First Snow!

We had our first snow just before Thanksgiving. Jason had fun playing in it. He made me go out to the shed and get his little shovel. He was shoveling the snow in the back yard because I told him there was no snow on the sidewalk to shovel.

He can't wait for the next snowstorm, but then again he doesn't have to drive in it either!

Santa is coming to town

He actually came early this year. The boys got to see Santa before Thanksgiving. Bass Pro Shops have a Santa and North Pole set up by the boat section at the Harrisburg Mall. They give you a free photo and then if you want more you can go online and order more. Its actually very cute and they have a nice set up. There are also activities for the kids. You can take your own pictures as well. Here are two pictures that I took.

This is my favorite of the two.

"Smile and look like good little boys"

I recommend checking it out. We also walked down to look at the sand castle in the center of the mall this year. It's very intricate but not as monstrous as previous years. I would have like to see it a little bigger.

Jason's first school program

Jason had his first staged school program a few weeks ago. All of the kindergartners were on stage and they sang Thanksgiving/Fall songs. It was really cute to see all the kids singing. I wish I had taken my camcorder!

Jason is standing to the left of the waving girl.

At the end parents were allowed to come up and take pics.

Jason leaving the stage with his class.

The Making of a Jack-O-Lantern

This year the boys each got to pick out their own pumpkin for carving. Jason picked out a 35lb pumpkin and Grayson's came in at 33lbs.

Jason's pumpkin.

Pulling the top off.

Finished!

They had a lot of fun but refused to touch the inside of the pumpkin. Chris carved Grayson's pumpkin the next day but didnt take pictures. The only picture we have of his pumpkin is in the background of some trick-or-treat photos.

Here's the best one I can zoom in on.

End of a Season...

...soccer season that is.

Jason's last soccer game was last Sun. They ended the season with zero wins but they had fun and that's what matters more.

Jason progressively got better as the season went on. As they lost game after game a few of the kids decided to stop showing up. By the end of the season they were down to 8 players total, which meant that every player had to play the whole game. The last game Jason was the goalie for the first half of the game. He did well but a few goals got past him anyway.




After the last game they got a trophy to commemorate the season. Jason was so proud of his trophy that we had to put it on top of the desk so he can see it everyday.

Jason with Coach Pete. He called Jason the Little Engine that Could because Jason never gave up. He knew very little about soccer when he started but he practiced hard and tried his best and he did it!

Its been a long time!

Ok, so I am finally taking the time to post something. So much has been happening so fast that its been nearly impossible to spend enough time on the computer to get anything up here.

I will start with the most recent and go back a little.

Halloween was last week and the kids had fun dressing up and going trick or treating! We walked around the neighborhood, which is always nice as we don't get much of a chance to meet new neighbors or interact with old ones.

Here are some pics. Grayson was Spiderman and Jason was Iron Man.

They had a lot of fun and got way too much candy!

Hopefully I will have another post up soon!!

Computer Issues

For anyone who actually reads my blog, I will be posting stuff soon.

Our computer was attacked by a virus. We now have the laptop hooked to the internet and it has been a slow process to get everything going again. Fortunately we didnt lose and pictures or files due to the virus, it just made it very hard to use the computer.

Anyway, check back soon for new updates on the kids and our family.
Thanks for reading.

McClure Bean Soup Festival

On Thursday, Chris and I drove back to my hometown to attend the 115th annual Bean Soup Festival. Its just a small carnival that they hold in my hometown every year. It is also, where, 15yrs ago I bungee jumped. Yes, I was only 14 and trust me, age has taught me fear!

They no longer offer bungee jumping, or much of anything else for that matter, but the kids still had lots of fun. We got the wristband option for the rides, which was better in the long run. They got to ride for 5hrs for $15 each. The rides weren't that great but they had hours of fun for $30, so it was worth it.

The kids loved riding on the Disney Characters
but the ride didn't go up and down like
it is supposed to.

They must have gone down this slide
about 50 times, which paid for the wristband.

I got suckered onto the Ferris wheel. I hate Ferris Wheels and Jason had already ridden it 3 times by himself.

Grayson on the Jet Ski ride. It went really fast and they both liked it.

Jason and Grayson on the "bus" with their cousin Ethan.

We ended up leaving the carnival around 9:30. Jason had school the next morning and it was an hour drive home. They both fell asleep in the car and Grayson slept until 10am the next morning! They keep asking when they can go again. I guess they had fun!

MHO Family Summer Picnic

Being a person who loves summertime I am quite upset about it being over already. I love the holidays and the smells of fall but I will miss the summer activites. One of the activities that ended the summer was my mom's group summer picnic. The kids had a lot of fun despite the freezing cold pool water.

Grayson must have jumped into the pool 50 times.

He loved it!

I love this pic of Jason swimming with the sun behind him.

Grayson swining after closing the pool because he threw up in it!

Leave it to my child to throw up in the pool!

Jason playing on the seesaw!

Soccer update

Jason still loves playing soccer. He is still learning the rules and learning how to play the different postions. Younger kids just want to kick the ball around and get goals. They don't understand that when they play defense they are not supposed to cross center field and they are supposed to keep the ball from going into their goal. He is learning a lot each day. To help him out at home I bought him a little goal and his own soccer ball. He picked out a red, white and silver ball because his team color is silver. Grayson got his own ball too. His is just white and black and a little softer than Jason's ball.

Here is Jason practicing with my dad when he was home to visit a few weeks ago.

Grayson playing with his ball. He loves to play soccer too and should be quite good by the time he is old enough!

Jason in his uniform.

His team is called the

Silver Robots. The kids

each picked a name and the

coach put them into a hat.

That's the name that won.

Jason wanted the team

to be the Silver Sonic.

There was a parent

who let their kid put in

for the Silver Bullets.

I felt bad for letting Jason

name the team after a

video game character.

Unfortunately, the Silver Robots lost their first game. There is no official score kept but they didnt score a single goal and the other team scored 5. So, unofficially, they lost 0-5. I've always said that as long as he was still having fun then it is worth it. It was fun to listen to Grayson say "Go, Silver Robots!" and "Come on Jason get the ball." I think he enjoyed watching the game as much as Jason enjoyed playing it. Jason's best friend Daric and his family also came to watch the game.

Pic of the first game. Jason is #17.

Being the kind of person he is, Chris signed us up to bring snack for the first game. He likes to get things done and out of the way, where as I would have wanted to see what the other parents were going to bring before I brought something. But I let Jason pick out the snack. He wanted juice boxes and cheese crackers. The kids seemed to like them. I am not really sure why parents bring snack anyway. The games are only an hour and I personally can bring an after game snack for my own child. I guess its just a way for parents to feel more involved and at least we are done with our snack contribution for the season. Hopefully they will win the next one. I think some of the kids were a little discouraged after the game.

Picture of Daddy and Grayson watching the game.