Birmingham Buddies

This will be the first of several posts from our wonderful trip to Birmingham over Thanksgiving weekend. The kids and I drove up to see my sisters, Brother in law and niece and nephew and a great time was had by all. We arrived on Thanksgiving Day at lunchtime, so decided to have our feast on Friday. Ethan and Jillian had so much fun hanging out with Brayden and Layna around the house. Later that day we went to see the new Muppets movie! The boys are definitely the rule followers and much more mellow than the crazy girls. So funny to see the similarities and some of the differences between them all! Stay tuned for Thanksgiving pics!

Fall Festivities

What a blast we have had enjoying some beautiful fall weather and activities with family and friends. Right before Halloween we took Mia to a pumpkin patch to pick out our pumpkin. Ethan kept sitting real still with all the pumpkins and wanting Mia to pick him up and then act surprised b/c he wasn't really a pumpkin. hilarious! Then daddy carved the pumpkin with us and Jillian stuck her hands right inside that gooey mess! Check out the pictures of the tie dyed halloween shirts they made with him, too! We had a wonderful day with Miss Jen and Alexa at a huge festival at Hudsander farms. We played games, ate yummy food, rode a train made of barrels, went on a hayride and Ethan, Alexa and I finished the 25 minute corn maze!

My Turkeys made Turkeys

In preparing for Thansgiving the kids did a great clay project at the local pottery place. They rolled each part separately, including the outline of their hand in clay and then attached! I love the way they painted with such nice fall colors. What an awesome keepsake to try to preserve and set out for years to come each holiday season as the kids grow!

Happy Halloween

Halloween was a real hoot this year with both kids fully embracing and enjoying with each other and their friends! Ethan was the friendliest pirate ever and Jillian the cutest Belle around. Thank you Mia for helping us get ready. She told Poppy that he had to be the beast as he carried her around the neighborhood! We now have more candy than we know what to do with as they dad a huge round with Dad too-but lucky for us they don't ask to eat a lot at a time. Friends below joined us for part of the walk-Alexa, Brayden, Hunter and Lilllian!

Back to School Pics

We just love Teddy Bear Portraits who comes into Creative World and takes family photos and individual photos (next month), and class photos (end of year) of the kids every year.
The kids did a great job and I just wanted to share their formal pics. If you want one, just let me know which pose and what size as we have several! Hard to believe next photos will be of Ethan in cap and gown graduating from VPK!

Trip to Maryland

My trip to Maryland was a quick one, but it was wonderful to catch up both sides of my family. My cousin Will and Jamie's rehearsal dinner and wedding were beautiful. My sister Nicole and I had not seen cousins Will and Andy in many years, so it was so nice to catch up and have a good time getting reaquainted and taking long overdue photos. My Mimi would have been so happy to be there and see everyone together and she is missed greatly. On Sunday we attended a surprise baby shower for my cousin's Steve and Katie-and it was a success! The photo below is some of the Roenick ladies together at the shower-and Uncle Jim scarily resembling the monkey balloon we decorated with! Getting home on September 11th was quite an adventure, but so worth it to be at these special events!