trick or treat!

hApPy HaLLoWeEn!!!!

silly sisters at the farmer's market! 

 we carved pumpkins on saturday, just in time for the first halloween party.

 this year afton dressed up as a witch, with a beautiful peacock feather hat.

and ella found her new calling in life...cheerleading.

 she tried on her costume last week and said in a dreamy voice,

"i've always wanted to be a cheerleader" 

aaahhhhhh.............

and afton is looking on with such love.

or concern.

hard to tell.

 today we did the 3rd grade party.

(ella and friend, hayley)

 the kids paraded in their costumes,

made witch hats out of cookies and candy,

and then they played "dont eat frank!"

some of the other room moms were not completely on board with this game.

but i stood by my 'frank' game, and it turned out to be a big hit!

doubters.

 tonite the girls hit the streets with ryan.

they returned with a bucket of candy, each.

then the girls hit the other streets with me.

another bucket of candy.

and a toothbrush.

here they are throwing their obscene piles of candy in the air,

laughing and yelling "it's mine!  all mine!"

like they've found a buried treasure chest filled with gold.

another halloween, another dentist bill.



hulse family reunion 2012

i can't believe i haven't shared all about our fun hulse family reunion!

the reunion was held in celebration of mom & dad hulse's 40th wedding anniversary.

we met up a couple hours past chicago in the teeny, tiny town of sterling, illinois.

we all stayed at a beautiful, old mansion right on the river.

we did a lot of nothing, which was just perfect.

amazingly though, grandma found a quilt shop!

 grandma and aftie love a good quilt shop!

 we tried to get all of the cousins (with their birth number)

in an organized photo.

we almost got it!

 this little train belonged to the cute neighbor (driving) next door.

he took the kids on tons of rides around his track.

they loved it!

he even had wooden train whistles and hats for the kids to keep.

 prescott and ella are the best of cousins! 

they love each other and love playing together.

they always pick up right where they left off.

 an added bonus to the week, was dad's birthday!

we had a fun picnic at the park to celebrate.

 the aunties made this miniature replica of mom and dad's wedding cake.

we celebrated with cake, a drawing done by travis, and reminiscing.

 two monkeys!

 the whole entire cute hulse family!

grandpa and grandma with some of the crazies!

we had a great time making memories with our family!

cousin sarah

the girls and i have fallen in love!

with cousin sarah!

sarah is actually ryan's cousin, and i'm sure he would have loved her too, except he left town the day she arrived at our house.

i think sarah was about 10 or 11 the last time we saw her.

she was visiting a friend in toronto but decided to come to buffalo for a day or two.

sarah is so fun and was such a lovely guest to have in our home.

she was so fantastic with the girls and they were sad to see her leave.

we took her niagara falls and ordered the famous la nova pizza and wings.

in return, she helped ella with math homework!

she had to go home to utah because her school break was over.

otherwise we would have bribed her to stay forever!



a perfect day

all of these things make up the perfect day

for me... 

 ryan's home!

a fort is being constructed

 conference is on

perhaps an outing to this lovely place

 handstand practice 

 resting after a morning run with mom and dad

 

funny how time changes our perspective.

such simple things make the truly perfect day.

birthday celebration!

in celebration of

uncle rand...

dinner at 5guys!

at aunt pat's request, all family members were to join in celebrating uncle rand's birthday by partaking of a cheeseburger, fries and diet pepsi. 

ryan's out of town this week, but the girls and i definitely enjoyed our dinner out.

we brought afton's friend along. 

AND we had a special toast to uncle rand!

eating uncle rand's favorite meal was a great way to remember such a fun-loving guy.

happy birthday uncle rand!!!!! 

indigo girls concert

 the other night, we joined a few friends for dinner and a concert. 

the buffalo philharmonic orchestra (BPO) rocked with the indigo girls.



 i saw ryan's eyelids getting very heavy at several points during the concert.

he had a busy week.

also, he's not really a fan of these types of outings.

(but since he's the president of my fan club, he sees the value in joining in)

i think the girls all had fun. 

meg, liza, tara and me!

as a side note...

the boys reported that there were a lot of girls using the men's bathroom!