Happy Thanksgiving

I am thankful for my wonderful family and the time that we get to spend together! I love them very much! (We got our family pictures taken and I'll get around to posting them soon!)

Tuesday before Thanksgiving, Dylan had a little program at school. He was so excited to show us the songs they had been learning. It was really cute and Dylan even memorized 2 little sayings! I was so proud of him! Then after the program, they had a little feast to celebrate.

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend with family. Thursday, we headed over to Ricky's parent's house for the day. It was nice and relaxing spending time with his family. We played some games and the kids had a great time playing together. I took my camera, but forgot to use it. Darn! Then Thursday night I headed down to my parent's house. Ricky had to be at work at 3:30 in the morning, so we let him get some sleep while I went black Friday shopping with my dad. He had never been before, so I thought it would be fun to show him how it's done! I got some great deals, and he got the things he wanted so it turned out to be a great experience. Plus I got to spend some quality time with my dad.

Friday was spent resting at my parent's house. Since I didn't get much sleep, I wasn't into doing much! My mom took Dylan and Lauren horse back riding, which was Dylan's favorite time of the weekend! The boys and I headed home and Lauren got to spend some time with just grandma and grandpa.

Saturday morning, we headed to Illinois to celebrate Thanksgiving with my family. We went to my aunt's house and almost everyone was there! My grandparents even made it, which was really nice! (Ricky had to stay back home to work, boo for retail stores) I think there were 11 kids under the age of 9 and they all got along wonderfully! We had a wonderful weekend of playing games and just hanging out. I love getting to spend time with family.

Last week was spent catching up from the long weekend. The kids really enjoyed the snow on Tuesday (after having the temperature in the 60's over the weekend! Crazy Indiana weather for you!) We had some friends over and the boys jumped on the trampoline. They Loved it!

Lauren and I decided to stay in our pjs all day. It was an excellent day for that! She was so cute outside in the snow!

I love the holidays!

Busy week

Sunday after church we headed to Indy for dinner with my family. We wanted to squeeze in some family pictures since I waited too long and my friends were booked. Next year I'll have to schedule earlier! You live and learn! Luckily, my mom was more than willing to take some for us! (Thanks mom!) They turned out really good and I can't wait to see the prints I ordered! We had a great time with my sister and brother and their families, too! The cousins love to spend time together!

Dylan was the STAR of the week this whole week, which meant that he got to bring a poster about himself in on Monday, he got to bring snacks in every day for the week, and he got to bring a show and tell every day. I let him pick out the snacks he wanted to bring, so we ended up doing pretzels, animal crackers, pumpkin muffins, goldfish crackers, and rice krispie treats. It was fun to see what he wanted instead of just picking for him. He felt special all week and was telling the teacher how excited he was to bring snacks for everyone. How fun it is to have a kindergartener!

Friday for date night, Ricky was having another computer gaming party, I met my mom at the nail salon for pedicures! Heavenly! I love getting a pedicure and spending time with my mom! After the pedicure, we spent the last few minutes shopping! My next favorite thing! I think I could shop all day long and still not be tired of it! Kids make it hard to get things done, especially when they start remembering things! I guess that's what good friends are for! My mom offered to take the kids for the night (I mean, who doesn't want to spend the night at grandma's house!) so I enjoyed a quiet evening to myself! It was so nice!

Saturday, we were invited to 3 parties! How fun! I went to a baby shower in the morning (yeah for girl time!) then we headed to Indy for my best friend from high school's boy's birthday party. They had the party at Monster Mini Golf, and the kids had a blast! Since the kids were at my parent's house, Ethan stayed and took a nap. It was a TON easier to not have him there! There were tons of kids and we would have spent the day chasing him instead of having fun! Dylan and Lauren loved playing golf and the arcade games. Lauren was even putting by herself about half way through! We didn't make it back to the third party, but we stayed at my parent's house for some pizza and games.

Today is a relaxing day from the busy week. Dylan stayed at grandma's again, so I have to go get him as soon as the other kids wake up. Ethan has been sleeping for 4 1/2 hours and Lauren for over 2! I am enjoying some quiet time as the holidays are fast approaching and I know things are going to get crazy! Ricky also had to work today, as he will most of the week. I am thankful he gets Thanksgiving Day off, but will have to work very early on Friday and Saturday. The joys of retail shops. I am also thankful that he has a job to support our family. Thanks for all your hard work, hun! I love you!

Reading time

Life is going crazy around here. Ricky had 5 days off of work and we spent them babysitting and sick. I got the flu and felt dizzy and achy all weekend. I was very grateful to have Ricky home to take care of the kids for me. So far, no one else has gotten sick. Now that Ricky is back at work, I am trying to recover the house from the long weekend. I think it will take me all week, but that's the joys of being a mom!

Last night, we went to a Family Reading Night at Dylan's school. It was really fun to learn different ways to incorporate learning into life. The kids got to make a little book to take home, which was a big hit. I'll have to get a picture of it when Dylan is all done with his. It's called, "The Lion." It's nice to know that the school is trying to get families involved in the children's learning. Dylan had a great time, as always, and got to show off his work in the hall.

We were supposed to get our family pictures taken this past weekend, but getting sick threw us all off. Now I have to find another time to get our family pictures taken for our Christmas cards. Speaking of, I am having a little dilemma with myself. I have made our Christmas cards for the past 4 or 5 years, but am debating on using a service to just make a card this year. What are your opinions? I'd love to have some feedback! Thanks!

Happy Halloween!

I love holiday, any reason to celebrate is great for me! Halloween is no exception. We started the day by making orange pumpkin shaped pancakes with green stems. The kids really like them and they are fun to do! After breakfast, we had some friends come play, since their mom was going to get their minivan! She decided to join the mom club by getting a minivan! It was a little busy with 6 kids (5 of them were 3 and under), but we managed to make it through the morning. After lunch, I had to make some phone calls to try to get our water heater to work again. (It has been going out about 2 times a year since we moved in! Not fun when you want to take a shower and wash the dishes!) We then headed over to Lauren's dance class, since it was Monday. After class, we went to Papa Murphey's to get a pumpkin shaped pizza for dinner. It looked really good and it totally goes with the holiday! While the pizza was cooking, I got the kids dressed for trick-or treating. Here are the best shots:

My little giraffe.
Iron Man 2, he would correct you if you just said Iron Man!My Barbie Princess again! (She loves to dress up and decided last minute to be this again instead of Cinderella.)
My three little cuties!
Look at that yummy pizza!

We went over to the church for the trunk-or-treat and the kids got to walk around with their friends, Kiah and Evan. They had so much fun together! I loved seeing all of the kids' friends costumes! Everyone is so creative!
Lauren had to hold my hand (probably because there were so many people around) and I had to hold onto Ethan so he didn't run off! Ricky was passing out Glow Bracelets at the car until they were gone, then he joined us! I guess I need to get lots more next year!
Ethan and his friend, Gabby. I thought it was too cute that they were both little animals!

When we got home, Dylan wanted to go around to some of the neighbors houses, so we headed off while Ricky passed out candy at home. Dylan was really into it!
Lauren and Ethan were just along for the ride! I think Ethan only ate 2 suckers, while Lauren ate just a few too many pieces of candy! Oh well! That's what Halloween is all about!
The next morning, we dump the candy out on their laps! How fun! (I was only a day behind on this, so not quite all of the candy made it there!) Dylan was quite proud of his bucket that was full! Ethan was being goofy, but cute!We had a great Halloween and I love building our traditions as a family! Happy Halloween!

The start of Halloween

We have had a busy week! Tuesday for moms and tots at church, they had a little Halloween party. I took the three little ones and they had a blast. Lauren liked seeing all of her friends dressed up, too. They did a cake walk, bean bag toss, pin the nose on the pumpkin, and find the ghost. It was really cute!Thursday was Dylan's Halloween party at school. I was grateful to some friends for watching my kids so I could help out at the school party! I had a great time and it's so neat to see and meet the kids in his class and a few parents. They played hot potato with a gourd, ring toss with a Witch's hat, and they made a skeleton and a fall place-mat that will get laminated. Lauren also had a little Halloween fun at her joyschool. It was a fun-filled day!This is one of Dylan's friends from class, Mason. Dylan talks about him all the time!
Friday, we had a Halloween playgroup at our house with some friends that I hadn't seen in a while! It is always fun to catch up with friends! The kids made ghost suckers and foam letter/shape cards. They had a great time playing while I chatted! There were almost 20 kids and they all played so well!
All the beautiful princesses!
Friday afternoon, we played with stickers! And then made mummy dogs for dinner! Yum! Dylan had fun wrapping them for me. What a big helper! Saturday night, we headed over to the corn maze. It was Awesome! It was a little chilly, but everyone had a blast! Ethan only fell a few times in the mud puddles! Boys will be boys! He loved running all through the corn!
Dylan and Lauren had a blast running through the corn, too! Dylan and Dad even enjoyed throwing the corn kernels at each other! They had a pumpkin patch there, too! Too many pumpkins to choose from!
Look at my little cuties!
It was a perfect family activity! We had a great time and can't wait to go again next year! I think next year we will rent a camp fire spot and make s'mores and stay for the evening! It was great! After the corn maze, we headed over to our friend's annual Halloween donut party. The donuts were amazing, just like every year! (they are home-made) They have a new kind called the Baconator, which is maple icing with bacon bits on top. It is surprisingly tasty! The kids were beat by the end of the night, but it was well worth it.