Beauty and the Skunk??

While Grace had many choices, and many mind changes at that, she settled on her Belle "Winter" dress for Halloween this year. Miles, however, had no choice in the matter. I had bought his skunk costume on clearance last year when he was about 5 weeks old. It suits him quite well! He is a little stinker. Halloween was really hard to wait for. I have been listening to "First it is Miles' birthday, then it is my birthday and then it is Halloween" since about June from Grace. She was ready to trick-or-treat on Monday, and had been counting down the days all week long. With the beautiful weather, 70 degrees when some years it snows, the evening was great. We joined some friends from the neighborhood and some from the country to go around a few blocks. A bad cold has been making its way through our house, so Miles and a chicken named Eli rode in the wagon, while Belle, Snow White, and Tigger ran off ahead. Miles made it through, but was ready for bed by the end. He has the lovely cough tonight. This was only the second year that we didn't go to Belleville and trick-or-treat with the boys. There was a sadness to not going, since we missed them all in costume and the family pictures, but the convenience factor played in this year. Tacking on an hour of driving, tired kids and parents, made staying in Monroe worth while. There are pictures after all and maybe we'll do the every other year thing! It was fun either way, and the kids were out by 8!

First Friends

We recently spent an afternoon with our friends Jen, Gavin, and Addy (who was sleeping in the stroller) playing in the leaves. It was one of the nicer days last week, and we decided to take advantage of the massive amount of leaves they have at their house. After running around, playing on the playset and having a snack or two, they all made their way to the leaf pile. The pumpkin yard bags were a big hit, and I believe Jen said they were from when she was little! Gavin and Grace have been buddies since she was barely 2 and Gavin about 18 months. Now they are in preschool together and have grown up so much!!! Miles and Addy are nearly the exact age apart and hopefully within the year will be on a similar page. Right now, Miles is a bit of a brut and just wants to poke at her. I think that the friends you make when you are little are the ones that you either discover, with time, are not all they are cracked up to be, or they are the ones you should have stayed with when you found yourself wandering. Hopefully these guys will be part of the latter group. I know several of my best friends now are the ones I had when I was young, drifted apart from, and as adults we realized we were what defined "true" friends and are now closer than ever. I'm blessed to have stayed in, or rekindled relationships with the people who I truly meant something to throughout the years. AndI have realized they have always meant something to me.

The Boys...and Grace

L to R: Grace 4, Ryan 4.5, Casey 2, Trevor 8.5, Connor 3.5, Drew 6, Sean 6.5 Miles 1.

Here is something that had not yet occurred: all 8 grandkids in one picture and no one is crying. Usually, we try to do this and at least one of them refuses to cooperate. Obviously, Grace is out numbered. Each of my sisters has 3 boys and we have Miles... and Grace. Although they used to fight a bit more, they have grown to get along quite nicely. There are the occasional melt downs, tantrums, and wrestling. There have also been entire evenings of one girl playing princess, with her magic wand, chasing all of the boys and hoping to catch herself a prince. We learned one thing: don't hold Ryan down and let her kiss on him. He gets awfully upset. They are only 6 months apart and have always been at odds. They play wonderfully for the most part now, but if you mention that you only have princess plates for him to eat off of, that's the end of that!

Sleeping Beauty has Arrived!

Grace also recently celebrated her birthday. She turned 4 on October 8th, and we ended her birthday "week" with a family party. Luckily the weather cooperated, for mid-October, and we hit about 78 degrees. The entire party was outside, minus the food, and the kids were able to play football and be on the playset. Grace had requested a "princess" cake, I assume like the one's at the grocery store. This mommy, who has yet to buy the cake, took up the project of the Sleeping Beauty cake. Thankfully, she loved it! That made my day and it made her's as well. Now, the fancy dress was off by the time of the party, but what a nice picture! Getting Grace into pants is usually a fight. She was thrilled with her gifts and pooped out at the end of the evening. Bryan and I enjoyed making her whole day special. For school she wore a crown she had decorated, and she provided ice-cream cups for a treat. We went up to Belleville for the afternoon, due to a birthday girl request, had pizza for dinner, and topped the night off at the deli on the square. They have her favorite ice-cream and she wowed them all with her fancy Sleeping Beauty attire! Do you all hold memories like this from birthdays? We hope to keep this tradition for our kids and make their birthday a day for them to remember. They were for us!

Birthday Boy!

Miles celebrated his 1st birthday on September 20th. Since we had a wedding to be at on his actual big day, we had a "family" party the prior weekend. The weather was not all that appealing, humid and rainy, and we we're stuck in the house most of the evening. The kids had a great time, as usual, and there was more than enough food to go around. Miles' cupcakes were a hit with the little ones; mint brownies (fat-free nonetheless!) and angel food for the big people. By the end of the evening a few neighbor friends had joined in on the fun, and the guys played cards in the garage. Luckily the rain had subsided and the kids were free to be wild and crazy, and not crammed in our house! It's amazing how 7 little boys and 1 little girl can have such fun stuffing themselves into a play tunnel! This family has grown so much in the past 9 years with Miles, being the last grandchild on my side, already turning one. They've all grown so fast! For only the second time in 8 years, neither of my sisters or I is having a baby. The only other year a baby wasn't born, Bryan and I got married. Suddenly, none of the kids are babies anymore... bittersweet.

Preschool Princess

September brought a new and exciting concept to Grace's life - school. She absolutley loves it! Ding-a-Dong Preschool here in Monroe is only a few blocks away. Most days, until it got cold, started with a happy little girl running out of her room, fully clothed, by 6:30a. Now, however, the chill in the air keeps her wrapped up until after breakfast. School is Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday mornings from 8:30a- 11a. Personally I enjoy the "break" since Miles is always napping by 9:15a, and has to be woken on many days for pick-up. Her teacher, Mrs. Albrecht, says that Grace is not shy at all. Apparently having 6 boy cousins and a little brother prepared her for the 6:3 boy/girl ratio! Hopefully her love of school and learning continues and her little mind is always open to new things!

Animal Action

There was one day toward the end of summer that Bryan was able to take a vacation day for a trip to the zoo. Grace was so excited, and Miles was nice enough to nap on the way. After all of the animals, they enjoyed the carousel and a picnic at the park. ( The rain didn't start until after we ate. ) Luckily, a few photo ops popped up as we walked through. It's been suggested that I be photo-shopped into the grizzly bear and we use this as our Christmas card. Aren't these always the little trips you remember as you get older? They always have been for me.

Summer Days

Stepping back in time a bit, most of our summer was spent outdoors. The kids were so much more content. Whether it was in the sandbox, the pool, taking around 4 walks a day, or swinging as high as we could, summer inevitably went way to quickly. Most mornings, while Miles napped, Grace and I would sit out back and color at the patio table. Our walks led to a few neighbors wondering "Is that all you do?", and the answer of "It's better than sitting on the couch." Regardless of the heat, the pool called our names, a lot, and the "ducky slide" in the wading pool had to have gotten a sore back! Hopefully your summers were as enjoyable as ours was and we'll head into this coming winter with the coming summer on our minds.