Lately

The last few weeks have just flown by. Honestly, where did November go? It seems like yesterday we were putting out our pumpkins. Thanksgiving was really nice this year. My sisters were both able to come to town, so we were able to spend lots of time with my family. This year Chris wanted to be in charge of the turkey, so we tried something new. We spatchcocked it (yes, that is a real term) then used a dry rub on it, and it only took a couple hours to cook. It turned out pretty fabulous. It's a bummer that I didn't really get any pictures. We stayed up late and played lots of games, and we went to the movies. We even braved shopping at Target on Thursday night. Overall, I really wasn't ready for this short holiday week to end.

Friday was our 11th wedding anniversary. It poured rain the entire day! It made me so grateful that our wedding day was dry and mild. We really did get lucky for Oregon. We had a really fun day. We took the kids out in the rain to find the perfect Christmas tree, and watched as daddy chopped it down. It was too wet for pictures, but the kids really enjoyed running around in the mud and warming up with hot chocolate and cookies. Later on, Chris and I made it to a movie and even had Thai for dinner. It was a perfect way to spend the day!

Happy anniversary honey! Here is to another fun year and lots of great memories together!

Halloween is FUN!

Halloween turned out to be a lot of fun this year for us. It is always a busy time of year since it falls just after Grace's birthday, but we managed to get our pumpkins carved just in time. 

After eating dinner, we drove over to Grandma's x2 houses for hugs and treats. Neil was a lion, and it's a good thing I just borrowed a costume for him because he HATES dressing up. He would only stop crying about it for a piece of candy. Finally he got over the wearing it part....but if we tried to put the hood up....it would be a disaster. Needless to say, I didn't get many pictures of him. At one point I got on the floor to catch him under the table with it on. Score!
Grace was excited to be Minnie mouse, and she definitely looked adorable!
Claire decided to be a giant pumpkin. We stuffed her with balloons and she looked great. This pumpkin costume was actually one that I wore as a kid. It was fun to see her in it!

Trick or treating was really fun in our neighborhood. The weather was mild and it even stayed dry for us! We walked until our legs were tired, and we didn't even make it to half of the houses here! Neil LOVED going up to people and asking for treats. He was pretty cute to always say, "thank you". He made it to about 10 houses and then went home with Daddy to pass out candy, which he also really enjoyed. The girls and I came home with full buckets and had a great time. It was fun seeing some of our friends. Overall, Halloween was a success! Now on to getting this sugar taken care of. I hope it doesn't sit here looking at me for too long.

Grace is 5!!!!

   Five is such a great age. Five year olds are sweet and generally are good at following directions. They are past the toddler stage, and are becoming real kids.  I really enjoy five. It is just so hard to believe that my little girl is now five. I know it is so cliche, but seriously, where has the time gone? We moved back to Oregon when I was very pregnant with Grace. It just doesn't seem like that long ago. Now here she is, learning to read, teaching her brother how to dance, playing soccer, and showing off her sweet yet stubborn personality.
   We had a really fun weekend celebrating Grace. First on Saturday, I ambitiously invited 9 of her friends over for a party. It was a little daring only because Chris was running his 1/2 marathon that day (good job honey! We are super proud of you!), and he wasn't going to be home in time to help me. Thankfully, the kids all did really well together and my mom was able to come over and help me out. We played pin the tail on the rabbit, made halloween crafts, ate cake and ice cream, opened presents, played play dough, and just played. The kids had a lot of fun, and we all survived. Afterwards, we took her to Red Robin for her birthday dinner. She wanted them to sing to her and she loved her b-day sundae.
   On Sunday evening we had our family over for more cake and ice cream. Grace was spoiled with more gifts. She had a fabulous time! She is one lucky girl to have to many people around that love her. Overall, we had a very busy but nice weekend together. We love you Grace! Happy Birthday! ...Please don't grow up too fast.