Getting Ready for Halloween.

This year we are getting our moneys worth out of the kids costumes.  Friday, we first went to Evan's Tae Kwan Do testing.  He did awesome and will get his green belt on Monday.

Then, Friday night I took Evan, Logan and Leah to Spooktacular at Logan's school.  They were able to wear their Halloween costumes and trick or treat in each of the classrooms.  We thought Colin was getting a little old for that since it is mostly preschoolers, so he went with Dennis to watch him play dodge ball.

Over the weekend, we were invited to a neighbors for dinner.  They had a few family's over and it was nice to hang out with everyone.  Sunday, Dennis and the kids carved pumpkins.  They all had fun doing it and Colin and Evan were even able to help do some of the carving this year.  They each picked their own designs.

 Tuesday, I took the kids to a costume activity at the Library.  Colin and Evan were in one room doing crafts and games and Logan, Leah and I were in another having a story time.  It was nice to do something a little different this year.  Logan enjoyed the story and the music.  But, he is so serious!  He didn't crack a smile the whole time he was singing and listening, not even when he was dancing.  He is becoming the hardest to photograph because he is always serious once the camera is on him!

Having a girl is such a nice change of pace.  I am enjoying dressing her up...

Fall Break at Lego Land.

Saturday morning we drove up to Schaumberg, Illinois to go to Lego land.  The lego land was a bit smaller than we were expecting, but still a lot of fun.  They had lots of structures made out of legos, a couple rides, a small tour of how legos are made, a 4D movie, and a play area.  The kids really enjoyed it!

After we were done we headed back to the hotel so Leah could nap and the boys could wind down a bit before dinner.  We went to Cheesecake factory at the mall nearby and had a really nice dinner.  Our hotel was a suites place.  It had a kitchen, TV area and 2 bedrooms.  While it was very far from elegant (and I don't know that we would stay there again), it worked for a family of 6 nicely.

Sunday morning we had an excellent breakfast at an amazing pancake place and then headed back home.  It was a fun, quick get away.  The boys were off Friday and today, but Dennis wasn't able to get time off work.  So, today me and the kiddos are just hanging out at home enjoying the day off.

Fridays, Dennis has started up Dodgeball again.  So, he is enjoying that and I have to admit I kind of enjoy Friday nights to myself to watch my shows, enjoy a cup of tea or bowl of ice cream and light a candle.  Dennis says I'm an old lady in a 35 year old body.  But, what can I say, I just enjoy the simple things in life!

Evan Tae Kwan Do

Evan is doing awesome at Tae Kwan Do, he just got word that he is ready to test for green belt at the end of the month!

Yesterday, the boys had their fall parties at school.  They had a blast, wish I could have helped out, but I was home with the little ones.

The boys are on fall break today and Monday so we are heading to Schaumburg, Illinois tomorrow to go to Lego Land and will stay over night at a hotel, should be fun!

Leah is 11 Months Old!!!

Leah is 11 Months old.  At 11 Months, she is pulling up to standing.  She is also crawling all over the place.  My "lazy baby" is no longer lazy.  She is actually very eager to move.  It's hard to contain her and get much cuddle time in these days.  She wants to be on her own.  I have a feeling we have another independent kid (like Logan) on our hands.  She also likes to play with big boy toys or just crawl around searching for even the smallest piece of dirt to put in her mouth.  Everything goes in the mouth these days.

Leah is waving bye bye and also waves for "all done" when she is done eating.  She can say "Dada" and what kind of sounds like "yes", but neither are really used at the appropriate time.  She is pretty chatty and still rarely cries.  She will fuss occasionally if she is starting to get tired, but that's about it.

Leah has 5 teeth now (3 on top, 2 on bottom).  She is eating all table food now (as long as it is small and soft), mostly just feeding herself.  She can use a sippy cup for her water and nurses 4x/day.

She still mostly takes 2 naps, one around 9 and one around 1:30.  But that is flexible depending on what we are doing.  Sometimes she fights one of the naps and only ends up taking one nap.  She surprisingly does just fine with just one nap.  Bedtime is between 7:30 and 8 and she wakes up around 7 or 7:30 most days.

Leah is wearing 6-9 and 9 month clothes these days.  She is really laughing and smiling a lot now.  She adores her Daddy and her big brothers.  She is just so fun right now.

Apple Picking and Pumpkin Patch 2013

We had a great fall weekend around here.

Saturday, we went to a local farm for apple picking and to pick up pumpkins.  We have gone there the last 3 years and it is always so fun.  This year, they had a new area with barrel rides, go carts, a slide, mini corn maze, a corn kernels to play in.  The boys had a blast.

Colin then had his first soccer game of the single elimination tournament.  Unfortunately, they lost the game.  He had a great season though and is looking forward to a couple months off from sports until January when he might do indoor soccer.

Saturday evening, there was a chili party in our common area behind our house.  We were able to meet a bunch of neighbors we hadn't met yet.  My chili one 3rd prize!!!  I didn't know there was going to be a contest and I don't know how fair the contest was considering most people only tried 1 or 2 out of the maybe 13 or so Chili's, but it was cool to win anyway.  The boys had fun playing with kids the whole time and running around.  Colin was especially happy to play Frisbee with the "teenagers", he couldn't believe that at the end of the night they told Dennis "Colin is good at throwing".  He was so impressed that they said his name!

Sunday, we slept in a little so we skipped church and just went to church class and then Colin and Evan both had birthday parties to go to in the afternoon.

Today Dennis left for Columbus for work.  He will be back Wednesday night.  Now that soccer and football are done we only have TKD going on, so it should be a pretty quiet week.

Oh, and Leah has been pulling up to standing!  On October 3rd, I went into her room and she was standing up in her crib, then, while I was in NYC she started pulling up at the coffee table!  Here she is this past week...