Alligator

This is a game the kids call Alligator.

This is how it is played...

1. On Mom and Dad's bed

2. One person is the alligator and they are on the floor trying to grab someone on the bed, but don't let the crew catch you first

3. If you get got, then you are the alligator

4. Lots of laughs and giggles

Tessa attacking Emma!

"Alligator Josie" getting on the bed to try to get someone!

Karley the "Alligator" got caught by her predators!

We can fly....

The girls were trying their flying skills on Sunday morning with using plastic grocery bags as parachutes. They really thought that the bags helped them stay in the air longer!! A little later it was time to get ready to leave for church and then their bags became their traveling bags. They were traveling to France! When it was time to head to the van, they showed the attendant (me) their boarding ticket to get in the "plane." I told them they were sitting in the third row and Josie and Karley had window seats and Emma was in the middle. The pilot (Terry) welcomed them aboard and then gave instructions to buckle up before take off! As we took off, the pilot shared some site seeing areas along the route. When we got to "France" (church) the got off the plane and couldn't believe how beautiful the churches were in France also! After church, we boarded again and took off for another adventure!!! I love seeing their imaginations at work!!

Halloween 2011

The kids had a lot of Halloween celebrations this year!! Finally, it was time to go Trick or Treating. It turned out be a nice evening for it. We started the night first visiting our old neighbor Tom Richman. He was glad we stropped by. Then we headed home. The plan was for Connor and Emma to go trick or treating with the Oberfoell's (Grant, Carter and Wilson) because they were going to go on their own around the neighborhood. I walked the neighborhood with Josie and Karley and Ter ry and Tessa were in charge to pass the candy out! All worked out great! Connor and Emma came home with lots of candy as planned! Josie, Karley and I made it around the the loop and then had enough! Tessa got to bed on time and Terry enjoyed passing candy out!

Karley eating a piece of candy after making the loop!

She was dressed as a purple pumpkin... according to her!

"Dorothy" with her pumpkin filled with goodies!

"Bear" showing off her her 2 bags full of goods!

"Baseball player" showing how strong he is with his goods!

Josie sitting with her jammies with suckers in her hand waiting for trick or treaters to come. This is after we got home. I think she had more fun passing candy out then going house to house receiving candy!

Let the Carving Begin....

Dick and Donna Hefel always do a great job of having all the supplies needed to carve pumpkins!! By the end, there are many creative pumpkin designs!!

Josie and Karely are ready to begin!

Emma talking to Grandpa about her design

The first cut is to get the lid off so the cleaning can begin!

Josie and Karley kept pretending to eat their lid!

Connor drawing his design while I help Karley carve her face!

Connor working hard to get his face cut out!

Karley really liked to clean the pumpkin out!

Tessa liked to walk around and take the lids off the pumpkin..she even stuck her hand in to help clean the pumpkin out also.

The finish products!

A family effort!!

Picking the right pumpkin

On October 30, we went down to Hefel's farm to carve pumpkins! They always have lots of pumpkins to choose from so part of the fun is picking out the right pumpkin!!

Grandpa Berning and Emma looking for her pumpkin

Kristen helps Josie and Karley bring their pumpkins to the carving spot!

Tessa just hanging out watching everyone!

Hefel Hayride

The kids and some parents enjoyed a hayride at the Hefel farm for their annual pumpkin carving gathering! The kids always look forward to this day!

Jolene and Tessa

Connor, Nick and Ben Hefel, Carter, Pierce and John

Karley, Emma and Wilson

Emma and Karley

Josie and Brielle

Wrestling with Grandpa Berning

Four girls tried to sneak up on Grandpa but he got them and before you know it they were wrestling on the ground. I am not sure who won!! All I know is that I heard a lot of laughing and giggling!!

Family Halloween Party

October 29, we celebrated our Family Halloween party at Tim and Kristen's house. Again, all families had creative out fits and had lots of fun eating and playing games. Thanks Tim and Kristen for always hosting this event! Below are a picture of each family costumes:

"The Angry Birds": Jolene & Terry with Josie, Karley, Tessa, Emma & Connor

"The Circus": Bob & Becky with Grant, Carter, Wilson, Pierce, Truman, Dorothy Jo & Lincoln

"Grease": Donny & Stacy with Elly, Max & Sam

"Princess Kate & Prince William", "Rapunzel" and "Batman"

"A Fairy Tale Story": Matt & Natalie with Aloysius & Willa

"The Artist & Canvas": Grandpa & Grandma B

Grandpa & Grandma B with their grandkids (minus Dorothy Jo)

and Happy 1st Birthday to Aloysius!!!

Hanging in a Tree

The other day at the farm I put Karley up in a tree and she had a great time playing there. She was serving "food" , bark and twigs, to people that walked by.

Want a Ride??

One thing about being the youngest child, is that you have older sisters who like to play and take care of you. Here the girls decided to give Tessa a ride around the house in one of their pink rolling bins. Tessa was enjoying it for awhile, but I just happen to catch her an upset moment. By the end, they were all taking turns going for a ride!

First Broken Bone

Well, we had our first cast experience in 10 years! Of the five kids, it was Tessa, the youngest! It happened a couple of Thursdays ago at my sister Becky's house. She was just walking around and fell over a toy. It didn't phase her one bit. When I got to Becky's house after school, Becky told me what happened and that her lower arm above the wrist was swollen a little, but it didn't seem to bother her. Many people moved it around many different ways and she didn't flinch! So we just watched it. Over the weekend, Terry and I did notice that once in awhile when she fell on it that she would whimper a little but nothing else. Monday we decided that we should take her in to have it looked at! Guess what?? It was fractured!! Right away when the doctors looked at the x-ray it was obvious! She was a trooper for the day with going from one doctor to another to getting x-rays, etc. She did get to the point that when we would get in a room she would look for the door and point to it to go out of the room. I was doing my best to keep her distracted! After school, Terry, Karley and I took Tessa to go get her cast! Karley picked out the pink color.Even though the brake is down by her wrist, they had to cast it past her elbow so she couldn't get her hand out of it! Tessa was not a fan of having the cast put on! I got to hold her but she let us know loud and clear she didn't like it! After it was dry, she tried pulling it off! Finally, we got her distracted and where able to head home. When we got back to Becky's house to get the rest of the kids, Tessa got out of my arms right away to go see Truman and Aloyisous. The cast didn't seem to bother her then. Her siblings and cousins were all very interested of what happened to Tessa! The cast has not slowed her down too much! She has been getting use to using her left hand now instead of her right hand! As you see with her eating the apple below! Now you have to be careful around her because if she gets swinging her arm she may get you! We went for a follow up last Monday and all is looking good! New bone is growing! The doctor was impressed by how well she was doing with the cast and that it hasn't fallen off. He said it looked great! We'll see how it looks in 4 weeks! As of now, she has the cast on until November 22!! It does look cute, being so small!