my reason for no posts for the past 26 days...

many of you know that youth go, the youth center i run, has a haunted house for it's largest fundraiser.

here are a few pictures from the past 4 weeks...

some of my amazing co-workers at our first children's day event on 10/5!

 i was the purple witch.

 there is an awesome group called "made ya scream" that visits our house each year and takes and edits some great photos. here's one of me with one of our youth actors!

 we opted for warmer costumes for this week's children's day.  i borrowed items from max's pirate costume from last year! 

 me and max, the dragon slayer knight, playing games at the children's day event!

and here's a shot of me last night.

we had a good season, had lots of youth volunteer, and raised some money to go toward our programs!

the little farmer 2013...

we made our annual trip to the little farmer towards the end of september.  

i love this place.  i remember going with extended family when i was in high school.

we took max's picture by the apple.

and one with momma too!

we fed the sheep and the goats.

we played on the playground.

climbed up the hay bails.

explored the different obstacles.

and checked things out from on top of the slide!

this year, we even took on the corn maze.

max was a champ!  he loved trying to find our way out and maneuver all the different pathways.

after the maze...it was time to go pick out pumpkins!

we each took our time in order to find our perfect pumpkin.

we took a little break to wait for a tractor ride back to the main area.

while daddy took our pumpkins to the car, we decided to see what size pumpkin max was.

size 4! :)

and a family picture to end a great day!

first day of 4K...

well, here are a few pics from max's first day of 4K. 

i hardly believe my little guy now goes to school 5 days a week.

he was full of smiles and excited.

confident and ready to learn new things.

looking forward to seeing old friends and making some new ones.

me on the other hand, i was reluctant to let him go.

i held back a few tears, signed him into before care and walked to my car to head to work.

i can't believe he's so big already.

i am so proud of the little boy that he has become...polite, friendly, sensitive, kind, silly, and confident.

i'm sure this will be a year full of discovery, growth, and so many amazing things!

backyard camp out...

since we didn't get much camping in this summer, we decided to have a backyard camp out!

we got everything set up in the tent.

and then had a campfire.  someone was a little excited!

we had smores, relaxed by the fire and then got ready for bed.

it took max awhile to fall asleep, but once he was out, he slept til 8!

i may have snuck inside around 2am and finished my beauty sleep in my bed! :)

it was a fun night and max can't wait to do it again!!!

end of summer baseball game...

we were able to squeeze one more baseball game in before the end of the season.

it was the second to last timber rattler home game and max was excited to say the least!

crazy boy!

silly faces with daddy!

he was a riot the whole evening.  singing along, cheering for the players, and enjoying every minute!

we attempted a family photo...none of the turned out, so you get the silly one! :)

and my beautiful mother even joined us for the game.  :) 

a quick picture with fang on the way out!

goodbye summer...it's been fun.  can't wait to see what adventures you bring us next year! 

7 year anniversary...

on august 26th, drew and i celebrated our 7th wedding anniversary.  

can't believe it's already been 7 years since we were married.

we celebrated by heading to the melting pot for a drink and dessert.

mmmmm....

i sure love this guy!

(not the greatest picture...but without a flash it was the best i could do)

i am 35...

wow.  i can't believe that i'm 35.

when i was a little kid, 35 seemed so old.

well, i don't feel "old," just happy.

i was able to celebrate with my birthday with family and friends in my mom's backyard.

we were enjoying a delicious dinner prepared by my mom, when lo and behold, a two-person mariachi band comes walking down the driveway.  my wonderful and slightly ridiculous husband decided that i should have something to remember my day.  well done drew! :)

i even got to get in a little dancing with my favorite little man!

thanks to everyone who came out to celebrate with us!

full day...

we decided to attend the tall ships festival in green bay.

(and writing this post i realize how behind i am with the blog...this was the third weekend of august, i think!)

max decided to dress up as a pirate for the festival.  why not!!!

he was a hit.  everyone commented on his pirate-ness and wanted to take his picture!

we got our map and were ready to go!

the ships were amazing.  it was a gorgeous day and a fun family adventure.

here is our little pirate ready to board a tall ship.

this one was a rebuilt version of a ship from the 1800s that still had some of the original parts!

taking a break to have some lunch.

it got hot, so our pirate had to remove some of his costume! :)

next we had the opportunity to hold a real macaw and get our pictures taken!

next up was another boat tour!

we headed home, had dinner, and relaxed a bit before our next outing.

we loaded blankets up into our wagon and walked over to memorial park to watch a movie on the hill.

we enjoyed snuggles, popcorn and wreck-it ralph!

what a great family day!