Halloween 2018

Boy, do I love Halloween! I can't get enough of decorating the house and every year it gets bigger and crazier. (Inside AND outside!) The kids love it too, which is great. It wouldn't be as fun if my gaggle of monsters weren't into it. They love dressing up as well. Which is also good as I am equally obsessed with costumes and go a bit overboard every year. This year, Alex wanted to be a Ghostbuster and I made him an epic (or 'sick', as other kids put it) costume, including the proton pack I built from scratch. I might have to be a Ghostbuster next year so I can reuse this bad boy. It was pretty great. Abby wanted to be a pirate (which I couldn't have been more proud of). And Evie wanted to be a bat. The bat costume was really fun to make as well. I had a good time with that. As the costumes I had to make for the kids took up so much of my very little free time, I didn't have time to work on a new one for me this year so I decided to revisit my favorite pirate costume. I do so love being a pirate. It was fun to dress up for school too (seeing as how I work there now).Sadly, Alex is starting to show signs of not wanting to go trick-or-treating. Apparently he's worried that he's getting too old. I told him that as long as he's dressed up, he can go! I hope he holds onto being a kid a little longer. Plus...free candy! Happy Halloween 2018!

 

Uncle Jeremy was cool and got this costume as a surprise just for Alex.

Evie as a bat, Abby a a pirate and Alex as a Ghostbuster. All custom costumes by mom!

Pumpkin carving! A yearly tradition that we all love! A monkey for Abby, heart face for Evie, and a scary face for Alex.

 

Alex's 12th Birthday

Alex had a great 12th birthday. He has done some growing up...not just in size...but in tastes. He has become quite the movie nut and his all time favorite movie (for now) is Ghostbusters. So this year's theme for the birthday was just that: Ghostbusters. He not only wanted to have the cake, but also chose to be a Ghostbuster for Halloween this year. I will miss the days when decorated cakes aren't requested. It's only a matter of time before they realize that there are other options (like brownies and lemon bars). I hope that day doesn't come too soon.  This year, he enjoyed a pudding dessert for his actually birthday and then we celebrated with family and the fancy cake. We even got him a nice Ghostbusters hoodie that he never stops wearing.

He's become quite a kid over the years and watching him change and grow is a blessing! I'm so proud of him! Happy 12th Birthday Alex!

Fun fact: Alex injures himself every year during October. This year was a scooter accident that ended with a very badly damaged finger. He lost the nail eventually. Yuck.

Josh's Birthday 2018

Every year, I make sure that we make a big deal about Josh's birthday. Ok...so not a HUGE deal, but I want the kids to always make sure that it's a big deal so they always call him and shower him with love on his big day. I always make him a special dessert (not cake as he hates it) and whatever he wants for dinner. And then the kids get to make him cards and buy him gifts. They love it! And I can't get through the day without the same photo every year. It's a great tradition! Happy Birthday Josh!

Abbys 10th Birthday

 

Abby turned double digits this year. What? Nope. I'm not believin' it. This means I only have one kid left in the single digit range and that's just scary to think about. So Abby. Oh my. What can I say about her? She is a character and a fun one at that! She dreams of being a teacher so much that she will bring extra math homework home because "teachers need math, mom." Her words. Not mine. She will spend an hour outside in the bitter cold collecting snow even though we only had a trace of it that stuck, so she can make a snowman or the biggest snowball she can forge. (See picture below.) She's nearly impossible to punish as nothing effects her (except cleaning to an extent) and she will blow your mind with the levels of sarcasm she can reach. But that is what makes Abby...well...Abby. And we love her for every ounce of her amazingness!

This year, she wanted an emoji cake so picked one off the ol' google search and that's what she got. She had a few friends over to celebrate her big day and to top it all off, she wanted math cupcakes to celebrate her birthday at school. No. Don't go back and reread that. I said MATH cupcakes. For real. The kids had to solve the problems (that all equaled 10...her age) before they could eat them. And they were blue...her favorite color. She had a great birthday and we are so blessed to have the honor of watching her grow into the amazing young lady she's becoming. What an amazing ten years! Happy Birthday Abby!

 

Giant snow ball created from barely any snow on the ground. Dedication.

Posing for the most dramatic picture she could manage.

Math cupcakes. LOL!

Singing happy birthday in the class...in opera style. It was frightening!

Wendy's for birthday dinner: Her choice!

Celebrating the actual birthday with a blue/green stuffed animal she chose and dessert. And homemade hand warmers courtesy of her dead leggings she cut up.

Friends on her birthday party.

She REALLy wanted this sloth stuffed animal...if you can tell.

The giant emoji cake...with blue glasses.

December 2017

December was full of...well...everything. It always seems that way when the end of the year hits though. This year, Alex started band and is currently playing my old trumpet. He's coming along on his playing so well! And with band comes concert time. Alex has his bad concert on the same day that Abby had her 4th grade music concert. It was actually pretty funny when they played the ugly sweater song. Abby's favorite part? Making an ugly sweater to wear. And I never even got her to wear it for a picture other than in the group shot here.

Alex's band concert

After the band and vocal concerts with my three turkeys.

I got the pleasure of being treated to a pretty snazzy haircut courtesy of Mandy for my early birthday present. It was by far the fanciest haircut experience I've ever had.

Then we got to go to see Santa and enjoy our annual trolley and carriage ride around the town. This year Josh had to work, so I took the kids by myself. We still had plenty of fun and it wasn't too bad of weather for the occasion.

 

 Then of course we had to make gingerbread houses from our traditional graham crackers and buttload of sugary goodness. I'm the only one that didn't even nibble a single bite when it was done. The kids, however, devoured them entirely.

A proud moment incoming! Alex was chosen as a Top Dog student at school. This basically means that he shows all the requirements and characteristics needed to be the best student he can be at school. This is a big deal as only one boy and one girl is chosen each month out of the school year. I am super-duper proud of this kiddo. He's a great kid and an AWESOME student. That's means we're doing something right. He gets certain privileges throughout the year including helping out Mr. Reynold's (the gym teacher who is seriously the best) and missing school to help out at the end of the year. He got to bring home the trophy for a month and it was filled with all sorts of goodies to celebrate him. Go Alex!

Josh and I celebrated our 16th anniversary. Seriously. How has it been this long? Poof! Time gone. We celebrated by going to see Star Wars: The Last Jedi at the balcony in our theater. Great time and a great movie! Happy 16th to us and many more to come!  (P.S. We never take selfies together.)

 Then there was the annual trip to the city light display that is always a favorite. We go out to eat at Wendy's, go Christmas shopping and then enjoy the lights. It's not a great picture, but it was a wonderful time.

Evie had another round of gingerbread house making at school. *sniff* the last Christmas party in Pre-K. :(

Christmas cookie decorating. Yum

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And the last Christmas singing concert in pre-K . *sniff*

 Christmas is always one of my favorite times of the year and this year did not disappoint. We have lots of traditions and each one is special. This year, we had most of my brothers around too which was fun. It was a great holiday season and went by way too fast. I miss it when it's gone (even if the tree is messy and annoying at times). I feel like I will blink and these pictures will have grown children in them with families of their own. I enjoy every minute and love the time we spend as a family. Merry Christmas everyone!

Christmas cookie decorating the night before Christmas. Yum!

Alex and his loot.

Evie and her goodies.

Abby and her treasures.

Christmas Day at Grandma's house. Love it!

Evie sure does love Great Grandma!

I spent forever making this quilt for mom with all of Dad's old t-shirts. She cried. I cried. And I made pillows for all my brothers. It was a lot of work, but turned out to be one of the  best gifts I've ever got the joy of giving.

Christmas Eve and the annual Jammies present they get. New jammies are always fun!