Picture Day at School

Emily had picture day at school this week and this was her outfit. With her "super-big-grin" phase she's going through right now, I wanted to get a picture of her that I knew we would like. And here it is -- isn't she beautiful?! :)

Halloween & Trick-or-Treating

This was the first year that we took the kids trick-or-treating. Alex (dressed up as James Dean) had no idea what was going on -- he just liked seeing all the dogs on their leashes! Emily, however, LOVED getting candy! She was a little upset that the big bowl of candy we had in the kitchen was being given away to the kids coming to our house. But after we visited a few places, she understood what was going on. And you should have seen her just struttin' her stuff -- she was the prettiest little Dorothy!! :)

Preschool Fall Party

As you can see, Emily went as Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz for Halloween and her Fall Party at school. She LOVES The Wizard of Oz and couldn't wait to dress up as Dorothy! (We got this costume from a dear friend whose daughter wore it last year -- isn't it beautiful?!)

I got to help at Emily's school for her Fall party. Her friend Chloe went as Dorothy too -- aren't they cute?! (As you can tell, Emily's in her "big-cheesey-grin" phase. Pretty, huh?!) :)

We had different stations the kids could go to (crafts, games, snacks) and they all seemed to have a great time tracing leaves, decorating cookies, and even putting their hands in spaghetti to find toys at the bottom!

When You No Longer Hear A Child . . .

. . . Go check on them immediately! They're ALWAYS getting into something! This time it was a box of tissues! :)

"Hey, Mom! Look what I did!" ;)

We LOVE Autumn!

Last weekend it was 70 degrees and we got to play outside in the leaves -- it was wonderful!!! :)

Emily's new hiding place

She emptied out all the cutting boards from the cabinet and crawled on in. It's only 9" wide -- I had no idea she could fit in there! It reminded me of "A Christmas Story"scene ("Daddy's gonna kill Ralphie!")! :)

Alex's First Word

Alex has been talking for a while but not really saying much. Mostly just babbling like, "uh-huh", "whooo" (like an owl), or "doe-doe-doe". Well, while Ben & Laura were here, Alex got really fussy at one point and reached for me and said "Mama". He's said this and "Dada" before but never actually directed at one of us in particular. Well, that night was different. It was so sweet!! :)

Vist from Ben & Laura & Isobel

Sorry about not posting in FOREVER! Life has been crazy with Emily having a sinus infection, myself also having a sinus infection and bronchitis, visits from friends, Halloween and just general craziness (not to mention still having problems connecting the camera to the computer). But a solution might have been discovered -- we'll see if it lasts long term! ;)

So, as you can see, Ben & Laura came down two weeks ago with Isobel and we had a good time. Uncle Ben had his hands full in this picture -- aren't they cute?! :)

And for some reason, the laundry room was where the kids liked to play that weekend -- we're not sure why. Maybe because of the nice view to the backyard? Regardless of the reason, they enjoyed themselves and each other! :)

SISTER HAZEL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I have the best sister in the whole world -- just wanted everyone to know that!! For my 30th birthday present, she bought me tickets to see our favorite band perform -- SISTER HAZEL! They were at Epcot over the weekend and we got to see them perform 3 times -- it was amazing!! Thank you, Tracie -- you are the best!! :)

Tracie and I have listened to and loved Sister Hazel for over a decade! They are from Gainsville, FL and perform often in Florida. Tracie has seen them several times, but unfortunately they don't make it to Ohio very often. This was my first Sister Hazel concert and I screamed like a teenager seeing The Beetles or Elvis. Nelson would have been mortified had he been with me -- but we had a blast!! :) And as an extra bonus, my cousin Katie flew into Orlando on Saturday morning, so she got to come with us to the concert. Sister Hazel was performing three times on Saturday and between each set, they were making everyone leave the ampitheatre and go wait in line again. During the last song of the second set, Katie jumped up and got in line for us. Let me tell you -- I have an amazing family! :)

Sister Hazel is just amazing! They put on three great concerts and were fantastic live -- if you haven't heard them before, I'd highly, highly, highly recommend them! (www.sisterhazel.com) :)

Alex Walking

This isn't the greatest video, but it does show you how he's walking. I think he's finally realized how much faster it is to walk, because we never see him crawl anymore. He's just all over the house now! :)