Halloween

At preschool it was farm dress up day for the kiddos. Grace was a bunny and looked pretty cute playing the part! It was fun to see all the animal costumes they came to school in.

 Halloween night we braved base for the trick or treating.

Jackson is a red power ranger and Grace was a fairy princess. This is the first time in 4 years that Jackson has not been Spiderman. Grace changed her mind about a dozen times, so I told her to just go in her dress up box and make up a costume. So, princess fairy it was!

 The wings.

 Jackson being a goof ball while we waited for our friends.

 Shane, Jackson, Brody, Grace and Chayenne (our old german neighbor)

 The the games begin!

 After about an hour out we went to eat and then came home to put a candle in our pumpkins.

It was a great day of Halloween festivities!

Sunday Hike

Sunday is our designated family day at the Scherden house. It's a day that the kids don't play with friends and we just relax, watch movies, nap and play games. This past sunday we went on a hike in the forest.

(We saw a friend on the trails and she offered to take a picture of us. So we were able to get a great family photo!)

 I was so excited when I saw one of these fairy tale mushrooms just off the path. I remember these from when Jackson was in german kindergarten. 

They are called "fliegenpilz" and slightly toxic.  

 Reminds me of a lollipop. The one in the background was about 6 inches across.

 This is on our drive from our house. I call this the tunnel of trees road. It was more colorful a few days before the snow and frost came. But at least you get a slight picture of what we see everyday on our drive.

Snow in October...REALLY?

We woke up on Saturday to small amount of snow falling. The kids were so excited! It is crazy that we have snow and it's not even Halloween yet.

 She could hardly contain herself...

 pajamas and all she had to get out and run in the snow.

 Once the neighborhood kids woke up they wanted to get out and play. 

I still have all the winter stuff up in the attic, so I searched through the buckets and found what I could. 

 Jackson and Alex

 Jackson loved making a snow ball in our front yard.

 The neighborhood gang running down to play on the trampoline.

It was a great treat to wake up to. Even now a day later, there is still snow on the roof tops and sprinkled in our grass. Ready or not...winter is here!

Our Yard...Before and After

So when we bought the house the yard was a wreck. And when I say wreck, I mean WRECK! 

We knew that one of the first things we were to do was to redo the lawn and make it usable. 

For some strange reason they buried the propane tank in the middle of the backyard. Well, as you can see it made the yard uneven and just strange. We tried to get them to raise the tank and make the yard all one level, but that was going to cost way more money than we ever wanted to spend. So, the next best thing was to build a deck over the top.

After about 4 weeks of construction it is complete. We are very pleased with the results and love being able to use the backyard. The kids have had so much fun playing running through the new, plush grass.

We still have a terrace to install over the brick area. I'll be sure to post pictures when that is finished.

Before:

AFTER!

So...what do you think?

Nuenkircher Zoo

The kids had the day off school for a teacher improvement day and we took advantage of it by going to the the Nuenkircher Zoo. Some friends of ours joined us to see the animals. Jackson was in the same kindergarten class with Landon last year and this year I have Gavin in my preschool class.

The kids had so much fun hanging out together.

These monkeys were so funny to watch. They would fight, play and pick out bugs from each others fur.

 The leaves are really starting to change color around here. Makes me truly appreciate the season.

 I love having a week day off with both the kids. It's not that often that it happens so I soak it up!

Grace's Field Trip

The preschool went on a field trip to the Pumpkin Patch. It was beautiful weather that day and perfect to go to the fields and get a pumpkin. 

Grace and her teacher Ms. Shelly

Grace and her sidekick, Ava

They took the kids on a tour of the farm. The kids loved seeing the cows, horses, pigs and chickens.

 At the patch picking a pumpkin off the vine.

 Grace being a goof ball...as usual!

More of Dublin

On our last two days in Dublin we took full advantage of the good weather. Sunday was beautiful blue skies and Monday was a little cloudy, but not raining. 

We started off Sunday taking the bus to the other side of town. We wanted to go to St. Patricks Cathedral, but being Sunday morning we weren't allowed in during services. So we decided to do what any one in Ireland would do...and go to the Guinness Storehouse and drink some amazing beer.

This is the "Spire of Dublin" which is 398 feet tall.

 While walking to the Guinness Storehouse Liz noticed this halo around the sun. It was beautiful!

 We learned all about the correct way to pour and drink Guinness. I had no idea there was a rule to either of them.

 Me "taking the test."

 After we passed the test, we got our certificates and enjoyed our own poured glass.

It's hard to see here, but this is the correct way to pour.

Step 1:Take a cool, dry, Guinness brand glass.

Step 2: Hold the glass with the label on the opposite side (very important) and at a 45 degree angle under the tap.

Step 3: Pull the handle fully forward towards you. Slowly straighten the glass when it gets 3/4 full. Stop when it gets to the top of the harp on the glass.

Step 4: Leave the surge to settle (picture above) allowing the creamy head to form. 

Step 5: After 90 seconds top off the glass by pushing the handle away from you and stop when the head is proud of the rim.

Step 6: Present the glass always with the logo facing forward.

*It takes 119.5 seconds to pour and serve Guinness correctly.

I thought it was so funny that they are so proud of how the whole procedure is done. But when you have a beer that tastes that good, I guess you can be a little arrogant about it. 

 

On Monday we went to St. Michan's Church. The church has vaults the contain mummified remains under the church.  The walls of the vaults contain limestone, which has kept the air dry, creating ideal conditions for perservation. The bodies are approximately 400 years old. It was a little creepy being down there, but at the same time amazing that the bodies were in the condition they were in. Some bodies still had skin and fingernails/toenails intact. Among the remains are a nun, a 6 and a half foot man who was believed to have been a crusader in the 1798 rebellion. It is good luck to touch the hand of the Crusader...so that is exactly what we did. We gently rubbed his hand-skin and all! At one time when they started to give tours way back you could shake his hand. But over the years some people were too rough and his hand started to fall off. So now we "gently" touch it.

This is the opening to the crypts. 

 These next two pictures were ones I got of wikipedia because we weren't allowed to take pictures. 

 While walking to St. Patricks Cathedral I saw this apartment building with my maiden name on it. Love it!

 Then a little more down the road we saw this sign for Liz. Perfect for Mrs. Green!

St. Patricks Cathedral was founded in 1191. 

It blows my mind every time when I think of how old these cathedrals are. 

1191!

 At each of the seats the cushions were attached. Each one is hand stitched and amazing.

 The beauty of the inside of the church.

Dublin was a great city to see and explore. I loved that they speak english and I wasn't trying to figure out what things were. It is very different for the west coast where I went over 11 years ago. I recommend it to anyone who is thinking about going. Ireland will always hold a special place in my heart.