Happy Birthday Andy!

Today is Andy's 33rd birthday! We really did not have too much planned, since I was due with the new baby yesterday. We all went out to dinner with Lynda at Famous Dave's on Friday. Here are some pictures!

Trick or Treat!

Tonight for trick or treating we went to Rob and Patti's (Andy's brother). Jacob was a black ninja this year and Sam was a monkey. Sam was so excited about Halloween and the concept of getting CANDY!!! Sam got the whole routine of trick or treating down at the first house. He would proudly say "trick or treat" at each house, carefully (sometimes taking way too long) pick out his candy, and shout a nice "thank you" at every house. He carried his pumpkin bucket almost all the way through trick or treating. Jacob and my niece Lucy were off and running from the very start, hitting as many houses as they could! While they ran back and forth across the street, we just kept Sam going down one side so we could try and keep up! We got through one neighborhood and drove to a second, Sam only made it a few houses there, while Andy and Rob went off with Jacob and Lucy to get as much candy as they could. The weather was really nice, just a slight breeze and actually pretty warm. We had a great night and the kids really had a lot of fun! Thank you too, Rob and Patti for having us over!

Here are Pictures.

Pumpkin Carving

Jacob, Sam and Andy carved their pumpkins today! First they drew their faces on the each pumpkin and then Andy cut the tops out. Sam just kept saying "what you doing?" This was all new to him and watched every step that Andy and Jacob did and tried to help. Jacob couldn't wait for me to make pumpkin seeds so he starting getting the seeds out right away! Andy scoped all the gunk out of all three of the pumpkins and then they carved them. Jacob make a really cool face on his and even carved it himself! He did a great job! All the pumpkins look really cool! Great job boys! More pictures here.

Cider Mill Fun!

We went to two cider mill's today, Yate's Cider Mill and Blake's Farm and Cider Mill. We always go to Yate's every year and we love this cider mill. There is a beautiful long pathway that we love to walk down with trees covering it, along the river. It's a beautiful place to take pictures and the kids love jumping over the trees and winding paths. We have never been to Blake's before and we really should have had more time to be there, because there was a ton to do and the kids loved it! Andy tried to get Jacob to go inside the haunted house, but he would have no part of it. There was a HUGE hay-stack that Jacob and Sam loved climbing up and down. There was also a hay maze for them to play in and so much more to do. We really did not have nearly enough time to do everything, guess this is one place we will make more time for next year. It was a great day and I had my dad's camera, so I took waaaay too many pictures, but here they all are!

Yate's Cider Mill and (Kodak Gallery)
Blake's Cider Mill and (Kodak Gallery)

Trying to get a pictures of us all looking at the
camera was just not going to happen!

2007 Fall Pictures

My annual picture taking of the boys in the park. This is my favorite time of the year and I just love taking pictures of the kids outside. Here are all the pictures here and here(Kodak).

2006 Fall Pictures
2005 Fall Pictures
It's amazing to see the changes year after year.

Pumpkins, Cider & Apples

Today Sam and I went to Miller's Big Red for some family fun. We went along with my Dad and Mom and two sisters and we had a great time. We checked out the animals at the petting farm, then boarded a hay ride to take us to the pumpkin patch. Sam had a great time picking out the perfect pumpkin. It had to be one that matched the ticket he got for the hayride and it couldn't be dirty (looks like he has just a little bit too much mommy in him). Jeanette had to clean one off real quick and pretend like he found a clean one. Then we got some cider and donuts and rested for a little bit. It was a lot warmer this year than it was last year. I can't believe it was almost 90 at the beginning of October! Check out all the pictures here (Kodak Gallery) and here (the normal place).

2006 Apple Picking, Hayrides, Cider and Some Mud

Barn Daze

One of our local parks has a fun filled fall festival each year. There are the inflatable jumping things, hay rides, chili eating contests, hay mazes and face painting and tons of other things to do. We spend a couple hours there and the kids had a nice time playing. The weather couldn't be nicer for the end of September. High 70's and not a cloud in the sky. Here are some pictures.

Mass in the Grass

Every year our church (Christ the Redeemer) has an annual picnic. But before the picnic they have the late mass outside at the front of the church in the grass. Everyone brings their blankets and lawn chairs and we have mass outside. We always hope for nice weather and this year it was very nice. A little on the muggy side, but better than rain! Sam bounced from his stroller to his chair (it's nice because none of the little ones are sitting still like they normally would have to inside). Afterwards they have a huge picnic, where everyone from the parish brings a dish to pass (we have the dessert section of the alphabet, so I made brownies). They have a tons of things for the kids to do; ponies to ride, a huge bouncy thing, a choo choo train to ride, clowns with balloons and mini golf. The local fire department brings a fire truck over for the kids to play on (which Sam thought was pretty cool) and the local police have a police officer there with his car. The officer let Sam play with the lights and siren on the car and he loved that! He was talking about that for days. It was a nice time and Sam had a lot of fun. A couple more pictures are here.

What a Week! Room Re-Decorating

I had all this week off to redecorate the kid's rooms. Seems like I would never get everything done. And really I have not, there are still some touch ups too do (okay a lot of touch ups) and some small projects to be done. But the major painting and redecorating is finished! Of course I squeezed some extra cleaning into the week too, like cleaning all the carpets in the house and doing some new things to the master bath (hey, I didn't really need a vacation did I?).

Jacob's room is now Jacob and Sam's room. The spiderman theme came down and a bright blue and green room went up. Jacob's old bunk beds were brought upstairs and put back into use. Jacob is sleeping on top and Sam on the bottom. Sam really wanted to sleep on top and he did for two nights, until we had a scare, now he is sleeping on the bottom. They have a new dresser and I added lots of shelving in the closet to make room for two sets of clothing and lots more toys. The TV was mounted up on the wall so that there is more space on the floor (and so that Sam is not pulling on the TV). Sam really seems to like playing in the new room and is sleeping great in his new bed. Jacob likes that all his stuff is now out of reach from Sam and is enjoying the new room too.

Sam's old room is now the baby's new nursery. The old theme was taken down and a new baby jungle theme was put up. All that really had to be done was the trim re-painted and new wall paper border put up. And I washed all the walls down. Then all the baby stuff was brought back up from downstairs (you forget how much stuff a tiny baby needs!). So, except for some things to be washed, the room is all set for our new addition that should be here in about two months. Sam appears to think that this new room is for his baby doll though. His baby doll has slept in the crib and spent countless hours rocking in the swing!

I will be taking pictures as soon as everything is fully finished.

Baby's Room Pictures
Jacob and Sam's Room Pictures

Happy (SURPRISE) Birthday, Becky!

We celebrated Becky's 30th Birthday today! We planned a surprise party at Mr. B's in downtown Royal Oak. Becky was very surprised and had no idea of the party we had planned for her! I hope you had a great 30th birthday Becky! See some pictures here!