Halloween

Halloween was a whole weekend of festivities this year. The night before, we went out in downtown Winter Haven with some friends for Goul's Night Out. Avery dressed as a black cat and Paige was a bunny ballerina. We had a great time!

Then on Halloween night we went trick or treating with some friends in their neighborhood. Our neighborhood still lacks houses so it wasn't much of an option for us. Avery wanted to wear her Thumbalina costume from last year and Paige wanted to wear Avery's dance costume from her recital last year. No need to buy new ones when we have so much to choose from already! This was their first time going door to door trick or treating. (Actually my first time too!) Super fun!

Enjoying a little bit of the loot once we got home. :)

Paige turns 3!!

Paige insisted on having her birthday party this year at Chuck E Cheese. I will admit that I wasn't thrilled about the idea at first but it ended up being a great party and quite possibly one of my favorites so far! I can't believe my baby is three years old!! She needs to stop this growing up thing. I can really say that I no longer have a baby - just a beautiful little girl who amazes me more and more every day. LOVE HER!!

Daddy got to go in the ticket blaster with her. Paige didn't care for it too much. She kept brushing the tickets off while Adam was trying to grab them!

Watching the birthday song and dance with Chuck E and the party hosts. I have to admit I sang along - the song is the same one from when I worked at Chuck E Cheese over ten years ago!

Camping

My family has had this green Girl Scout tent for as long as I can remember. We used to camp in it a lot until one fateful weekend of all of us kids stuck in a tent due to rain. After that, it only made appearances in our backyard each summer. Someone had a great idea to put the tent up and allow all of the kids to sleep in it for a couple nights. I was pretty skeptical that my girls would last all night but was pleasantly surprised to find that Avery didn't come into the house once. Paige chickened out the first night but made it through the second night in the tent. Thanks Nathan and Jonathan for supervising this camp out.

Of course it's not camping unless you make smores!

A trip to Buffalo

My parents both grew up in Buffalo and a lot of our family still lives there. Whenever I get a chance to go home to Pittsuburgh I always try to make a trip to Buffalo to visit the rest of the family. My grandmother (my dad's mom) is now in a nursing home because she has Alzheimers. Her physical health is still very good but she is unable to live on her own. It was very important to me that Avery and Paige visit her and have some knowledge of who she is. We were so thankful to have a great visit with her this day.

My cousin Corey and the newest member of our extended family, Layla.

Almost all of the cousins' kids (minus Andrew, Alyssa & Alaina) playing at my Uncle Den and Aunt Lisa's house. It's crazy that we all have produced this many kids in what seems like such a short time. It was really fun to hang out with everyone and it feels like a whole new cycle in the life of our family.

My adorable newphew, Davon. Just wanted to throw that one in!

Beautiful day!

Still trying to get back on track....

Bear with me as I continue to try to get caught up. I am only four months behind. :) While in Pittsburgh this summer we made a trip to Kennywood Park. So many memories there. It's a great family amusement park near my parents that we went to every year growing up. Each school district had one day off school in the spring as their "Kennywood Day." What a fun day we had!

Paige wasn't quite sure what to make of the lion water foundtain.

Pittsburgh

At the end of July the girls and I took a road trip to visit my family in Pittsburgh. We had an amazing time seeing ALL of my family. The weather was perfect, the house was full of activity and the food was delicious!
Avery and Paige loved sleeping in Anastasia's bed.

Avery and Anastasia being rock stars like Hannah Montana.

Me and all of my siblings. It is very rare to have all of us together at the same time.

Every one of the grandkids/cousins. So nice to have them all play together. Grandma and Grandpa were in heaven!

YIKES!!

Wow! I knew I was slacking on the blog but I didn't realize it had been so long since I last posted. I guess like most things, the longer you refrain from something the harder it is to get back into it. Looks like I have alot of catching up to do so get ready. :)