Carving pumpkins

Waiting to buy pumpkins and carve them was torture for my kids this year. But we really didn't want to move pumpkins, so we waited until we moved in to get them. Luckily we still found some great ones to carve. I was so proud of Hannah and Zach this year. They didn't even need a grown ups help. It was a really nice day on Halloween, so we sent them outside to carve them.

I think Zach and Mark helped Ethan a little bit, but he designed his himself too.

Moving in

The day we moved and the day we moved in were some of the coldest so far that we have had this fall. The people who we bought our house from had only gotten out 30 minutes before we were able to take possession of it. Because it was so late in the day already, we didn't move in until the next day. So, we moved out of our old house on Wednesday, closed on Thursday and moved into our new house on Friday. All of these days were cold and rainy.

The kids had a snack that Hannah and her friend made the day before. Chocolate chip pumpkin muffins. Notice that Ashlyn and Zach still have their coats on. The doors were open all day since the movers were moving things in. It took several days before our new house finally warmed up.

This is the view out of my kitchen window. We have lived for several years without much trees, it has been so fun to enjoy them again. I can't wait to see what all the seasons will bring.

Sold!

It was a long summer and early fall, but we finally sold our house and found a new one within a couple weeks. It was not a fun process. If anything could go wrong, it did and then some. But hidden among the trials were great blessings. We love this house and will miss it and our neighbors dearly. We have many memories here that are dear to our hearts. With that said though, we are excited to create new memories in a new house. We are excited to have a home that will finally fit our family of 6 and that will bring new adventures.

Saying goodbye, was hardest for our sweet Hannah. She laid in the doorway and refused to leave. We pretty much had to drag her out. She cried all the way to Grandma's house (so did I).

Fall Birthdays

We have several birthdays in the fall and winter months at our house. My birthday came first. Mark took the day off and we went to Lawrence for lunch and to look at some shops. Mark made me this awesome cake that I found here. It was so yummy that Ashlyn had to have a taste before everyone else. It was such a great day!

Mark's birthday was next. We spent the day at the apple orchard. I made him a yummy key lime pie that I didn't even try.

Hannah turned 12 this year. I know I say it with each birthday, but I can't believe how fast my children are growing up. Hannah had a fun birthday party with her friends. My friend Colleen made her this fabulous cake.

Isn't she beautiful! She has been such a great help to me while preparing to move. She has been a little mother to Ashlyn. She loves having a baby sister so much! Her favorite person right now is Taylor Swift. She loves her music and her hair. :)

Hannah's 12th birthday

Hannah wanted to have a sleepover for her 12th birthday party. She invited her bestest friends and had a ball! We picked up some party supplies at the store. They ended up being red, black and white and lime green. We just rolled with the color scheme.

The girls first played Spin the Bottle. This isn't your typical spin the bottle game. The girls would spin the bottle to a color square. Whatever color they landed on they then had to paint a nail that color. It was pretty fun! I got to help paint nails.

We also sprayed bleach onto black pillow cases. Don't you love the protective garbage bags!!

My friend told me about the game Skittles. All of the skittles are placed in a bowl, and then passed around the circle. The girls pick two skittles out of the bowl without looking. If the colors match, they could eat them. If not they had to put them in their mouth and store them until they finally got a match. It was so much fun. We had some good mouths full of skittles.

Beautiful girls! They were all so much fun to have in our home. I was laughing all night long at conversations they were having.

Oatmeal masks and cucmbers on the eyes to help relax them. They were also listening to music. The oatmeal was quite messy and kept sliding down their faces.

The finished pillowcases. I sewed on the ribbon and ric rac and then ironed on their names. This was the girls party favor to take home. The next morning before the girls went home, they had donughnuts and chocolate milk. It was a fabulous party!

Apple Orchard 2009

We've been to this apple orchard before, but it has been awhile. I think Ethan might have been around Ashlyn's age the last time we came. I think there were a couple years where they didn't have any apples because of a late spring frost and then a couple years where we planned to go too late and the apples were done. We spent Mark's birthday at the orchard. The kids had a good time looking for good apples to pick. We had a lot of rain and so it was muddy. Ashlyn's shoes kept coming off (they were too big). Ethan also fell out of a tree b/c his shoes were slippery on the branches. Luckily he wasn't really hurt. Just muddy. It was a great day!