For Addy's 8TH BIRTHDAY, she wanted a party with friends as her gift from us.

So we had her party at the Rec Plex pool where the kids take swimming lessons.

It's the biggest party we've had for any of the kids.

Addy had a blast and it was fun to see her classmates have fun together outside of school.

The cake was a Littlest Pet Shop cupcake cake from Walmart.

Most of the gifts she got were Littlest Pet Shop. Aaron helped open at least one gift.

Addy's class performed the Christmas story as a play. She was an angel.

 

At school the kids are not even supposed to talk about Santa Claus so the real meaning of Christmas doesn't get lost. Love it!

Here are the kids dressed up for the elementary Christmas concert. Jackson got to wear a tie for the first time.

This is the only decent picture of the evening. It's Addy's entire 2nd grade class.

Happy Thanksgiving!

We spent Thanksgiving day at Grandma Neubauer's house this year.

I am very thankful for these 4 little people.

After eating a delicious meal, thanks Joyce, we took a fun nature walk in the woods to the creek.

The boys collected empty clam shells.

I had to carry the baby for most of the hike. Afterwards, we ate pie and watched the Thanksgiving Day parade on TV while the big kids played games with Grandma & Josh.

We also were able to take a family picture for our annual Christmas card but this one is NOT it.

Fall Happenings

Last month Jackson's kindergarten class went on their 1st field trip to Green Meadows Farm. Here's his class.

 

This farm is my favorite place to go in the fall. You can pet and pick up so many different animals.

I've been enjoying my time at home with these two little boys.

Melt my heart, my favorite person to kiss and snuggle.

I cut his hair recently and wish I would have left it long like this.

My mom and brother came to visit last month. We had a great time, especially playing the game Sequence at night. We also got a sitter and went out to eat. And we took the big kids to see a movie.

On a random Sunday, our family made a trip to Milwaukee to visit the Milwaukee Public Museum.

On Nov.11th, we celebrated Aaron's 4th Birthday! This is a classic picture of these two whenever it's one or the other's birthday. They both enjoy eachother's gifts.

Aaron got a bunch of star wars action figures this year.

He was very excited about his gifts.

Grandma Neubauer made another famous ice cream cake. Our neighbors came over for singing and cake. Then Josh and I took Aaron and Addy to Chuck E Cheese to play.

As an early Christmas gift, Grandma and Grandpa Neville gave us a vacation to stay the weekend in Indianapolis. We spent most of the day Saturday at the best Children's Museum I've ever been to. Here's my dad with Benny.

The kids had a blast! In this pictures they are putting together a statue puzzle. Addy looks so grown up.

I asked the kids what their favorite part of our trip was they all said swimming in the hotel pool.

Swimming lessons are paying off. Jackson can float on his back alone and swim pretty good. And all the kids are enjoying water more.

Sunday we met my brother and sister at the zoo. It was awesome weather and great to spend time with family.

I loved this zoo because you could get so close to all the animals. This cheedah made me scream when it took a swipe at Benny.

We went to our first dolphin show. After the zoo, we met my mom and stepdad for lunch and birthday shopping for Addy.

Such a fun weekend. Thanks so much Granmda & Grandpa Neville for a very memoriable Christmas gift!

Fall...the Best Season of All

Addy's 1st day of 2nd grade school picture. It's slightly stretched out since I took a picture of a picture. She's doing awesome.

Jackson's 1st day of kindergarten school picture. He loves school and has made some friends. A huge answer to my prayers! And his class is only 15 kids this year.

Since Addy and Jackson are in school all day, I get to hang out with these two sweeties!

The kids are all taking swim lessons for the 1st time! I know, I'm an irresponsible parent. Their classes are at the same time, and in the same pool, on Saturdays at the Rec Plex.

Addy and Jack are in the same class. And Aaron only has 3 people in his. I got choked up watching them all the other day. I felt so grateful to have so many adorable people to love, including Josh!

Jackson lost his 2 front bottom teeth. Addy pulled out the 1st and I pulled the 2nd. The dentist in our family didn't want to hurt him.

I got Benny to pose for 2 seconds with a pumpkin. Everyone else was doing it! I took him and Aaron to Royal Oaks orchard with some friends.

I couldn't get Benny to leave the animal barn. He's LOVES animals.

Happy to have at least one girl in our family so I can do this to her nails. She loved all the comments from friends at school.

I got to go on Addy's 1st field trip this year to the Apple Holler.

Benny's had a rough month! His crash running down the driveway was the worst.

This baby wishes he was a big kid. He's the only one of the kids that wants to ride a bike.

I LOVE this picture! The boys were accidentally dressed alike so I took their picture. Benny is 'kissing' Jackson. He makes kiss lips and the sound perfectly.

Exciting news!!! We said good bye to our crib after 8 years and 4 babies. Addy moved at 18 months, Jack at 21, Aaron at 24, and Benny at 20. I prefer moving them before they can open doors or get too attached to the crib.

Here's Benny's new bed. We took down the crib and set up his bed. He was so surprised when we showed him. He had the biggest wide mouth smile ever! His joy brought actual tears to my eyes. (My camera battery was dead.)

We also got rid of the rocking chair in his room. I was really excited to get rid of it as it reminded my of hours of nursing sleepy babies in the middle of the night.

Thank you Grandma and Grandpa Neville for the adorable PJs sent as a Halloween treat.

Benny in his new bed saying 'cheese' for the camera (one of the few words he can say).