Emily had her birthday party this weekend. It's hard to believe that she is 9 years old.

We took the kids to Indian Lake State Park for trick or treat. It was a beautiful day. We could not have asked for better weather. Cordel's costume turned out awesome. He wanted to be a dead pirate, but didn't want to wear a mask. Doug did his make-up. Emily had wanted to be a skunk this year, but were not able to find a costume and she saw the Cleopatra one at the store. I think it was a better choice. She looked really good.

We always take pumpkins and carve them after we get done trick or treating. Emily took the picture of Cordel & his pumpkin. I thought it was really good!

These are the first day of school pictures. I'm running a little behind on getting them posted. The kids have been in school for a couple months and both are doing really good. Cordel seems to like middle school and has joined the art club. Emily is doing good in 3rd grade. Halloween is just around the corner, along with Emily's birthday and she is looking forward to both.

Emily and I went to Chicago this weekend w/ mom & dad. They wanted to take her to the American Girl Store. Emily had a blast. She LOVED the American Girl Store and got some new outfits for her doll. We walked out to Navy Pier and rode the ferris wheel. We rode a train to get there. Emily was pretty excited when she found out we were going by train. It was pretty cool. The weather was great. We couldn't have asked for a better day.