Happy Halloween

The kids had a good night. It was unbareably cold out tonight, so we only lasted about 25 mins trick or treating before the kids wanted to go home. They still managed to get quite a bit of candy.

 Emali as Batgirl

 Erin as a pirate

Alvin the frog

The kids trick or treating

I'm so mad this one is fuzzy. :( He was so excited about it once he figured out what trick-or-treating was.

Me and Eric

Fall Evening Sky

I love living in New England!

Our pumpkins

We carved pumpkins tonight. Finally. I thought I'd show them off.

 Erin's pumpkin ---- Hello Kitty Vampire

 Emali's pumpkin ---- The Pumpkin King from The Nightmare Before Christmas

 My pumpkin ---- Zero from The Nightmare Before Christmas

 Eric's pumpkin

 Alvin's pumpkin ---- Transformers AutoBots symbol

All of our pumpkins on our porch

Soccer Game Nine

Today we played against North Stonington and...WE WON!! Yay! 5-3. The kids were sooo excited to finally win again. Totally made Em's day.

 I just loved this pic of her and the ball. This was taken while they were getting setup to kick off.

 This is how Em actually spends most of her time during games: On the ground. She falls down; gets knocked down; gets tripped; etc generally about 5 times or more per game.

Erin wanted me to add this pic of her. And she says "Hi Grandma!"

Soccer Game Eight

We played today against the team that the parents got into a fight with before.  Luckily, everyone was in a jovial mood and no fight broke out. It was COLD though! We lost 5-0 but as I've said before, we're used to it.

 Emali running the ball down the field.

Trying her best.

We're starting Alvin early with a cell phone. *grin* He was playing with some zoo app on my phone.

Happy Anniversary

To me and Eric! Today marked our third anniversary together. CRAZY! I really cannot believe it's been three years. I still love this man as much as I did that day.

We celebrated by going out to the Hard Rock Cafe at Foxwoods Casino. This was made possible by the WONDERFUL Jackie. She and her hubby (Ryan) watched our monster so we could have a few hours to ourselves.

Happy Birthday Charley

Charley's litter pic - 4 weeks old

Charley the night we brought him home - 7/8 weeks old

Charley now - 2 years old

Naugatuck Railroad, Co.

Since there wasnt a soccer game today (and I was feeling better), we decided to head to Thomaston, CT to the Railroad Museam of New England and took a ride on their diesel engine train. It was fun. We want to try out the Essex Steam Train next.

The kids sitting in the passenger car on the train
One of the views from the train

Taking as we were heading down the tracks. Isnt it a neat sight?

Another view from the train

I just LOVE this pic of the girls on the train

Soccer Game Seven

It was cold ya'll. COLD. C-O-L-D!! 42 degrees when we left the house to head to the game. FOURTY-TWO!!! Em wore both pieces of her UnderArmor, a headband, and some gloves. Unfortunately, I wasnt feeling all that well and ended up leaving the game during halftime. Because of that, I dont know the final score, but I do know that we lost. No big suprise there and the team is quite used to it at this point.

Em taking a throw-in

Taking the ball down the field

Alvin was just TOO cute in his winter stuff.

Ya'll THIS is how I spent the rest of the day. In bed. Sick as all get out. With my cat laying on me.

Referral APPROVAL

Yes, you read that right. Our referral to the NF clinic at Boston Children's Hospital was APPROVED! No appeals process. Nothing. We did have to go to a review, but once they got all the information from the doctor here and the doctor back in Ohio, they approved the referral. This is a big deal because Boston Children's is out of network.

We go on December 15 to the clinic. I cant wait. Finally someone who KNOWS what neurofibromatosis is and I dont have to explain to them. So, look for updates AFTER then!

Referral APPROVAL

Yes, you read that right. Our referral to the NF clinic at Boston Children's Hospital was APPROVED! No appeals process. Nothing. We did have to go to a review, but once they got all the information from the doctor here and the doctor back in Ohio, they approved the referral. This is a big deal because Boston Children's is out of network.

We go on December 15 to the clinic. I cant wait. Finally someone who KNOWS what neurofibromatosis is and I dont have to explain to them. So, look for updates AFTER then!

Picture Day

Today is picture day at school. I wont have their actual pictures for a few weeks, so I took some myself at home. Enjoy the preview!

Halloween Wreaths

Here are the Halloween wreaths the kids and I made last night. All it took was some wooden wreath forms, ribbon, candy corn/pumpkins, some paint and hot glue. Took us an hour to assemble, then took 12 hours for the sealant to dry. Quite a fun project for the girls to do.

Emali's wreath
My wreath

Erin's wreath

Alvin's wreath

Sausage Cheese Balls

Ingredients:

2 cups Bisquick

10 oz shredded cheese

1 lb non-link sausage

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F

2. Combine all ingredients in a bowl. Knead together until well mixed. *this takes a while*

3. Roll into small balls and place on large ungreased cookie sheet.

4. Bake for 20 mins. Let stand 5 mins before serving.

This is probably one of the easier things I make, but everyone LOVES them. There is NEVER any left.

LONG weekend

We had a wonderfully enjoyable LONG weekend. We spent it cleaning out the garage, watching movies, playing the Wii, and just spending time together as a family. We ended the long weekend by heading out to Bluff Point. It was such a nice day today we couldnt resist. Below are some pictures from that. The girls and I also spent some time tonight making Halloween wreaths. They wont be fully dry until tommorrow, so I'll post about them then.

The view from the beach at Bluff Point
Eric and Alvin playing with Charley in the water

Charley just LOVED the water.