Fright Night!

As spirits roam the neighborhoods at night,
Let loose upon the Earth till it be light...
~Nicholas Gordon

We hosted our annual neighborhood Halloween potluck and hayride again this year. We had a great turn out, with our usual boo crew, as well as some new ones. It is always so fun to see all the kids in their costumes and get together as neighbors.

The afternoon brought about wonderful weather for gathering with friends, enjoying some Fall food and trick or treating!

We had a few new comers to join us this year...

Justin, Angela and Baby Harrison and cousin Seth.

Thanks for joining in our fun!

Papa Al was our chauffeur for the evening,

thanks for bestowing us your time and tractor.

It just wouldn't be the same without the 2 of you!

A very special SHOUT out to Nana for always sticking around to clean up after us and to Jo Jo for staying back to hand out treats and Halloween wishes...

THANK YOU!

Thanks to everyone for yet another howlin' good time...

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Carvin' Time

This year's pumpkin carving took place on our dining room table...

We got the job done, but always have so much more fun at

The Koch's Annual Pumpkin Carving Party!

Since Caden was feeling under the weather, (it has been a rough Fall for Caden with many recurrent infections...:( we took a stab at our pumpkin designs.

We saved our pumpkin seeds again this year to make a tasty baked snack for later...

mmm!

Calli and Caden's PICTURE PERFECT PUMPKINS!

Celebrate!

It's Harvest Party time in Mr. Lofgren's class,

and with Mr. Lofgren, it's an ALL DAY EVENT!

I arrived to volunteer in Caden's class at 10 am and whooped it up until the bell rang at 4pm...WHAT A DAY!

What would a Halloween Party be without treats?!?! We started out the celebration with making caramel apples. I was in charge of the microwave, the microwave that Mr. Lofgren stole (I mean borrowed) from the teacher's lounge...shh! ;)

Mr. Logren's costume was a perfect match for him and his personality!

Caden ABSOLUTELY loves having him as his first grade teacher. He always comes home with a smile on his face and stories/jokes from the day. There is something about bringing humor to teaching that makes learning so much FUN for children...

Mmm, one of Caden's most favorite fall treats!

We had so much fun playing Halloween games with some great prizes. Bingo was the top rated game for the day. Mr. Lofgren had the kids come up with their "own Halloween bingo words". I wrote all 30 words down on the white board as the kids took turns listing words that reminded them of Halloween, boy, was that tougher than we thought! The kids then chose their top favorites to write on their own Bingo board. Caden was so EXCITED to win the 3rd round...he had been waiting to win a Whoopie Cushion! The preferred prize amongst the boys, wow, I guess Mr. Lofgren really knows what first grade boys LOVE!

Here are the FINISHED pumpkins of Mr. Lofgren's class

that we had picked from the pumpkin patch earlier in the week...

This was a first for me...

carving pumpkins at school, WHAT A MESS!

But, Mr. Lofgren would not have it any other way,

"markers are for the boring" is how he stated it.

Too cute...I guess the mess of 24 kids was all worth it!

The McKinley tradition...the annual Halloween Parade!

The children so look forward to "parading" their costumes to family and friends through the gymnasium and around the classrooms...

The whole gang after a day of spooktacular FUN...

Fall Field Trip Fun

Caden had his first field trip of 1st grade today at the Pine Haven Farm in Wyoming. Even though we have frequented this farm before, it is one of our favorites!

Although, today would not of been the day of choice for me, we still forged ahead in the cold weather, fierce winds and rain to see all that the farm had to offer...

All the kids enjoyed petting and feeding the farm animals,

Caden enjoyed the bunny rabbits the most!

This trip brought our lunch picnic indoors due to the nasty fall weather,

what happened to 60's earlier in the week, go figure :)...

One my favorite activities, a hayride to the pumpkin patch!

We scrambled around quickly to find the PERFECT pumpkin and then headed back onto the trailer to snuggle up to stay warm...

We made it!!!

Even tho we missed out on a few of the other activities (darn weather),

we got our PUMPKINS (to be used for carving at the first grade Harvest party) and still had fun!

It's All in a Day's Work

Whoo hoo...Calli has booked her first job with PPI!

Today she (and Nana...thanks for taking my place, Jan!) worked at the Healthy Living Expo at the Convention Center in Downtown Minneapolis. Calli got to hand out tickets and goody bags, as well as be a greeter for Media Max (client of PPI). As you can tell by the smiles on her face, she had so much fun that she can't believe she is getting paid for this...!

Great job, Calli!!!

An Angel Watches Over Us

In Loving Memory

Maximillian Alexander Root

June 20, 2010-October 15, 2010

God's Loan

"I'll lend to you for a little time,

A child of mine," He said,

"For you to love the while he lives

And mourn for when he's dead.

"It may be six or seven years

Or twenty-two or three,

But will you till I call him back,

Take care of him for me?

"He'll bring his charms to gladden you

And should his stay be brief,

You'll have these precious memories

As solace for your grief.

"I cannot promise he will stay

Since all from earth return.

But there are lessons taught down there

I want this child to learn.

"I've looked this world over,

In my search for teachers true.

In the crowds that throng life's land,

I have selected you.

"Now will you give him all your love

Not think the labor vain,

Nor hate me when I come to call

To take him back again?"

It seems to me I heard them say,

"Dear Lord, thy will be done.

For all the joys a child shall bring,

The risk of grief we'll run.

"We'll shelter him with tenderness,

We'll love him while we may,

And for the happiness we've known

Forever grateful stay.

"And should the angels call for him

Much sooner than we've planned,

We'll brave the bitter grief that comes

And try to understand."

"Let the little children come to me and do not forbid them;

for such is the Kingdom of God." 

Mark 10:14

Picture This

It's official...

Calli is formally listed on the modeling agencies websites she is represented by! Now we wait to see what clients choose her for their upcoming ads/prints and etc.

I have included the links to both websites for your viewing, as well as tips/directions for finding her headshot/photos on their Talent Galleries...

Wehmann Models and Talent Inc.

http://www.wehmann.com/

• Click on the Kids tab on the left side of the screen
• Then click on girls to the immediate right
• The easiest way to search her is by her name, Lekson Calli
• There she is...you can click on her headshot to enlarge the photo

Perfectly Petite, Inc.

http://www.perfectlypetite.com

• Click on the Talent Galleries located on the top of the screen
• Then click on Children-Girl
• She is located on Page 3
• There she is...you can click on her headshot to view her resume
• You can also click on "View Portfolio" to view more photos of her as well as her bio

Keep your fingers crossed that a client will find her as charming and beautiful as we do!

You Da Man!

You Da Man!

Ever since our life began,
We realized that "You da man!"
We saw your wisdom, your courage too,
And we learned we could rely on you.

Your tolerant nature was really great;
Nevertheless, you'd not hesitate
To let us know when we'd been bad;
It must have been hard, but that's being a dad.

You're strong and smart and filled with love--
A gift to us from up above,
So here's a greeting from your biggest fan:
Happy Birthday, Dad, 'cause "You da man!"

WE LOVE YOU SO VERY MUCH, HAPPY BIRTHDAY!-Mom, Calli and Caden

What a Shot!

What an experience for Calli...she was a total diva for an hour and a half today! We arrived with our 7 outfits and accessories to shoot Calli's head shot for Wehmann Agency's online gallery. She had so much FUN getting her hair and makeup done. Her photo shoot with Erika Ludwig Photography went very well and her team was very helpful, professional and creative. They wanted to capture the natural beauty of Calli...so minimal makeup was used and her hair was styled smooth and sleek. They wanted to seize the photo that potential clients would look at and be able to imagine and envision Calli in "their" clothes, product, style or look. Erika did a fantastic job of photographing Calli and with her help we were able to narrow down 78 head shots to one! We are looking forward to the final head shot that will be posted on the Wehmann Agency website. We will be sure to let you know when it is finalized and ready to be viewed!

Risky BUSiness

An exciting responsibility of being a 5th grader is being able to apply to be a bus patrol. This is something that Calli has dreamed about since she was 5! One her favorite past times is to play "bus", she loved riding around (on her bike, 4-wheeler, snowmobile, or anything that had wheels) greeting kids and being the "boss" of the bus. This is a big responsibility in the eyes of the Principal at McKinley and they choose only the most competent to partake in this assignment. Calli was ecstatic this afternoon to share with us that she had been chosen to be one of three bus patrols on her bus!

Congratulations, Calli, we are so proud of YOU...

Strike A Pose

We are so very EXCITED to announce that Calli has been signed by a modeling agency!

This has been a dream of hers since this past summer...

It all started when she got the latest Justice For Girls Catalog in the mail in July. She was so fascinated by the all the fall/school trends that she stated, "I would love to try on all these clothes and have my picture taken. It would be so fun!" As the weeks drew closer to school and the ads became more numerous for Back To School she noticed all the fashions/models in the Target, Old Navy and JCPenney ads and thus began the plan for getting her into modeling....

Calli and I spent a beautiful summer afternoon snapping photos around our yard in preparation for creating her Composite Card (a marketing tool for models that serves as the latest and best of a model's photos that are used as a business card). I then organized our favorite photos of her and composed them into a comp card using my digital scrapbooking program. We sent them out to several modeling agencies around the Twin Cities (with our fingers crossed) and hoped that they would see the beauty inside and out that we see in Calli. Within 1 week of our mailings we had 2 responses! Calli had her first interview with PPI (Perfectly Petite Inc.) in Burnsville last Friday. The interview went well and she was signed that evening. Calli's second interview was held this morning by The Wehmann Agency, a much larger and more local modeling agency located in downtown Minneapolis. This was the bigger break we were looking for! Calli's next step is a photo shoot this Wednesday with The Wehmann Agency photographer, Erika Ludwig. She is so pumped to have her hair, makeup and outfits done professionally! The photos from this photo shoot will be listed on Wehmann's website for their clients (Target, Best Buy, General Mills, etc.) to review and book from.

We are thrilled to see what this experience brings for Calli,

we are so very proud of her!

(This is the comp card/photos that I created for Calli)