photo dump

We've had a great last few weekends, doing nothing super important, but getting things done for the fall.

Brian spent last weekend getting the Christmas lights up and ready to go.  It was a beautiful day and he pulled out a bunch of new lights he got on clearance last year.  Can't wait to see what our house looks like all lit up!

Friday of last week we had a great little evening spending time with my childhood best friend's parents.  They live in Chicago but were driving through KC and stopped by to say hello.  They haven't changed at all and we had so much fun catching up and going out for pizza.

I sure missed my friend Erin, but I'm sure we'll cross paths soon (hopefully!)

The ladies after dinner on Friday

 The boys

We've gotten bit by the Christmas bug around here.  Colin just loves "reading" the toy magazines that have come in the mail recently.  He's circled just about everything in there so we have some narrowing down to do!

 Studying hard

 Raiding the Ninja Turtle aisle at Target

Last weekend on Saturday, Grammie and Grandad grabbed Mags and cousin Olivia for a morning of fun.  They signed up for a Tea party with the Princesses and the girls had a blast (so did Grandad, I'm sure!)

 The girls got glitter in their hair and a special tiara and princess cup, and Grammie got them each a pretty bow for their hair.  Maggie even came home with a certificate deeming her Princess of the Court.

It's official...Maggie's a princess!

Our neighbors emailed me some crazy pictures of the boys from a couple of weekends ago...

I had to share!

Can't believe it's November already...

pretty soon it'll be finals week and I'll be posting pictures of Tiff's baby shower!

Halloween 2013

 Halloween 2013 was the best one yet.  Maybe that's because the kids are getting older and having way more fun out trick or treating.  We could hardly keep up with Colin tonight, he was so excited!  We went out with our neighbors the Hall's and ended up meeting up with other neighbors in our cul-de-sac.  We went the same route as last year, and made much better time this year.  Maggie insisted on being held the whole time, maybe next year she'll do some running with Colin.  

It was chilly, but not too bad.  We opted for many layers under the outfits rather than coats on top.  It worked out well and we were plenty warm after our 1 hour trick or treating session.  The kids stayed up and handed out candy for about 45 minutes before we headed to bed.  It was a great time had by all!

Grammie and Grandad came over at the beginning of the evening to say hello and see us all dressed up as Ninja Turtles.  

I love this picture of them!  Too cute!

 We then headed down the street where the Parkville police were there with their command center vehicle.  The kids got some goodies there (non candy stuff, which is always appreciated) and then we stopped by Brian's Aunt Jo and Uncle Ken's house (which was full of all of Brian's cousins and family).

We then headed out trick or treating.

Here's the Teson fam all ready to go...

Michelangelo, Donatello, Raphael, and Leonardo

Oh yeah!

Love this one...the costumes looked so great and they were ready for some candy!

The kids at the end of the night, in their pajamas, waiting to hand out some candy...

So much fun!

Last weekend we carved some pumpkins (Brian and I did it all, the kids didn't really show any interest at all!)

But we think they turned out pretty cute...

and speaking of cute, here's just a cute picture of Mags fresh from a rosy-cheeked nap...

Fall party at Pre-K

 I was able to make it to the kids' fall parties today at pre-k.  

I actually signed up to do the craft in Maggie's room.  Nothing too creative, just a picture of a bare tree that the kids painted leaves on using their fingers.  They did a great job and didn't get too messy!

I'm so glad I am able to have flexibility with my job and make it to their school functions.  I know I am just starting out at this, but it was nice to meet the other parents and put faces of the names of the classmates Colin and Maggie talk about.

One boy apparently talks about Maggie A LOT at their house, so his dad was glad to finally meet Maggie to see who his son was smitten with! :)

Maggie enjoying her cupcake for her snack.

Poor girl was so full she didn't hardly touch her lunch.

 Another mom snapped this picture for me while I stopped into Colin's room.

I was just walking back and forth between the two.  I helped set up snack and do the craft in Colin's room.

 Colin made a giraffe! 

He was so proud!

Colin's room had a "noah's ark" theme for their party, so he had rainbow sherbet, animal crackers, and blue juice.  Plus, they did animal charades...it was so cute!

We're all so excited for Halloween tomorrow night.

I hope the rain stops before we're ready to head out for trick-or-treating or we're going to be wet and soggy Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles!

Trunk or Treat

 Just a quick post with a few cute pics from the last couple of days.

My mom came to watch the kids for 2 days this week, it was parent teacher conference week and then they had off school Thursday and Friday.

The kids had a great report at their conferences.  Although, both of them apparently just smiled and stared at the teachers when they were trying to evaluate them on their checklist of skills to master.

Oh well.  They are socially getting along fine and are amazing Brian and I every night with things they have learned during the school days.  They really are like little sponges!

Back in the day, when Colin was one, my mom got him a sweater from a store in Topeka that specializes in items from Peru homemade by people living in Peru.

Anyway, it just wasn't really Colin's style. 

I had it hanging up in Maggie's closet  and wouldn't you know, she found it and won't take it off now.

Mags in her new favorite jacket!

I guess they do kindof look alike (minus the different colored hair and eyes!)

We spent all day today outside playing with our neighbors.  We had plans to carve pumpkins, but didn't get too far on that since the kids were going crazy running around outside.

It was so much fun, such a nice day.  

Dylan (5), Colin (4), Alex (3), Maggie (2) and Sophia (3)

I think they're going to be great friends!

 After church, we ran back home, shoved some pizza in our faces, then headed back up to church for their Trunk or treat night.

The kids had a blast, and they were the cutest ones there!

Brian ran home because we forgot their weapons, but we waited for him and the kids had so much fun when he got back.  It was a nice little pre-Halloween trial.  Maggie kept her mask on for the majority of the night, and the sweatshirts really kept them pretty warm, too!

Brian and I can't wait to also be dressed up for another awesome Halloween family picture.

Thanks to Meemaw for sewing up their sweatshirts and being the mastermind behind attaching their shells (oh, and dying the sweatshirts and helping with their belts...)  I promise I helped, too!

We are super excited for Halloween in the Teson household!

trees and random fall pictures

 It's definitely becoming fall around here, but we don't mind cause this family LOVES fall!

We painted Maggie's room pink and added some Hello Kitty stickers.  It FINALLY looks like a little girls room, not just some random room with half peeled off borders and off-white walls.  For some reason I don't have any pictures of it, but believe me, it looks awesome.

Halloween is quickly approaching, and the whole family is going to be Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.  It really was a lot of fun going as the Incredibles last year, that we decided to try to "family" costume another time.  Meemaw has been awesome in helping make the costumes.  I always have these great ideas, then realize I have about a billion other things going on.  So, Meemaw swoops in and gets things done.

 Here's the shells that are going to be attached to our back.  They are actually foam and paper mache pumpkins that have been cut in half and spray painted green.  They'll look great!

 The other day I made a batch of pumpkin pie spice puppy chow.  The recipe called for those candy corn pumpkins and they were a huge hit with the kids.  Here's Maggie doing a hip hip hooray for the pumpkin!

Brian and I went out shopping for a tree the other weekend.  We wanted one to go in our backyard so that we could get some shade on our deck in the summer.  It's a great time to plan a tree right now, so Brian and his brothers and dad helped plant one in Grandad's yard and in our backyard.  The only issue...it was pouring rain and really, really, really cold.  But, the boys were hard workers and got the 1200 lb, 25 foot trees planted.  You can ask Brian if you want the full story, but let's just say, it was quite the project!

 Working hard in the rain

 The finished product

Mags helping dad rake up the dirt from the tree.

We will put up some tree stakes and mulch around the base next weekend, but I'm sure we'll love it in the summer and we can't wait for the much-needed shade it will provide!

Pumpkin patch 2013

We made it out to the pumpkin patch again this year.  We love going to Carolyn's Country Cousins in Liberty, especially during the few hours when they have free admission on certain days during the week.

Colin remembered all of the fun stuff at the Pumpkin Patch and was telling me all about it on the ride out there.  Maggie was trying to decide if she really wanted to go or not, because the poor thing was diagnosed with pneumonia just a couple days ago and is still on the mend.  She hasn't had a fever for over 2 days now, so we are going to try making it to school again tomorrow.  She's such a trooper, and we are so lucky that Meemaw was able to cover for us when the kids were off school this week.

Anyway, back to the pumpkin patch...

The corn pit is always a big hit...not nearly as messy as sand but just as much fun!

 okay okay, they're not really for sale, but they are cute

 We loved feeding the little baby goats, except Maggie got particularly grossed out when they would leave little spit bubbles on her hand.  She can be such a diva sometimes.

 The slides are always another big hit

 Colin said this was his favorite thing at the pumpkin patch this year..."getting in the big green thing"

 The huge rocking chair (that actually rocked this year!)

 Silly face picture among the pumpkins

The best family picture we could get

We also got to enjoy some pumpkin donuts while we were there.  And Maggie was able to eat them this year (actually, she just licked the sugar off the outside of the donut), because last year she still had her dairy allergy.  

A beautiful fall day with my amazing family!

September happenings

 The end of September was fairly busy for me, as my co-worker and mentor retired and I was in charge of throwing the retirement party and gatherings.  It was really fun, but I'm not much of a "party planner", so it was stressful and overwhelming at times.  Luckily, my new co-worker Dave was willing to lend a hand and helped out a ton at the last minute.

We had a Cardiology party on a Wednesday afternoon, then headed off to a local bar for the evening to spend more time celebrating.  It all turned out great and everyone had a fun time.

Rich really appreciated it and we're going to miss him dearly!

Dave, Rich, and I in our Exercise Phys Lab at the retirement celebration

Then, the next weekend, Mags and I drove down to Belton to help Tiff start her baby registry.  I remember how overwhelming it was for me when I was pregnant with Colin, so I offered to lend a hand.  Meemaw met us down there and we spent a couple of hours in Babies R Us and all our heads were about to spin.  So many baby things, some are necessities, but some are not.  Sorting through it all can be a bit much, but we made it through okay.

 Mags thought her new baby nephew would love the Hello Kitty bedroom set

 She also thought the large jungle themed animals were a lot of fun!

 Plus, Mags and Colin got some new sweet Converse high-tops from Meemaw  

Looking good!

 Just an ordinary day picture from last weekend, but Mags was helping vacuum the kitchen, which didn't last long, but it's the thought that counts, right?

Our friends Caleb and Erin came into town this weekend from St. Louis.  They brought their almost 5-year old daughter Madeline and their 7 week old baby Micah.  Both Colin and Mags were thrilled to see the baby.  It was really cute watching them interact with him.  Micah was such a sweet baby, hardly fussed at all.

And finally, a little video of my son's sweet dance moves...

Gotta love him!