Happy Halloween...and now that's a wrap, October!

I will be the first to admit that Halloween is not my favorite holiday. Not even my second favorite holiday.

Ok- it's my least favorite holiday.

But when you have kids, you have to sometimes put on your happy face and pretend like it's amazing.

After Jake's birthday party on the 25th, we took the kids to church for "Trunk or Treat." They had a great time!

Alice in Wonderland and Michaelangelo

On Halloween night, we took the kids to their aunt and uncle's house to eat dinner and pass out candy to trick-or-treaters. They had a great time.

Three of the cutest kiddos ever...



My kids are very lucky that they have an aunt who loves Halloween. Her excitement and enthusiam made our night! Thank you, Aunt Molly and Uncle Drew, for hosting a fun, festive evening.

And allowing me to avoid our house and the 200 trick-or-treaters that I would have had to tolerate alone. :-)

Happy 5th Birthday, Jake!

So, after Jake's "Unbirthday" excitement in September, he was more than ready to celebrate his "Real Birthday" the weekend of October 25.

My friend, Sarah, opened Stay and Play this summer, and once I saw it I knew it would be the perfect place for Jake's birthday.

And she let him have a PINATA!


Sarah did a fabulous job decorating and making everything so personal for Jake.







We had kids from 8 months to 13 years, and there was something for everyone. Jake just loved having (most of) his close friends and family there to celebrate with him.






















































































































































Two cakes? Yup. Because when I couldn't decide on which one, I just decided that one would be white and one would be chocolate. So, Cars and Monsters U for everyone!


Jake approved.




I wasn't sure how this whole pinata thing would go down (seeing that there were a limited number of strings to pull and way more kids), but Jake took complete control of the situation. (I know, my child? Shocking. Ha!) He gathered all his friends around and led them in a countdown.


He then gathered all the strings together in his own hands and pulled them all at one time.

Genius at 5 years old, I tell ya.


He was soooooo excited when all the candy came pouring out and loved sharing with all his friends.


Especially with his BFF/God-brother, Silas.



Then, we headed home for the present opening. And I realized that I did not get any pictures of myself or Chad at the party.


The next day, the 26th, was Jake's actual birthday so we invited the family over for a Birthday Breakfast.








Oh, Jake, 5 years old.

Really?

Happy birthday, precious boy. We love you so much and had the best time celebrating you all weekend long.

Pumpkin Patchin'

Well, since it is November 1st, I may as well get my act together and finish up blogging about October.

After the band played CROP walk a few weekends ago, we took the kids to a local church pumpkin patch to let them play and pick out a few more pumpkins.











It's neat to have taken the kids to the same pumpkin patch year after year. The girls remembered being there when they were younger and had a great time "re-creating" pictures from years past.

Sweet memories with sweet friends....makes the cooler weather a little more bearable. :-)