birthday parties galore!

october has been a month of birthdays, i tell ya! addison has pretty much had one to go to every weekend. and this weekend, we had two. of course, she loves it. i mean, what kid doesn't want birthday cake two days in a row?! and the parties that we went to were so much fun. and it's always at this time of the year that i, myself have to start thinking of her birthday party and get the planning going. and actually, i booked our venue today. so i feel good that i got that out of the way. :) but anyway, here are some pics of the fun times this weekend...


party #1 was at Build-a-Bear on saturday. we've been there before, but it was actually our first time there for a birthday party. she had a blast! the kids picked out a bear and an outfit for the bear and did all kinds of fun little things in the process.



party #2 was at the bowling alley. and i could just kick myself for not taking a picture of her actually bowling! darn! because it was so cute to see her push the bowling ball between her legs.. and of course, the ball rolled down the lane sooo absolutely slow. haha. but i did get a pic of cake time. because that is equally important (at least in the kids' eyes!). another funny thing about this party is that addison was the only girl. i'm not quite sure why? but these boys have gone to preschool with addie for a couple of years now. some have moved on to kindergarten and some are still with her in preschool. but it's just funny to see her with the boys. she totally wasn't phased at all that she was the only girl. it was great that she could hang with anyone.



and then just to cap off the weekend, i had to get a shot of ellie. ellie and her loyal sidekick, henry with her pot belly hanging out and faux chanel purse draped across her. a girl after my own heart. haha :)

busy day today... first, we went to church... then addison and i went to Disney on Ice Princess Classics... then we went to the cider mill for a nice snack... and then we went to addison's soccer game. it was a jam packed day. but at the end of it all, i was feeling that the day was extremely fulfilling and fun! normally, i would be so tired and drained. but i felt just especially blessed today. maybe it was the beautiful fall weather, maybe because no one had any major meltdowns, maybe because it's the Lord's day and God was really with me today especially while jimmy's out of town. whatever it was, it was great and it's moments like these that make me feel so blessed to be a mom... especially to these two crazy little turkeys! ;)



ellie can barely sit still for 3 minutes without running wild so taking her to the show would probably not be good or enjoyable for anyone. so our nanny stayed home with ellie while she napped anyway. addie and i had a great bonding time at the show. we haven't done a mommy/daughter thing in a while. we shared a pretzel, she sat on my lap, i held her tight, i covered her ears on the scary parts (she made me), i smelled her hair repeatedly (call me strange, but i just love smelling my girls' heads!), etc. addison dressed up in all her princess glory (accessories and all!) just as the many other little girls did there. it was a lot of fun! she loved the show... if you couldn't already tell from her expression here!



then the girls, our nanny, petra and i went to the cider mill and enjoyed some donuts, cider and the live music.



we came home and played in the yard before we left for soccer



what a great day!

pumpkin pickin'

we went to a local farm market to pick out some pumpkins for our front porch. this has become an annual tradition for us. we each pick one that represents us. we even try and find a white one for henry. :) it's also a good opportunity to get some pretty fall pics of the kids. our time there today got cut a little short though due to addison's urgent need to pee. hehe














addison's got hers!


ellie does too!

















the fun corn table for the kids to play in.


ellie was fascinated.


addison doing the pee-pee dance here.