Pre Halloween Post

I just had to post a few of these from the first snow. I can't remember the date, but it was a week or two before Halloween and we woke up to a little surprise. The girls were so excited they had to go right out and play.

 They didn't last long, but that's ok.

 Now on to the Halloween festivities. These were actually, pre-Halloween. Tayler (my sis in law) decided we needed to have a family Halloween party. Our Rylee had a cough and we didn't want to bring her to my sis in law's house to be around her new baby. And seeing as we do a family costume, and we didn't want to do it without Rylee we had to come up with something quick. So nerds it was.

 Reese was so funny, because I don't think she quite got why we were dressed like that. She could tell it was funny, but she didn't know why. She was cute.

Here's a little something I whipped up for the party. Moist Lemon cake, with a fresh raspberry and lemon buttercream. Most importantly it was frankenstein. 

 Everyone dressed up, and they had some games for the kids, complete with prizes, the kids loved it.

 And a party is not complete without a makeshift, "photo booth"

 The next night was pumpkin carving time. We had Jack o' Lantern shaped pizza.

 Jeremy's family is really good at carving pumpkins, even the little girls used patterns so everyone's pumpkins looked great. I didn't get any great shots of them though, I am sad to say. But they were really good. Here's the girls with Jeremy.

 Here's Rylee's effort on her pumpkin, she pulled the pieces out after I cut them.

 I love carving pumpkins, it was fun especially now that the girls are getting older.

 Had to get a shot of them in their matching skeleton jammies. These are actually from last year, and I'm surprised Reese's still fit. Although I am kind of pushing it, they worked for that day enough I think. On a side note, my girls are so hard to get them both to look at the camera and smile. I think I took 20 pics of this same pose.

 Halloween morning, we woke up early (for the girls, not for normal people.) and headed to the school, for Reese's Halloween parad. We didn't want to have them wear their actual costumes, So I let them choose anything else that we had. Reese was a fairy, and Rylee was a cupcake. (I made that a couple of years ago for Reese.)

 It was very surreal to me, to be sitting at a school waiting for my child to walk through with all the other big kids. Plus there was so many people there I couldn't believe it. The whole thing made me feel very old.

 This is her with her class, and her teacher, Mrs. Judkins.

Well that finishes off the pre Halloween stuff. And then I will finish off with another post of our actual Halloween costumes.

Zoo Day!

This year for UEA my parents took us all to Park City. So we started off the day at the zoo. (Warning, there are a lot of pics, I'll try to keep my commentary short :)

 Reese, my mom (aka Yaya), Rylee, and of course, the elephants.

 Classic measure up the the monkey pic. We have one of these for every year we have been alive, of each of me and my brothers and sisters.

 Doesn't work as good with 12 people covering the monkeys, but oh well you get the point.

 Just a cute one of Reese and mom.

 The polar bear was so fun, he would go back, and then swim under the water, to pop up right where Reese and my niece were. It was fun.

 Look at that pretty little face. This bird was cracking me up it let them get so close to it.

 And then those kids behind Rylee actually touched it and it didn't care. This pic is like so many others we have. She says cheeeesee but doesn't look at me, ugh frustrating.

 Can you see the huge crocodile in the back, Reese is pretending to be scared.

 At the end of the night Jeremy got them in bed and put on a show, it didn't last long. Especially for Rylee, she was out pretty quick. I think they loved sharing a bed. This was Rylee's first time in a big girl bed. We had a great weekend!

FireStation Day

As you might remember, Rylee is really into firetrucks for some reason. So when we heard about a night when people were aloud to go to the firestation, and  do all kinds of different things, we knew we had to go.

 Notice Rylee is not in this picture with the clown, she was way scared of them all. I think it's funny that she is scared of clowns, considering that she is 2 and has no reason to be scared of clowns.

 We got to actually ride in the fire truck, which was definitely a high light, of Rylee's, well life. Also Reese got to sit in the front and turn on the siren, which she thought was way cool.

 One thing that was really cool is they let the kids hold a fire hose and spray the water. I only have it on video and not a picture.

 Rylee had to wear her fire chief hat, and it has a siren on it that you can turn on, I think we were driving everyone nuts, but she loved it.

 They also had an ambulance and a helicopter, that the kids got to walk through and sit in. All in all it was such a fun night. The girls had so much fun, I hope they do it again next year.

Fall Drive

A couple of weeks ago we took a nice drive to look at the leaves. Jeremy took these pictures, and I have to say, these don't do it justice. The sun had just disappeared, and the spot we stopped didn't have as many leaves as other spots. But it was gorgeous.

 This was out first outing for quite awhile as a family, because Jeremy has had strep, tonsillitis, then surgery to have his tonsils and adenoids removed, and then pneumonia.  He was just recovered enough we thought to take a relaxing drive. It was great. We did step out for a few minutes, to let the girls stretch their legs and throw some rocks in the water.

 My Reese is getting so old, she is loving going to school. And so far she is doing great, her reading is way above average, and I'm so proud of her.

 Rylee is so sweet and funny, we just lover her so much. She still misses Reese every time she goes to school.

Reese's first day of Kindergarten!!

It's official I have a big school- aged child! I can't believe she is that big. 

 Here she is in front of the doors at school.

 Of course Reese had to wear pink, that is her fav color. And she basically doesn't wear pants ever anymore, it always has to be a dress or skirt.

 Hanging up her backpack,

 Here she is at her desk. Sitting right next to her is my friend's cute little boy, Bowen.

 So who was the most sad about Reese going to school? Rylee. Rylee said, "mom I'm sad about Reese. Can we go feed the ducks? It will make me more happier." So of course I took her.

 Although now everyday since Rylee wants to feed the ducks after we drop Reese off, and I have to tell her we can't do it every day. Rylee just started crying, in the middle of the classroom. "Reese, don't go!" Reese was so cute, and gave Rylee a big hug, patted her back and said, "It's ok Rylee, I will be back soon, don't be sad." It was so sweet.

Since then she has done better, but still asks to see the ducks, and still says she missed Reese. I'm so proud of Reese, she is such a big girl!