Happy Halloween!!!!

Can you believe this little pink leopard.....



raked in this much candy!??!?!?

Pumpkin Carving Contest

So Chuck decided that we should have a little contest this year carving pumpkins. It wasn't until after we had started that he "Thunk" it up. We weren't going to get pumpkins this year, but figured....why not? I don't think I've carved a pumpkin since......I was in junior high? Anyways, so we both did 2 pumpkins.

Here's a photo of all four pumpkins:

(If you want to see a bigger photo, just click on the actual photo and it will take you to a different screen with the larger version of the photo.)

Let us know which pumpkin you like the most! It's all clean fun and the way I see it....I've already won since Chuck is over the sink right now picking out all the pumpkin seeds to roast out of that gooey mess of pumpkin guts!!!

Either just say # 1 or #3 or describe the pumpkin that you are voting for.

Trunk or Treat

Tonight we went Trunk Or Treating at the Raymore-Peculiar High School. It's an annual event where the high schoolers decorate the trunks of their vehicles and let the little kids come through and see the decoration and of course to fill their bags with tons of candy. We had a great night and enjoyed watching Allison "run" around. This is really the first time we've ever "let" her run wild in public....she's really getting the hang of walking! Click on our photos link to the right to check out more photos from our fun-filled evening! And stay tuned for more photos after tomorrow nights outing of Trick Or Treating!

Hello? How are you?

Hello???

Mommy, it's for you

Say CHEEEESSSEEEEEE!!!!

This is what I do what mommy tells me to say cheese!! But I guess Kirby didn't get the memo!

(if you click on the photo you can see a bigger photo)

Just playing with my bowls

Allison enjoys getting into the kitchen cupboards and pulling out the plastic mixing bowls....aka....the candy bowls! She flips them upside down and beats on them like drums!

Boo at the Zoo

We went Trick or Treating at the zoo on Saturday. We attended it with Steph (chuck's brothers girlfriend :D), Ward, Robin and Sydney Palmer. We had a great time looking at all the animal, however some of them weren't out b/c it was just too cold for them.....and the main animals we didn't get to see were the Elephants. We did get to see the lions, leapords, tigers and kangeroos and a bunch more. The zoo was packed with parents with their kids all dressed in their Halloween costumes, and even some adults got into all the fun and dressed up. The best family costumes were The Incredibles. Both parents and 3 kids were dressed in the super hero outfits. The most popular was Spiderman, and the least popular (as in we only saw 1 costume) was a baby penguin(absolutely cute), Stewie and The Hulk. And we didn't see anyone with Allison's costume....she was dressed as a Pink Leapord.

And of course, I forgot to bring the camera, but the in laws took some photos, so hopefully I can get a few copies from them.

It was a great day for the zoo, sunny and not too cold. We still want to get up to Omaha's Zoo this year, but just not sure that will happen. Until next year I suppose!

I'm at NOT smarter than a 5th Grader!

So last night we had game night with Chuck's brother Brett and his girlfriend Steph. We had a blast playing 3 games. First we played Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader? which is actually kind of challenging. If you've watched the show you would know that the questions are somewhat hard. And it is pretty hard to remember stuff from 1st through 5th grade.
Anyways, we played teams, couple vs. couple. This time Chuck and I got to the million dollar question.....and we blew it!!! And I can't even remember what the question was. HA.

So then we took a break for supper and had some yummy pot roast! We also watched a little bit of the movie, Along Came Polly.

Then we dug out UNO Attack which is really my all time favorite game. We played a couple rounds of that and then plugged in our tv game....Wheel of Fortune. And if anyone knows me, knows that I should be on this show!! (which they were actually in KC looking for contestants) We also played a few rounds since you can only have 3 players and we had 4. So we took turns.

Of course I forgot the camera to capture our fun night!

"Baby's Best Friend"

Just had to post this photo of Allison and our 11 month old Australian Shepherd. Like two peas in a pod. This photo really captures the kind of bond they have together.

What to put here?

Well it's just been kind of one of those weeks....where there is a bunch of stuff to do and you have the time to do it, but just don't want to do it. Anyone else have this problem??? Well anyways, it's been an uneventful week, except for Tuesday, mainly rainy all week....I believe in one day we received somewhere around 5 or 6 inches!!! yikes. At least our grass is partially green again. And it looks like we'll get more rain maybe Saturday or Sunday.

I'm "recovering" from a root canal this week....that was my "BIG" event on Tuesday. Oh I hate going to see the dentist, I suppose that's probably b/c everytime I go they give me bad news. Well there was good news on tuesday, I only needed 1 root canal. But bad news was I need to have my wisdom tooth pulled....ASAP! I only got half of the root canal done...I guess they do it in 2 sittings? The 1st root canal I had done....different endodontist...they did it all in one swing.
SO my tooth is a big tender right now, but all is well, especially since they've given me some pain killers.

AnyWho.....tomorrow is Friday. We are planning on going to Raymore's Fall Harvest Night. I guess they do hay rides, roast marshmellows, have hot cocoa and cider, etc. etc. Obviously, we have never gone, so I'm a bit curious to see the turn out. Hoping that the weather will be decent for the whole night. Will for sure need a jacket and get Allison all bundled up.

There may be a chance that we head to Omaha on Saturday (if Allison and I are lucky). We've been wanting to go to the Omaha zoo all summer...well summer has passed and I'd like to go before it gets too cold. Chuck has the whole weekend off again, so I might have to do some convincing. And find someone to watch the two dogs!!! That'll be the hardest part.

I've been cleaning the house now for 3 days straight....everyday it looks nice after I'm done cleaning up and then an hour later....looks like a twister came through our house. And the dog hair is never ending! I don't suppose anyone wants a corgi and an aussie?? Just kidding...well kind of!!!
THe other thing that is never ending....laundry!!!! I suppose it will only get worse from here on out....as Allison grows up and more baby palmers come along (which will be awhile from now).

Well I guess, it is WAY past my bedtime!!! Hope everyone enjoys their Friday and weekend!!

Allison's Birth ......Day!

So today Allison turned 1!!! At 8:08am.....of course...we were all still in bed at this time, it's Saturday and Daddy has the day off, so our plans were to either go to the Pumpkin Patch or to the Kansas City Zoo.....but our plans have been foiled....as it has been raining cats and dogs all morning. They said that it shouldn't last into the afternoon, but even if it does stop raining, it will be way too muddy to try to find a pumpkin or two today. Maybe we'll just head to the Kansas City Plaza and have a nice dinner, just the 3 of us....and if weather permits....take a horse drawn carriage ride around the city. I've always wanted to do this, and I think Allison would really enjoy it, looking at all the lights (best time is Christmas, when all the Christmas trees and lights are up).

So we aren't really sure what we our going to do today. Just kind of depends on the rain.

We celebrated with Chuck's Dad's family this past Tuesday night at Chuck E Cheese and had a blast. Allison friend, Dawson, was there with his mommy and brother and sister. So we had a good time and had some yummy pizza.

This year has gone by extremely fast and can't believe that our baby girl is one! She has grown so much....she's come along way from 7lbs 10oz.....weighing in probably around 20lbs. I'm pretty sure she's going to be a tall scrawny girl.

She's now just a lil squirt....trying to walk as fast as she can, especially when mommy or daddy chases her down. She really enjoys looking at herself in mirrors and reading her textures books (ones with hair, fur, scales, leather, etc)

She still loves The Backyardigans and is now in love with The Upside Down Show (if you are a parent or maybe even a grandparent, you have to catch this show) The show really gets Allison into a daze as the 2 guys play imaginary things.

Every time the song "Sexy Back" by Justin Timberlake playes, she does a little dance and giggles so hard.

Her favorite spot to lay is on her puppy Kirby's tummy and on the doggy bed.

She's pretty much mastered the cell phone, knowing how to turn the phone back on after I've tured it off. She says hi and hello and even holds the phone up to her ear. She really enjoys it when grandmas and grandpa call to say hi and she won't let mommy have the phone back, only to accidently hang up on them.

We've just started using her sippy cups and seems to enjoy it, especially the Apple juice. Right now I would have to say her favorite food is anything beef! She really likes hamburger and of course...spaghetti.

Wow....a lot has happened in one year! Can't wait to see what is in store for us this next year!

So....to our baby girl....HAPPY 1ST BIRTHDAY......we love you so much!

Happy 1st Birthday Dawson!

Yesterday was Allison's friend(possibly future boyfriend?), Dawson's, first birthday. His mother, Stacy, was suppose to be due 2 weeks after my due date...which was the 5th. Instead we pretty much swapped due dates. Anyways, so today we had Dawson's 1st Birthday Party. Here are just a few photos to recap the day....I didn't get too many b/c my camera wasn't charged!!! GRRRR!!! So I wasn't able to get a good one of Dawson and Allison together, but maybe his mom got a few good shots. If so, I'll try to get a copy from her and upload it. However, I did manage to get the birthday boy eating his yummy cake!! Enjoy!

Nice long weekend in Iowa, now back to Missouri....

So we have had a very enjoyable time back home in Iowa. We arrived in Sioux City, IA on Wednesday evening at Chuck's grandparents home just outside of town. We were greeted by the ambulance as Chuck's Gramps took a fall off the bed and was unable to get back up. Fortunately we didn't have to take him to the hospital!!! So he's doing fine right now. Nana was kind of a wreck after Gramps took his fall, but she was so glad that she had us there. On Thursday Nana took us down to the NEW Palmer Candy House on Wesley Pkwy and 5th (i think it's 5th). It was their GRAND OPENING for the new Candy House. We had a good time, talking with some of the people we know who work there and also meeting Chuck's...2nd cousins?? Marty and Doug. Marty runs the Palmer Candy Company now. He is the 5th generation to run it. 129 years I think it was that the Palmer Candy Company has now been in business!!! AMAZING!!!

They also came out with 3 more Bings as a promotion. Originally the bing came in cherry, vanilla, pineapple and maple flavors. But of course the Cherry Bing took the prize. I've never really enjoyed Cherry Bings, but once I tried the Vanilla Bing.....I need to have more!! I just wish that you could buy them!!! So maybe they'll bring them back out around Christmas or something.

So Thursday afternoon you could have found us on our way to Fonda, IA to see Chuck's mother. We arrived around dinner time. Ordered out some food and then headed to bed. Friday was a fun day as in the afternoon we all headed over to Fort Dodge to the Community Orchards, in hope that we could get into the pumpkin patch. We weren't able to do that, but we enjoyed eating a slice of apple pie and drinking some apple cider. Allison got her first pumpkin...or 3 I guess...they are the little mini pumpkins. We also fed the goats and played a bit on the playground. We then headed to the mall to waste some time as Chuck's Grandma Betty was getting her hair done for Saturday...for cousin Jaci's wedding.

Saturday was the wedding in Fonda. We had a blast at the reception. Allison enjoyed listening and dancing to the music on the dance floor. She accompanied me on the dance floor as the "cha cha slide" song played. Boy was that a long song.

So Sunday brought us over to mom and dad's for Allison's Birthday Party! The dining table was all decked out in "The Backyardigans" decorations. We had some sloppy joes and chips for a late lunch, then opened a BUNCH of presents and had cake. Allison really got spoiled with presents. And we thank everyone for ALL of the gifts. Keep your eyes peeled in the future, when Allison will be wearing some of her new outfits....once she gets big enough.

We had a great time visiting with everyone that came and we were so happy that Chuck's grandmothers were able to make it up for the party, as it can be hard for them to get around at times.

Monday was our 2nd Wedding Anniversary. We spent the day relaxing here at mom and dad's. Even got an afternoon nap in. We then headed to Sioux City to Olive Garden for dinner. Allison, Mom, Grandma White and Katie also came with us. We enjoyed their company even though they insisted that we go by ourselves.

Anyway, it's quite a long blog. We are heading back home today, wish we didn't have to drive 5 1/2 hours to get there. But at least it's only that!!! We hope everyone is doing well. We posted the pictures from the orchard and the party on our picasa web album so take a look.