Halloween

Anne was a gypsy fortune teller, Abbey was a cowgirl, and Olivia was a witch.

This year Cory and I decided (at his co-workers insistence) to be Shrek and Fiona. This was the most fun and best picture of the bunch. (I didn't notice the fingerprint on my camera lens, so the pictures weren't really working out. Oops!) I found this adorable motorcycle jacket at the end of season clearance

at Children's Place, and couldn't resist purchasing it.

With the bandana and shades, I thought he was an awesome motorcycle dude.

Jane was Barbie from A Fashion Fairy Tale.

She thought it would be great if Max was Ken.

The girls had fun posing with their jack-o'-lanterns.

This year we had a scarecrow, and a trick-or-treater on our porch.

Kirk informed me that the little kid was way more scary than the scarecrow.

An up close of the jack-o'-lanterns.
(and the trick-or-treater.)

Olivia had a Birthday!

Olivia turned 7 in October.

Since her birthday was mid-week, we had cupcakes to celebrate on her birthday with grandparents, and had a Spooky Party on the weekend with her friends.

Everyone came dressed in costume. We made our own donut spiders, played zombie tag, beat the candy out of our spider pinata, pinned a wacky face on the jack-o'-lantern, and enjoyed cake and witch's brew. Everyone loved watching the punch bubble and smoke!

Overall I think it was a success!

Max update

Max is getting so big. He is walking all over the place, (and has been for quite a while). He especially loves taking his toy puppy for walks. He still doesn't say much. . . . Okay, he pretty much says, "Yeah." However, Jane did announce to a friend that "Max can say 'Oh!'" He also hoots like an owl, and barks like his puppy. I wish I could get the video to upload.

Jane had a birthday!

Jane turned 4 in September.

She loves butterflies, so I made her a butterfly cake.

Jane loves Chuck E. Cheese, so she and 2 of her best friends got to go there for lunch to celebrate.Weren't they adorable! I just love how Jane wrapped her arms around them!

You might have noticed a few smudges on Jane's face.

The night before her birthday, we went to the carnival at the girls' school.

Jane got her face painted in a butterfly.

She loved it so much, she wouldn't let me wash it off.

Here's what it looked like at the carnival.

A few more fun pictures

Max has had a hardtime drinking out of his sippy cups, but he has no trouble drinking from a straw. He loves juiceboxes!

Whenever the girls get together with cousins, we have a fun time!
I couldn't resist this cute picture of Ella dancing to Anne's i-pod.
Isn't she a cutie?!


Max loves being on the move.
It was so cute watching him push this little stool all over the kitchen.

He loves his "walker" from Grandma C. (so does Jane!)

He should be walking alone in no time!

Since my kids are always telling me that I never do what they want,

I took this picture as proof that I occasionally do the fun things that they ask me to.

We had heart shaped sandwiches for lunch.

Liv enjoyed her first buss ride and field trip. I got to help chaperone.

There were so many parent helpers, that I was only in charge of three kids!

Olivia was really excited to be paired with two of her best friends!

Anne made this self-portrait. She did such a nice job we had to take a picture!

(especially since it was made on a dry-erase board)

Jane went through a phase where she needed to shake baby powder everywhere.

This time she enlisted her good friend Tyler.

It was hard to be mad when they looked so cute!

Swim lessons are a favorite part of the summer for our girls.

I thought they looked so cute all lined up and waiting for their turns.

Max Had a Birthday!

Max turned ONE on September 2nd.

We celebrated with cake!

Macey's grocery store gives a free cake to babies for their first birthday,

so Max got a cake all to himself.

At first, he didn't really like the cake.

He even tried to spit it out.



Then he thought it might be fun to play in it.

Then he decided to give it another try.

And he loved it so much he got it EVERYWHERE!

Life Moves Pretty Fast . . .

Since our last post:

Max started climbing up in his crib. . .

on the dishwasher . . .

against the wall, and anywhere else he could manage.

Olivia went on her first field trip (to the Bean Museum).

She really enjoyed her first bus ride. (Unfortunately I just deleted the cute picture.)

She also lost her first tooth . . . and her second!

We had a few fun sleepovers with cousins.

Anne had a birthday. She's already ELEVEN!

(and what a beautiful girl she is becoming!)

Max broke his collarbone when he fell out of his high chair.

As you can see, it didn't really slow him down! He was

only very sad initially, but once we got his arm immobilized he was

very happy again. Then again, maybe he just liked going around shirtless for 5 weeks!

Our family discovered "Just Dance" for the wii. We had a great time

playing at our family reunion in Fairview.

(Note Anne's expression, she is all business when it comes to this game.

No wonder she's usually the champ!)

The girls started up again at school. Anne is in 6th grade

(her final year of elementary school), Abbey is in 4th, and Olivia is in 1st.

Jane started Pre-school and LOVED her first day.

(I hope it wasn't just because of the box of treats from her teacher!)

We made two trips to the zoo.

I loved how this giraffe looked like he was trying to size himself up!

And I love seeing Zuri the baby elephant.

Max had his first birthday! Macey's grocery store gives babies a free cake

for their first birthday, so Max got one cake all to himself. At first,

he didn't seem to like it, but gradually he discovered what a great

opportunity it was, and he loved it! He smeared frosting

EVERYWHERE!

I hope you got to check out all the pictures on facebook

(or that I find time to make a post just about his special day!)