Snow Day!!! Brrr!!

Today we got dumped on!! The kids were so excited to get all their snow gear on and play outside. So I bundled up SIX kids and they played outside. They had a blast shoveling the snow and making snow angels. It was so cute to watch Tyson because I don't think he remembers the snow from last year. It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!! (Travis refused to join these pictures!!)

And the Christmas Season begins!!!

Yesterday the kids and I spent all day putting up the Christmas decorations. It is usually my rule that they can't go up until Dec 1st, but I had all day with nothing to do (and a busy weekend ahead). So I had the kids sit in front of the tree with their jammies on, hoping for a cute picture for the Christmas card. It is way too hard to get three kids to all be in a cute pose and smile!!!

Allen Thanksgiving

We had a delicious Thanksgiving dinner with the Allen's on Sunday. We ate great food and played some wild and fun games. Kathy introduced us to a new game involving a plunger. Let me tell you, it is never boring or dull with the Allen family! Happy Thanksgiving to you all!!

Annual Girls Shopping Weekend!!!

Every year the girls on Bryan's side of the family go on a shopping trip the day after Thanksgiving. Bryan's mom (Kathy), his sister (Toni), and his sister-in-law (Allie) and I all went. This year we went to Birch Run and Frankenmuth, and I swear it was the most fun trip yet! We started out at the Rockford Meijer, then went to a huge craft show in Cheasning, MI. We eventually made it to the outlet malls in Birch Run. We ended the evening with a yummy dinner at UNO, and a relaxing dip in the hot tub at our hotel. Saturday morning we headed to Frankenmuth. We spent HOURS in the Christmas store, Bronner's. Then we went downtown Frankenmuth and checked out some of the cute little shops there and had lunch at Tiffany's. And what is a shopping trip without a stop at Walmart?? :) By the end of the day we were out of energy, money, and space in Kathy's Jeep. But wow, it sure was a lot of fun. No kids, no husbands, just the girls! I feel so blessed to be a part of such a great family. And I wanted to say a special thank you to Kathy for spoiling us so much. Thanks for dinner, the hotel stay, the gasoline to get there, and some great memories!

Cookie Baking Fun!

Grandma Kathy is home from her month-long trip to Arizona and Texas, so we had a cookie decorating party with Noah and Payton, Aunt Toni, Aunt Krys, and cousins Gabby and Ali! Kaylee and Aaron were here too! The kids were so excited to see Grandma, especially Rylee. Rylee has a really special bond with her Grandma! We had a house FULL of kids, but we had a great time baking and decorating. And the cookies turned out to be DELICIOUS!

Playdate with Aiden

Aiden came over last week to play! Travis and Aaron were so excited to have another friend over. It was quite interesting picking up 4 preschoolers at once! The boys had a great time playing with guns, tools, play-doh, and building forts with the couch cushions. Boys will be boys!!!

"Camping"

The other day I was sweeping out my garage and the kids were playing in the yard. I look out at them and they were all sitting in chairs around a tree stump. They were pretending they were camping and the tree stump was their fire! It was the cutest thing! I love when my kids use their imaginations!

(The first picture is Ty, one of my daycare kids. Isn't he a cutie pie??)

Jumping in the Leaves!

Here are some shots of the kids playing in the leaves. I raked and raked for hours. I never realized our yard was huge! And now I swear the yard is covered with leaves again! It's unending!!

In my next life I'm...

October Birthdays

Here is Travis' birthday party part 2 of 3! He has 2 cousins with October Birthdays (Aaron on the 5th, Payton on the 15th), so Travis' birthday celebration is literally a month long. I had to tell him that he was already 4 at the beginning on the month because it was traumatizing that he was still 3 and he cousins were 4! We had a fun celebration at Aunt Mimi's House. Maria made everyone super cute pumpkin cakes! Who knew Maria was Betty Crocker??? :) Travis and Aaron got matching toolboxes and chainsaws! Definitely a HAPPY birthday for them! And, of course, every family party involves haircuts by Maria! :)

80s Night with PHC

Bryan's company had a really fun outing a few weeks ago. We all went to Ichiban's for dinner (soooooo yummy) and then to 80s night at the Intersection. What a blast! Bryan is so lucky to work with such nice, fun, outgoing people. My sister works there too and my good friend Cheri. Also Bryan's 2 best friends work there, so it's always a fun time getting together with people from work!