Halloween 2010

Halloween weekend was a busy one, but we crammed as much fun into it as possible. Our neighbors Sherri and Tiffani organized a fun little Halloween party for all of the kids, so we spent Saturday afternoon playing games, winning prizes and eating yummy treats with our neighbors.

Carter and Reese doing the beanbag toss. Reese, Mallorie and Carter on the swing.

Reese's mommy, Jami, made some adorable spider treats...they were just as yummy as they were cute!Mal and Carter mowing the lawn.

Best Brothers.

Sunday was Halloween and we suited up for some early trick-or-treating.

Carter the hamburger...Asher the hot dog.

We visited Grammy & Crappaw's house first, then walked around our neighborhood.

Trick or treat!

Asher really got into it this year!

We ran in to Reese (princess) and Cru (dragon) on the other side of the 'hood!

After we circled the neighborhood, we went home and handed out candy at our door. The boys had a lot of fun running to the door every time the doorbell rang. Adyson, the friendly ghost stopped by for a visit as well!

Sidenote #1: The largest size I could find Asher's hotdog costume in was a 6-12 months. Since he's so short, I figured that would be fine. When it arrived in the mail, I discovered that it was a baby bunting--it had no leg holes! I knew that would NOT work for our wild child, so Grammy came to our rescue and cut some new leg holes for us. Thanks Grammy!

Sidenote #2: The Thursday before Halloween, I took the boys downtown for the annual Main Street trick-or-treat. Each store we stopped at would dump some candy in each of the boys' buckets and we'd move on. Asher, however, did not want to move on, he wanted to open and eat every.piece.of.candy that hit his bucket. With a line of 50-100 people behind us, we didn't have time for that. Finally, I picked him up so we could move on and he proceeded to throw a ginormous hissy fit. Yes, I was carrying that screaming weenie all the way down Main Street. Needless to say, we cut the evening short and race walked back to our van, dripping sweat (mommy) and tears (Asher) the whole way. Ahhh, the memories.

Sunnyside Pumpkin Patch.

In early October my family was all together for the weekend, so we took a trip to Sunnyside Pumpkin Patch near Assaria. The weather was beautiful and the kids had a blast. Aunt Lou gave Carter a boost to see the animals right away. The slides were a big hit again...I think Carter made the trip up that hill about 50 times.Crappaw took Asher on his first ride down.

Daddy, Carter and Asher tried to ride side-by-side, but Carter got a head start...

...and we soon had a pile-up at the bottom!

But there were BIG smiles all around, so no harm done!

We ventured through the corn maze... ...and crawled in the corn crib. Baby Tyler even got in on the fun!

Tyler and his momma.

The boys sitting in a covered wagon.

Being silly with their daddy.Finally we got to the pumpkin pickin'. Carter was on a mission to find the perfect baby-sized pumpkin for baby Tyler. We think he loved it.Then we had to find the biggest pumpkin in the patch.Cousins!

Our annual family picture at the pumpkin patch.That evening we had volunteered to work at our church's pumpkin patch, so we had more fun! Asher just stayed for a little bit, then went to play at Grammy's. Carter was my little helper though!

This one was a keeper for our front porch!So much fall fun...the pumpkins are long gone now, but the memories will stay will us forever!

13.1 miles - CHECK!

On 10-10-10, I achieved a goal that I'd been dreaming of for several years--I ran a half marathon. I'm not a hard core runner, but it has been a good stress reliever for me since becoming a mommy. My friend Sarah and I learned of the first ever Prairie Fire Marathon that was going to held in downtown Wichita back in the spring, and we finally convinced ourselves to register for the race.

The event was huge--about 3,400 runners, tons of vendors, live music, thousands of supporters lining the streets cheering us on. Such an incredible experience. We stayed in Wichita the night before since it was going to be a very early morning. We met our friends Chad and Emily downtown around 7am and psyched ourselves up for this major task. I don't have any pictures from during the race, but Sarah's cousin Amy was kind enough to take a few before and after the race. I'm not gonna lie--it was brutal. The first 10 miles were fairly easy. They had water and Gatorade stations for us about every two miles. It was fun to see all the signs people had made--people in the residential areas even set up their own water stands for us--so nice! Kids lined up to give high fives to everyone--it was all very motivating. After mile ten, my body started screaming at me. A couple miles of the course were on the brick streets of Old Town, which I did NOT love. Around that same time, I started getting very nauseous and felt like I could toss my cookies at any minute. We took a few walking breaks to get it together and I finally crossed the finish line at 2 hours, 28 minutes.

We were exhausted. The volunteers hung huge medals around our necks, we were given a finisher t-shirt and we just sat down on the concrete. I felt a huge sense of accomplishment, but also wanted a comfy bed to pass out in.

About 30 minutes later, we willed our legs to start functioning again and we walked over to the vendor tents. They had pizza, chicken wings, fruit, bagels, drinks, even a beer garden for all the participants to enjoy.

So...mission completed. I know I could have trained harder and finished with a better time, and for that reason, I would like to do it again someday. I did confirm, however, that I have NO desire to ever try a full marathon. Those people are plum crazy ;).

Big thanks to my parents and Chris for watching the kids so I could train. To Amy for carrying all of our crap and cheering for us along the course. And to Sarah, Chad and Emily for running with me--I couldn't have asked for a better group of friends to finish with!

Two-wheelin' wonder.

Carter had been asking us to take the training wheels off his bike for about a month this fall. Finally, three weeks before his 4th birthday, I loaded up the boys and the bike, and we headed to an empty church parking lot near our house.

Asher had to do the safety inspection first.

Then the big boy hopped on his bike, wobbled for a few yards, then took off like a champ. I jogged beside him for a few minutes, but he barely even needed that. I had to remind him often to keep pedaling, because he'd slow way down, and then start to wobble again.
He had a few minor crashes......but he was always ready to jump right back on.He was so excited about his new skill and we're very proud of him as well. One last shot of our bike-riding boy--check out that beautiful sunset behind him.

Ten on Tuesday

These past two months have been a bit of a blur for the Allen fam, so we're gonna wrap up a bunch of loose ends with a Ten on Tuesday. Hold on, it may be a long one!

1. On a last minute whim, we took advantage of a beautiful Sunday afternoon and headed to the State Fair. We watched some pig races and a monkey show, saw lots of animals and exhibits and of course sampled some good ole' fried fair food.Carter tested out the giant slide...and raced a car to win the checkered flag!! He was SO excited!And besides the checkered flag, we all came home a little sunburned...mom did a shotty job with the sunscreen.
2. We recently held a baby shower brunch for my friend Jenny. It's not often that all four of us girls are in town at once, so we took advantage and had a nice brunch honoring our newest baby-to-be.

The kids table is overflowing... we discussed getting an extra leaf ;).The boys enjoyed racing trucks all over the basement...it was quite the racetrack!And as usual, the kids wanted nothing to do with a group picture. This was the best shot I could find...Ethan is hiding...Tiffany, me, Jenny and Noelle.Best wishes to Jenny and Dave as they prepare to welcome their new baby girl into the world this Thursday. We can't wait to meet her!

3. Our family has been discussing how Asher doesn't talk a lot yet. However, I am NOT concerned at all. We've been focusing on far more important talents at our house.

4. I took the boys to the park one Sunday evening to feed the ducks. It's been awhile since Carter's done this and it was Asher's first experience. When Asher saw the ducks, he got so excited.Carter didn't want to get too close......but Asher thought they were hilarious. He was making all kinds of new friends. I also tried to get a couple pictures of the boys together. HA! Dream on, mom.But I did get one of my blue-eyed baby. Love.5. One of the car dealerships in Salina had a monster truck display a few weeks ago. Carter has been mesmerized with these on TV lately, so we thought it would be fun to surprise him with the real thing. They let the kids climb all over them and Carter was in awe. They were giving rides too, but the line was very long, so we're going to try that next year.6. We recently set up a little photo shoot with Carter, Asher and our nephew Tyler. We didn't get anything great, but we did get some comic relief! Note the smarties coming in from stage right..."How about I stick my finger in his mouth??"7. Carter had his first dentist appointment in September. He had gone with Chris awhile back just to watch and get familiar with the equipment, so he was pretty excited to check things out again.Laid back in the chair and ready to go!Jenner the hygienist was wonderful with him and made sure he knew exactly what she was using and doing at all times. Carter and Dr. C.--I think the crazy glasses made him pause for a minute, but he warmed up quickly.

All checked out great, but we did find out that Carter has an extra tooth! Dr. C. told us this is somewhat rare, and we hope that an extra permanent tooth doesn't grow in later on. If so, there probably won't be enough room for it and they'll have to do oral surgery. For now, it's just a little more cash from the tooth fairy.

8. Bullpup football is storming into postseason play. We won our first round game last Friday against Andover Central and we play at Bishop Carroll this Friday. It should be a great game and we're all looking forward to it. Go Bullpups!

9. I'm digging the extra hour of sleep we got last weekend, but I dislike how dark it is by the time we get home after work. I foresee crazy, cooped up children at our house very soon.

10. That's all for tonight. Peace out, dude.