Disney on Ice

Later in the afternoon, right after bible Sunday at church, my sweet friend, Kathy and I took our girls to see Disney on Ice.  We had never been, and I knew that Kennedy would be excited.  After a quick costume change in the church bathroom, we were off! 

(kind of a funny side story here...Kathy and I decided that we would surprise the girls with the news of where we were going once they were dressed and we were on our way.  Well, as they were dressing in the restroom, a high schooler came in and asked where we were going.  Without thinking, Kathy casually says that we are going to Disney on Ice ~ it was so very funny, we all just looked at one another, the girls wondering if they should be excited or not and Kathy and I simply laughing at our "attempt" at a surprise!  It really was a hilarious moment)

We got the girls sufficiently pumped up on our drive over and arrived with plenty of time to get in our seats and take lots of pictures.  As you can see, we got there a little too early and were nice and settled but then had to get up half a dozen times as people arrived to sit in our row.

Sadly there were so many distractions (people arriving late, getting up and down many times throughout the show, lots of loud talking, spinny light toys going the whole time, etc.  It was crazy!) all around us as the show went on...I know it bothered Kathy and I immensely, as it was so hard to concentrate, although thankfully the girls were so enthralled with the performance that they didn't seem to mind much.

our sweet little girls

These two have come a long way in their friendship and really enjoy so many of the same activities.  It was special to be able to experience the magic together with dear friends.

posing by the ice at intermission

The show was very well done, typical Disney magic and I loved it.  Just wish we would have had better seats!  Or at least a better audience surrounding us!

And what would a special outing be without a fun treat afterwards?  The girls were thrilled with a stop at Menchies before we headed home.

Our two cute princesses

Such a fun day, spent with wonderful friends!

a little bit of life ~ fall edition

Just some random phone pictures to wrap up the end of fall...

I have really enjoyed having Wednesday afternoons with Carter.  Not since he was 2 have we had any significant amount of time together, just the two of us.  One Wednesday, we headed to Big Al's for a bowling.  Such fun with my boy.

A sushi dinner date with Lyla and her family made for very happy girls

kindergarten picture day

my girl is growing up!

reading to Pops

another fun Wednesday afternoon...a marathon Monopoly game!

Carter won :)

Carter has been participating in the children's choir at church and was practicing his song for the weekend's performance (his first in front of the congregation).  He couldn't be any sweeter.  And so very serious.  I don't know why I am surprised, he is serious with everything that he does.

November saw Carter's first sleepover with his friend, Samuel...Kyle and I were at a friend's birthday party and Kennedy was staying with Grandma and Papa.  Carter and Samuel are in choir together and had their first performance that following morning, so we decided to give a sleepover a try.  The boys did great and had a ton of fun.  Unfortunately, Carter didn't sleep a whole lot and was pretty wiped out the following day.  I think we'll hold off a bit before making these regular happenings but were so grateful that the Grices were willing to have Carter over night.

A fun and full fall!

Fall Harvest Party

Kennedy's class had their fall harvest party at a local farm.  

Thankfully the weather was sunny, although it was awfully cold.

There were several fun activities planned and I was happy to be able to help out with many other moms.

It was such a fun way to spend the morning.

Kennedy and the two Maddie's, Maddie Z and Maddie R, decorating foam pumpkins

the girls and their finished pumpkins

waiting for their turn to gourd bowl!

bowling with a gourd is serious business, look at that face of concentration

having fun in the leaves!

Yay for fall fun!

cookie decorating and some fun snacks

A fun day on the farm!

soccer season wrap up ~ 2013

Both kids had a fantastic soccer season this year.  

They were fortunate to be part of two great teams, with two great coaches and lots of their friends.  It was a fun way to spend our fall days and luckily we had fairly good weather over the eight weeks.

I will let these pictures do most of the talking...

can't get enough of this girl's smile

Kennedy and Ainsley

I couldn't pass up these beautiful fall leaves ~ a beautiful fall day in the NW cannot be beat

celebrating our last game ~ a fun win!

Kennedy and her sweet bff, Lauren 

love these girls

Blue Angels ~ 2013

Kennedy, Lauren, Lyla, Ainsley and Addie

silly face

Carter's team was undefeated going into the last game.  We were playing a team who we had barely beaten earlier in the season.  It started off very well, and the boys were playing great.  I think we were up by three or four goals...

but then one of our best players fell, landed wrong and broke his arm.  The poor kid was in a lot of pain and I think all of the boys were worried about him.  

And our opponents really stepped it up, scoring five unanswered goals and winning the game by one.  It was such a sad way to end an overall fabulous season.  The boys worked hard and really learned to play as a team.  They improved a lot over the season and were fun to watch.

I am not sure if Carter will play soccer again (much to my dismay, he has his sights set on football) but I have loved watching him play these last several years and am very proud of his progress.

Pumpkin Patch ~ 2013 {Joe's Place}

One of my most favorite fall traditions is our annual trip to the pumpkin patch.  This year we had beautiful weather and were lucky enough to have Nana and Pops join us.  It was a wonderful way to spend the afternoon!

Carter was fairly insistent on pushing the wheelbarrow himself.  And he did a great job until we started putting the pumpkins in, and then it got a little harder to push.  Or at least push straight!

Anything Carter does, Kennedy has to try as well!

Before we could choose our pumpkins and enjoy the other fun activities around the farm, I had to torture my poor family with pictures.  They were pretty good sports and I was thankful to get some good photos without too many threats!  I love the fall colors and their happiness to be at the pumpkin patch.

love this smile.  love this girl.

I don't think they could be any cuter

our attempts at family photos weren't quite as successful but I'll take it, it's not often that we get the four of us together in a picture.

Kennedy and her Nana

my girl is never so happy as when Nana is here with us.  She is Nana's shadow for her entire visit and they have so much fun together!

It was great to have Pops here with us, too.

in the apple orchard

my handsome boy is growing up so fast!

enjoying apples on our hay ride

Kennedy has taken to tilting her head and trying to be cute when we ask for a "nice smile" ~ it's so cute, but she often looks a bit like a pirate!

Another fantastic trip to the pumpkin patch!

Halloween Fun

Holidays are always a fun excuse to put together a little something for the kiddos.  

At the start of October, after putting out all of our Halloween decorations, I left these treat baskets for the kids when they got home.

Nothing too extravagant, just lots of little fun things.

The Little Mermaid came out, so that had to go into Kennedy's basket.  Arial is Kennedy's favorite princess and we had borrowed the movie a few times, but I knew she would love having a copy of her own.

a little treat, a fun shirt, a movie for Carter, new books

They were excited to dig in but nicely posed for a picture before they got started!

Sharing their excitement!

I love these smiles

And one morning we woke up and had been "boo-ed"!  The kids were thrilled and had a ton of fun trying to guess who possibly could have left the bucket of treats.  We enjoyed delicious pumpkin cookies, yummy treats and... 

mustaches!

The best part of getting boo-ed is getting to put together our own treat buckets and then going out into the night to secretly deliver them.  

We were super secret spies!

I was cracking up at their attempts to be stealth...they wouldn't make very good spies at this point.  Kennedy was laughing so loud!  I am shocked that we weren't spotted!

you couldn't contain their excitement!

Such a fun Halloween tradition!