The Great Pumpkin

Or 6 great pumpkins.The first 3 started at the pumpkin patch. We went there with Brayden's cub scout pack. Cody picked out an extra one for me.

Then we got 3 more. The boys & their friend Vince enjoyed some eats with their carving time.

Vince had to show his mom that I fed him well while he was with me.

The finished products. We are all a bunch of traditionalists. I helped Brayden if you could not tell. And mine is at the end. Brayden went the extreme with eye brows & you cannot see but he has a tear drop & a drool drop.

Cody got more creative with the asymetric eyes.

Vince's had a great smile on his as you can see below in the dark.

Eckelkamp Wedding

The night before the wedding Matt drove up from OKC & Jeremy flew in from Chicago & the three of us went to a Haunted House. Fun stuff. Matt made a new BFF with the clown in the fun mirror maze part.

The man at the door but not dressed too scary.

Got up & headed to St. Louis at 9:00 AM on Saturday.

We stopped in Springfield to pick up Liz's boyfriend Drew.

View of the arch from our room. Thanks, Matt.

Ted & Emily got married outside. It was a little cool in the shade but a very nice day.

Uncle Phil offering a prayer.

The proud Grandparents. A great night.

SNL

I'm sure most of you saw this, but it totally made me laugh!

Weekend Update

Weekend update with Kira Perkins, yes it is, no it's not, just kidding, yes it is...

Ryan, Katie, Matt, Ashley & Neviah all came into town this past weekend so it was fun filled cousin Saturday. Starting with pedicures for Matt, Katie & I. And ending with Nertz with many more family members. And a birthday dinner for Ashley in between.

Katie looks happy here, but her experience with the pedicure was not so much all smiles.
Matt's looking good & being entertained during his pedicure with his girl that was extra talkative.
Mine was the only normal one, but my mouth does not look normal. I look like a have a LOT of lipstick on & chocolate all over my face. Thanks Katie for not telling me I had chocolate all over my lips. Us at dinner. Neviah has grown up so much. I MISS HER. She is so big.

She also knows what she wants. She wanted to sit in GG's lap so she made herself comfy there.

Allen Wedding

A couple of weekends ago, we went to my friend Ashley's wedding. She married Stetson. I left my camera in the car, so I have limited photos.



But here is Brayden dancing with the bride.



And yes that is a Bingo board in the back.

Missouri Fun

Brayden's class has been learning about our home state of Missouri. Today they made cookies in the shape of Missouri. They used Twizzlers for the rivers & M&M's to mark the cities of St. Louis, Jefferson City (our capital), Kansas City, Springfield & Reeds Spring. It was fun watching & helping.

The finished product.

Side note: at the school you have to have a background check to be a room volunteer. Apparently I am the only parent in Brayden's class that has done that. So I get asked to volunteer a lot for his class. So you will see many more pictures of Brayden's school year.

Evolution of Hair

This is me on Friday at 3:15 PM. Going in for a hair cut. When I went, I was not 100% sure what I was going to do with my hair.

This is me Friday evening. Not too sure about my hair. I was at the beauty shop for over an hour & I finally had to leave & my hair lady had another client. So I left, not 100% happy with my hair.

Now this is me Saturday afternoon.

After another 30 minutes at the beauty shop, I think I finally like it. One of the reasons it took so long & multiple trips was because this was such a drastic cut. Another reason was because this is a new style & I was not sure how I wanted it or how it would look. The final reason is because when I show people how short I want my hair, they do not listen. I had to tell my hair lady like 10-15 times SHORTER. But every hair lady that I've had has been like that. They all are afraid to cut my hair.

In case you haven't heard...

In case you do not watch the market all day or watch the news 2-3 hours a day like I do, you might have some concerns about the market. And if you have watched any news at all, it sounds all gloom & doom but DO NOT PANIC about the market. Almost everyone reading this blog is young enough to ride this out.

I have pretty brochures and graphs that show lots of cool information about the market. But I am probably one of the only ones that think it is cool so I will not go through the trouble of posting them, but here are some facts & tidbits for you (disclaimer: no one can predict the future, all this info is based off the entire HISTORY of the market):

1. After a major decline in the market, the market has always rebounded better than the decline.
2. There has never been a 10 year period of time that someone has lost money in the stock market.
3. If you are saving for retirement, which I hope you are, do not stop.
4. Do not reallocate unless you are not being risky enough (unless you are going to retire in the next 5 years).
5. I would say that now would be a good time to invest (mutual funds though not individual stocks & bonds).
6. The "market" is for long term investors that can take the ups & downs of the market.
7. Always consult a professional for a personal recommendation, do NOT listen to just general plans on the news, they do not know your personal financial situation.
8. Never react to the market out of fear or emotion.

I guess that's all I have for now. Good luck.