November 2009

I know it's half way through December but I still wanted to get some November pictures on the blog. With a quick update on the happenings around our house.

This first picture is my favorite, and it's sure to become a blackmail photo when she starts dating. We started potty training Rachael, and it's going very well. I went to check on her one day and this is what I found. When I asked her what she was doing, she told me she was thinking.

The kids found a Santa hat and wanted to share with Melissa, surprisingly she didn't mind.

This is a rug that we have in the basement for the kids to play on. We cleaned out the basement last week and pulled the rug out so the kids could beat the dirt off of it. It was filthy!

As we cleaned out the basement we pulled up some toys for Melissa. She's still a bit small for them but she loves to be up to see what's going on and feel a part of the action.

If you take a picture of one kid you have to take a picture of all kids. Rachael wears this dance costume all the time, she calls it her princess dress. It was the best dollar I ever spent at the thrift store.

4 months already, where has the time gone.

Rachael shared her hat, again I'm amazed at what Melissa puts up with.

You can tell they are sisters. Rachael (on the left) and Becca (on the right, this photo was taken in Dec. 2006)

I came downstairs one afternoon to find a deer in our backyard. It was just hanging out, eating some grass. It stayed for about 30 minutes. When the bus came to drop off all the kids it got scared away.

We think Melissa is teething. Every time you turn around she's chewing on something.

Thanksgiving!! We hosted Thanksgiving dinner at my house for my sister in law Krissi and her kids Lily and Thor, and my brother Boone and his wife, Karen. We had a great time eating and visiting and the kids have tons of fun playing together.

Twins. Lily and Becca had so much fun playing together. They were inseparable the whole time.

We got the Christmas tree up and decorated shortly after Thanksgiving. The kids had fun going through all the ornaments and getting them up on the tree.

Halloween 2009

Here are some (okay, alot) of Halloween pictures. Mike had been gone for the entire week before Halloween so I started getting creative with food and activities to keep us busy. Mike got home Friday night, just in time to carve pumpkins Saturday morning and go Trick or Treating that night.

Our cute little puppy, Melissa. The costume was still a bit big on her, but she was definitely warm.

The monster house was back again, and this year it took a prisoner. I really should get a fog machine to hide in the garage for next year.

A vampire, Tigger and Tinkerbell. I didn't worry about the kids matching this year. We spent an evening going through all the dress up clothes we already had in the house until everyone found something they liked.

Carving Pumpkins. So messy and gross, but at the same time, so much fun!

I'm still not sure what this is, but this was the design Chris wanted so we went with it.

Becca got her own pumpkin from the kindergarten field trip to a farm, ans she was very excited to clean and design her own jack o lantern.

One of the days Mike was gone, we made glue ghosts (totally stole the idea from a friend, Thanks Danalin). Give the kids a blob of glue on wax paper and let them shape it into a ghost. Once it's dry it peels right off. We added googly eyes to ours for faces. The kids loved it, and it wasn't as messy as I had originally feared.

I made cakes for the kids classroom parties. The ghost was for Becca and Frankenstein was for Chris.

For dinner one night we ate snake. It's deli meat and cheese rolled up in crescent roll dough and shaped into a snake. I had some edible markers lying around to paint stripes and a face.

More pictures of my cute trick or treaters.

October

October has been quite a fun month at our house. We're starting to get into a normal routine with the older kids in school and the younger ones at home. It's sort of been a hodge podge month of activities so I wanted to put up some pictures of what we've been up to. I'll make Halloween it's own post since I always take tons of pictures of the kids in their costumes.

This is what happens when mom is late to the breakfast table and dad has to put Rachael's hair in a ponytail so it won't get in her food. I think he did a fine job.

Melissa has been very busy this month. She now smiles and laughs easily and is starting to interact more with all of us. This month she also learned to roll from her back to her belly, and she has become quite proficient at blowing bubbles.

I love this picture, when she rolls onto her belly she sticks out her arms and legs and just rocks on her belly.

3 Months old!!

Spending time with daddy.

A beautiful sunrise from our front porch.

I'm back making cakes again. This was for a baby shower hosted by one of Mike's coworkers. I guess she liked it because she has already ordered another cake for her niece's birthday party.

This girls came downstairs one morning and announced "Look mom, we're twins". I love it!!