Fall Photos

Before the polar vortex hits and winter is upon us later this week.... let me show you a few more fall pictures.  I'm not ready for snow....

The girls in the backyard....

 Gabby wanted to rake all the leaves into a pile so she could jump in.... She was having a great time.

 Amanda looking so grown up.... Remember when she was so little and the tree was so big.... What happened?

 Gabby being attacked by a large pumpkin bag.  She later called it her pumpkin dress which she thought was hilarious.

 I'm surprised Nicholas was not out raking leaves... I think he was doing homework. Now it's on to carving pumpkins.  Amanda is not in any of these photos because she was at tennis practice.  Nicholas had just gotten home from 5th grade camp.  He stayed at camp for 3 days and 2 nights at an outdoor center in Walled Lake.  He only had a half day of school and he was exhausted.  He was too tired to go to tennis, but he was energetic enough to carve pumpkins with Gabby.

 Nicholas was still grossed out by the pumpkin guts.... but he is getting better....

 Gabby had no problem getting down and dirty.  She changed her clothes.... notice the tank top... now she could reach all the way into the pumpkin to fish out seeds to roast for her Grampie.  She was a seasoned pro!

 I forgot to take pictures of all the pumpkins lit up.  Nick made a Detroit insignia, Gabby made a ghost, and Amanda made a cat.  When I sent the picture of the pumpkin to Amanda at tennis... she was not impressed.  Her comment was.... If Nicholas feels good enough to carve that pumpkin, he should have felt good enough to go to tennis!

I can't forget about the most frightening thing I saw this fall... it was at Mo's Halloween party.  Can you guess what had me spooked?  (Hint: it was not the little Snow White.)

 One of the cutest costumes... a little peacock

 The most interesting couple of the night. You know you have a lot of confidence and are secure in your manhood when you can pull off Snow White with the wig, sparkly eyeshadow, and gown!  I have to say... that was my favorite costume this year.

 Such a cute fire fighter and fairy....

 Way to go Mom!  She gave a good effort this year... Dad... not so much.... you better up your game next year.... We know you can do better!  (Maybe he could get some suggestions from big Snow White :)

 The SUPER PARENTS.... I know... It's disgusting.... but the costumes were easy and under 10 bucks, those were my 2 requirements....

 My lovely Queen GabriEll-sa!

 Amanda was an adorable, furry monster....

 Just the girls...

 I found another cute princess.  Miss Melia...

 The boys.... If you aren't into video games you will have no idea who these wildly popular characters are.... Steve from the video game Minecraft and a SkyLander named Wash Buckler.

Off came the monster hood and on went Clark Kent's glasses....

We also celebrated Dad's birthday with a delicious Bumpy Cake...

 I got a picture of me with this cutie Josie.  

Now she found a witches hat and Clark Kent's glasses.... what will this girl add next...

I think this brings us to Halloween Night.  Mo and the kids joined us for our annual dinner and trick-or-treating tradition.  Grammie and Grampie helped to pass out candy while the rest of us hit the neighborhood.  Here's the crew anxious to get going.  They were bundled up in winter coats, hats, boots, and mittens.  They weren't going to let some snow showers ruin their Halloween.  In fact Queen Elsa was loving the wintry conditions.

Trick-or-treating in their North Face Jackets... Everyone is still smiling and warm.

We left when it was still daylight outside.  We wanted to get a jump on the candy collecting before the sun went down and the flakes started to fall.

The kids lasted approximately 45 minutes... or should I say the parents lasted approx. 45 minutes and it didn't take much convincing to get the kids to go home and warm up.  Grammie said there were not very many trick-or-treaters this year.  We had a lot of candy left over.  Here are the kids with all their Halloween goodies.  Everyone dumped out their loot and started trading for the good candies.

This is what happened at the end of the night after a little over-consumption of candy.  Sugar High!!!

Even Uncle Steve was joining in the fun.  He was tickling Emmersyn and wouldn't let her go.  Even an over-consumption of chocolate affects adults.  Make a note of that Emms!

That pretty much brings us up to date.  No more fall photos.  Steve helped me out this weekend by running some of my errands. Look what came home with him... these beautiful flowers.  I need him to run my errands more often.  I didn't have to leave the house, I didn't have to run into the store, spend money, load and unload the car, and I got flowers out of the deal.  That was BRILLIANT.  Can I sign up for this service every weekend?

Finally, this brings me to present day.  Look what I spent doing this morning before work? Taping and prepping this gem of a hallway.  Tomorrow will be a fun day of painting, but I'll be so happy to get this cleaned up....  No more fingerprints, holes, and chipped baseboards.  I'll have to show you the progress one of these days.  Until later....

Nine Months in a Nutshell

So would it be really weird if I just decided to start blogging again.  I mean I've been missing since February, that's close to 9 months.  I think life has become a little overwhelming.  Too many things to do and too little time to get them all done.  I'm always trying to squeeze one more thing into a full day.  It wasn't until last weekend that the kids pulled out the scrapbooks I had made several years ago that I realized...... I have to get back to writing down these memories.  Everyone loved looking at the photos and checking out the stories behind them.  Amanda and Nicholas were laughing and poor Gabby was looking to find stories about herself.  I need to start documenting more about Gabby.  Soooooo, that got me to thinking........  I shouldn't feel guilty that I'm not prepping dinner, or folding laundry, or working on sight words or speech with Gabby.  I'm just going to make the time.  Lets see if this lasts.....

So what the heck has been happening around here these last 9 months....

This girl has been making amazing strides.  She finished preschool and her language, memory, and vocabulary skills have improved so much.  She is cute, funny, crazy, and so filled with love! She just started Kindergarten and I have the opportunity to volunteer every Friday morning for literacy centers.  Its fun to see her interact with the other children.  The teacher tells me she is amazed by Gabby and I wanted to say.... "Tell me something I don't already know.  This girl does amazing things everyday!"

 In April the kids were runner - ups in the Southeastern Michigan Jr. Team Tennis 12 Advanced division.  They qualified to play in Indianapolis in July.... however we were on a cruise and weren't able to attend the tournament.  Unfortunately, after losing 2 players..... the rest of the team didn't travel to Indianapolis either.  The kids moved up to the 14 intermediate division this year.  The kids want to win this Southeastern Michigan division because the National tournament is in California!  We will see.... the season has just started.... and they are continuing their winning ways....

 The kids also began playing some local tennis tournaments this year.  They both have been playing well.  Nicholas was a finalist at this tournament in Livonia.  He had a bloody nose that wouldn't stop bleeding, and I had to take him to Urgent Care.  His opponent did not want him to forfeit the match, so after his 15 minute injury timeout he had to continue playing with a Kleenex up his nose!  Needless to say.... he lost the second set.... and a lot more blood.... it was CRAZY!

 In mid April, we celebrated this little girls 5th birthday.  I made a Frozen cake and I'm hoping all her wishes came true.  Maybe I'll share more photos in the coming days.

 Gabby is showing off her new birthday dress.....Yes, its the same one Emmersyn has....

 Besides birthdays, there were other holidays.....  I hosted Easter at our house.  Here the kids are dying eggs....

 We tried to paint the eggs.... it was a little messy, but the painted effect was cool.

 As May and June rolled around, baseball season began.  Nicholas was on a very good team.  The "Hooks" did not lose a game all season and ended up in first place in the Commerce Little League 9-10 age division.  When the playoffs rolled around.... they took home 1st place and another trophy!

 Gabby and I spent a bunch of time at the park while Nicholas was at baseball practice.  I snapped this photo and I just love it.  This was the park where she finally learned how to swing on the swings all by herself.  She no longer needed me to push her..... but she insisted I watch her and not Nicholas practice.

In June and July we spent time hanging out with cousins enjoying the sunshine and water balloon fun.

June also took us on vacation to Florida.  I went with the kids while Steve joined us at the tail end of our trip.  It was a great trip.... once we got there.  The flight down was delayed and there was a lot of running through the airport in Atlanta.  Gabby was a trooper as Nicholas helped her run up the escalator so we could catch our next flight.  Once we arrived it was sunshine and relaxation.  Here we are at Flagler Beach.

 A short walk from Grammie and Grampie's house.....

 Then July... we went on a Disney Cruise with the entire family to celebrate Mom and Dad's 50th wedding anniversary.  Here we are getting ready to set sail from Port Canaveral.  We had a great time!

 Then it was September..... back to school.  Boo Hoo!  The summer went by way to fast, and we had way to much fun.  I was not ready to get back to driving, and homework, and endless activities and schedules.  Ugh! Here are the kids on their first day back..... 7th, 5th, and Kindergarten.

 At the end of September we went to Janina's wedding... and that was a little crazy.  I mean Janina wasn't crazy, she was beautiful.  I was a little crazy.....I'm surprised I took any photos.... I was a little flustered.... (But how cute are these girls???)

 An elevator selfie from the hotel..... Take note.... Steve is not there.  He drove to Sturgis and when we got to the hotel we realized we hadn't brought our clothes for the wedding.  He immediately turned around and drove home, got our clothes and made it back just in time for the reception.  This is the whole crew after the ceremony getting ready to go to the reception.  Do you like my dress?  It was on loan from Crystal.  Apparently she always travels with an emergency dress.... I like that idea. It was much classier than the t-shirt and yoga pants I was sporting earlier.

That brings us to fall.... the kids were raking leaves in the backyard.... 

 Finally, this brings us to present day October 31st.... Trick or Treating at school and in the frigid snow!  Amanda was a cute monster, Nicholas a video game character, Steve, from the game Mine Craft, and Gabby was Princess Elsa from Frozen.  We know it was Gabby that made it snow.... because like Elsa says... "The cold never bothered me anyway!"

So that about sums it up in a 9 month nutshell.  I'm hoping to go back and fill in some more of the gaps.  Hopefully you will hear from me later this week.  It's good to be back!