Playing in the Snow!

This morning we woke up to snow! I walked outside to to take Brynlee to school to also find that underneath the snow was a big sheet of ice. Got to love those midwest ice storms! Brynlee was so excited to get out her pink snowpants and princess snowboots and go out and play in it! This afternoon when the sun decided to show itself we bundled up and went out to play!

Gracen was a little top heavy in his coat and fell head first into the snow. When I heard him getting mad I looked over to see him bent at the waist with his head down on the ground, lucky for him he only got it on his hat and not his face!

This girl loves pink! She just ran around and played!

Very nice snow angel! She made lots of these!

I love this picture! Just look at those eyelashes!

Neither of them wanted to sit still for a picture, this is as good as it gets!

This picture is too cute! Heather and Kimberli joined us and Kimberli wasn't too sure of the snow and cold!

She's warming up to the idea as long as she can stay on the sidewalk! Gracen was having lots of issues with being top heavy, he's on his way down in this picture!

Yeah!! I finally got a smile out of her! She is looking very stylish in her snow outfit!

Mug Shot?

Nope...just Brynlee practicing her picture taking skills!

I was in the bathroom and heard the flash, I walked out and Brynlee was standing there holding the camera and said, "I took a picture of myself!" I waited for it to load, and this was what we got! Not too bad, at least she didn't cut her head off!

When I sat down to put it on the blog, she couldn't stop giggling about her picture and that everyone would see it! She is still giggling now, funny girl!

Trick or Treat?

We set out with some friends on Halloween night to take the kids out into the neighborhood behind our apartment to go trick or treating. As we walked down the street and into the neighborhood we were noticing that there weren't many kids out. We thought maybe we needed to get back into the neighborhood farther. We walked down another street and decided on a house to start at. We walked up, still no other trick or treaters in sight, and knocked. No answer, we were confused, it was Halloween after all! Earlier in the day we had even looked it up online to see what times and to be sure that we could go that night, we were wrong! We saw a couple going for a walk and Leanne walked over to them to ask about it and was told that the neighborhood did their trick or treating last Sunday the 26th. We were feeling a little tricked, but not too worry, the night still ended good. We just had to drive a couple miles into town and were able to have some great trick or treating success! I can only imagine what all the people from that neighborhood were thinking when they saw us walking around with our kids all dressed and ready to get some candy, ha ha!!

My beautiful Wendy, posing for the camera!

Peter Pan, dressed and ready to go! He even kept his hat on the whole time!

The whole gang!

Brynlee and Gracen loved it! Brynlee was so fun this year! I loved watching her get in to the whole thing from what to dress up as, to running up to houses and actually saying "trick or treat!"(she got tons of practice at preschool) Gracen enjoyed pulling candy out of bowls, as long as mom was right there with him! He loved being outside and really enjoyed his little pumpkin that he kept throwing around on the grass until it was time to go!
HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!

Gracen's birthday party

I just wanted to post a few pictures from Gracen's birthday party last Saturday. We celebrated with some friends and had a great time!

Happy Birthday!

Gracen's friends came to help celebrate!

(Josh is the little pumpkin hiding in the corner!)

Nate made this awesome airplane cake! It turned out great, Gracen really liked it!

Birthday Boy!!

I can't believe that this sweet little boy turned one today!! He is so much fun and has such a great personality!! We love him so much and are so happy that he joined our family!

A few things about my little man...

He has tons of energy! I like to call him my little monkey because he likes to climb on and in everything, he started climbing in Brynlee's toy pack and play about a month ago. When I first saw him in it I thought Brynlee picked him up and put him in. I took him out, put him

down, and he turned around and climbed right back in (and did a little celebration dance

once he got in)!

He LOVES his big sister! From the day he could crawl, he would follow her just about anywhere and try to play with her. He started walking when he was 9 1/2 months and now he can really keep up with her! They have so much fun chasing each other around, he just laughs and smiles instantly when he sees Brynlee!

If you ask him really nicely, he can tell you what an elephant(my favorite, watch the hands), a fish, and a cow says...

He can say 4 words other than mama and dada... ish (fish), wassat (what's that), hiiiee (hi, he exaggerates the ending a lot), and down. He loves to put on and take off hats, and he does a little dance to show off every time he puts one on! He likes to jump, he will randomly stop walking and just start bouncing. He tries hard and has actually had both feet off the ground a couple of times! He has such a sweet little face, and amazingly long eyelashes, I get comments about them all the time!

He loves to read. He goes to the bookshelf, grabs a book and brings it over to me, turns around and backs up to sit on my lap. It is the cutest thing ever! If I am not sitting down he walks over and grabs my legs and says "uh, uh, uh" until I listen to him and sit down and read!

He is such a good baby! He hardly ever cries, and smiles tons! He has a contagious laugh! He has no stranger anxiety, and will walk up and make friends with anyone and everyone!

(This is a few hours after he was born, isn't he sweet!)

Gracen, we love you so much! You are such a joy to be around! We hope you had an amazing 1st birthday, and want you to know that you are so loved! Thank you for sharing all your happiness and love with us!

Love Mom, Dad, and Brynlee

pumpkin patch

I LOVE this time of year!! I have been so excited to go out to the PUMPKIN PATCH with the kids and on Saturday we went with some friends to Honey Haven farm. It was such a fun place. The kids loved it, and even though it was a little chilly out we spent a few hours there.

Brynlee and Gracen loved the horse drawn wagon ride out to the pumpkin patch! Gracen

just couldn't stop watching the horses.

Gracen found the perfect pumpkin! He tried really hard to pick it up...just a bit too heavy!

Much better!!

Although, he is still grunting!

Brynlee found some, too!!

She is always happy to sit for a picture!

Gracen loved the pigs at the petting zoo!

Brynlee had fun swinging!

Poor Owen was malled by Brynlee. Here he is in the Thompson sandwich!!

We had a great time and can't wait to go again next year!!

What a week!

And I am sooo HAPPY that it is over! This week has been insane, I am not going to go into too many details, but I sure hope we see Nate home a little more often next week! In all, we really did have a pretty good week, we are really enjoying the weather(it was sunny and 78 degrees today!) and all of the fall colors that are FINALLY starting to come out! Brynlee, Gracen and I have been battling a cold and I have been on the phone quite a bit with some of my stubborn family members, and to say the least, my house has suffered a little. I guess I will tackle that one next week! I was tagged last week by my friend Marie and thought I better get going on that, so here it is:

7 RANDOM facts about ME!

1. Fall is my very favorite time of year! Pumpkins, cool (but not too cool) air, leaves changing colors, oh...there are so many things I love about fall!

2. I am terrified of spiders. Not only that, but I can't stand to smash them, especially the big ones. I almost always have to find someone else to do it, while I get as far away as I can. It is not that I feel bad for them, if they are in my house they deserve it, I just can't stand the thought of it, or to be that close!

3. I am very self-conscious, always have been, probably always will be.

4. I TRY really hard to be organized. Sometimes it works and sometimes...well...at least I try, right!

5. I love ice-cream! It is my weakness. My new favorite flavor is Carmel Racetrack from Tofts Dairy! It is sooo good!

6. Photography is awesome! I have always loved photography, and really want to learn how to take amazing pictures! I love looking at photos, taking photos, thinking of places that would be cute to take pictures. One of these days, I would love to learn more about it and have one of those fancy cameras to use!

7. I am NOT a morning person. I don't like getting out of bed in the morning...I wish I could get up at 6 a.m. and get some things done before my kids get up, but I just can't talk myself into it when 6 a.m. rolls around! I NEED my sleep!

If you would like to do this... consider YOURSELF tagged!!