Halloween

The day started off perfectly- there was crisp breeze and we were ready early for church!!

I took some pics of the kids and they turned out wonderfully!! Now if I can just get them to pose this nicely in Christmas clothes....

Sweet Pumpkin!

Suave Little Man!

After church and naps, we headed over to Addie's BFF Molly's house.

Time to rest-up for some serious Trick or Treating...

Checking things out as it's almost time to go!!

Family pic!!

And they're off! The Dad's took the kids around the neighborhood while Rachel and I passed out the candy- what a perfect evening!!

VERY pleased with their loot!! We had a great time and are so thankful for such great friends!!

WEAG's Fall Festival

Back in the Day- before we had kids- we attended a fantastic Sunday night service called Exile that was hosted by West End Assembly of God. Each year, WEAG hosts a HUGE Fall Festival- and it was at that festival, 7 years ago, that we met our now amazing friend, Karen. So, when Karen mentioned that this weekend was the Fall Festival, we were excited to join Karen and her family at the Festival!

My sweet Minnie Mouse and Handsome Firefighter ready to check everything out!!

Ready to go now that Hannah and Avery are here!!

First stop- hayride around the parking lot- hey, we are City Folk here!

The 3 musketeers off to check everything out!!

Addie saw this Mickey Mouse off in the distance and she literally screamed and HAD to get to him NOW. I have never seen her SO excited!! The rest of the evening she kept talking about how much Mickey must love her to come all the way from Florida to Virginia to see her!!

Alden would have happily spent the rest of the evening here- climbing and sliding on a FIRETRUCK!

Playing some games for candy!

Mickey came back to see Addie- but Alden was excited to see him this time- he was busy climbing and sliding on the firetruck before...

2 of the cutest scarecrows!

The kids had a blast at the petting zoo- no fear whatsoever!

Candy Treasure Hunt- About 50 2-4yr olds were all sitting on bales of hay waiting to be told to start when 1 kid fell in, and at that, ALL of the other kids jumped in and started bringing fist fulls of candy and straw to their parents- it was hilarious!!

Perfect ending to a wonderful evening- freshly popped popcorn!!

Waiting for Hannah and Avery

Our good friends Hannah and Avery came over for dinner recently (and they nicely brought their parents with them!) They were SO excited!!

Addie showing off the "special" acorns she picked out for each of her friends. I just love her goofy face here!

Chef Alden made his friend leaf and acorn soup- yum!

School Halloween Party!

The kids had Halloween parties at school today- what fun!

For Alden's class I made pumpkin brownies- he was VERY excited!

Addie's class had a party for lunch- I was able to be there for part of it! It was great getting to meet and chat with many of her friends!

My adorable Minnie-Mouse (yes, she was this last year, but she really, really, wanted to be this again!)

Addie and her favorite teacher Miss Monica

After naps, Alden's class went trick-or-treating at the various classrooms. Addie's did too, I just didn't get a picture.

The most handsome Fireman EVER!

My Friend

Alden has started this thing lately where he will snuggle up to me and tell me in a rather confidentail tone "You my friend, Mommy." It just melts my heart! He does this to all the members of our family- and his teacher said that he will do it to some of the girls in his class!

Of course, if I tell him something he doesn't want to hear, he will turn that bottom lip out, pout and say, "Mommy, you NOT my friend!" This, of course, is not nice, but with the face he makes, it's all I can do to not laugh, but rather help him see that we are to love family, all the time.

It's rather cute and just a phase, and I'm enjoying being told that I'm his friend....

Pumpkins with my Pumpkins

A few weeks ago, we went and got pumpkins- we have held off carving them since once you do that, they just get nasty. Today, after naps, we decided to carve them!! Since I won't let my kids use knives yet (I know, I'm SO cruel...), I let them pick out the design and I carve it for them.

Here are my adorable Pumpkins with their pumpkins

Alden started working in taking out the "guts"- he refused to touch any of it- so funny!

Addie was all about getting the seeds out - she remembered how yummy they were last year and was excited to eat them again! Al is the Pumpkin Seed Chef Extraordinaire in our family!

Yucky guts or Yummy seeds- you decide- Addie thought we needed this picture so she took it!

Excited to see Mommy work on his design- Goofy!

Silly girl waiting for her Snow White design!

All done and lit-up!

The Man of My Youth...

Al has had his goatee for the better hunk of our 10 married years. He orginally grew it during his first finals in Seminary, and we both liked it so much, he kept it! Lately, he's been itching to shave it off- and that is exactly what he did this morning. We did wonder what the kids would think since they have only known him with it....

Before...

Addie's reaction- she looked at him and promptly ran from the room screaming. Side note- we were headed to a birthday party where you wear costumes...

Alden had the same reaction- running away.

Eventually, they realized that he WAS the same Daddy, and that they still love him! Addie has requested that he grow back his beard....

Weekly fun

We have had fun this week- here are a few pics....

One night we had apple pie for dinner- yes, dinner- and the kids loved it!!

At the kids' school, they have been studying Community Helpers- Alden has become totally obessed with Firemen- he wears this outfit all the time- complete with the safety goggles....

Addie- notice the shiny pink shoes? They are part of her Minnie Mouse costume from last year (and which still fits her). She's been feeling a little crummy lately- but magically- when the pink sparkly shoes are put on, she feels MUCH better!! If only all her ailments would be this easy to fix...

Alfalfa!! And yes, that is a bandaid on his nose- that's what happens when a little boy is running, holding a metal car, and the little boy trips and falls....

Random Cuteness

Here they are playing librarian- they each had a pile of books and took turns sitting on the floor (being the student) and sitting on the coffee table (the teacher/librarian), reading the book and then showing the person sitting, the pictures. So sweet!

Addie has a new-found obsession with hot coco. Here they are, actually having some- yum!

Parade!!

The town we live in has a parade every year and then a large flea market thingy after it. It was early in the morning- 9am- and it was chilly- but the perfect day for it!!

Waiting for it to start!

Being cheesy while waiting- I love my buddy!

And I love me some time with my baby girl!

This was the highlight- each float threw candy- and they would run and get it- we came home with a shopping bag FULL- no need to buy halloween candy!!

Showing off what they collected!!

This was Alden's favorite- he LOVES trash trucks- and they tossed, along with candy, rubber ducks!

This was just too funny to not include- "Treasure Your Chest" for Breast Cancer Awareness Month

Good thing my kids aren't scared of costumed characters- they LOVED each one and wanted to hug one that went by!

This is a giant tooth- which was an ad for a local dentist- and yes, he was drumming up business by tossing out candy!

2 hours later, the marching band came- and there were even more floats behind them- but at this point, we were paraded out- so we went home! What a lot of fun we all had!!