Elvis

Grant dressed up as Elvis for Halloween. He really got into character. Every time he got a piece of candy he said "Thank You Very Much" in his best Elvis voice. He has been practicing for weeks. He got several requests for songs tonight but he didn't perform any. I think he was a little embarrased! Don't you love the sideburns?

Carving Pumpkins

Tonight we carved pumpkins. We ended up having lots of extra help. My sister Karen and her friend Jamie came over, as well as Grant's friend Kaden who lives down the street. We bought a pumpkin carving kit but unfortunately all of the designs were so detailed that it made the process seem much harder than it should be. We ended up just letting Grant draw his own silly faces and we carved those. That was probably more fun for him anyways. I don't think we will probably win any awards though!!!

Here are Grant and Kaden goofing off.

Grant with Aunt Karen

Grant showing off his jack-o-lanterns.

Wii Had A Fun Night

Last night we went to Felipe's for Mexican food with our neighbors Amy and Aaron. Even though the food wasn't super we still had a fun evening. When we got home Aaron made the mistake of asking to see Grant play Guitar Hero. I will have to take some video footage of him playing because he is unbelievably good for an 8 year old. Amy and Aaron were both pretty impressed. I'm sure they will be getting one of their own soon!!!

Then we went downstairs and played the Wii. First we played a game of bowling, then we had a little home run derby and then someone thought it would be a good idea for us to have a boxing tournmanet. That turned into quite an event and believe it or not Grant beat us all. At one point we had to open the windows because we were all so hot. Who knew playing video games could be such a workout. I don't know who had more fun Grant or all of us adults?

Here's Amy bowling for the first time.

Amy and I boxing. She beat me!!!























Aaron taking a swing at a ball during the home run derby.

Grant and Daddy boxing.

Thursday Night With the Bumgardner's

Tonight Grant had his first basketball practice. It was raining outside when we left the house so instead of taking our nice "newer" camera that we got back in the spring, I took the old one that would fit in my purse. Bad idea!!! All of my pictures turned out horrible. It doesn't do a good job in the gymnasium lighting. Basketball seems to be the only sport that we don't have good pictures of the boys playing so I am hoping to get some good ones this year.

I did get a few shots of Spiro. He doesn't look super excited in any of them, expecially the one that Grant took of Jeff and I. He does look awfully cute in his new sweater though. We picked it up at Target last weekend.

Our Trip to Chicago

Last Thursday evening Grant and I flew up to Chicago to spend the weekend with Jeff. We had such a fun time. We didn't know that it was the weekend of the marathon so it was a bit crazy downtown but it didn't stop us from seeing all the sights and eating some yummy food.

On Friday morning we woke up early and bought passes to ride the subway all around town. We thought Grant would really enjoy it, but he wasn't too sure about using it as his primary method of transportation. Our first stop was in Chinatown. We walked through several of the stores and I even managed to find a cute Coach (knock-off) wallet for $12.

For lunch we traveled into the greek area of the city and ate at the Parthenon. I absolutely love greek food but I will admit I was a little disappointed in my hummus and fattoush salad. That evening we went back to the hotel early so Grant could swim. Would you believe that swimming in the hotel pool was probably the highlight of his trip??? After swimming we ordered pizza from a famous local restraunt called Giordano's. They have the best stuffed crust pizza ever. One piece is definetly all anyone needs.

On Saturday morning we headed to the nearest H&M store to do some shopping. I was trying to avoid the Michigan Ave store because it was so busy downtown and I wanted to have time to look around without hundreds of people around so we went to a mall in Vernon, IL (which was just a little ways from our hotel) and I managed to find several cute sweaters and a few pairs of pants. It was worth the trip!!! We did have to buy an additional bag for us to get all of our purchases home in. After our shopping trip we headed back down town and ate at Portillo's which had great Chicago style hotdogs.

After lunch we walked to the Hard Rock Cafe.

Grant spotted the Rain Forest Cafe and begged to go in. This didn't seem like a huge treat because we've been to the one in KC countless times but he really wanted to go so we put on our smiley faces and took him. We ended up sharing a chocolate volcano dessert, which is just what we needed. We kept reminding ourselves we were on vacation!!

After all of our eating we decided we needed to do some walking so we spent the remainder of the afternoon at the Field's Museum. We got to see "Sue" the dinosaur.

We were all so tired and full that evening so we went to see a movie. We saw "The Dark Knight". Grant loved it, and believe it or not, so did Jeff and I. We are probably the last few people left who hadn't seen it.

On Sunday we drove to what we thought was going to be a safari park. It was definetly misrepresented in the travel magazine we picked up. We followed our navigation system and ended up at a mall called Gurnee Mills and the safari park was inside the mall. It ended up being ok because we did some more shopping, had lunch (at the Rain Forest Cafe again, without the dessert this time) and Grant got his picture taken with a huge albino python. Sorry mom, I know you don't like this picture!

Grant and I made it back to Wichita a little after 9:00 on Sunday and we were exhausted. It has taken me all week to feel like I'm caught up on sleep, laundry, work, etc. . . Chicago was fun, but being here at home isn't so bad either. I truly enjoy our slower paced life here in Wichita.

Most Embarrasing Moment

So today I may have experienced one of my most embarrasing moments EVER! This is National Fire Safety Week and a group of fireman came to our building today to put on an assembly for all of our 1st graders. They were dressed in crazy clown outfits and while doing a silly skit about what to do if there is a fire they were singing (terribly out of tune) and dancing. When they got to the part in the little show about not playing with matches they advised the kids to get an adult and who do you suppose they got??? Yes, that's right. They yanked me up on stage with them and made me dance with them to "Who Let The Dogs Out" before I disposed of the big foam matches. I really wanted to die as I danced on stage in front of all of my colleagues, all of the students, and the many fireman who were watching from the back of the room. The only positive thing is I don't think there are any pictures for me to post for all of you to see.

After school I was telling Grant about my dancing debut and he just put his hands over his face and said "Oh my god mom, I am so glad I don't go to this school!" Then he asked me to show him exactly what I did. He seemed to be even more embarrased than I was.

Grant and I are off to Chicago tomorrow afternoon to spend a long weekend with Jeff. He flew up there on Sunday and has to stay for 2 weeks. I am really looking forward to some sight seeing and yummy food. Any suggestions???

Fall Photos

This afternoon I thought it would be fun to take the boys outside and try to capture some fun fall photos of them together. Here are a few of my favorites from previous years.





































Here are the shots I got today. The boys were both in very silly moods. Not exactly what I was looking for, but they did have fun. I guess we will try again tomorrow.

Math Conference in OKC

I just got back today from the regional math conference in OKC. Sounds pretty exciting huh??? Nothing more fun than a bunch of math teachers. I went with a group of six teachers/administrators from my district. We left on Wednesday afternoon and got there just in time to have a quick dinner and attend the opening session (which my friend Cathy and I skipped out on). I did attend a few sessions on Thursday and Friday and I'm happy to report that I came away with several fun activities that I can use in my classroom.

Last night a few of us girls went to see the movie Nights in Rodanthe. I had read the book several years ago and had kind of forgotten the story. I really enjoyed the movie. There's just something about Richard Gere. After the movie we went to The Melting Pot for some yummy dessert. It is a fondue restraunt in Bricktown. I know there is one in KC near the Plaza. I'm thinking that it would be a fun place to take the kids next time we are up there visiting family.