Halloween

We didn't dress up with a family theme this year but we sure thought about it. Instead the kids picked their own costumes. Cade was a vampire. I thought all he'd do was wear the cape and the teeth but Cade went all out this year with makeup and spray painted hair. Notice the makeup - he did it all by himself! Abby was an angel. She had a halo and wore it to school but didn't wear it trick-or-treating. I put it on her just before this picture but I found it behind the couch the next day - what a little devil! As for Ian, he wanted to be BLACK spiderman. The plan was to paint his face and hair black but he took a nasty fall that afternoon and scraped his nose and forehead up pretty bad. Of course, it didn't phase him but we went easy on the makeup. Like always, they had a fun time trick-or-treating!

Leah and I stayed home to pass out candy. One group of boys that came to our door smelled the scones I made for dinner and said they wanted scones instead of candy. I had lots of leftover scones so I smothered honey butter on them and gave them to the boys. Little did I know we would be the "best house" of the night. Neighbors were still talking about our yummy treats the next day. Maybe we'll start a new tradition - scones for Halloween instead of candy.

I wonder if being pregnant for most of the year has blurred my memory of it. I can't believe it's time to pick out Halloween costumes. Where did spring and summer go? Are our soccer games really going to called due to early sunsets? And who likes to wake up when it's still dark outside? My chances of getting back into shape are pretty slim since it's no fun running in the dark or when it's cold outside. I know, I'm a wimp. But really, this year has flown by and I'm sure the next few months will be even more of a blur with the holidays approaching. For now, I'm just glad to have captured in photos some of the highlights from the last 2 months so I can remember them.

School and soccer started! Two of our favorite things. Cade, the 1st grader, is at school all day now. We miss him lots but know he's having fun and learning too. Cade's soccer team is undefeated so far this season with 3 more games to go. He's a very fast, head's up player. It's really fun to watch him play - no more bunch ball!

Abby is in preschool and enjoys doing and learning a lot of the same things that Cade did. Of course, according to her, she learned them faster and did them better. Abby is also playing soccer. It's a pack of emotional girls pushing and shoving and crying and trying to kick the ball into a net. At least she's having fun.
We didn't do much camping this year due mostly to my many uncomfortable pregnancy stages. But we did manage to have a family sleepout on the deck. Even 1 month old Leah slept under the stars with us.
It's harvest time for the neighborhood garden. The kids love to pick the vegetables, especially the funny shaped carrots and gigantic cucumbers. We've also enjoyed the radishes, peas, peppers, and potatoes. One of our neighbors gave us a bucket of delicious peaches. We ate them for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, froze some and canned the rest. Being first time canners, we were pretty proud of our final product. They look yummy, don't they!

At the school carnival, the kids got their face and hair painted. Ian's red hair was so funny. I never got used to looking for a red-headed little boy, even at home.
Abby turned 5 and celebrated with a few friends and cousins. I was reminded of one of her famous one-liners "I'm 3, almost a teenage". She's getting closer and she knows it.
Growing up fast means losing teeth early. Abby has already lost 4 teeth. She pulled the 1st one out by herself, lost the 2nd one down the drain while brushing her teeth and the top 2 were pulled out during the first 2 games of the BYU football season.
Leah is growing up fast too. She is smiling and cooing more and more every day. Ian repeatedly tells me "I love my baby". We all do! It really is a joy to have another precious one in our family. We are so blessed!!

Nala's buried treasures

We came home from a walk and found a surprise from our little dog, Nala. No, it wasn't any potty surprises. We found an empty Special K bar wrapper in the living room and the empty box in the kitchen. Worried she'd eating all the bars, we quickly started looking for more wrappers. But to our surprise the search quickly turned into an entertaining game of hide and seek. Nala had not eaten the other bars but had "buried" them in different places throughout the house. We found a bar buried in each of our beds, some in our closets, a few downstairs in the basement, and one in the family room under the bookshelf. The kids had so much fun looking for Nala's hidden treasures. There's still one bar unaccounted for but we'll find it sooner or later, hopefully before Nala returns to eat it.

Little Leah

We love our little Leah!

Cade, Abby and Ian love having a little sister. They can't hold her enough. They think it's so fun to touch her cute toes and fingers and get right up in her face. Luckily, Leah is pretty patient with them.

According to Abby, this outfit makes Leah look just like Grandma Jan. Do you see it?

Like brother, like sister!

I love to hear Ian talk about his little sister - "I wuv Weah!"

New Baby Girl

Here she is, 12 days early (no complaints from Krista about that). She was in a big hurry to come to us, apparently. Krista woke up at 1:30 AM or so and started having contractions. I got up about 2:15 and noted that they were pretty close, 8 minutes or so. Suddenly they got really close and we got to the hospital quickly. Standing there filling out forms, her water broke and - 10 interesting minutes later we had a little girl.

My dad of course reminded me of his famous quip - after a couple, they pop out like a Pez dispenser. Nice.

The 5K Run

Earlier this year we set a goal as a family to participate in the annual NSL 5K run.  A few days before the race, we drove the course and I had my doubts that the kids and I could really go the full distance.  Kyle, however, trained for the last 2 months so I was sure he'd be able to complete the race.  Well, the big day came and we lined up at the starting line.  Kyle took off running as the kids and I began the LONG walk.  After the first mile, Cade and Abby were tired of walking with me and started jogging.  They never turned back and finished the race together well ahead of me. Once Kyle finished his run, he came back to see how I was doing.  He pushed the stroller for me the rest of the way so I could finish up strong.  Despite a big, fat, eight month pregnant belly, I jogged across the finish line in under an hour!  And I didn't come in last!  We did it!  I was so proud of my little family for completing the 5K.  Way to go Kisebachs!  Unfortunately we have no pictures of this big day because we've lost the camera.  Don't worry, we'll find it before the baby is born or we'll buy a new one.

Thanks to Grandpa & Grandma's camera, we have a few pictures of the kid's big events.

Abby in her "Big Girl" costume at her dance recital.  She did a great job dancing this year.  She remembered her routines and had lots of fun dancing on stage. 

Cade and his soccer team celebrating after a winning season.  Cade is fast and has a strong left footed kick.  He loves playing in the defensive position but also scored a goal or two each game. 

Random Stuff

For those of you who don't think we update our blog often enough, here's a few random pictures to show what we have been doing the past month or so.

Our neighborhood garden was planted and is showing signs of real growth.  Kyle was in charge of the row on the far right.  You may not be able to tell in this picture but that row is marked off with stakes and twine to separate the different rows of vegetables (what an engineer!).  The kids want to go to the garden everyday to see all the plants sprouting.  Cade is especially excited about the cucumbers since he helped plant them.  We can't wait till harvest time!  

One of my favorite things - watching my kids read books together.  How precious!!

Ian, the car man!  His new favorite thing to do is line up all his cars and race them on the kitchen floor.  He is always so proud when he gets them lined up and wants someone to take a picture of him - so here it is.  

Cade graduated from Kindergarten and looking forward to 1st grade.  He's really enjoyed school this year although he thought the end of the year presentation for parents and family was "pretty embarrassing".

This is my latest sewing project - a baby quilt for my niece-to-be, Maria (she's due this month).

Other happenings include Kyle starting a new job, Abby getting ready for her dance recital, Kyle training to run a 5K with Cade riding his bike, and all of us getting excited for our baby girl to be born although we are still searching for the right name (any name suggestions are welcome).