Family Gathering

November 15, 2008

We had a nice family gathering this last weekend. We were all together due to my aunt passing away. She had suffered from Alzheimer's for many, many years. She was only 61 and leaves behind a husband, three children and 3 grandsons. It was wonderful to see everyone but sad to say good-bye.

This is my grandmother who turned 93 this summer.

She gets around really well, and enjoyed everyone coming home.

My cousin and his wife that left before all the group pictures started. (Baby due in Feb.)

Grandma and her three sons.

Grandma and all her granddaughters.

Grandma and all the grandchildren that were there.

We were missing the one above, one in Hawaii, and one in Colorado.

These are all Grandma's GREAT grandchildren.

SNOW

November 7, 2008

We went from short sleeves to snow in 3 days. We were expecting some snow but not for another day according to the weather report. Everyone was excited. Candy was so excited for Milk Dud to have his first snow experience. I had to explain he was here last year.

She said, "Yeh, but he was to little to see it."

It lasted most of the day but was gone before Ice Cream was off the bus.

It was a beautiful first snow.

Milk Dud was fine until he put his hand into the snow.

I guess I have to find mittens and boots for this little one soon.

Kids at the bus stop were really excited.

Ice Cream trying his arm out.

Neighbor could not wait to even put on a coat. I thought this was so cute. He is 4.

Costumes One more Time

November 4, 2008

Candy and her friends thought it was tons of fun to dress-up one more time. I guess it pays to be slow at putting the costumes away.

Climber Hits the Top

November 4, 2008

Our little climber made it to the top of the blocker wall. I found him sitting in the play kitchen sink. The big kids (Candy and friends) were coloring on the other side and he found a way to see what they were doing. He has not done it again but we know he knows how.

Pictures Edited

Cabin in the Fall

We had a great day in the fall leaves at the cabin.

The kids enjoyed raking the leaves and making the pile as big as we could.

The weather was perfect, the leaves were dry, and my camera was busy.

This is Candy and Ice Cream jumping off the docks into our large pile of leaves. They had a GREAT time and kept jumping for hours.

I am having a lot of fun with these pictures. I am using Picnik which was suggested by my good friend Ms. Huis herself. Thanks for the tip.

Happy Birthday Uncle Pizza

We had a great time celebrating Uncle Pizza's Birthday last weekend at the cabin. The weather was almost 70 degrees in November!!

Halloween started early went long

Wow - we have a lot to say about Halloween. We had a great time and did LOTS of things.

Papa B and Grandma B came and helped carve the pumpkins. The kids thought it was great, and they loved showing their pumpkins to the neighbors.

Since school was out on Halloween, we had an early party at Ice Cream's school on Thursday. We were excited to see all his friends dressed up, and they had a great time with all the games that were planned. Ice Cream was a Wizzard and loved caring his Halloween Cat with him. (He is into Harry Potter books and loves cats, so this was a combination of both loves.)

(We also used this last year, and he wanted it again.)

Thursday night was GEORGEOUS here. We had 70 degree weather. It was perfect for a parade around the neighborhood. We walked about a mile. Since all the kids were in the parade with their parents, no one really watched, but everyone has a good time. As you will see, our kids have a few costumes and can choose anything as long as it is not too cold. It was a great day for a parade. The first parade was cancelled 5 days pior since it was WINDY, COLD and we saw some snow flakes.

Finally, the day was here. Since there was no school, I planned a busy day of events. (I did not want to hear all day "is it time to go yet.... time to go yet...") Maybe I planned a little too much. We started the morning with a wonderful playdate with friends across town. They all had a great time, and we enjoyed lunch with them. We then headed to Doughnuts work to Reverse-Trick-or-Treat as we like to call it. We hand out cookies to the people working. We made 225 cookies, but since we had to come at around lunch time many peole were gone. We had a few left. (You can find the recipe for the cookies here.)

We then went to Candy's preschool and had a small party there. Candy and her teacher look great together.

We had one small stop left before heading home. I scheduled a flu shot for Ice Cream. The rest of us already had ours.

Oh, I almost forgot about the pizza. We tried getting pizza, but after waiting almost an hour after calling and then standing in line to pay for 1/2 hour, we went somewhere else and ordered pizza. (Mental Note: next year make something at home save pizza for another day.)

Now that all were fed, we were ready. The kids all had a Pooh costume and they wanted to have them on at the same time. We like dressing up here. We are surprised that Ice Cream would wear Pooh outside, but he was fine with it. He also knew it was warm and did not want to get cold. He looked great and got many comments.

One last change and we were all in our Disney attire.

Nana was able to handout candy for us so we could all go out. Milk Dud lasted 2 hours being carried around with us. It was another warm evening so everyone was happy.

Neighbors all ready to go!!

This is a loot picture. They got WAY to much candy, but I love how they only ate a few pieces and have not really asked for it at all this week. This picture does not do it justice.