Happy 2nd Birthday Owen!!

I can not believe that my little boy is two! I don't know where the time goes! We had a construction themed party for him and invited our old neighbors. The kids had so much fun! Happy Birthday Owen!!

Owen got a train table for his birthday and LOVED it! He just woke up from his nap and was pretty cranky, so he was not cooperating with my camera!

Trying to put the track together.

The crew at the party.

Jack, our old neighbors youngest.

The cake. It was yummy!

The birthday boy waiting patiently for his cake.

Getting ready to blow out the candles. Emma was showing him how to do it.

Blowing out the candles.

Enjoying it and getting it all over his face!

More cake!

Best friends Emma and Arilyn. Emma's birthday is the day before Arilyn's!

The four year old best friends Addison and Molly.

Ben being silly for the camera.

Opening presents.

And more presents. Happy Birthday Owen!!

Christmas Tree Hunting

We found a really neat Christmas tree farm to cut our own tree. It was on 175 acres about 30 minutes north of us. It was beautiful! You could see the White Mountains not that far away- it was so pretty. It was a beautiful day and we had a lot of fun.

Owen was thrilled to go find a tree- he fell asleep on the way there!

On the hunt for the perfect tree. They had sleds to put your tree on to carry it back to the barn. Owen wanted to pull it.

The website said that dogs were welcome, so Ellie got to come with us this year. She is patiently waiting for Shawn to cut the tree.

After much walking around and debating, mostly by Arilyn, we found our tree.

There's a lot going on here...Owen is trying to figure out what Daddy is doing, Addison wants to help and Arilyn is ready to catch the tree when it falls. It almost knocked her over, but she thought it was funny.

Owen doing his share of the sawing.

Putting the tree on the sled and pulling it back to the barn.

The finished product with 3 surprisingly cooperative kids!

And I spoke too soon- this is Owen trying to karate chop the tree. Maybe it's a good thing we're having another girl!

Arilyn's First Christmas Concert

I am getting really lazy with these pictures...I apologize, but here we go from pumpkins to Christmas! :0)
Arilyn had her first Christmas concert at school last week. It was so cute! The kindergarten classes sang 3 songs and she was so excited to be on stage in her Christmas dress! Arilyn and Addison were also very excited because it didn't start until 6pm, so we were out after dark. They thought it was SO late! It was funny.

Arilyn ready to go.

Addison was excited because she got to wear her Christmas dress, too.

Owen in his Christmas sweater.

I thought this was a really cute picture of me and Owen while we were getting ready.

On stage waiting for everyone to get in their places. She looked a little nervous!

All three kindergarten classes.

It didn't take long for her to get over her nerves! She's singing 'Jingle Bells.'

Singing 'Away in a Manger.'

More singing...

and more singing!

Halloween Crafts and Pumpkins

We made a Halloween craft a few weeks ago that my friend Mary showed me in the Family Fun magazine. It was really cute and super easy. And the kids really enjoyed it because it involved paint! Then we carved our pumpkins a few weeks later. Of course the kids loved that! Happy Halloween!

Arilyn deep in her painting.

Pausing for a picture.

Addison enjoying her paint...on her hands!

Looking cute though.

Owen was so excited that he actually got to paint. Usually we paint when he is napping!

Having fun!

And taking lessons from Addison- getting super messy!

The finished products. Arilyn's, Addison's, Owen's and I made one for baby#4.

Arilyn cleaning out her pumpkin.

Addison getting into her pumpkin.

Owen was really funny- he did not want to put his hand in the pumpkin guts at first. He eventually did and then it was everywhere, but it really surprised me!

The finished products and happy kids!

Shawn took this picture when the were lit.

VIsit with the Foulk's

After we went to Disney we went to visit our good friends the Foulk's, who moved to Orlando last year. We became good friends when Dave and Shawn were in medical school together and have been great friends ever since. It was so nice to see them and get all the kids together. Thanks Dave and Mary for a great visit!

I thought it would be funny to start with this picture. This was taken while the boys were still in medical school probably 8 and a half years ago. We hadn't had Ellie for very long and Dave and Mary had just gotten Maddy. Well before either of us had kids, we stayed up late having game nights together- the pre-kid life!

And here we are now! We have 6 (and a half) kids between us! No more late night game nights for us!

The older four kids- Ben, Addison, Abby and Arilyn swimming.

More silliness while swimming.

The kiddos.

The kiddos being very silly.