Fall Back

As I look out the window and see the blanket of snow on our yard, it is obvious that Fall has come and gone.  The last couple months have flown by at a crazy rate so I thought I would give a little recap.

Back to School
The kiddos got back to school in September.  Blake is now a 3rd grader and Paige is a 1st grader.  I was dreading my little gal going to school full-time for a couple years now, but it hasn't been as bad as I anticipated.  Like I said, the last couple months have gone by so fast that I haven't had time to reflect on my daytime empty nest.

1st Day of School

Notice the photography that captured this cold, wet, and windy moment.  I don't exactly recall but I'm sure it was preceded by "Quick get up on the steps so I can take your picture.  Why do you think, because we take your picture here every year.  Come on, let's go, quick, hurry, you're going to miss the bus!"

"Run, run, run!  Love you!"

Blake's Birthday

My baby boy is in his last year of single digits.  Half way to 18.  Wow.

Blake requested a hockey cake for his birthday.  I found amazing recipes for chocolate cake and chocolate frosting and chocolate glaze.  He loves chocolate.  He wanted chocolate.  He got chocolate!

I love when you capture a "moment" on camera.  For example, this is the exact moment that Blake realized those are trick candles on his cake.

Henry's Birthday
The kids were so excited for their Daddy's birthday.  They really love to give him gifts.  Hey look, we were wearing Vikings attire.  Henry's birthday fell on a Sunday this year,  a Sunday way back in September when we still had hope for the men in purple.

Halloween

Here we have the annual photo of Henry eating pumpkin guts.  The kids think this is hilarious.  I'm pretty sure this is what they will remember most about pumpkin carving from their childhood.

While we were working on the pumpkins, Jack was sitting outside with his nose pressed against the patio doors looking like he really wanted to come in and join the fun.  He never never never gets to come in the house, but he looked so cute that we had a moment of weakness.  Blake and Paige wanted to have their picture taken next to Jack in the house since it is such a rare occurrence.  How great is it that you can actually see the gentle giant licking Paige's ear...and of course seeing the giggle on her face!

Costume requests were very simple this year.  Blake wanted to be "something scary" and Paige wanted to be a werewolf (Blake's costume from last year...loooove to recycle costumes).  It took me a while to find a cape, but I completed that mission with a day to spare.  The cape and white face paint is all we bought for outfitting costumes this year.  Paige has already mentioned that she wants to be a girl vampire next year.  Yippee!

"Cotton Candy"

A group of friends and acquaintances of mine dress up for halloween on a massive scale every year.  This is the first year I joined them after some prodding from my hubby.  I will say that I was getting a bit apprehensive as Saturday approached.  I knew this was going to put me out of my comfort zone, but I wasn't about to back out.  Well, it turned out to be a super great time with just a little (ha ha ha) liquid courage and a great group of girls.  How could 14 identically dressed girls wearing hot pink wigs not have a good time?