never say no to a free lunch

while we were at the library, i got a text from a friend asking if we wanted to meet her and her kids at the grand opening of a local hungry howies. apparently there was going to be free pizza. um, yes.

a little back and forth and we worked out our meet up. we were expecting there to be a pretty large crowd.

but we were wrong! there were maybe 10 families and we were the largest group by a lot (there were 10 of us). we watched the ceremony to open the new location.

and then we ate! we were thinking that we might get a slice of pizza. boy were we wrong! there was chicken caesar salad, chicken wings, boneless wings, several different types of pizza, bread sticks, two types of brownies and drinks!

we could not believe our good fortune - and full tummies. it was pretty hot but we lined up in the shade to eat. the employees even came out and waited on us offering more food and more drinks.

oh, and did i mention that they gave each kid a backpack with coupons, coloring book, crayons, cups, etc. huge score!

the kids weren't done hanging out with each other so we took all of the big kids home with us so that my friend could nap with her youngest (having a rough start to the day and had a headache). the kids were more than happy to play a little mariokart together.

it's the simple things. love.

christmas tree festival

after our meal, we went out to walk it off at my favorite family tradition - the christmas tree festival! the trees are decorated and donated as a fundraiser for the children's hospital. i take pictures of the kids next to their favorite trees (every tree was mason's "favorite"). none of them will let me take anything but an individual picture. we have four pictures of almost every tree... sigh. here is a selection of some of the best pictures:

this 'tree' was made from jeans and belts. isn't it cool?

sock monkeys for nana

this one was pretty cool - a bunch of pvc pipes cut down and arranged in a tree shape. i was thinking it would be a cool thing for matt to make our church hallway. the littles would love pulling out the items.

and back home to celebrate the birthday boy with frozen pumpkin pie - his favorite!

so much to be thankful for today! love.

horse painting

not that we need an excuse to visit the kids' favorite toy store, but today we stopped by for their 2nd annual horse painting event.

then we browsed the toys for christmas ideas while we waited for the horses to dry. we love this store because they have the most unique toys (that and they have pretty much every lego set available).

gotta love that free fun. love.

boo u.

every year we get a flyer for "boo u." at one of the local university campuses and every year we have a conflict. it was going to be tight, but i decided that we would do a quick costume change in the car after madelyn's class and check it out for 30 minutes. amazingly, we were even able to pick up daddy to join us (he had a late meeting at a location on our way to the school).

i've got to say, it was worth the effort. there were maybe 40 tables set up with different themes staffed by costumed students for the kids to trick-or-treat all over campus. while we have been to this campus before, it has always been to crowded for the event to really appreciate how lovely it is to walk along the paths. it was windy and cold, but it added to the halloween feel and we all enjoyed the time outside.

a quick picture with the school mascot

there were science activities inside the student center but they were so similar to the "spooky science night" at the high school that we opted out of waiting in line for them.

this was the best table - not only were they cute, but they were easily the warmest!

the kids had a lot of fun with this game where they were able to pretend to be bees. each kid was given a glove to wear. they dipped that hand into a bucket of velcro balls and then find the matching color flower to 'pollenate.'

we all enjoyed this outdoor event and will try to make it again next year!

we decided to go out to a pizza dinner on our way home and were planning on dropping me off at book club on the way home. only we forgot that we didn't drive together and had to double back to get matt's car at work. love.

free around town

i am always dragging everyone around to free activities. the kids love them. matt? not too much. but he loves me and goes along.

the first stop today? building lego kayaks at toys r us to take home. 

next we went over to "arts in the park" put on by the school system. it was super cold, but there was still a good turn out. we made it just in time to look around and listen to a little singing.

we went home for dinner before driving out to a new-to-us park for "family fall fest" and it was still pretty cold. the activities were a little difficult with gloves.

owl puppets

colored mini pumpkins

we went for a preschool appropriate 1/4 mile "hike" while listening to a story about "phillipe" the frog.

 i thought that these horses made from pant legs were pretty cute!

now for a hayride...

we even passed a large deer! we were all pretty shocked to see it so close to the very noisy tractor. 

thanks for loving us, daddy! love.