Look Who's Riding a Bike!

Will has been a little bit slower to develop some of his fine and gross motor skills so I was thrilled to see him get on Sister's bike and ride up and down the sidewalk. Grandpa actually bought him a bike about a year ago that he adamantly refused to ride so we returned it. He just needed to decide to do it on his own time, I guess.

I think we all know what Mommy and Daddy are getting him for his birthday!

American Girl Doll Fashion Show

Mimi, Emily, Avery, Alivia and I headed to the Westin in the Domain for the annual American Girl Doll Fashion Show. It raises money for Dell Children's Hospital and is quite the affair! Mom bought matching dresses for Avery and Alivia which looked very similar to the American Girl dresses that she bought for their dolls. The girls were thrilled to be together and dress up. They talked us into buying "pets" for their dolls. We sat at a table with Nanny Alva and her 2 granddaughters, Becky and Amber.

Avery and Alivia have already asked if they can model next year, too. Oh boy. . .

Ode to Nanny Alva

I am blessed to have found Nanny Alva (off Craigslist of all places!). She has been with our family for 5 years. When she first started with us, we lived on Calle Verde Cove and had one child. Now. . . 2 more kids and another on the way. Alva helps keep my life organized and sane and she loves my children. I have always said that a mother will never feel good about working outside the home unless she knows that her children are safe and in a good childcare situation.

Alva loves to do Alivia's hair and makes it look so pretty on school days. She cooks dinner for us and always seems to know what to do around our house to make things work more smoothly. She organizes the kids' drawers and closets and helps me troubleshoot crazy behavior.

I love you Nanny Alva. Thanks for all you do for our family.

Happy Halloween 2011

Emily and Peyton invited us over to their house for the annual pre-trick or treating Papa Murphy's pizza dinner. It was much more low-key this year since my parents are in Israel for 2 weeks. And thank goodness for Nanny Alva, or I am not sure my kids would have had cute outfits.

The kids love running around the neighborhood with their cousins, Avery and Paige. Avery (4.5) was Mulan, and Paige (2.5) was Minnie Mouse. They looked adorable!

Alivia settled on the jaguar costume. Alva did her make-up and hair prior to my arrival home. She was thrilled with how she looked and got lots of compliments while we were walking the neighborhood.

Will was a cute little cowboy if I say so myself. Alva found some beautiful black boots for him to wear. He wore his cowboy hat for about 5 minutes before removing it for the night.

And sweet baby John. . . well. . . he is a pumpkin, without a real outfit or hat. He simply would not keep anything on his head and I knew he would last trick or treating for about 30 minutes so I decided to let it go. He was fascinated by candy and kept bringing all sorts of confections for me to open for him. We broke off around 7:20 when he started acting really wild and nutty.

Happy Halloween to all! Let the Holiday Season begin - WHEEEE!

Carving Pumpkins

I usually take the lead on carving pumpkins around our house, but this year I was feeling pooped, so Matt helped out quite a bit. We ate dinner while the carving occurred and John looked on from the high chair pretty fascinated by the whole thing.

I think our final products look pretty good!

Veritas Fall Festival

Alivia's school had a great carnival/Fall festival complete with bouncy houses, pony rides, and lots and lots of candy. It was nice to meet some new families involved with the school. Alivia was so excited about getting her face painted and the mom that was doing it did an amazing job. It was sad to wash it off that night. The weather was surprisingly cold which only added to the feel that Fall is finally here!

Sweetberry Farm

We had a fun weekend at the lake with our friends The Skaggs Family and The Smith Family. We all have three kids the exact same ages. Part of the weekend was spent at Sweetberry Farms which is about 10 minutes away from the lakehouse. The weather was so pretty and we beat the crowds by getting there by 9:30 on Saturday morning. The kids enjoyed picking a pumpkin, face painting, riding a horse and going through a corn maze.