Halloween Fun

We have had such a fun night! We just got back from trick or treating and we have lots of candy. We went out last night to a local church for some trunk or treating. We didn't last long because it was sooo busy, and it was very cold. But Abby ran into some kids from her class at school and was thrilled to have 13 pieces of candy. :)
Tonight we were supposed to go out trick or treating with some friends, but their son came down with strep throat and there was no way I was about to get close to that. I just don't want to make another trip to urgent care. So we made other plans. Our amazing friend Hannah called to tell us that Hope College was having trick or treating tonight so we headed over there. It was so fun. There were games to play, crafts to make, tunnels to crawl through and of course there was candy. Hannah walked with us and Grace was happy.
Then we came home and did a few houses in our neighborhood. Abby was running from house to house and thrilled with each new piece of candy. But she tired of it quickly and then just wanted to go home to hand out our candy. We only got one visitor. I think the rest of the kids had come while we were gone. Needless to say we now have a bowl full of candy that was to be handed out and Abby's bowl of candy. We have plenty to share, so please come on over! :) Abby decided to be Ariel from the Little Mermaid on Friday night.

Today she chose to be Snow White and we dressed Grace as a little lady bug.

It was a little chilly out so I layered her in two shirts and pants before putting the costume on, but she was so excited she didn't care.She's definitely a princess!!

Here are the girls waiting for the Hope festivities to begin.

Yeah for Hannah, Hope College, and CANDY!

VIP Day!

Yesterday was VIP Day at school. This meant that Abby could take a Very Important Person to school for an hour of fun activities in the morning. Abby got to take Hannah!! She was beyond excited and all week long we had to count down the days until Hannah could come to school. Then yesterday after school, I got the complete run down on all the activities she did with Hannah. One of the things they did first was to sing several songs for the visitors. I didn't put all of them up here on the blog, but I did put one. I hope you enjoy it! And Hannah, we LOVE you! Thanks for being Abby's VIP! :)

Conquered!

This week Grace has conquered walking! It's like all of the sudden she decided she wanted to do it. She still tumbles and if she really wants something she will resort to crawling, but most of the time she just pulls herself up and walks. I love watching babies learn to walk because they stagger back and forth. It's so cute!!

Pumpkin Carving Fun

Today was such a great day. I absolutely love Sundays! After a great worship service and a fulfilling and tasty lunch, it's just me and the girls for the afternoon. The house is usually clean, the laundry is done and the school work is finished so Sundays are just "be together" days. Yep, they're the best!
Here are some snapshots of our day: Here are the girls cuddling together in the morning. These two seriously adore each other! I love proud momma moments like this.

We decided to attack our pumpkins this afternoon. Abby was so excited until she saw the inside of the pumpkin and she got grossed out. It was so funny to watch.

She only put her hand in one time and that was it! Don't you just love the look on her face? She was so completely grossed out by the seeds and the pumpkin innards. I tried to get her to just feel it, but no way. She wanted nothing to do with it.

She did however, love the carving part. She had drawn a picture of what she wanted the faces to look like and was so happy to poke out the triangles after I carved them.

This is how Grace spent her time while we were carving. She loves the tupperware cupboard. Such a happy girl!

Finished product! She was thrilled. Don't you love that one pumpkin has teeth and one just has a big smile? These look just like her drawings. She was explicit in which one was to get which smile.

We couldn't find any candles in the house so we'll have to get some later, but Abby was happy to put them outside on the front porch for all to see and admire.

Yep, Sundays are good.

Friday Night Fun

Last night we got together with our friends for dinner, dessert and laughs. We all brought the kids and it made for a loud, but very fun night. Abby and Aliya just hanging out and waiting for dinner, or maybe they're just hoping for the dessert. Oh the choices! Brownies, ice cream, chocolate covered pretzels, and apple strudel. If you're Abby, you ate all of the above. Yum!

Yeah! Jocelyn's home! Amy proudly showed off her newest daughter. She reminded me so much of Grace when she was younger. They look so much alike. What a cutie!

Near the end of the evening the kids found the musical instruments and formed a band. Aliya had the tambourine, Alex had the drum, Abby had the cow bells and Levi was on drums too. What a joyful noise! Thanks for a fun night ladies!

13 months 22 days

13 months and 22 days. That's how long it took until Grace started walking. I know that I blogged about her walking before school started and she was. But then she only took 3-4 steps and she seemed to have forgotten about it and reverted back to crawling. But! This week (today especially) is different. It seems as though she has decided to walk and she is determined to do it often. She walked across the kitchen tonight and from couch to couch. I think it's only a matter of time before she starts running. Where of where did my baby go?

That's right! We look good!

Last weekend in the gorgeous weather, my family got together to get our family pictures taken. My good friend took them and so is soooo great!! If you need a photographer, let me know and I'll pass along her information.
The kids had decided to get family pictures for mom and dad's Christmas present. We did it now since we wanted outdoor ones. We had an hour for pictures and man did we get a ton of different poses. I didn't put them all on here, but I chose a few of my favorites. Enjoy! Here's the whole clan. What started with 2 people, quickly became 15 people. And don't they look good! We decided to wear jeans and a solid colored shirt. We didn't want anyone to have to buy new clothes, but rather to just look in their closet. We didn't coordinate colors at all, but I think it all turned out great!

Here are my 2 favorite girls!! Such cuties!!

Here's our family pose. Don't you love the face on Grace? This was near the end of our hour and she was done smiling. Oh well, this photo captures my life right now. I'd say it's pretty right on.

Here's my brother and his family. They all look good too. My brother is so photogenic, I'm jealous.

Here's my sister and her family. She has three adorable girls.

Yep. This is what started everything. And the 2 shall become 15! We love you mom and dad!

Isn't this great by the rocks? I was skeptical at first, but I think it's one of my favorites. And I love the fact that everyone, and I mean everyone, is smiling!!

There was a gazebo nearby so we used that for a few photos too. If you can enlarge this one, look at Grace's smile. It's golden and of course we got it on the last picture. Too funny!

What do you dream about?

This conversation happened early in the morning.

Me: Did you sleep well? What did you dream about? Unicorns or fairies?

Abby: Nope, I dreamt about butterflies. They were beautiful and flying around.

Me: Wow, that sounds fun. I wish I could be in your dreams.

Abby(smiling) : Aw, mom, you're in my dreams every night!

Pictures galore!

We've been busy! This weekend we celebrated my dad's birthday with the whole family. And to celebrate we got our family pictures taken. It was a memorable birthday for dad, so we rounded up the troops (all 15 of us) and headed out for family pictures. I had my awesome friend take them for us and they are fantastic!! You can expect to see them on the blog later. When we were done with the big family pictures we headed over to Hope to get a few fun pics. Here's Abby hanging on the Hope anchor. I can't wait until she actually goes to Hope and I can show her this picture of when she was five. So precious!

We tried to get all three of us by the anchor and this is the best one we could get. After an hour of family pictures, both girls were out of "goodness" and smiles. But I'll take this one. It's still cute.

My sister and I both went to Hope. When I was there my freshman year, she came up to visit on sibling weekend and we got our pictures taken by the anchor. It was fun to get them taken again, over 15 years later. We haven't changed at all. :)

Both my parents went to Hope as well (are you seeing a theme here?) Isn't this a great picture of the anchor and the parents?

Then we headed home to celebrate the birthday. It was such a beautiful day weather wise. It was in the upper 70's so we grilled and had a picnic outside. We even had a fire in the fire pit. So great!

Grace has so much fun pulling her socks off. She does it over and over and over again. She also found Uncle Jeff's hat and loved wearing it around the house.

Today (Sunday) was another great day. We headed outside after Grace's nap. I cleaned up a few left over plants and pots while the girls played. Abby had such great ideas for Grace. She pulled her in the car, put her in the tot chairs, and even put her on the scooter. Now that Grace is getting older, she's much more interactive and Abby loves a playmate.

Later we headed to urgent care with Grace. She was awake most of Saturday night and not eating well today. She woke up from her nap with a fever and was pulling on her ears. Momma instinct kicked in and we headed to the doctors. Yep, a double ear infection. Poor baby. But now she's on meds and hopefully she'll sleep better tonight.

Happy Birthday Papa!

Today is our Papa's birthday. We love him so much!! He is such an incredible father and grandpa. The best thing about him is that he loves Jesus with all his heart and then he loves his family. We are so blessed to have him in our lives. Happy Birthday Papa!!

Dancing Ballerina

This afternoon Abby put her ballerina outfit on and danced. It was a fun moment. She looked cute and I'm sure I'll look at this video again and again. My dancing ballerina, you make my heart happy.

We love Pumpkinfest!

This week was Pumpkinfest. We love this weekend! I know, many of you are wondering what Pumpkinfest is. Well, it's the weekend of the pumpkin. There are parades, pumpkin eating contests, kids activities and even chili cook-offs. Yep, we live in small town USA.
We headed downtown Friday night and got there just in time for the pumpkin run. Abby ran with her cousins for her pumpkin and then we headed to Main Street. We guessed at candy games, saw balloon artists, looked at drag racing cars, painted pumpkins, got our face painted, pet animals and met up with lots of friends. It was a perfect night!
Then...we woke up this morning. Abby asked for eggs for breakfast. She loves eggs! But then she didn't want to eat them because her throat hurt to swallow. I peeked inside and there are WHITE SPOTS! Oh, no! We waited until Urgent Care opened and we were the first ones in line. Yep, it's a confirmed case of strep. I can't wait until this sickness in our family is over. I'm so sick of being sick! Abby is a real trooper. She was a happy girl all day. We rented the new Tinker Bell movie and hunkered down inside. We're praying often and fervently that Grace doesn't come down with it.
Meanwhile, I took lots of pictures of pumpkinfest, enjoy! Abby and her cousins with their awesome pumpkins.

The streets get decorated with pumpkins every year. This year's theme was Celebrating Michigan. Abby loved looking at all the different set-ups.

Painting the pumpkins was such a hit. There were so many kids waiting for their turn, we were glad they didn't run out of pumpkins before we had a turn.

Abby with the big map of Michigan.

She loves butterflies. So of course she wanted one painted on her cheek. We're not able to wash it off yet. We'll see how long it lasts.

A big local farm brings all their animals downtown for the kids to play with and pet. This was another highlight for Abby.

Here she is holding a baby chick. She had to learn to scoop it up gently with her hands and then hold on tightly.

Oh yeah, and Grace was there too. She spent the whole night in the stroller laughing at the antics of her sister. Such a trooper!