Festival of Trees

I took the kids to the Festival of Trees that benefits our local Children's Hospital. We enjoy going every year. But this year we decided to go to the Gingerbread Cookie Party that happened the Friday afternoon before the Festival opened to the public. It was a lot of fun and the lines for Santa, face painting, etc. weren't quite as long as they would have been during the weekend. This year I helped make ornaments for one of the trees at the Festival. I made quite a few puzzle piece ornaments for the Charity Chicks tree. It was a pretty cool tree and the theme was "We're dreaming of a green Christmas..." All of the ornaments were made of recycled or re-purposed materials. That's why the ornaments I made were made from old puzzle pieces.

Here are the girls in front of the Charity Chicks tree. Someone make the tree skirt and garland out of old men's neckties. It was so cool! There was also a handout under the tree with Charity Chicks website so people could find out how they could make some of the ornaments they saw on the tree. I'm sure you can't see it but my name is on Santa's list!

We got to see Mr. and Mrs. Claus! Megan would only take a picture if I sat there with her. I really don't enjoy having my picture taken. But you got to do what you got to do!

 Everett was totally infatuated with Mrs. Claus. I think she was sweet on him, too.

 There was an awesome face painter at the Festival. She did an awesome job. Megan wanted a Santa...

 And Makena wanted a gingerbread man....

Megan's 3rd Birthday Party

I've gotten behind on the blog again and now I'm going to attempt to catch up. I had gotten lost amongst the children, the toys and the laundry. But I'm still here and have have a lot to blog about! We had Megan's birthday party a couple of weeks ago. I think this was our 3rd time having a party at Salem Gymnastics. Megan's birthday cake was awesome! We asked our friend Lindsay to make one and she did an incredible job! Lindsay makes Food Network quality cakes. Megan still loves her Pooh Bear so that's the theme she chose for the cake. The bee hive cake defied gravity!  

 Megan had a great time at her party. She loves Salem Gym! 

 Nice hug from her sister...

 Sweet Everett was entertained by Grandparents at the party.

 Parachute time!

 Sweet girl.

 Singing happy birthday to herself. :)

Check out that static!

 Little possum.

Megan was so pooped at the end of the party she fell asleep before we even left the gym!

She opened a few presents when she woke up.

 She was excited about the gifts we gave her. A puppet show theatre with lots of puppets.

Megan's looking through the wrong way in the next picture but at least you can see what it is. It can be a puppet theatre, a school, a market or a doctor's office. The girls have really enjoyed playing with it.

Phil's brother, Lindsey and his family came to visit us the weekend we had Megan's party. Makena and Megan always have a great time playing with Colin and Will. Here they are playing putt-putt together. 

Phil and I got to get away and go to the NC State/Wake game in Raleigh a couple of weeks ago. I had someone take a picture just to document the adult time since it happens so infrequently. Phil's niece Mallorie is a junior at NC State. It also happened to be parent's weekend so Larry and Shannon (Phil's brother) were there, too. We had a great time at the tailgate and the game despite Wake's loss. We're hoping for a better season next year. :) Some of my local friends may be familiar with the local radio personality Jack Murphy from Murphy in the Morning on 107.5. Well Mallorie is good friends with his daughter who also goes to NC State and that's who we were tailgating with. He's always fun to listen to in the mornings, although not always kid friendly. I usually get to listen once I've dropped the kids off at preschool. He was quite the joker in person as well. It was nice to put a face to the voice. Since Phil and I anticipated Wake getting severely beaten we wore neutral colors. We were the only ones at the tailgate not decked out in State red.

Trunk-or-Treat & Trick-or-Treat

Our preschool had a Trunk-or-Treat a couple of days before Halloween. The kids got to get candy and run around and play in their costumes. A lot of our playgroup friends were there and we tried to get a group picture. Our group has multiplied quite a bit and it has become a challenge to get a good picture of all of them. From L-R: Carly, Joiner & Bennett, Addison, Makena, Everett & Megan, Barrett, Ellison & Hudson. Little Ethan was there too but missed out on the picture!

 Sweet baby boys!

Makena and Megan were super excited to go trick-or-treating. They loved their costumes and have gotten to wear them quite a bit this year. Here they are with Everett before heading out to get their loot. Phil and I loved Everett as an astronaut!

 Sweet little Pooh Bear!

 Trick-or-Treat!

 Here is Makena saying Boo! with our jack-o-lantern.

We left our candy bowl out on the porch while we were out trick-or-treating. The girls were a little disappointed because when we came home we only had one group of trick-or-treaters. They were really looking forward to giving out candy, as well.

 But that's okay! They still had a Happy Halloween!