Trick-or-Treat!

It was definitely a fun Halloween 2011! Tessa was so into everything about it. Nolan started to get into it too but still a little confused what was going on :) We purchased Nolan this adorable cow costume (since cows, tractors, barns are his favorite things EVER...still not sure why!?!?) but he wanted absolutely nothing to do with putting it on. It was a full body costume and all he wanted to do with it was walk around like it was a stuffed animal. Our little cow turned into a football player which worked out perfectly. Tessa wore her favorite dress up costume - Tinkerbell - that she got from Aunt Cinders and Uncle Mikers last year. She was decked out and loving every minute of it.

The Lane/Pertzborn crew...love these kids. What in the world would my kids do without M, M, and M in their lives?

The girls. A little snuggle before we started trick-or-treating.

Having a little heart-to-heart conversation while going house to house.

Tessa being a goofball and Nolan still trying to figure out what this whole pumpkin carving, take outside, light a candle in the inside of it thing is all about.

Tessa so carefully cleaning out of her pumpkin and Derek using his sawzall. The butter knife I used worked just fine :)

Look at that concentration. Good job working hard Tessaroo on painting your cute, little pumpkin.

The next three pics are from Stephie's Halloween party. We are so lucky to have her in our lives and are so lucky to have her help raising our children while we are at work. The kids LOVE going to Stephie's..Nolie no longer says Beppy :(. She had adorable Halloween games set up for the kids to play and they had so much fun.

Making a spider web. Even Jennings, aka Nolan, joined in on the this one. Not sure which he was more excited about, playing the game or sitting by Mitchell, but either way he loved it.

The kids signing and acting out a song for us. Super cute!

The beginning of the Halloween show :)

Nolan loves tractors more than almost anything else in the world. He was in awe to be so close to this tractor, and even more importantly the tractor's wheel! He was in heaven and telling him it was time to leave that day was not pretty.

Cheeeeeeese!

Playing outside while we can. Loving playing around in the leaves.

Nolan loving the leaves too. Man the slide goes quickly with leaves all over it!

Fall

What a beautiful fall. We couldn't have asked for a more wonderful week and weekend. The nights dipping down to 55 degrees with highs during the day in the low 80's. Perfect! It would be great if this could stick around for a long time but I know this is not a typical fall in WI so the weather will be changing anytime. The tree colors right now are gorgeous and changing everyday.

We've had a great start to the school year. It's hard to believe we are beginning week six of school already and right in the swing of things. Derek is still really enjoying coaching football this fall and only has one game left before playoffs begin. Man that went fast (at least for me)! Tessa is loving school and still loves going to Stephie's or Grandma's when she's not at school. And Mr. Nolan is changing so much. He talks all the time, is so goofy and silly, and also loves going to Grandma's and Stephie's (aka Beppy). He usually gets out of the vehicle and sprints to whichever house he is going to for the day. It sure makes a mommy feel good when her kiddos LOVE where they spend their days. We are lucky to have two of the best babysitters ever.

We had Tessa's first parent/teacher conference last week. I've had hundreds of conferences over the past seven years but this is my first on the parent side. It was the cutest thing ever. Derek and I didn't know exactly what to expect. We were obviously hopeful that things were going well but you just never know. Her teacher is so sweet. Things are going great at school for Tessa. She's helpful, polite, loves reading and writing, and seems to be right on track for her age. Good job Tessaroo :)

Of course I also have to mention how extremely great it is to be from WI this fall. Go Badgers, Brewers, and Packers!

Mr. Serious just waiting to devour that apple.

Tessa being silly and Nolan being such a big boy swinging all alone.

I don't think I ever recall playing in the leaves with shorts on...but I'll take it!

Thanks Marah girl! Love the bunny accessories that you bought for T. You two are too cute together :)

Duckathon

The Lodi Duckathon - my first ever triathlon. It was the 9th annual Duckathon this year and my first time participating. It's a mini tri (125 m swim, 7 mile bike, 3.75 mile run). I feel like it was a great race to have on the list of "firsts" and maybe I can work my way up to a longer race next summer. Jess, Beau, and Rick all participated as a team in the relay and mom was also going to participate until she hurt her foot at workout a week before the race. Hopefully next year we can all participate in it again - it was a great start to a beautiful fall Saturday.