bumpy year…probably the bumpiest yet, beginning with the death of our dear Pastor Dave after his long battle with cancer, departing our much loved church family to follow our hearts to a new church, illnesses/hospitalizations/hard times for some of our closest family members. All of these things caused our insides to turn. For us to feel out of control and helpless and a little off balance. Stiff feelings as humans to grip and

Well...now we have proof that we have a daring bruiser on our hands. Kate got her first set of stitches (and hopefully her last) this past Saturday after taking a spill onto a wooden chair at our friend's Buckeye party. At first I panicked slightly inside after seeing my child's head gushing, but after some clean up and a band-aid, we made a calm call to Grandma Barb (aka nurse Barb) and then the pediatrician who advised we hold off 1/2 hour for some of the swelling to go down to determine if stiches were needed. During which time, Katelyn forgot the whole episode, walking around with a bandaid across her forehead, playing with the other kids and hamming it up with the adults. At Children's, they were wonderful. No shot to numb the pain (thank God!) but a new gel to do the trick. We snagged some pics of Kate with the "gel" concoction/bandage on her head...they had to provide "extra" reinforcement as she kept tearing the band-aid off, so it looks worse th

Doug and I had a blast with the girls at Jaquemin Farms …scaling over the patch to find the perfect pumpkins, playing in the corn sandbox, roaming through the corn maze. I love this time of year. Kate loved riding in the wheelbarrow, and Ava was determined to find the best pumpkins with her dad. Below are my favorite pics. You can also go to our Kodak gallery where I've uploaded some more... http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=uad8zci.3lr5t0xi&x=0&y=-viqdsd&localeid=en_US