Girl's Night Out

Alyson, Kourtney and I went to see a high school performance of "The Wizard of Oz" Saturday night, and we had such a fun time. The acting was pretty good, especially for a high school production. All the key characters kept us amused!

Although the play was the reason we went out, what I liked best was just being with the girlies. I learn something new about them each time it's just the three of us or when I get a chance to be with them one on one.

Something I would like to share from Sautrday night happened as we were walking through the parking lot to the high school. The sun had gone down and the stars were just beginning to emerge when Alyson spotted the first star, and told Kourtney she could be the one to wish on it.

Kourtney's reply, "I don't care about that. I just care about the things I already have."

What a great response...If only I could think as she did at that moment, count my blessings and realize that I should really just appreciate what I already have.

Alyson shared her star, and Kourtney shared such a great lesson!

Keegan's First Steps!

Keegan took his first steps on Monday. We were ecstatic that our little expert crawler decided to finally give walking a try. Good job, Keegan. Keep it up!

Reading's for the Dogs For the 4th Time

Saturday marked the 4th time we have read to the dogs at the public library. The girls enjoy it every time, especially now that Alyson and Kourtney are both reading well. Ellary brought a book a long too and did her version of reading. It was difficult to pull her away from the dogs, so we stayed until the end when all the dogs had to say goodbye to us because they were leaving. What fun!

Our 2010 Halloween Trunk-or-Treat Party

We hosted a Halloween Trunk-or-Treat for our neighbors and friends the Saturday before Halloween. Wow, was it fun! We had a great turn out-our best guestimations was about 75 people-and because so many people put in helping hands by providing trunks and candy, it was a great success!

After trunk-or-treating was complete, we all went to our back yard and warmed up around the campfire and drank hot chocolate or apple cider and some people decorated their own cupcakes. Thank you, everyone, who made this activity such a fun time. We may even do it again next year!

Trunk-or-Treating

Fishing for candy

Warming up around the campfire

Keegan's 1st Birthday!

Keegan turned 1 year old on the 29th! What a big guy he has become. It's always an amazing time to reflect on how quickly a year goes by when your little baby hits that mile stone. It's like they were always with you, as if you can't imagine a life without them in yours. Still, you know just a little over a year ago that your child was still finding refuge in your belly and a few months before that still just a twinkle in your eye.

Keegan's first birthday started out with pictures in the morning. He sported a cute little suit that Nana and Papa bought him. We took it pretty easy until that night when Kris got home, then we had a BBQ. Keegan had some bits of hamburger and beans. Then we opened presents, and when I say "we", that is precisely what "we" did. You have to love first birthdays, how the birthday child is seldom interested in unwrapping anything, and of course, they can't read so the on-lookers become involved and do all of that.

Alyson read a card she made to Keegan, then helped him unwrap his first "Hot Wheels" car. He loves it, as you can tell. It's a toy he gets to play with when we are watching him.


Then Kourtney presented Keegan with her card. Notice the picture she drew of her and Keegan. He is nearly as big as her. It was a sweet reminder that some day he really will be bigger than her. Kourtney also bought him a Little Einstein Book. Keegan got a new car seat from Kris and I (see the first picture in this post). Whoo-Hoo! He can sit facing the front now!

This is the cake I made for Keegan. I always make our kids' first cakes. I began to ice the cake with yard line numbers and switched the "50" to "29" in honor of the day he was born. Keegan's portion of the cake was the football (see below).

At first Keegan stuck his finger in it and took a lick.

Then he did it again.

And then Keegan dug in!

And dug in some more. It's pretty safe to say that Keegan loves himself some cake!

Happy birthday little guy! Your family loves you so much. You make us so happy when you flash your big smile and exude your cheerful disposition. We are very blessed to have you in our family. We are so grateful for you!

Halloween 2010 Prelims

Here is our 2010 Halloween ensemble. Alyson, our witch, vampire wannabe; Kourtney our turtle, which is also her favorite animal; Ellary, our little fairy who lost her wings five minutes into the night and; Keegan, our little sock monkey who amazingly enough kept his hat on.

We began a week long celebration by going to Lansing Washington Square on Wednesday. There were a lot of sweet treats, slime making, a hay maze and an opossum to pet. We had such a fun time.

The girls had a great time sporting their costumes and playing with their friends at their school parties Thursday. Ironically, Kourtney was a turtle and so was her teacher...and Alyson was a witch and so was HER teacher. Pretty neat!