Round'em Up

Sometime this fall, Toy Story 2 was on TV for the first time.  Hannah watched it (and watched it, and watched it, and watched it) and decdided right away she wanted to be Jessie for Halloween.  I thought that would be fun and then Cameron could be Woody.  I thought this could be a fairly inexpensive costume and maybe even my first try at sewing.  I recruited my mom, the former home-ec teacher, to come over and give me a lesson.  We realized that all we needed to make was Jessie's chaps and Woody's vest and they were both cowprint.  So, one afternoon, mom came over and away we went.  It was actually very successful!  Here is our little cowboy and girl this morning. 

Ever since Hannah's first Halloween, someone has been able to bring her, and then last year her and Cameron, to my school for our costume parade and my classroom party.  Miss Hannah had preschool this morning and her own school party (so big!), but my mom and dad still brought Cameron up to school.  It was pretty chilly so he had to wear his fleece and no one really knew what he was dressed as but oh well! 

 That night, my parents brought over a pizza and we got ready for Trick-or-Treating.  While we waited for Tim to get home, a few kids came by and Hannah loved passing out the candy to them!  Shortly after that, we took off for part of our block.  Hannah really got into this year and it was a lot of fun to watch.  Cameron also got the hang of it pretty quickly.  He would hold his bag out and get candy and then when I prompted him to say "thank you" he responded with "more!"  Oh brother!  People thought it was so cute -- it's a good thing because I, on the other hand, was quite embarassed!  Here are Jessie and Woody before the night was over!

Strike!

We have met some really great people at KC (the college Tim works at).  Some of them have kids around Hannah's age so it's a lot of fun when we go out and support the various athletic events.  The Larson's are one of those great families.  We had planned on having a double date at a local steak place tonight, but our babysitters, some of the women's soccer players, had a last minute practice and couldn't watch our kiddos.  So, we opted for a family night of dinner at the Larson's and bowling.  This was Hannah and Cash's first time bowling.  You can see they are super excited!

We did get two lanes and the kids were able to use bumpers and a ramp!  Cam caught on pretty quickly and loved pushing the ball down.  (He won on their lane too, by the way!)

 Hannah got into it as well and also had a lot of fun!

 The adults also had a lot of fun.  Come to find out the Larson's are pretty serious bowlers!  I, on the other hand, am definitely not!  I didn't even break 100!  Oh well!  It was great company and a lot of fun!  We can't wait to take the kids again!

The dads and their boys.

 The Casey Family Bowling Team -- well, not quite!

BOO at the Zoo!

Nana and Papa came down for a few days this past week and we all had a lot of fun with them!  They had a chance to hang out with Cameron and Hannah and give them lots of snuggles and love.  On Friday, we decided to go to BOO at the Zoo at the St. Louis Zoo.  It was going to be a chilly night (first in this super warm fall) so we bundled up and headed out there.  Since it was going to be cold, we didn't dress up in costumes this year.  Maybe next year!  Here we are ready to go in!

We walked around a bit and saw all of the cool decorations, then went to the carousel (or Scarousel as it's called!).  Nana and Papa took both kids on a fun ride!

 Then we went to the Children's Zoo to hear a fun story and see some animals.  The kids seemed to enjoy it, although they were both ready to go when it was time!  Hannah wasn't being the most cooperative while trying to get a family picture.  Oh well!  Life with a 3 1/2 year old! :-)

 Before we left, she did see this pretty purple tree and insisted she get her picture taken by it.  Such a goof!

It was a fun evening and something I think we will try again another year!

Pumpkin Picking Field Trip

Today, Hannah went on her first field trip.  Oh my!  What a big girl!  Usually, the preschool goes both apple picking and pumpkin picking.  Since the apple crop wasn't great this year, they decided to just do pumpkin.  I took a personal day so I could take Hannah on the field trip.  She had a great time and had so much fun with her friends! 

Meet Jackson -- her BFF.  Jackson's mommy and I went to high school together and became friends because we were both in band and cheerleading.  We stayed in contact through college and then eventually both wound up in Mascoutah.  Melissa needed a babysitter a couple of years ago and ours had an opening.  Hannah and Jackso have spent the last two years growing up together.  Even though we have different day care situations this year, they are in the same preschool class together.  I hear that every morning when they arrive at school, the hold hands and go into class together.  I love that Hannah has such a great friend! 

Our new day care provder's son is also at the same preschool in the four year old class so they were with us at the field trip.  Here are all four of the kiddo's that play every day at Ms. Amy's house!  We are so blessed by a great provider and fun friends for Hannah and Cameron to play with!

 We started the trip with a tractor ride to the patch.  We walked for a little bit and then Hannah found her pumpkin.  She loved picking it out (and then decorating it later with Nana and Papa!)

 After that, we had some apple cider and then Farmer Dan showed us all of the animals.  We were able to see and feed the pigs, cows and chickens and also check out the goats.  This orchard/farm is so much fun with tons to keep the little ones busy!

The rest of the time was spent in their play area.  There was a huge haystack to climb on and through and tons of tractors and other toys.  It was probably one of the favorite things to do on the field trip!  Cameron could not get enough of this tractor!  He was on it most of the time we were there!

Hannah and Jackson also spent some time playing with the corn kernals.

 Both of the kids LOVED this horse tire swing!  They swung for quite a bit and I had to drag them off of it!

 Hannah has such a great preschool and I'm so glad she has opportunities like this!  I can't wait to go on many more field trips with her as she gets older.

Seven Years Strong

Today, we celebrate our 7th wedding anniversary.  Seven years!  It has been quite the ride with both ups and downs, but I wouldn't change it for anything!  I can truly say that I am married to my best friend and that life just keeps getting better!  I love you, Tim, and I can't wait to see what this next year, and many down the road, hold for us!

A Future Cheerleader

Since there was no school today, the Mascoutah High School cheerleaders put on a day-long clinic for preschool-sixth grade girls.  Of course I had to sign Hannah up!  I remember going to all of the OTHS clinics as a child and always having so much fun!  I wasn't sure how she was going to do there all day by herself, but one of our babysitters is a cheerleader so I know that helped.  After a few minutes of being shy, she walked into the gym with the big girls and the rest is history!  Parent's got to come back later in the day and watch a "performance."  Oh it was so cute!  Hannah walked around the rest of the day cheering for the "Ma-scou-tah In-di-ANS!"  I will never pressure her if cheerleading isn't her thing as she grows up, but for the moment, it does this former cheerleader's heart good!