{thanksgiving adventures}

We counted down for weeks, waiting for my parents, and my sister and her family to come for Thanksgiving.  It was all very exciting for everyone, and when they finally arrived, my kids couldn't contain themselves (and neither could I). I just love that my sister is now close enough that we can see them for holidays--it's the first time since we've been married that that's been the case.  All of the rest of our family live far away, and we don't get to see them nearly enough.

It was four days of FOOD, family, movies, bowling, shopping, Christmas trees, new matching pajamas, games and pizza--and considering there were six kids aged five and under, it went really smoothly.

It's now a tradition to open new, matching Christmas pajamas from my parents on the Sunday after Thanksgiving, and my kids look forward to that almost as much as anything else. My little boys were thrilled, especially Henry.  He couldn't stop jumping up and shouting "Yay!"!!!

It went by way too fast, and we are already counting down until they can come again!  Luckily my parents are still here for another week, so we get to enjoy having family around for a little bit longer.

A perfect Thanksgiving!

{santa parade}

First of all, I think it's really crazy that I'm even typing the word "Santa" into a post right now...can it be that December is only a week away? Okay, so I'm already listening to Christmas music. :)

The end of November brings about our town's annual Santa Parade--which is loved by all kids everywhere because of the amounts of candy that are literally thrown their direction.  We bundled up, braved the cold, and headed to our favorite spot to watch all the floats and look for the people that we knew would be in it.  

The festivities have begun! 

{sister wives}

Yes, I'm a little late with this post, but it is one that simply cannot go unwritten.

Some of our good friends host an annual Halloween party, and I absolutely love seeing all the fun and clever costumes from year to year.  This year we had our own brilliant idea (okay, so my friend did--we went along for the ride), and thanks to Salvation Army, which carries denim jumpers in bulk, we pulled it off.

Alarmingly well.

This one's going to be tough to beat.

{gratitude is...}

gratitude is... hearing a small trickle of water and going to investigate.

gratitude is... realizing how lucky you are that the bathroom and only half the mudroom is completely flooded.

gratitude is... the fact that you noticed it 5 minutes before you started teaching piano lessons..so that it wasn't another hour before you noticed it.

gratitude is... having little kids that thought it was just about the most exciting thing ever, and were ready to grab towels and bowls and run them to the basement as water is pouring from the ceiling.

gratitude is...that only half of the food in the food storage room is soaking wet

gratitude is...that the water missed all of the big tools in the workshop

gratitude is...that my husband (miracle of miracles) was not out of town or in a meeting, and could come home.

gratitude is...having a wet/dry vac.  every home needs one.

gratitude is...knowing that it could have been WAY worse.  (see #1 above)

{family pictures}

Our family pictures were taken a little over a month ago, and I really do love them.  All of that hard work paid off.  :) Also--thanks to our fabulous photographer, whose patience, talent, and bags of candy made all the difference.  ♥ you.

.....

{family}

{five kids}

{girls}

{boys}

{mom and dad}

{ryan}

 {kate}

{emma}

{henry}

{jack}

.....

My wall isn't big enough. How am I ever going to decide?

{halloween...finally}

Okay, so this has been on my list, well, since Halloween.  These past couple of weeks have just had so many extra things crammed in that sitting down and going through Halloween pictures has been at the bottom of the list.  But better late than never, right?

We had a wonderful Halloween.  I felt a bit rushed, since we got home from Chicago the night before, but once I let myself relax a little bit, I enjoyed it a lot more.  :)

Halloween morning I made orange pancakes and black cinnamon roll pancake sauce...a bit hit with everyone.  

We had some fun plans during the day, but ended up skipping them due to Emma not feeling very well. I was crossing my fingers that she would feel better by that night, because she was so looking forward to what we had planned.  Fortunately, she was up to the festivities, and by that evening, was much better.

A couple months ago we went on a delightful surrey ride in downtown Midland, and when we returned them, we had the brilliant thought that they would be perfect for Halloween night--to take the kids trick-or-treating in. We couldn't wait to try it out!

 

After the obligatory pictures on the front porch, we headed over to our friends' house--surrey central.  We decorated our surrey with garland and a few other things, then hopped in our for our ride around the neighborhood.  The weather was absolutely perfect.  Crisp air--but no jackets needed.  Many a year we've bundled everyone up in snow coats, and quickly made our way to a few houses. This year was lovely--only sweaters for the girls, and a thermal under the boys' costumes.

The boys very quickly caught on to this whole idea of knocking on doors and getting candy.  They could not get in and out of the surrey fast enough, and as soon as we finished at one home, all we heard was "mo", "mo" (more).  I'm pretty sure they thought they had stumbled on to the greatest thing ever.  Ryan did a few houses with us, the ran back home to man the front door and handing out candy. For me, I love that the surreys are pedal-powered--a great workout on a night that's bound to have some candy-eating involved. All those calories burned just means the more candy I can eat, right?  :)

What a blast. I think we've discovered a new family tradition, and decided to reserve them for the next five years. :)

.....

The week before Halloween, a local city forest hosts a Halloween walk.  It takes you along a path lit with lanterns, and at several stops along the way, tells a story and passes out candy.  This year they went with a Dora and Swiper theme, which my little ones loved.  We go every year, and it's one of those traditions we just can't miss.

It was such a fun way to get excited about Halloween, dress up in costumes, and enjoy a night out as a family.

.....

Can you believe Thanksgiving is now in a couple of weeks?   Can someone please stop the next month or so from going by so quickly??!!