Halloween 2013

Another Halloween is in the books. 

This year we had Waldo

(it should be noted that Waldo deserted her family and was with her friends the whole 

night. I was fine with it. or not.)

A pretty witch.

An adorable Rapunzel!

(complete with frying pan)

And fancy hair.

A zombie Tony Hawk

(???)

And the most precious little colorful witch you've ever seen. 

The girls and I set to work on hair and makeup pretty early! 

It was so fun. 

I always thought I'd have a houseful of boys...

We hit some of our favorite spots and stayed out as long as we could! 

It was really fun to run into so many friends. 

Cant believe we only got pictures with the Prices! 

We continued our tradition of saving Grandma's house for last. 

We met up with the cousins and decorated sugar cookies and consumed lots of junk. 

I had to include this picture. 

Alexa was telling Jordan something, going a mile a minute. 

She cracks me up. 

Cute explosion

Avery is cute.

Avery with a bow and a kitty...forget about it.

Nite Eyes

We attended Nite Eyes at the zoo in Des Moines on Friday.

The kids loved it and it was a beautiful nite.

They were all posing so nicely for this picture until Torrance spotted Merida from BRAVE coming up behind us. You can see her pointing. We gave up on the photo and went to greet Merida!

One smart kitty

Contessa read some books to kitty today and he went right to sleep.

Torrance read him the same books awhile later and he was captivated!! 

Family Fun!!

We're having a fun 24 hours with Amy, Christina, Ryan and Phil (Christina's boyfriend.

Obviously my kids do not like Phil.

'My Hilde-card'

At Tori's birthday party on Friday she received a card from her 

great-grandma Hildegarde. 

She has carried it around with her ever since...she calls it her

'Hilde-card'

It might be the cutest thing ever. 

Happy 3rd Birthday, Torrance Reagan!!!

Tori we woke up to the greatest surprise this morning!!!

Snow outside!

What a special start to your birthday! 

Three. 

I could go on and on and tell you how sad I am about that number. 

About how it means my favorite age two is gone. 

About how you're no longer a baby. 

About how much I'll miss that phase. 

But I wont! 

Today is your day!

And you are three. 

(doesnt kitty look THRILLED!)

Torrance Reagan you are such a sweet, giggly, hilarious, stubborn spot in our family. 

You tell us you want to be the baby. 

That you are not a big girl. 

It makes my heart smile. 

Although I know its not true. 

You keep up with your sisters and brother all day long. 

You are such the baby of the family. 

You get whatever you want, whenever you want it. 

You are a clown. 

We are forever laughing at some stunt you are pulling or some crazy thing you say. 

At three you love kitties and puppies, granola bars and orange juice. 

Lauren's ipad and Contessa's jewelry. 

You love the trampoline and we love watching your silly 'run' while on it. 

You love to sit at the table and 'do school' with us. 

You adore your daddy and ask multiple times per day when he is going to be home. 

You suck your thumb and pull out your hair.

Your favorite saying is, 'Mommy told me do it.'

Which translates into...'Mom said I could.'

Although I have rarely given you permission for whatever it is you are claiming I did! 

You have the most precious smile and one of my most favorite giggles. 

Torrance we love how you fit so perfectly into our family. 

You give me so many bright spots in my day. 

I love that you let me rock you at bedtime and that you love to curl up with your blankie with me. 

You are a snuggle bug! 

Honey, as you grow in this crazy family never forget how special and unique you are. 

God made you special and for a purpose. 

And I could not be more blessed than to have a front seat in watching how His plan for you unfolds. 

We love you with all our heart and are thankful each day for our Tori. 

Happy birthday sweet baby girl! 

Love, 

Mommy and Daddy 

Sunday

Today has been LAZY.
There's been a lot of this...

The kids made Shrinky Dinks. 

They thought that was super fun! 

Then they helped me with a project for co-op tomorrow. 

We collected leaves and pasted them to trees. 

Some of them had fun with this...some chose not to! 

Falstaff really wanted to help. 

He's such a good kitty, putting up with so many squeezes!

Their finished products were very fun. 

Tonight we'll be enjoying homemade soups and football snuggles. 

Ah, fall! 

Welcome Fastaff

Torrance got her first birthday present early. 

(Really it was a present for the whole family, or really for me!)

His name is Falstaff. 

He's about 3 months old. 

And we are in love. 

And by 'we' I do not include Jordan. 

:)

Torrance is crazy for him. 

Im not sure if Falstaff is crazy for her though! 

Here he is licking her face. 

So, so cute! 

He also likes to play games with us. 

Every house needs a kitty. 

Avery's turn

We're home! 

ah, that feels good to say!

After 17 days, the word HOME is a good one!

I have so many fun pictures and stories to share but for now the focus is the kids. 

When we arrived home we told each of the kids they could have a night on their own with
Jordan and I. They drew names from a hat to determine the order. 

Avery got the first spot. 

(She's lucky...she always wins at things that are pure luck!)

She chose to play a game of UNO. 

Then we snuggled up and watched a movie.  

Did I mention, its really good to be home?  

11 years, 335 days

11 years, 335 days

That is the amount of time that a baby has been sleeping in our crib. 

That's a really long time. 

In the past when we moved a toddler out of the crib it was only because we were 

bringing home a baby brother or sister. 

At one point in fact we actually required 2 cribs at once. 

But last night the count ended. 

No more.

This sweet 'almost 3 year old', who still sucks her thumb,

 moved into her big girl bed. 

She slept all night, only got up once because she could not find her pillow. 

Slept till 9 am. 

She was so so proud this morning. 

And I was proud and happy. 

And terribly terribly sad. 

This crib. 

My mom bought it second hand when we were expecting Lauren. 

Jordan's mom painted it with the stars and moons to go with our nursery theme. 

I've laid here and starred up like this at all hours of the night..begging a baby to fall asleep. 

I've crept beside to be sure a baby is still breathing...and to see if I can sense a fever. 

I've peered over the edge like this to stare at my sleeping babies, peek at them just waking up or to play peek a boo. 

Oy. 

This is a tough one. 

This phase is over. 

And I think its ok, that I am not really ok with it. 

No Go!

Tori saw my suitcase in my room after nap today. 

She was less than pleased, thinking I was packing it. 

She was so sad. 

I promised her Im going no where! 

After I calmed her down we had to pose for a picture with her opinion of my suitcase!

Here we come!

Get ready kids, we made it to Des Moines and we are coming home

Ponte Vecchio

Becky checking out the jewelry stores, years ago this bridge was lined with butchers who used the river for easy disposal of their waste.  Today it features high end jewelers.  

Finally...we made it

Landed 10 minutes early and we will be hurrying back to see the kids!

Foggy start to our day

Our flight in Florence took off one hour forty five minutes late.  Not good when you have one hour forty minutes between flights.  Luckily there was a contingent of fliers from Florence all going Zurich to Chicago so they held the plane for us.  Here's Becky playing angry birds as we wait for the updates on our flight out of Florence.  Can you imagine what would have been Becky's reaction if we were stuck in Zurich for the night?  

The Dome!

First night in Florence

Nothing like coming out of your restaurant to 8 cop cars and 14 policemen in the street.  Saved this one to share until grandma Cindy knew we were on our way home.  

Mountains in Switzerland

Goodbye to Europe, so glad to be in Chicago.  Next stop Des Moines... Getting closer

Selling purses

My favorite part of day(how sad since I'm in Florence) was watching the street sellers try to push their knock offs or maybe stolen purses?  Anyway, they would lay down a dirty drop cloth and nicely assemble the nine purses they were carrying.  For all of 30 seconds their purses would be displayed before one of them would notice the cops and they would quickly scoop up all their purses and move to a new spot.  Check out the lady cops who chased them off Ponte Vecchio for good.  Here's a couple purse sellers on the run.