Happy Halloween!

Lily's school celebrated Reformation Day today, so all the kids came dressed in 16th Century costumes.  I am so not a creative person, and I've had a million things to do, so Lily's costume was a little bit of a stretch; she went as a peasant because the grey dress seemed to work.  When I explained what a peasant was, she exclaimed "Yea I don't have much money!"  As she got ready this morning, she grabbed her treasure box, put two coins in it and asked if she could take it to school to show that she doesn't have much money.  This picture was taken as her class performed in chapel this morning.  They recited Psalm 23 and sang The Continent Song together.  It's always fun to see little events like this.

 The girls couldn't wait for Halloween trick or treating!  Even though Mia went as Captain America to her school party yesterday, she was Captain Hook tonight.

 Lily was excited to dress up as mermaid Ariel.

 Lily begged to go trick or treating at houses this year since that is something we haven't done before for various reasons.  So, we went over to Doug and Julia's house to trick or treat around their neighborhood with them which was fun.  Vivian dressed up as Pocahontas, Claudia was Rapunzel (who enjoyed wearing peacock wings) while little Evelyn was a peacock.  Our friend Debbie also joined us, so we had a good time together.  The girls collected tons of candy!

Fun Times

ACCA's kindergarten classes went to Smyrna Fire Station 1 last week.  I wasn't able to make it, but I heard it was lots of fun.  Here's Lily and McClendon on the front of one of the trucks.

 We have loved the Smyrna Food Truck evenings.  Picnics with lots of yummy food (like the paninis below), but of course the best part was the King of Pop's popsicles each week!

 Soccer wrapped up last week.  I think the girls enjoyed the season for the most part; I'm glad we did it, and we'll see about coming back in the spring.  After Lily's game, her team had a little pizza party and then presented each player with these cute little trophies.  Unfortunately, Mia's coach forgot to order trophies.  That's okay though because the trophy shop is pretty close to our house; Mia's trophy showed up on Tuesday.

 The girls and I had so much fun making Shrinky Dink bracelets one afternoon!

 I love seeing these reports from Mia's class, especially the last comments.  Such a sweetheart!

Handsome and Gretel

We had our annual family pictures made earlier in the week.  As we were about to leave, Lily looked at Ryan and said "Daddy, you look so handsome."  Mia quickly agreed and said "And Mommy looks so Gretel."  Ryan and I got a good laugh about that one!

Hooks Fun Fall Day

Saturday was just what I needed.  I wanted just a nice, fun, family day enjoying the beautiful Fall weather.  We had planned on going to an apple orchard, but had learned on Friday that the excessive rain a few weeks ago had made for an early harvest and there were no good trees for picking available.  On to Plan B.

 

We slept in a little and then headed to Chick-fil-a for breakfast.  That is always a fun treat, but it's even better when you see the cow dressed up as pirate!  From here we stopped by First Methodist's pumpkin patch.  It's nothing fancy, but the girls really enjoyed it.  We let each of them pick their own small pumpkin.  Lily wanted one with "just a small stem."

 Mia loved this one.

 Debating on which one will make the perfect family pumpkin.

 Stopping for a picture with a little scarecrow.

 I'm such a sucker for these kinds of pictures!  They were looking right into the sun, so it was difficult to get a great picture, but I think it's pretty cute.

 After the pumpkin patch, we went over to Parkway Point where we all enjoyed the Hotel Transylvania movie.  I have to say, I normally don't like Halloween things, and I certainly didn't want anything scary for the kids; this movie was perfect!  It was actually really cute and had a great daddy-daughter storyline to it.  After the movie, we grabbed a quick drive-through lunch and then stopped by Michael's to get some pumpkin carving tools.

 

After nap time, we headed out to the deck to start the fun.  The girls decorated their small pumpkins with the stickers from the patch.

 Lily showing off her multi-faced creation.

 Mia trying to make a face like her middle face on the pumpkin.

 Upon looking inside the pumpkin, both girls exclaimed "EWWWW!"

 Ryan concentrating.

 The final creation.  A little kitten on top of a jack-o-lantern.  Isn't it cute?!

We rounded out the day with some football and grilled hot dogs for dinner.  What a perfect day!

Gulf Shores Vacation

On the day after the wedding, our family drove the extra 30 minutes over to Gulf Shores.  We hit the outlet mall on the way in and then enjoyed lunch at Lulu's.  From there, we headed to Mom and Dad's condo and met up with our friends, the Hendersons.  We have taken this trip with them for several years now, and we have a blast each year.  How can you not with good friends and weather like this?

 We couldn't wait to hit the beach!  The four kiddos are too adorable.  It's so much fun to watch them play together.

 Pretty much all of our time was spent in the ocean or in the sand.  Jill took the kids to the playground a couple of times which the girls enjoyed too.

 Ready to build.

 Lily was so proud of her starfish sand.

 Mia had fun jumping waves.

 The first sand castle.

 I would love to know what Lily was thinking about as she watched the ocean for awhile.

Mia preferred to be right on the edge.

 I was amazed at how much Lily loved being in the ocean.  She couldn't get enough!

 Both girls jumping; look at the height on Lily's jump!

 Love the looks on their faces here!

 Crawling around in the sand.

 Parker and Brian could be found playing baseball a lot too.  Parker is getting really good!

 Love this.

 The fun didn't stop when the sun went down.  While we ate in a couple of nights, our last night took us to The Hangout which is always a fun experience.  The kids love the huge sandlot...look, more sand!

Our trip wasn't quite as long this year since we had to get back for school.  Lily had been on Fall Break the whole week before, and we kept her out for three extra days so we could take this trip.  It's just too fun to pass up!

Kendall and John's Wedding

On the Thursday of Fall Break, we headed down to Fairhope, AL.  We couldn't wait for Kendall and John's wedding!  After a bite to eat that evening with Liz, we settled in for the night.  The girls were thrilled to get "goodie bags" from Kendall filled with toys, snacks and candy.  On Friday, I headed to the bridesmaid's luncheon at The Fairhope Inn and Restaurant.  Everything was just lovely.  It was the perfect choice for a luncheon in this adorable town.  Liz had selected some amazingly delicious options for lunch.  I went with the crab cake salad, and it was wonderful.  John's aunt picked up a butter cake for dessert too which was yummy.  We rested up for a little bit afterwards, and soon it was time to head to the rehearsal.  Here's a picture of the girls before we headed out.

 Everything went well at the rehearsal, and soon it was time to head over to the dinner on the USS Alabama.  This was a neat place to hold a rehearsal dinner.  It was great to catch up with some family and friends that we don't get to see nearly enough.  Liz's brother, Larry, and his wife, Regina, drove down from Ohio; we hadn't seen them since our wedding, so it was great to visit with them.  Tons of other friends had driven down from Birmingham which was great.  The girls could have stayed next to Amy or Jimmy all night and been happy as clams!  Unfortunately, with two young ones, we weren't able to stay the whole evening; they were fading quickly and we wanted them well rested for Saturday.  I heard the rest of the evening was wonderful though!

Saturday arrived and promised to be another beautiful day.  The girls and I headed over after nap time to start getting them ready.  When we arrived, they were making the final cleaning touches on the dock.  The arch that one of Liz's friends made was truly stunning.  This picture was taken from the balcony where most of the guest watched the ceremony though the seats below were for family.

 Thankfully, Amy was available to fix the girls' hair.  She put braids on both sides of their heads and then pulled it back with a bow.  It looked great!

 Mia wasn't really sure what to think.

 Two beautiful flower girls ready to go!

 The girls with the gorgeous bride!

 The ceremony was wonderful, and thankfully, no one fell into the river (my fear!).  It brought tears to my eyes as Ryan walked Kendall down the aisle and gave her away.  I know it will be my girls walking with him all too soon. 

After the wedding, we snapped a quick family shot before walking upstairs to the reception.  It was a perfectly beautiful evening.

 I don't think I have ever seen Kendall happier; it was so great to watch.  She and John are such a perfect match for one another, and we wish them all the best.

Everyone had a lot of fun at the reception.  The place looked gorgeous, and the food was wonderful.  There was lots of seating to watch the beautiful sunset and enjoy the band.  We were able to continue catching up with family and friends which we loved.  This was a truly memorable evening.

Of course, these are just a few of the pictures we snapped with our phones.  I can't wait to see the photographer's photos when they come out soon!

A Couple of Miscellaneous Items

We had a movie night one evening.  Mia loved getting to try out her new sleeping bag!

 Lily was so excited to spend the night in Mia's room.  It took forever for them to get to sleep which was pretty fun to hear from the next room.

 Mia made this cute little scarecrow at school.

 Love this sweetheart!  I thought this shirt was too adorable to pass up for all the Beatles fans in our family.  Both girls have no problem picking out a Paul McCartney song!

Two excited girls who just found out we're heading to Disney World soon!

Lily's 6 Year Old Check-Up

Lily had her six year old check-up on the Monday of Fall Break.  Ryan took her, and they met our new pediatrician, Dr Schwartz.  Dr. White has moved to a practice closer to her home, so we decided to give the new doctor a try.  Ryan was pretty pleased with her.

Lily did well during her check-up.  Thankfully, there were no shots this go-round; she did get the flu mist nasal spray, but that wasn't a big deal.  She is now 3 feet, 8.25 inches high which is in the 31st percentile.  She weighs 45.6 pounds which is the 55th percentile.  Her blood pressure is 98/62 which is in the normal range.  She passed her hearing and eye test too.  All around, a good visit!  We are very thankful for a healthy 6 year old (how can she be this old?!).

Lily's "Cool School" Birthday Party

Lily couldn't wait for her birthday party on Friday afternoon!  Her original idea was to have a "reading party."  When I asked what she meant by that, she said she wanted to have friends over, and they would all read books to themselves or listen to me read books.  Have I mentioned that I love how much she loves books?  Anyway, we talked about that how that idea might not work out as she expected, so I gave her two ideas that came from a "reading" idea.  First, we could take her favorite book and have a party around that (like a Fancy Nancy theme), or we could have a "school" party and reading aloud could be part of it.  Lily took the school idea and ran with it.  So, we invited some of her closest friends from school and church and had a blast!

Ready to have fun with her reading shirt on!

 Welcome students!

 The birthday cake is ready!

 Appetizers for any parents who stayed (we offered for parents to drop off their kids since we were at home).

 Several of the girls had fun playing in the playhouse while we waited on everyone to arrive.  We were so thankful it was a beautiful day outside!

 The first part of our school day was Art Class.  All the girls painted treasure boxes to take home with them.  It was so fun to watch them paint and hear them chatter to one another.  This is such a fun age!

 Lily was loving this!

 Mia was having a blast painting her treasure box.

 Everyone finished up about the same time, so we moved from Art Class to Recess.  We headed down to our backyard.  Kelsey started everyone out on the sidewalk chalk.

 The bubbles were a huge hit.  McClendon and Nara had fun trying to catch them on their wands.

 Lauren got one!

 Rachael did too!

 Mia couldn't resist trying out the bubbles.

 Lily was thrilled that Anna was able to come!

 Mia had a great time mixing the sidewalk chalk and bubble soap to paint on the sidewalk!

 Lily, Jill and Callie had fun on the slide together.

 The girls also played with some balls, swung on the swings and played on the trapeze.  Really, they just had fun together which was great! 

Finally, it was time to line up to head back inside.  Of course, Lily insisted on being the line leader since it was her birthday.

 We settled down a little bit for Library Time.  Lily picked her favorite book (Princess Bedtime Stories) and her favorite princess (Ariel), so we read "Ariel's Special Song."  The girls were all very attentive listeners as they heard about Ariel's friend gathering her courage to sing at King Triton's birthday celebration.

 After Library Time, we headed into the playroom for Lunch.  Each girl had a brown bag lunch with a turkey and cheese sandwich, apple slices, small box of raisins and a baggie of goldfish and pretzels.  They each picked up either a water bottle or juice box too.  We parents enjoyed taco soup that had been simmering all day.

Everyone sat down in a circle to enjoy lunch together.

 As the girls finished up, Lunch spontaneously turned into Music Class as they started singing "In My Father's House" and "Father Abraham."  They were having a blast!

 We decided to keep Music class going and brought out the cake and sing Happy Birthday.  Lily blew out her candles, and then we sliced up the cake and handed out the ice cream (thank you Pintrest for the idea of scooping the ice cream into cupcake liners before the party so we could hand out an individual serving).

Lastly, it was time for Show and Tell when Lily opened her presents.  Below is a picture that exemplifies what I mean when I tell people Lily is my mini-me.  On her own doing, she pre-made thank you cards.  I have worn into her how important thank you cards are, so a few days before the party, she made each girl a card that said "Thank you (girl's name)," and she decorated it with drawings and stickers.  As she held up a present to open, she asked the gift giver to raise her hand and I handed out the thank you note.  She had every detail planned.

 She loved each of her presents...books, new monogrammed shirts, art supplies, craft projects, Barbie supplies...it was all welcomed and appreciated.

 After everyone left with their painted treasure chest and goodie bag (a pencil bag with bookmark, stickers, pencil, eraser and sharpener), the girls played with the new toys some and we relaxed and calmed down from the excitement of the day.  Just before bedtime, we headed outside to release most of the balloons from the party.  What a fun way to end the day!

Welcome to being 6 Lily!