Happy Halloween

Happy Halloween Everyone! We went to our church's Trunk or Treat tonight and we had a great time. The kids did so well in their costumes; Addie loved her Cinderella dress and Ben left his Batman hood on the whole time! Here is our family pic, Jon was a trooper in his Prince Charming look, we had a high of 86 today so he was pretty warm, but he looked so handsome it was worth it. I was Cat woman to Ben's Batman.

Cinderella and Prince Charming. Addie's dress came from a 'prom' dress that I had gotten at a garage sale years ago and never worn. I thought it was a good Cinderella blue and Addie loved having a big girl dress to wear. It was a little bit of a project for me, but it was fun and Addie got a lot of compliments on her dress.

Our little Batman looked so cute in his costume. My mom had bought this costume when Addie was little and I am so glad we were finally able to use it.

They had live music and there were hundreds if not thousands of people so the kids were a little overwhelmed. They kept looking at all of the costumes and seeing characters they love, it was so cute to see how excited they were.

Ben was ready to dig into some candy, he would get about half way through a sucker and then throw it on the ground.

Ben has grown up so much in the last couple of weeks, I don't know if it is my hormones making me overly sentimental, but he just seems so grown up to me. He has started giving big boy kisses where he puckers and makes a little kissing sound and the picture of him drinking out of the sippy cup just makes him seem grown up to me.

Addie and her Prince waiting in line for the bouncy house. We had so much fun tonight, we hope you all had a Happy Halloween!

Halloween Week

This week at Addie's gymnastics class they let the kids wear their costumes. The great thing about having a little girl is the box of dress up/costumes that we have out all the time. The tinkerbell costume was great for gymnastics.

The teachers had the kids do a little parade and they stopped for a photo op. The moms were hilarious snapping pictures.

Ben was upset that he couldn't be in the pictures.

On Friday we went to our Halloween playgroup. It is always fun to see how many of the kids we can actually get in the picture, smiles are not mandatory.


Ben dressed up as Darth Vader, he wasn't really pleased with the helmet or the cape.

Our little Cinderella, she has more accessories for Sunday, but this was a good trial run in the dress.

The kids had a chocolately snack on the way home.

They both really love chocolate.

Ben played hard and they both took a great nap that afternoon.

This morning we got everyone up and out the door for our annual trip to the pumpkin patch.

The kids had so much fun climbing on the pumpkins. They were also really good at stopping to pose for pictures.

We were able to have someone take a family picture for us.

I love Addie's smile in this picture.

Addie remembered the bouncy house from last year so that was our next stop.

Unfortunately Ben is not old enough to go through the obstacle course and come down the slide.

He was proud of himself when he climbed up on the edge, it wasn't that busy so he was able to bounce a little bit while Addie made her way through a couple of times.

Addie had so much fun on the bouncy house.



Then Ben saw a kitty and he was off. He loves cats and he meowed at this one as he chased it.

The next stop was the train. Jon took both of the kids for a train ride while I sat this one out.

Ben found another pile of pumpkins to climb. He lost both shoes in this stack of pumpkins and he did not want to get down.

When he did get to the bottom he thought that pumpkin looked like a keeper.

Ben playing a duck race with Daddy.

Going to make our final selections on a pumpkin.

Addie heading to the exit with our pumpkin. The handle was too short for me to drag the wagon so she had to get it all the way to the van. She started telling me that her arm was tired, and that she was sweaty, and that she couldn't do it. She hung in there and made it all the way to the van, I was so proud.

And just for fun, this is our picture from last year. I can't believe how bald Bennett was! It is amazing how much these kids change in a year.

We are looking forward to Trunk or Treating at our church tomorrow afternoon, I will definitely have more pictures. Happy Halloween!

Our Life Lately

A couple of weeks ago our church showed a movie on a giant screen outside. It was so much fun to watch one of our favorite movies, Monsters Inc. on a huge screen with all of our friends. Here are the kids very interested in what they were seeing.

Ben was getting very sleepy, we actually had to leave shortly after this because Little Man was done.

Our local Chick Fil A does special events and this past week they had Ariel come for a visit. We went for milkshakes and an autograph. Addie thought it was very neat, but she got very shy when we got there.

Ben loves chocolate milkshakes from Chick Fil A, but really, who doesn't?

Radio Shack had a coupon for a free flashlight in last weeks ad. I went in to get a flashlight for the kids because they love them. I was lucky enough to get 2 flashlights so that there would be a little less fighting in our house. It is amazing how much joy two free flashlights brought to these guys.

This is my new favorite picture of Addie, what a beautiful smile.



Not to forget about our other kiddo, here is Scout at 32 weeks. I am starting to slow down a little bit as Scout continues to grow. Scout is the most active of any of the babies and I am trying to enjoy every moment of carrying this little one.

Addie wanted to be in the picture with us.

Today we started to break out the Halloween gear. Addie got a lot of compliments on her festive outfit today at the church nursery.


I tried to get a picutre of both kids, but Ben is having a rough day and didn't want to cooperate.

I will be so happy when his teeth are all in and we get our happy little boy back.

The Rest of our Florida Trip

While we were in Orlando we were able to go to Jon's 10 year high school reunion. We went to a football game, here is Jon with the mascot the Grenadier. It was neat to meet some of Jon's friends from high school.

We woke up Saturday morning and got everyone out the door in time for an IHOP breakfast. Ben wanted to go back to the pool.

At breakfast we had a balloon artist come to the table and make a hat for Addie
and a sword for Ben.

Aunt Laura wanted a turn with Addie's hat.

Then Daddy gave it a try,

Finally Nannie tried it out. It popped on the way to the car, so sad.

Addie looked like such a little teenager while she was playing with Laura's phone. We asked her what she was doing and she said she was "Texting". I asked her who she was texting "Sarabeth". Sarabeth is one of her best friends here in Texas, it was cute now, but I know very soon this scene will be our reality.

After we said good bye to my family we headed to a picnic for his reunion. Addie and Ben had a lot of fun playing with all of the other kids. Ben saw the football and ran right into the action, Jon was so proud.

Ben thinks he is as big as Addie most of the time, we had to watch him because he was climbing so much.

From the park we headed out to James and Shana's house. Here are all the girls. This was our first time to meet Ansley.

Grandma Annell with her newest great-grand daughter.

The kiddos eating dinner.

Poppa playing blocks with the littlest ones.

Uncle Joe played his guitar for the kids, they loved to hear him sing songs and play.

Grandma, Poppa and all of their grandchildren.

Grandma, Grandma Annell and the kids.

Poppa reading a princess book to all of his princesses.

Ben and Ansley, she was interested in his blanket, but he did not want to share.

All of the cousins.

Ben and I on the flight home. He did much better on the way home than he did on the way there, the lollipop did help.