A few of my favorite clients. . .


Mae loves her cheerleading outfit. Thanks, Miss Lauren!

Our little Rock Chalkers!

Santa at The Henry Ford

Luke with the Batmobile

Daddy, who is this weird guy, and why am I sitting on his lap?

All is ok. . . I found my thumb and have my blankie

We took the kiddos to The Henry Ford (a fabulous museum if I do say so myself), to let Santa know that we would be back in Kansas for Christmas. Luke was very concerned that he wouldn't know where to leave his presents. Mae could have cared less. They were displaying costumes from famous movies that we all grew up with. We saw the Wicked Witch of the West's hat, The Terminator's black leather jacket with bullet holes, the Batman costume George Clooney wore in one of the remakes AND last but not least, Darth Vader!

Happy Post Halloween!

Halloween turned out to be one heck of an event. Luke and Mae started the evening a little sluggish but perked up a bit during the Halloween festivities. Luke made out well, while Mae rode with her good friend Finn in the wagon (a nice workout for dad). The evening ended with a post trick-or-treating party across the street. The kids stayed up late playing and eating candy. Luke wrapped up the party by throwing up on Amy and David's couch. Thanks for the cleaning bill, son. Anyway, here are some photos from the weekend.

Mae and Finn enjoying the ride. Mae went as our princess as she finally melted down so dad would pick her up and carry her the rest of the way.

Luke as the Dark Knight (you had to be very specific when referring to his costume). Luke brought home a bucket full of large candy bars.

Dad got to unwind after trick-or-treating with friends Kevin and Kevin. Kevin is the one on the right. Okay, horrible joke.


Mom and Luke after trick-or-treating rest on the back patio. Luke was extremely tired and didn't want to keep playing with the other kids. We thought something was wrong....

....and this is moments before Luke shut down the party by throwing up on the couch. At one point, Luke laid on the floor asleep while the other kids climbed over the top of him. He was sick most of the weekend, throwing up during dinner on Saturday night. Thankfully Mae didn't come down with anything.

That's it for now. We hope everyone had a fun and safe Halloween.

And How the Pumpkins Turned Out...

By request, here's one more photo from pumpkin night showing the final results. Not so bad for a bunch of rookies.

Pumpkin' Carvin'

Bevvies for the ladies. . .

The adults arguing over proper scoopage and carving techniques. . .

Mae's absolute disgust with the whole process. . .

Scoopage of the guts and entrails. . .

The stenciling of the pumpkin. . .

Amy, our neighbor across the street, was nice enough to have us over for a night of pumpkin carving with another family from down the street. Fun was had by all. Please join us in our excitement. . .

Mae, Mae, Mae

Mae is growing into quite the little pill. She's pretty much decided that it's her way or the highway - and if you ask Luke, it's usually her way. Here are some recent photos of our little princess:


Mae waiting for our plane to Kansas City. She did okay on the flight, except for the sitting still portion. Luke is behind her watching the planes land and take off. His third future profession after cop and fireman is pilot. And as you would expect, the pilot knew Luke's name when we got off the plane.


Mae is 17 months old and already has a shoe fetish. We like to try on everyone's shoes, especially mom's high heels. Here she's cruising in mom's 4-inch red heels.


Mae has become extremely active, and most times refuses to be carried when we're walking somewhere. The bump and bruise under her left eye is the result of a walk down the street. She tripped over her own feet and landed on her face.

"I'm so Stressed Out..".

Luke made it known that he's "so stressed out from playing all the time." I wish I had his problems. Does this look like a kid that's stressed out?


This kid looks like he's ready for the upcoming Sigma Nu party this weekend. Sorry about the clarity of the picture. The camera got dropped again and dad hasn't made time to go out and get a new one.


This is the pose of a kid that's had a long day of playing. Notice his legs are at a 90 degree angle.