Living Room Picnic

Fall Break was last Thursday and Friday. The kids and I had a fun day at home together Thursday. The kids suggested having a picnic in the living room for lunch. Lunchables and a blanket on the living room floor made for a fun afternoon picnic.

Duh!

Alright party-goers, I made a giant error on the invitations to Grace's birthday party. I feel so dumb!
I left off the date! AAAAAHHH!

So for those of you who will be receiving an invitation to Grace's birthday party in the mail very soon . . . Her party will be Sunday, October 23rd.

Kitchen Helpers

We bought some green beans at Huber's yesterday. The kids helped Daddy in the kitchen this morning by snapping the ends off of the beans and snapping them into bite-sized pieces. They love to help in the kitchen.
Grace helps me, almost every Sunday, pick grapes off the stems so they are ready to eat during the week. Tonight she laid down on the island, and said, "Mommy, take my picture." She is such a ham, but this is the cutest darn picture of her. How could I NOT take her picture?!?!

What Imaginations!

The kids were cracking us up this morning with their imaginary play. Grace wanted to go to the zoo first thing this morning, but we had a lot of other stuff that needed to be done at home. She brought her baby dolls and strollers upstairs and asked Gabriel if he would go to the zoo with her. They took off outside to "go to the zoo." Gabriel, being a 5-year-old boy, only wants to play games that involve fighting. So they combined their two interests and took the babies to the "fighting zoo." Gabriel was going to fight the animals and Grace and the babies were going to watch.
I'm not sure which animal he was fighting, but he was giving it his all.
Grace was cheering him on as he fought too. How funny!

Afternoon at Huber's

Saturday the kids and I trekked up to Huber's with Grandma to pick some apples and enjoy some gorgeous weather. The kids cracked me up while we were there . . . they ran around asking to have their picture taken everywhere. I think I have trained them well!
This was first. "Mommy, take our picture!" I have a picture of them every year on this concrete cow. I guess when they're 12 and 14 they will try to refuse to this anymore, but I'll probably still ask them too.
Grace wanted to have her picture taken with this pumpkin.
Gabriel wanted a picture that would make him look tough. I think he would look tougher if he had actually been able to pick the pumpkin up. Ha!
I love this one! He IS one of the sweetest kids ever.
One of their favorite things was to pretend to drive the old tractors.
We took a tractor ride out to the apple orchard to pick our own apples. Notice the Kist family is sitting behind us on the tractor.
Grace could only reach the apples on the lower branches, so hers were pretty green.
Gabriel was very selective about his apples. He had some yummy looking ones.
Gabriel is 3 feet 8 inches, according to this. Grace was almost exactly 3 feet. I wonder how close this actually is?
The kids thought the talking tree at the Farmer's Market was pretty cool.
I love those little smiling faces!
Gabriel took a turn driving the old truck too.
Our next stop was the winery. Mom is finally developing a taste for wine. We shared two wine tastings so we could decide which wine we wanted to buy.
Hmm . . . Starlight Red or Starlight White?
A wine-o in training! Just kidding!! When she saw Grandma and me having our pictures taken with the little wine cups, she said, "I want a picture with wine too!"
While Grandma and I finished getting liquored up, the kids played on the patio wall behind us.
We walked down the pond to feed the fish and the ducks. These coy, catfish, and carp were ginormous! They were swimming on top of each other. It was nuts!
I asked Grace if I could take a picture of the prettiest girl in the world, and she replied, "You?" Oh my, she can melt her mama's heart! Isn't that the sweetest?
We had a great time watching the fish, ducks, and swan swim in the pond. It was a beautiful afternoon and such a fun Fall outing.

BP Block Party

Last night, Bridgepoint hosted it's first Fall Block Party. There were games, music, bounce houses, food, and a silent auction. I picked the kids up from daycare and brought them over so they could enjoy the fun with me.
Gabriel enjoyed this bowling game. He ended up spending ALL of his time here because he discovered that each time he knocked down pins, he got a piece of candy. His goal was to fill his bag with candy.
Once Diane gave him a little instruction, he was practically a bowling pro.
Grace got in the bounce house.
The bounce houses were a HUGE hit with all of the kids, so the lines to get in and jump were pretty long.
I convinced Grace to try the bowling game too.
While she was waiting her turn in line, she was dancing to the music. This kiddo loves to bust a move!

Harvest Homecoming

We went to the Harvest Homecoming Thursday night to enjoy some fair food for dinner.
The kids didn't remember the Harvest Homecoming past years until they saw this race track. Then they were yelling, "Oh yeah! We raced last year! Let's race!"
Gabriel ended up getting a little help from Daddy, but unfortunately, he didn't win the race.
Corn dog and Big Red . . . oh my! Good thing we don't eat like this all the time! (Disclaimer: Thursday was Pajama Day for Gabriel's class at school. We don't typically let him wear his pj's out of the house.)
Grace wanted her face painted from the time we got there. Luckily, we found a church booth that was doing face painting for FREE!
Despite having pizza for her dinner, before we left my little carb-addict was still hungry. We chose potato ribbons over more sweets.
What a fun evening!

Chewing Gum

Grace got a piece of bubble gum from Mrs. Wilson today at school.
She was so excited about it that she opened the gum and popped it in her mouth before we even made it to the car.
She chomped on that gum furiously. Oh . . . the enjoyment she got from that one piece of gum. Hahaha! It's the simple things in life sometimes . . . .

Cuddle Bug

A few nights a week, Grace comes into our room and crawls in bed with me. I let her stay in bed with me if it's close to time to get up. If it's too early in the night, though, I make her go back to her bed. I love getting that extra cuddle time with her, and she loves being close to me too. It makes me smile to see her in bed sound asleep like a little angel.

Visiting Vada

Tuesday Grace and I went to Cousin Robin's house to get our hair cut. Grace loves to go to Robin's house because she gets to see Vada.
Vada has grown so much since the last time we saw her. Her personality is developing, and she is such an active and funny little girl. We can't wait to spend time with her again.

"I'm a Good Dancer."

Sunday evening on the way home from the McAfee's house, Grace said from the back seat, "Look, Mom, I'm a good dancer." When I turned around, I saw her bobbing her head back and forth and making this seriously goofy face. She is a hoot!

Jake is 3!

Sunday evening we went to the McAfee's house to celebrate Jake's 3rd birthday.
Gabriel and Grace were so excited to see that the bounce house was set up in the back yard.
What a great way to bounce out some energy! We were so blessed with beautiful weather to enjoy Sunday too.
The kids love to play with Sam and Jake's toys. They have so many cool toys. You know someone else's toys are always so cool compared to your own.
Alicia made 8 pounds of meatloaf for the party-goers. We all enjoyed the yummy dinner!
Before having cake, the kids enjoyed more time in the bounce house.
Then it was time for cake! Happy birthday, Jacob Daniel! You are such a special little boy!
Grace watched Jake open gifts while finishing up her ice cream.