Salem Weekend

Oct. 22-23
We had a great weekend in Salem when we went to meet baby Burke.  Saturday night, my parent's church was having a fall festival, so we went!  The weather was amazing and we really had a fun time!

Finley, Ethan, Scout and Nora taking a hay ride!

Pumpkin painting with Atley

Nora going for another hay ride with daddy

Sunday for lunch we went out to Grandma Karen and Grandpa's to celebrate Nora and Jared's birthdays.

I love that they share a birthday!!

Everybody blows out the candles 

Grandpa brought out a 22 rifle he had gotten for Ethan (to be kept at his house).  Ethan could barely eat his lunch, he was so excited to try it out.  He hit the target every shot!

Learning how to load (it's just a single shot)

He even hit the black bullseye, and was so excited about that.

Ethan and Grandpa

Meeting Baby Burke

Oct. 22
We have a new nephew!!  Jared's brother, Dustin and wife Amanda are new parents to sweet baby Burke.  He was born on October 20, so we made a trip to Salem that weekend to meet him!  He is perfect with a ton of hair!!

He's still a baby hog!

She was pretty happy to hold him too.

We needed Dustin in the pic for the Collier boy photo

Getting my snuggle time in :) 

Atley checking him out

This was the best I got of the 4 Collier grandkids :)

Camp Out and Girls Night

Oct 15
Ethan had his first Cub Scout campout a few weekends ago.  He and Jared went and had a great time. They hiked, made up a skit, ate something made in a dutch oven, slept in a tent and I'm sure some other things :).

Jared, Ethan and a tent!

While the boys were away, we decided to have a girls night! (Zach and Nathan went too, so Liz and Nikki joined our girls night!)  Movie and then dinner!

Atley's first movie, and she did great!

Nora, Liz & Atley watching "Storks" 

Spotlight Student

Oct. 11
Each week in Nora's class a different student to be in the "spotlight".  They get a poster to fill out about themselves, they get to bring in pictures to share, they get to do a poster presentation AND get to bring in show and tell (or "showing tell" as Nora calls it) every day that week!  The kids really look forward to their turn and Nora got hers a few weeks ago!  For her first show and tell, we brought in Max.  The kids in her class were so so excited!

Working on her poster

She was so excited about bringing Max to her class 

All the kids got to pet him!
(I was headed to tennis...excuse my hair/outfit)

Doing her poster presentation :)

Next to her poster and pictures.  It was such a fun week for her!

Atley's 1st Haircut

Oct 11
Atley's hair was beginning to resemble a mullet, so we decided it was time for a trim.  I was nervous about cutting her sweet little curls off, but it was needed.  (And the curls have returned!!)

Ready to go!

First cut!

She's so excited to be here!

Serious face :)

Before and After (Just a trim)

Rader Farms 2016

Oct 10
The kids were out of school on Columbus Day so Nikki (our wonderful neighbor) and I decided to have a fun day out!  We took the kids to Rader Farms in Bloomington.   Jared and I took the kids there last year and had a blast!  This time was no different.  Before you get worried about not seeing Nora in any pictures, she was having a blast spending some one on one time with Grandma Karen.  I was bummed that she missed this trip, but she didn't even notice :).

This was called the "rat roller".  The boys couldn't get enough of this!  Zach belongs to Nikki and we ended up with another neighbor boy, Tommy.  

Tommy, Ethan, Zach

And they have all fallen!

Liz (Nikki's daughter) and Altey went at a much slower pace than the boys.

Pumping the water to make the duckies go!  Or, just splashing in the water, not sure what was happening here :).

My boy!

Throwing a touchdown!

They LOVED the corn bin!  They didn't want to come out.

Burying her hands and feet in corn.

Zach, Tommy, Ethan, Liz & Atley- waiting patiently for their turn on the pillow jumper.

They had so much fun!

I thought Atley could do it by herself...but I had to come help her out.  That thing is super bouncy!

What a fun day with these kids (and their mama)!!

Flag Football Jamboree

Oct. 9
At the end of the flag football season, the teams all get together to play on the Mt. Zion High School turf field, under the lights.  The kids love this fun night!  Ethan's team got to play 2 games and then were awarded their trophies.  Grandma Karen and Grandpa came up to watch Ethan run in his first touchdown of the season!  He was so excited about that (and I was bummed I didn't get it on video- but so happy I got to see it!)

Ethan is the 3rd from right in the black- running to try and pull a flag.

Here he's the 2nd from right going for an interception (or flag pull) :)!

Nora and Liz cheering in the stands

Ethan and his teammates after a fun night!

Showing off his trophy (not sure where he's looking)

Grandma and Grandpa with the kids

So proud of this boy!

All of us on the field!

Homecoming Parade

Oct. 5
The Mt. Zion Braves homecoming parade was such a fun time!  Since Ethan was in flag football, he got to walk and pass out candy in the parade.  The girls were excited about all the candy being thrown at them!

Waiting with her candy bag

Atley, running from the middle of the street after grabbing some candy.

Ethan, having fun in the parade.

Tap, Ballet & Tumbling

Oct. 5

Nora has been taking 1 class that includes tap, ballet and tumbling.  Parents are invited to watch during the last class of each session.  She is loving it so much that I signed her up for a second session.  Here are some pictures from that class!

Waiting her turn to tap across the floor.

Doing her 'sugars' across the floor 

This picture makes me laugh!  The various stages of the pencil roll.

Ballet twirl time

At the end of each class they "freeze dance" with scarves.  When the music stops, they have to freeze.