Happy Costume Day!

It's Halloween and we woke up to rain and forecast of....more rain! Braving the weather, we headed to the mall for trick-or-treating and face painting. (We have Beth as a "sort of princess," Adam as Spiderman, Jason as a clone trooper and Jill as a princess). Macy's was a big let down - no trick or treating and below average face painting (I'm such a critic but seriously - what is on Adam's cheek because I don't see a whale, and Jason couldn't get a bat like he wanted because they didn't have black - no black on Halloween!?!) but we smiled and moved on...For our afternoon adventure we hit the grocery store (another indoor venue :) This was a much more impressive stop. A baker was decorating cookies to order (we got a bat, a dog, and a fish). There were games to play all over the store (and I got shopping done!)Our day finished off with classic door to door trick or treating with our cousins. We have: a cat, transformer, control freak (can you see the remote controls dangling from him?), wolf (mascot), Indian princess, princess, camp rock girl, and a bat (not pictured is Nemo who was waking up from his late afternoon nap). Lots of fun to be had but maybe too much for Jill...she did not like the face paint and masks.

The end of the day and each kid has too much candy, got to wear two costumes, and attended three events...not bad for a rainy Halloween!

Happy Birthday, Jillian! Party #2

After a fabulous weekend in North Carolina, we returned home to Georgia where party #2 was already in the planning. Jill has a friend at church, Zeke. Being 10 days apart they've grown up together! (Someone has a newborn picture of them together at my shower???) Here they are in May at 7 months old...Anyway, we planned a Prince and Princess party for the two of them.

The party took place at the Coffee Park. The location attracted us because they provide the activities, the food and the clean-up. We only had to bring cake and people.

The cake was a big hit with Jill. "I just have to make it through this song and then I get to eat!" Having practiced the week before, she knew this was good stuff! Caught you, Adam! He's knows it's good, too!Zeke on the other hand wanted nothing to do with his cake. His mom did such a good job decorating it, I think he didn't want to damage it :) They both enjoyed digging into their presents - paper, things that make noise, and more paper!Yummy food, great cake, presents, friends, leaving the mess for someone else to clean up...it was a successful party. Here's some more of the fun:

They had games like playing with the parachute and duck, duck, goose.Jill LOVED the slide and crawling around the castle.

Big brothers everywhere to be knights for our princesses.

Happy Birthday Jill & Zeke!

Happy Birthday, Jillian!

With family from both sides of the family now living in Raleigh, North Carolina, we decided to head north and celebrate Jill's big day with lots and lots of cousins!
We brought the party to the park (where else do you take 14 kids?) There was a threat of rain but it turned out to be a beautiful day! Jill enjoyed some strawberries and pizza.Then time for cake! She really wanted to touch the candles but Daddy kept her away and then helped her blow them out. It took her a little while to dive into the cake but soon enough she was eating it and even sharing with Daddy. We finished the afternoon with presents. She was so excited and actually helped unwrap the presents.
Then she played with the box :)











The next day, her actual birthday, we dressed her up in the dress Jocelyn wore on her first birthday. She looked adorable even if she wouldn't keep the bow on her head!

Then we spent the day at Papa & Anja's just enjoying being with family.

It was a great day, a fabulous weekend, a wonderful first birthday.
Love you, Jillian!

Pennsylvania Trip - Part 3

Camping! We've wanted to camp with our kids since forever. Although if we really wanted to we would have made it happen, hmmm...I'll have to think about that. Anyway, our kids finally got to sleep in tents. They loved it, slept great, the weather was perfect, and we want to do it again! Just look at Jason proudly setting up camp...We have to do this again!Now, after two nights sleeping in a tent Jason asked, "when are we going to camp?" I looked at him and said with confusion, "we are camping." And he responded, "no, we haven't had a campfire and s'mores yet!" That's my boy! Andrew put him on "campfire duty" and together they built and maintained the fire for the next two nights. He was so proud and took the responsibility very seriously. Adam joined in as honorary assistant so all my boys made the trip a true camping experience. It was precious!

One more thing...I have to be honest...I enjoy camping, I don't mind getting dirty, and I can sleep just about anywhere but...there was an RV there and, because I had Jill, I was offered the bed inside...and I took it. I slept in there until the last night when I decided the weather had been nice, Jill could handle it, there was an extra tent, I was going to be a true camper. I share this because I want the world to know - I am proud of my sister-in-law Marj who said she would never camp, she didn't want to camp, was not even going to come on this trip but happily slept in a tent every night she was there. Way to go, Marj! Way to go everyone! We successfully camped :)

Pennsylvania Trip - Part 2: the farm

Andrew grew up in Erie (and a few other places but he was born and attended high school in Erie). He still has family and friends, including an uncle living on a farm, making it a fun place to visit. Where to begin...hayrides, trip to the lake, family visitors, a trip to Andrew's old house, Niagara Falls, campfires, and lots and lots of playing with cousins. Some will wait for later posts, and I'll try to let these pictures do most of the talking.

Can't have a trip to the farm without a good old fashioned hayride!

Beth & Ella with Anja on the hayride.

Beth swinging on a vine...everyone got a turn... Even daddy...

Growing on the farm are fields and fields of corn but there's also a large garden with zucchini, lettuce, sunflowers...and broccoli (sooooo yummy fresh off the plant!) This broccoli is past it's prime but it's so pretty all flowering. When it was too hot outside, there was fun stuff to do in the converted garage...

And here we are in front of Andrew's old house. He lived here for 8th -12th grade. We drove up the driveway because he wanted to see but the current owners caught us and came out to see who was in their driveway. The people living there are the ones who bought the house from Andrew's family so they were happy to see him and gave us a tour of the house! It was so fun to see the house that was full of so many memories for Andrew. Looking for more? Camping, Lake Erie, and Niagara Falls coming...someday :)