Annual Syswerda Pumpkin Carving

Pics from our annual Syswerda pumpking carving (hence...the title of post...). This has become one of our favorite holiday traditions. We have a hot dog roast outside (even if it is a bit cold). Then it's off to carve the pumpkins. You wouldn't think this would take long, but it gets pretty competitive and complicated! (See Josh's carving of Dora for Zoe!!!) After the carving, its pie time! This year- Mom's homemade pumpkin....delicious. The kids (and adults) had a rip-roarin' good time. (See picture of Zeke riding the tractor like a crazy person.) Bottom line, I feel TRULY blessed to have been born into such a loving, interesting, loyal, AMAZING (if somewhat crazy...) family. I was just going to write "it's such a joy watching our kids growing up together" but stopped myself short. Whoa- funny how it can turn that quickly... We went out to Ava's grave today to clean up the leaves; we also brought some flowers and a little pumpkin. I told Zoe we were going to see Ava and she looked at me REALLY weird and said, "Auntie Holly, Ava's up in the sky- how're WE gonna get there??????" Kids say the darndest things!!!
Well...I would apologize for lack of blogging, but that would require me being truly sorry. I think every 2 weeks is gonna be the norm from now on!!!

Happy Halloween from the Ladybug and Axl Rose!!

Pics from the costume party we went to tonight. Pretty scary, huh?

Cold Camping Crazy People...

A few months ago we scheduled a Halloween camping trip up in Big Rapids at my parents fave camping resort. The kids love it there and they have a fall festival that we thought would be great. What we didn't plan on was the Arctic Circle traveling a few thousand miles south and planting itself in Michigan! Don't get me wrong, we had a blast. It was just a cold one. I took about a gazillion pictures and I'm sure it'll be a weekend the kids never forget. I'm still trying to recover...taking long hot baths and chillin' on the couch. Some of the highlights...so cold my camera kept fogging up (in the trailer!!!), Zeke taking a long ride on the circle swing and then puking 3 times ("Mommy....Zekey get off now.. "), wathcing the pumpkins explode during the pumpkin smash, trying to eat dinner outside with the crew (my parents best friends and their kids were also there), seeing the kids Halloween outfits disappear under loads of winter gear.... Really, we are a crazy bunch. What can I say, I wouldn't like it any other way! P.S.- Apologies for the haphazard pic posting...can someone tell me how I can post lots of pictures easier???

Dancing Queen!

Pictures of my precious little Emmy at her first ballet class this past Monday. Not much to say except it was the cutest thing I've ever seen. She was just SO into it. The pictures of her by the ballet bar and mirror are in her bedroom - she LOVES it. Zoe has the same teacher at a different time and they were having a high old time talking about dancing, tu-tus and the like. Really...they are the definition of GIRLY!!!
Had a great time last night with my little brother in town. We were all together at my mom and dad's for a cozy fall dinner. Gotta say I felt very blessed all night long. Jason's sister Kelley and surrogate sister Sue came in last last night. We had a great day today at the Eastown Street Fair, napping, going to McD's, and watching the BUCKEYES!!! Elijah sprayed his hair bright red in anticipation for the game. His dad has SERIOUSLY brainwashed him. Hope to post some pics of our weekend soon. Love to you all...

Not much happening??? Huh?

Just because I hate it when others don't update, I will quickly post and tell you all that there's not much happening here. I'm not sure how this happened, but it did. Thank God! I sometimes feel as if our life is a constant tornado of tragedy, chaos, upheaval, blah, blah, blah... This last week has been one of the calmest of our married life and I couldn't be more thankful. I spent the weekend in Ft. Wayne with Amanda. Yup, that was fun! We were completely unhurried and did basically everything we wanted (well... you know what I mean.). We even resurrected an old Plymouth tradition of going to the bookstore and sitting forever reading and drinking coffee. You know you're best friends when you can sit like that. Thanks to our sweet husbands for being willing to watch our kids for the weekend.
I also wanted to post a prayer request. I'm sure most of you heard about the tragedy in the W. Michigan district this past weekend. One of the youth pastors here lost his only baby boy in a tragic car accident. His wife and he were also seriously burned and she is still in critical condition. Not much else to say except, these people need EVERYONE'S prayers...
Well, we're gearing up for our fall kick-off at church with an all day event culminating with movies in the park on Sat. night. Should be a blast. I'll post pictures soon as I get a chance!

What a week!!!!!!

Great week...crazy week! Amanda, Brendon and Morgan (Gavin was at G-ma's) came over last Fri.and Sat. This was much needed time for us girls. I thank God EVERYDAY for blessing me with my best friend. There is truly nothing like it. We've been friends since Aug. of 1987-ALMOST 20 years. How crazy is that? Now our daughters are learning a bit about female bonding and we took a couple of pics. Didn't turn out great, but they're just such cuties!!!

Elijah's first day of school. (Anyone notice the very large Ohio State flag in the front? Yeah, not my decorating choice, but oh well.... ) He is loving 2nd grade and adjusting well to VERY early mornings. He doesn't seem to like his teacher as well as last year, but Miss VK will be a hard act to follow!




Pics of Emmy's first day of school. Well, sort of. On her real first day (Wed.) my alarm went off at 7:25. AAAHH!! It was set for 5:25. Yeah, serious panic. Needless to say I threw on some clothes and jumped in the car to go to work. Jason and I two-wayed the whole way there about what to do with her hair, the skirt that was too big, where were her new tennis shoes???? It was crazy and not picture worthy. I was feeling pretty awful about the whole thing, but a couple days later it just seems so US! These pictures are from Friday morning. As you can tell we leave at 7:15 and it's still pretty dark. I also took some of just her outside her new school. She is loving kindergarten and has more self-confidence than I know what to do with. Once again she was upset that I was bringing her into school...."Drop me off, Mom!"

What is this pitiful picture you ask? Our precious little puppy has a broken leg. Last night we had a great night out at Mom and Dad's with Josh and Shelly and the kids. They were all (yes all 5 of them..) riding bikes and Elijah swerved to miss Piper. Didn't work. The yelping and crying was more than my little heart could handle and I started bawling. Later my mom and sister said, "Gosh, I guess she wasn't kidding. She really does love that dog!" We waited it out last night to make sure it was really broken; LONG NIGHT!! I finally took him to Vet ER at 7:30 this morning to see 2 clean breaks on the X-Ray. My poor puppy... Really, he's just too cute.
All in all, we're loving the new schedule and finding it's a real positive for our marriage and family. Surprise, surprise, we love routine! (Really, this is a new adventure for us spontaneous Grates...) Have a great week all you bloggers!

White Caps Game

Well, it's official. Blogger has succeeded at ROYALLY ticking me off. I actually feel like cursing a bit, but I won't. I have tried in vain many a time to get this to post with absolutely no success. We actually went to the game on Wed. night- it is now Sunday morning. Anyone sensing my frustration. That aside, we had a great time. There is really nothing quite like walking into the stadium and smelling fresh cut grass, singing "Take Me Out to the Ballgame", and eating too much fried food and cotton candy. We had great lawn seats right next to the kids playland which was convenient to say the least. Jason, Elijah and my dad REALLY got into the game while the rest of us just had fun taking pictures, eating, and playing with the free basketballs they gave the kids as we walked through the front gate. It was an evening of unforgettable memories and something I hope we continue as an annual summer tradition!
Onto a quick update of my first week as a working mom. What a trip. I loved every minute of it, truly. The school is pretty rough (hence the 10 min. speech on gang policies in the first assembly) and the junior high class is really something-and that's being complimentary. It's amazing how fun it is though to be back into a routine and making music again. I'm having the time of my life! The kids didn't even know I'd been gone the first day... I said to Emmy, "Did you miss Mommy?", and she says,"You were gone???". I guess that's good? Pray for us though as they start school this week and getting out of the house is gonna get much more hairy!
We also had an AMAZING weekend, which I will have to save for a later post.... if Blogger cooperates!!