Happy Halloween

It was a fun Halloween night for the little Keckler kiddos this evening. Our very own Oompa Loompas made their way through the neighborhood complete with green hair and pointy white overalls!

For those of you unfamiliar with these tiny creatures from Willy Wonka land, check out this link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PZhs7w-FzeI

After some initial reluctance from Kari, the idea of being an Oompa Loompa became more popular knowing Holly would be making the outfits herself. The final result :

We started the evening with our annual pre-trick or treating party at the Clawson's. A festive group of 10 neighborhood kids gathered for some pizza, a movie and some non-candy sugar filled treats (brownies, cookies, etc.).

Since the sun sets so early these days, we headed out to get candy rather early. Within minutes, though, it seemed as though their pumpkins were full of every possible candy known to man. The kids made it down the streets a little faster thanks to rides in wagons. It was rather adorable to see both Kari and Bryce approach a front door together, since they had their matching outfits on.

So Halloween 2012 is in the books and the kids should be asleep sometime before Thanksgiving!

Potty Training, Bunk Beds and Sleepovers

This weekend turned into an impromptu potty training session for Bryce.  He was on a roll Friday night so we thought, why not?!  While this potty training is not going to be as cut and, ahem, dry as it was for Kari, we are making good strides.  The dangling carrot has been a bunk bed for his room.  This may sound like an awesome incentive for a little guy, it's also pretty difficult to describe a bunk bed to a three year old.  So, our big stinkin' incentive somewhat blew up in our face.  Fortunately for Bryce, I was getting tired of my car being displaced in the garage by the unassembled bunk beds and with Kari at Nolan's for a long-awaited sleep over, we got started on assembling the behemoth.

Eventually we got the thing put together and Bryce couldn't be more excited.

We've still got a ways to go, but we're getting there.

In other news, Kari has diligently been working on earning stickers on her good behavior sheet.  A few weeks ago she had finally earned all 40 stickers and proclaimed that she wanted a sleepover with Nolan.  Come to find out, her idea of a sleepover with Nolan meant AT Nolan's house.  It sounded like a win-win situation for Kevin and I, and we reluctantly got Clawsons on board for the reward.  After wading through busy weekend schedules and family sickness, we finally were able to land on this weekend.  From what we heard, they had a great time.

This afternoon we'll be heading out to one of the Purdue Farm pumpkin patches to get a couple pumpkins.

Remember The Giving Tree?

Gone.  To the chipper.

As much as I am for progression and development, this one took me by surprise and made me a little sad.  I'm glad we got to enjoy it all these years, but truth be told, the tree was in serious declining health.    Here's a link back to my last post on The Giving Tree.

It's Never Too Cold For Ice Cream!

A quick trip to our favorite ice cream shop while Daddy's away.

Dressin' 'Em Alike

because I know this, like Kari's pigtails, won't last much longer.

Ready for School,

and representing one of our favorite universities, Stanford.

Fear The Tree!

Ready For Church

A beautiful Sunday morning in West Lafayette.

Eat Your Heart Out

This is probably the very last time you'll ever see Kari in her signature pig tail "bundles" as she calls them.  Today is picture day and I had to negotiate a sticker for her good behavior board to get her to cooperate.  Ah, the sacrifices we make!

A Blue Day

To help all the kindergarteners learn their colors, each day is designated as a specific color.  Today is blue.  Kari does not have much blue in her wardrobe, but this was a recent addition after finding this super easy pattern.

Kari's looking forward to another fun week at school!

Jokesters, Part II

This past December we came home to our yard accentuated with plastic candy cane lights.  Since then, we've sat back biding our time and letting the perfect prank percolate in our minds.

Both families have discussed on several occasions our annoyance with stick figure families on the back of peoples' cars.  With only a small investment, I was able to create these right at home, only we took it to a whole new level.  We purposely went a bit overboard:

Unfortunately, they discovered it later in the evening so they didn't have the opportunity to drive all over town with it Saturday.

I suspect we're due up for a prank very soon.

First Days

We officially have ourselves a kindergartener.  She didn't hesitate or flinch getting on the bus.  And neither did her mom or dad.

Back to School Neighborhood Ice Cream Social

Last night we hosted a neighborhood ice cream social in our backyard as a way of celebrating the back to school season.  It was great to get all the neighbors together.  We supplied the ice cream and everyone else brought a variety of toppings, from fresh fruit to brownie bites and whipped cream.  It was quite a sugar high hit!

 Everyone's ready for school!

Silly pose!

Last Days

Kari's last day at pre-school was Friday.  We had a great run there and could not have been more pleased with our time.  Kari went from a caring in-home daycare environment with Natalie to another setting with caring teachers and staff for almost three years.  Kari was part of the inaugural class and was there when the center opened- everything was brand-spanking new.  She was one of the lucky ones who got to have Ms. Vicki twice- in the 2 year old room and now again in the pre-k room.

Ms. Carla, Kari and Ms. Vicki

Kari doesn't realize it yet, but she's going to miss this place.  She's too excited for kindergarten to realize how great she's had it.  I'm just glad Bryce is still there so I don't have to give up the center cold turkey.

It's been fun. It's been real.  Thanks, everyone!

Gatlinburg

This trip has been planned for a while now, but it sure felt like it came up quickly!  It seems like only yesterday we were planning and packing for Gulf Shores.  This trip was a reunion with some of my sorority sisters, their spouses and kids.  We loaded up the family roadster and headed south on I-65 once again.

We stayed at a resort within the Smokys and between Gatlinburg and the world's largest tourist trap, otherwise known as Pigeon Forge.

The views were spectacular, and according to the kids, the best part was the water park onsite.  We spent all day Saturday water-logging ourselves.  Saturday night we did what many people do in the area-- head out to one of the dinner shows.  There was a majority interest in seeing the "Hatfields & McCoys" and it did not disappoint!  The show was entertaining for everyone and the food was, perhaps surprisingly, a delicious southern meal of fried chicken, corn bread, mashed potatoes, beans, pulled pork, slaw and Oreo pudding.

We were outnumbered: 9 kids to 8 adults.

 Allison, Angie, Danielle, me and Rachel

I hadn't seen Allison, nor Danielle in more than eight years.  It was great to catch up again.

Sunday morning, Angie's family invited everyone (eek!) over for breakfast before some families headed out to go home.

Sunday, it was only us and Angie's family.  We headed into Gatlinburg to do some sightseeing.  The Ripley's Aquarium was the hit of the day.

The other hit of the day was the rain!  It poured, actually.  It was such a novel thing to see the rain we all really quite enjoyed it!

A Destruction Construction Party

It's hard to believe little Brycie turned three last week.  We celebrated in true little boy style with a construction-themed party.  With all the construction going on around campus this summer and the front-row seat to the US 231 development, Bryce's love for all things construction has been quite appropriate.

A recent trip to Ft. Wayne landed me this construction themed fabric, perfect for making a bunting and matching shirt for Bryce.

As usual, we stuck to the grandparent-only guest list.  Everyone was greeted at the door with a personalized construction hat.

And, of course, construction style food was on the menu.  I gathered ideas from a variety of places.  Chicken salad, tuna salad and a caprese pasta salad were the main items.  We were so fortunate to have a slight break in the weather this day.  It was pleasant enough to eat out on the deck with the umbrella.  It was nice to give the grandparents more seating options beyond the kitchen and dining room.

We rounded out the party with our traditional star cake.  Several months back the Food Network magazine had a layout on how to make a variety of frosting colors.  Without that guide I would have never had the guts to attempt to go that orange.

A few other decoration ideas included using a paint can as a flower vase, a paint tray as a serving tray for the bread and a "Port-a-Potty" sign on the bathroom door.

This week, Bryce moves up to the pre-school room.  We're all hoping behavior and desire for potty training improves in his new surroundings.