OCTOBER FUN!

October is by far my favorite month of the year! I love the crisp fall air, changing trees and decorating for fall. We have been able to enjoy all the fun things that October brings..especially pumpkin patches and our favorite holiday, HALLOWEEN! Carter was able to grow his very own pumpkin patch again this year at grandma and grandpa Berry's farm. They tried a variety of "jumbo pumpkins" this year, with the biggest one weighing in at almost 40 lbs. It was a little bit of an ordeal getting it out of the trunk at home! My favorites from his patch are the gourds and baby pumpkins.

Mom and the kids and I tried out a new pumpkin patch this year called Patches Pumpkins. We also visited our favorites Center Grove Orchard and Howell's pumpkin patch.

The lady gave me funny look when I asked if they had helmets for the kids to wear while on the horses!

Jumping pillow!

Giant slide!

Maybe next year she will be able to reach the pedals!

We carved 2 pumpkins out of Carter's patch. Neither one of the kids was too interested in putting their hands into the goo. Claire just pointed and said "yucky" Jeremy won the rock paper scissor battle and we carved an "N" for Nebraska instead of an "ISU" for the better team!

The kids got good use out of their costumes and each got to dress up at school/daycare and on Beggar's Night. Carter made a pretty handsome cowboy in his levi's and chaps.Claire was able to wear her belly dancer outfit to daycare and choose the much warmer lady bug costume for beggars night. We handed out a bowl of candy and once we combined both kids bags, ended up with more candy than we handed out! We celebrated Halloween with some special food, including a jack-lantern pizza and oreo spider cookies.

Ride em cowboy!



Happy Fall! Enjoy it while it lasts!

KIDDOS

It's seems like a while since I have posted anything about the kids. So here is a quick update all about them!

Carter: Last week he got promoted to a new belt level in Taekwondo. He is now a gold/white belt and this also means that he is no longer a Little Dragon, but a Little Tiger. He is very excited as "tigers are much cooler than dragons mom!" Although I knew he would do great I was so nervous for him. At promotion, the Master didn't call his name out to test with his normal group, telling him that he wanted to test him with the bigger kids. My stomach was already in knots and this about put me over the edge! Then, to top it off, the Master asked Carter how old he was after the test in front of everyone and proceeded to tell Carter that if he keeps up the great work, he will be a black belt earlier than he (the Master) was. This was huge for Carter as he really looks up to Master Miller. We are so proud of him. This has been such a great thing for Carter as Taekwondo is a great way for him to get out some excess energy, but also it has taught him to be more focused and respectful as well as helping out others. We really see a change in him at home and especially with his sister! He is a great helper around the house and isn't afraid to play babies with his sister! He is doing great in school and asks for "homework" at night so I have been bringing some worksheets home for him from work. He has been doing single digit math, telling time, counting by 2's, 5's and 10's to 100, and has started to read some 3 letter words. He continues to love history and can probably tell you the life story of just about any famous historical person!

Practicing his escape moves under Master Miller's watchful eye

Receiving his new belt!

Claire: Challenging!! I am not sure where our quiet little baby who never needed anything went too! She always has us on our toes! Although she is very frustrating at times, I am so glad she is a girl to be reckoned with! She is strong willed. She is bossy. She is stubborn. She knows how to get her way! However, she also is my miss manners child, always saying please and thank you! Her vocabulary is EXPLODING FINALLY! She is putting 2 and sometimes 3 words together and that has helped us with our frustration of trying to decipher what she wants. She is a HUGE tantrum thrower and unlike Carter who could work himself out of one in a couple of minutes, she will go on kicking and screaming for up to 45 minutes sometimes! She spends a lot of time in time out, but this doesn't phase her the way it did Carter. She LOVES "Ca Ca" (Carter) and makes sure to give him a hug and a kiss each morning before we head out the door. So far he is game to this but I know the day will come all too soon when he won't let her do this! She is EVERYTHING girls are! She has to have something pink on, something in her hair, her purse and her babies. She has a cell phone to her ear all the time. She loves shoes. She has to have her fingernails and toenails painted. She is organized and always puts things in their place. She is a little lady and wipes her mouth off after meals!

Applying her lipstick!

Talking on the phone!

Check out the fuzzy pink slippers!

Every girl loves a bubble bath!

PROUD SISTER

Time to brag! The first weekend in October my sister, Darcie, was inducted into the Hall of Fame at the University of Nebraska at Kearney. She was honored at the Homecoming banquet along with 4 other inductees. She was also recognized at an alumni BBQ, during halftime of the football game and at private reception for her, family, friends and teammates. She was selected to the hall of fame in her first year of eligibility ( must be out of school 10 years) and is only the third softball player to be inducted in the 30 year history of the hall of fame. She was a first team NCAA Division II All American in 1999 and a four time first team all conference infielder. She holds the school career records for single season (15) and career home runs (48) She was chosen the Omaha World Herald State Female Athlete of the Year in 1999 and was named to the All-Century team in 2009. Not only did she excel on the field, she graduated summa cum laude and was twice named to the Academic All American team. After she graduated she played with a USA Select Softball team the toured Europe. I was so glad I was able to spend the weekend honoring her and her amazing accomplishments! Our whole family is so proud of her!

A MUCH NEEDED VACATION!

On Friday Sept 17th, Jeremy and I boarded a plane in Des Moines for a BIG vacation to Greece and Turkey! Many people have asked us why we chose Greece. For those of you who know us, we have two very different ideas on what constitutes a vacation. Jeremy wants to see as much history as possible, I want to get as much sun as I can, read as many books as I can and drink as many fruity drinks as I can. So, we compromised with a few days in Athens for historical site seeing, and then went on a 5 day cruise for sun, and relaxation. We had an AMAZING time and saw some amazing places. It was hard to decide what pictures to add to the blog so I am working on a digital scrapbook I can share with everyone. For now, here is a brief rundown of our trip!

Saturday: Arrive in Athens FINALLY! Long story short, missed flights+36 hours of no sleep+lost luggage=HUGE meltdown in Athens airport by yours truly! We get to the Stanley hotel, wash out our underwear in the sink, go to bed! We pray our luggage shows up!

Sunday: We went on a sight seeing tour of Athens today. We were in a group of about 25 people with an amazing guide. The first stop was the 1st Olympic Stadium built in 1896. It is made completely out of marble and still looks brand new today! Next we went to the Acropolis Museum and took in a history lesson. This is where I ( Jeremy already knew all of this) learned about the history of Athens, the Acropolis, the Parthenon, Zeus, Athena, Apollo, Poseidon, and many other historical Greek figures. After our guided tour, we did some exploring on our own. We both agreed Athens was harder to navigate than Rome was but getting lost in a strange town is the best way to see the sights! We had a GREAT surprise when we got back to the hotel, our luggage arrived!

Monday: Our transfer picked us up at the airport bright and early and drove us to the port of Pireaus. We got checked onto the Aquamarine by 8:30 am and had the day to explore the ship, take a nap and sit outside and take in the beauty of the water. It is so amazing how blue water can be! We docked at our first stop, Mykonos, around 6:30. We spent about 3 hours touring this island, also know as "Little Venice" not so much for all the water, but the crazy winding streets and TONS of shops, bars, eateries! Back on the boat and lights out for these two!

Tuesday: We sailed overnight and ported in Kusadasi, Turkey. We didn't book an excursion here and decided to explore on our own. At first we were a little nervous here as the streets are lined with shops and the shop owners are VERY aggressive about getting you to come into their shops. Once we got past the "tourist" shops, we felt less harassed and enjoyed all the great shops filled with jewelry, leather, hand made clothes,shoes, soaps, olives and cheese. As we were getting back on the boat, we noticed someone with an ISU shirt on and after talking with this couple, found out we have mutual friends! Small world! We got back on the boat around noon, and headed to the deck for some sun and a much needed nap! That night we ported in Patmos and again explored on our own for a couple of hours. I had intentions of getting in the crystal blue water here, but it was FREEZING so we headed back to the boat for dinner.

Wednesday: We woke up this morning in Rhodes. This is the largest island we stopped at and it was amazing! It looks like it is straight out of a movie, as it has a wall built around the entire city. It has a castle in the middle with a fortress protecting it. It was so cool! We booked an excursion here to see the old city and Temple of Athena, Temple of Apollo and Philerimos. This is a religious center where priests/monks lived years ago. It is a very sacred place and very beautiful. This is also where Mussolini's summer home is located. This city if full of beautiful architecture. We did some shopping after the tour and noticed most shops here were filled with symbols/statues of Jesus Christ or of warriors such as Leonidas or Spartacus.....interesting mixture! After spending the whole day here, we boarded the boat around 6pm and got ready for "elegant" night on the ship! It was really fun to get to dress up! We had a nice dinner, but unfortunately the boat was super ROUGH!! The crew locked the doors and place "emesis" bags around the ship. Everyone walked around like a bunch of drunks. I get motion sickness fairly easily and this really affected me! I spent the rest of "elegant" night in bed or in the bathroom! Romantic huh?

Thursday: Today's morning port was Crete. We decided to sleep in and stay on the ship. We relaxed with some sun, good books and a nap! The afternoon port was Santorini. This place is completely AMAZING and I would recommend this place to anyone. We only had about 4 hours here but you could easily spend a couple of days exploring this beautiful place. This is the place you see in pictures with the white houses and blue rooftops. The scenery is unreal. This island is lucky to still be standing as it sits on a volcano and was hit by a hurricane years ago. It is only 26 miles long and at one point only half a mile wide. The only way to the city which sits high about the water is by cable car, donkey or walking! Part of Santorini has black sand beaches from the ash of the volcano. We took a walking tour here to make sure we saw the highlights since we didn't have much time here. This is definitely a place we will go back to someday!

Friday: We disembarked the ship by 7 am and headed back to the Stanley Hotel. We couldn't check in yet, so we explored a tourist area called "Plaka", meaning Plaza. We conquered the subway system to find it and we are so glad we did as this is where we ate our first gyro of the trip! I was a little leery to try lamb, but after a taste of Jeremy's decided this was the only way to go! It was SO good! Yum Yum! Needless to say, this was our diet and mission for the next 2 days, finding a new gyro shop indulging in it's goodness!

Saturday: Today we walked to the National Archaeological Museum, which houses some the world's most recognized sculptures, bronze and marble statues, and the history of different periods of time. Jeremy was in heaven when he found this statue of Augustus. We spent most of the day here before heading out to dinner at a recommended restaurant, "Alexander the Great'". Again, being the history buff, Jeremy was in heaven!

Sunday: Homebound! We arrived back in Des Moines around 8pm and were so excited to see the kids at the airport! It is amazing how much bigger they looked! Carter was so excited to see us, Claire gave us the snub and clung to my sister Darcie. She finally warmed up when she noticed Darcie wasn't coming home with us! The kids worked hard on a welcome home sign for us! It was so good to be home! We have to send a big thank you out to my sister and Jill and my mom who kept the kiddos for us while we were gone. We wouldn't have been able to take this trip without them!

Claire modeling her outfit from Turkey! Isn't she so cute?