Uncle Ron & Aunt Jacquie

We were happy to get to spend an evening with Kevin's Uncle Ron and Aunt Jacquie when they visited his parents in late October. We do not get to see this part of the family enough and we were thrilled to spend some time together and for them to get to meet the kids. The best part is that we will get to see them again when we are in Orlando for Ryan and Emily's wedding in about a month!

Happy Birthday to Me!

The day before Halloween I turned 31 and celebrated with the family. I won't post any pictures because, let's just say there is a reason I take most of the pictures in the family. I couldn't not share my wonderful cake though. A key lime pie ice cream cake from Bruster's Homemade Ice Cream. My husband loves me that much!

We Interrupt Blog Catch Up

to bring you this message...

18 months ago today, our kids stepped off the plane in Charlotte and became US citizens. That was a long day. Life was so different then, just a year and a half ago. I love looking back, but I don't really miss that time. It was very chaotic because we were trying to get to know each other, trying to communicate, get organized, settle into our new routine, and still have fun with family and friends.

Their grammar isn't perfect and they are still learning English words (just today Sophie asked me what a lightbulb was), but we are a family through and through. Life is so good and we thank God for our many blessings everyday.

I know that I had the best of intentions for staying on top of everything in those days, but I know I never got out all the thank you notes I wanted to in the last 18 months. So to all our family and friends who have spoiled us with your vacation time, bringing us meals, prayers, friendship, play dates, hand me downs, gift cards, listening to us brag about our sweet kids, and every other little thing you have all done for us, THANK YOU!



My friend Emily came to our house today (coincidently) to take some family pictures. I will post them when I get them later this week. :)

Book Character Day

The kids' school puts on an annual Book Character Day every year for Halloween. Last year I didn't get any decent pictures, so I made sure to snap a couple before we were off to school this year. Now I love book character day as much as the next guy, but I must admit it would be nice if it wasn't coinciding with Halloween itself. The guidelines state that no Halloween or store bought costumes are allowed, and costumes should be put together from items you already have in your home. The books must be chosen by the kids and they have to be a book they have read this school year. We followed the guidelines and here is what we came up with.

Sophie, as Pinkalicious. She even had the idea to make her hair pink!


Julian, as "Diver Dan" from his favorite Lego series easy reader. Easy Peasy!


Lily, as Eloise. She is pretty much the spittin' imagine anyway and wouldn't you know the week before Halloween we got this skirt in a bag of hand-me-downs! Absolutely perfect!


Tate, as an adorable scarecrow. They do Scarecrow Day in kindgergarten. These overalls were also from a hand-me-down bag we got last year. Lily wore them last year on Scarecrow Day and so I just pulled off the girly-girl patches and daisy trim from last year and put on some farm boy ones.

Pumpkin Patch

We visited our local pumpkin patch, Hunter Farms, one day after school. The kids and Keaton ran through the corn maze, picked out tiny pumpkins, and enjoyed all the cute fall decor.
















On the way home from the pumpkin patch I parked my car across the street from my very favorite fall tree this year. It is in someone's front yard, but it is a farm house way back from the road. The picture doesn't do the tree justice, but it was the most gorgeous shades of yellow and orange. Every year tree change differently depending on the weather (moisture, temperatures, etc.) so you never know where the most beautiful colors might be.

3rd Annual Small Group Pumpkin Carving Party

We hosted our 3rd Annual Small Group Pumpkin Carving Party the week of Halloween. We had our usual fare, pumpkin soup, homemade pizza, caramel apples, and all those good seasonal treats.


A couple days beforehand someone suggested wearing a costume if you wanted to. There was no way my kids were going to wear their costumes to eat messy pizza and carve pumpkins in. Besides, I wasn't done with making them yet! But when some of their friends arrived in costume they went upstairs and came down with random dress up pieces on. Hope that explains the Mickey Mouse hat paired with the pirate shirt!




Sam is just precious, scoping out the pumpkins.


Look at this sweet pizza eater!


Andrea brought her parents, who happened to be visiting. They were so excited to catch up with everyone and meet the kids.


Then the carving began. As usual, our kids had wild ideas about what to carve their pumpkins into.


Thankfully we had lots of great helpers!


And how cute are Jennie and Baby Jane? Look at those tiny pigtails!




I'm the family pumpkin drawer. The kids come to me with their idea and I try to sketch it in pencil and not disappoint. :/


The adorable Addison Owens looks up to no good!




Caramel apples!

The kids' big ideas this year.

Tate's train.


Lily's mermaid. (Seriously, ever heard of a Jack-o-Lantern? Where do these ideas come from?)


Sophie's Minnie Mouse.


Julian's sheriff.

A couple others:




Happy trick-or-treating!

Family Pumpkin Carving

The night before our annual small group pumpkin carving party, we carved a couple of our family pumpkins with the kids. We had a boys' design and a girls' design.

Ready!


The guys plan out their jack-o-lantern. (Or Jack-o-Lan as Tate called it.)





I thought eating the pumpkin insides was something the girls would only do their first year home. I was wrong.

Cute Jack.


Crazy Bat.


All ready to greet our friends for the party!