Trick-or-Treat Fun

The kids had been counting down since October 1st to last Friday when finally, FINALLY, they could don their carefully chosen costumes and traipse around the neighborhood begging for candy. They have so much fun and are such good sports - not once has anyone complained about the fact the we don't buy them new costumes (you can pick from whatever's in the dress-up bin!) - and Joey and I enjoy the evening as much as they do.

This year we crashed our old neighborhood to trick-or-treat and see some of our favorite neighbors...who we miss terribly! Plus, it's the perfect size neighborhood for trick-or-treating, big enough so the kids feel like they get the full experience, but not so big that it takes all night or we have to stop them halfway through because the little ones are exhausted. We can actually do the WHOLE neighborhood...everyone's happy. :)

Pre-festivities, Cassidy decided to give Finn a mohawk.

Of course, Eli had to have one, too!

For months Finn had planned to be "Little Mac," the character from Nintendo's Punch Out video game, but at the last minute he changed his mind and decided to be Funshine Bear instead...a pretty smart choice since it was a tad nippy that night!

Eli was a puppy dog, fitting since his siblings play fetch with him like he is REALLY a dog. This was how he practiced for the evening, "Ruff, ruff...TRICK-OR-TREAT!"

Our Boys

Lily as Elsa...we saw 3 other Elsa's just in our little neighborhood.

Cassidy as a Bell Hop...she was very irritated that people kept calling her a stewardess! She also insisted on dragging this suitcase - her prop - with her around the neighborhood! Bell hop or stewardess, she was very cute in her costume! :)

Our Girls

Poor Emerson. I had no costume for her so she had to settle for wearing Finn's old tiger costume that was too big and made her look like a boy. I tried to girlie it up with a pink bow, but I have a feeling she's going to be pointing at this picture one day and demanding to know why everyone but her had a cute 1st Halloween costume! Ah, the trials of being the baby!

Our Sweet Bunny as a Tiger

5 Little Monkeys
(Can you believe we got one with everyone looking at the camera...and most of them smiling???)

Trick-or-Treating Fun...Eli is chillin' in his "car." He insisted on riding, even if it was on 10 feet to the next house!

Cassidy didn't complain once about dragging that heavy suitcase around the neighborhood! :)

Happy Birthday, Daddy!

Joey's birthday was on Tuesday and the kids wanted to make his day extra special. In addition to making him some special surprises, they all insisted on purchasing him a gift with their own money when we went to Target to buy him some super-exciting, new socks from Mommy, Eli, and Emerson. We also got him peanut butter cookie mix and chocolate icing that we used to make a kick-ass cookie cake, so maybe that makes up for the sock thing. :)

The best part of the whole evening was watch my tenderhearted husband tear up after seeing the thoughtful gifts the kids had purchased. The gifts - while very nice - paled in comparison to the love behind them. We have really great kids. They are just the best. We are very blessed.

Cassidy and Lily before their concert last week. Nothing to do with the birthday celebration, but so cute! :)

The kids each made Joey a garden stone with their hand or footprint and decorated it with a rock design that they came up with themselves. OK, so maybe I helped Emerson a little with hers. ;)

Eli's stone...I had to keep running him off because to him this looked like a giant mud pie!

Cassidy tried to make her hand into a fish...do you see her water and bubbles? The green shape at the top is supposed to be a turtle.

Finn's cool collection of stones. I had to stop him...he wanted to add more!

Lily's stone takes a little explaining. She says that if you turn it sideways, her design makes a "C" for Cubs because Daddy is a huge Chicago Cubs fan. :)

Opening presents...a new loofah from Cassidy.

Candy and other snacks from Lily

Funshine Bear even made an appearance at Joey's party...we spare no expense for birthdays! ;)

A new flashlight from Finn

A rare family photo...and our first since Emerson was born! :)

Celebrating Cassidy's 9th Birthday

We celebrated 9th Cassidy's birthday over the course of the week, first with a special outing and birthday dinner on her actual birthday (Tuesday) and then again with a swim team sleepover tonight. It's been a lot of fun...and I'm pooped!

As I look at my daughter now, I no longer see a little girl. Sure, she still plays with Barbies and loves to dress-up and pretend - and I hope she continues to do those things for a long time to come - but when I look at her, I see the glimmer of a young woman. Mature, responsible, capable, hard working, helpful, intelligent, insightful, tenderhearted...these are the things I see. She is my right hand. She changes diapers, gives baths, cleans up, entertains, helps cook dinner and clean up, folds laundry, scrubs bathrooms, holds little hands as we cross the street. There are times when I look at her sitting next to me in the front seat of the van and - for a minute - she is not my daughter, but my friend. I see in her eyes mature understanding, wisdom beyond her years. And we laugh...we get tickled over the same things...and that is just so fun. Cassidy loves history, animals, science, reading, imagining, snuggling (she often wraps my arm around her as we read our science or social studies lesson), and her family. She is such a light in our lives and a blessing to our family. She is the best surprise I've ever gotten.

On Tuesday, we visited the new play place at Cary Towne Center...SUPER FUN!!! It has an arts theme. Here the girls are climbing on comedy and tragedy masks.

Eli sliding down a huge ink spill on the other side of a stack of books.

Gareth climbing the books

A giant paint brush spreading blue paint

The kids played American Ninja Warrior and made each object and different obstacle.

Emerson had fun, too!

Finn taking a flying leap

The girls inside a giant ballet slipper

The little ones had a blast with the wall toys.

Grandma and Grandpa surprised us by coming into town for Cassidy's birthday!

A new boogie board since she rode hers till it broke.

Hello Kitty from Auntie Jenn

Lily bought Cassidy this awesome gift with her own money. Cassidy was SO excited!

Decorating mini birthday cakes. These girls were such a joy to have over! No arguments, no hurt feelings...they all just played and had a fabulous time! :)

Lighting a birthday candle we managed to scrounge up!

Lily went a little wild with the decorations.

Happy Birthday, Miss Grace!

Eli enjoyed his cake!

Eli's 2nd Birthday

We celebrated Eli's birthday at the end of July complete with potty training and a visit from Grandma. Eli has made up for all his usual wildness by being the easiest child to potty train EVER! He stopped having accidents by the afternoon of the second day and it's been a breeze ever since. Grateful doesn't even begin to describe how I feel!

At age 2, Eli is a bundle of energy. He loves playing any sport or game that involves a ball...basketball, football, baseball, soccer...his big prize for using the potty was yet another bouncy ball! He has become quite the conversationalist and we love hearing what's on his inquisitive little mind. He loves playing with the big kids and his sisters and brothers dote on him. He also loves racing cars down the hallway, reading books, dancing, singing, running, playing in the pool, digging in the dirt, and - most recently - the beach. He tries to play the Wii with Finn and we often let him pretend to play with an extra controller. He also loves coloring and will sit sometimes for almost an hour...which is shocking since most of the time we can't get him to be still. In the last few weeks he's really taken notice of Emerson and he loves to hug and kiss her and often shares his blankie with her. When she cries he says, "Mommy, baby cryin'! Baby, what's wrong? BE QUIET!!!" Apparently it's only OK if he's the one being loud! :)

4 Months Old Already!

Finn adores his baby sister and has asked to be in the delivery room if we having another baby. :)

Sweet Lily

Gracie Lou

The Birthday Boy

Eli's Elmo Cake

He was singing, "Happy Birthday to me!"

Grandma brought lots of crafts, including some edible ones!

Our big boy in his dino undies

Happy Birthday, Eli!!!!

Sunset Beach 2014

BEST VACATION EVER! Which is what I say about every trip we take as a family, but seriously this was the absolute best! For my monkeys, so that you will be able to read my memories, here's my Facebook posts from the week...I don't think I could rewrite them any better:

"Boogie boarding, playing on the beach in the rain, bunk bed slumber parties, late nights with lots of laughter, new nicknames (Q-Squared!), evening swims, sparklers, cartwheels (both the one-handed AND two-handed variety) and pitiful attempts at round-offs in the sand, movie nights with a big bowl of popcorn, root bear, and a cozy blanket...that's what my favorite week of the year is made of!"

"Added to my list of favorites from this week: exploring tide pools on our tummies, babies melted into your chest taking a seaside snooze, sand mermaids and manatees, big sisters and brothers showing a little extra love to the little ones, toddlers falling asleep at the dinner table, capturing tiny marine creatures and keeping them in buckets..."

" ...ice cream for dinner, free movie rentals from the Island Market, and getting to watch the Food Network (which we haven't had in 2 years since we cut off our cable)... "

"One of Joey's best ideas ever? A family beach trip this week! I must admit I wasn't completely sold what with the never-ending TO DO list waiting for us at home and the expenses associated with it...but THIS WEEK is exactly what our family needed. It felt so good to say "yes" more than "no" and to do WHAT we wanted WHEN we wanted...even if that meant dinner at 9:00 p.m. because we played on the beach until dark. I can't remember the last time I felt this relaxed and fully present for my husband and kids...and I even scored 30 minutes of uninterrupted boogie boarding yesterday! I am sad to leave tomorrow, but also overwhelmingly thankful for this time together. Thank you for making it happen, Joey! I love you!!!"