Tree Farm

On a sunny late November morning, we traveled to a tiny nearby tree farm.  As usual, Jeremy was kind of reluctant to get a real tree, since it requires watering and drops needles.  Our wonderful experience this year may have helped to change his mind, though!  The tree farm was empty, so we had the entire place to ourselves.  We traveled through many rows of beautiful trees and were able to find an absolutely perfect tree, which only cost $25!  With some awesome little helpers, we were able to cut down the tree, transport it, and decorate it all in one day.  We love this tree and can't believe how much more water it is taking compared to our Menard's trees in previous years. :)  Jeremy might be coming around now!

Audrey took this picture.  I love it!

Birthday in Galena

Last weekend we went away to Galena, which gave us the perfect opportunity to spend time with family and get a jump start on Christmas shopping.  We coupled our weekend away with a birthday celebration for the girls (and Grandma!).  The girls were so excited to add a few decorations to the "vacation house" and eat cupcakes.  It makes their birthdays last for almost a month, which is a pretty sweet deal! :)  Here are some pictures of their "party"!

A party in pajamas is always a good thing!

Having the party in Galena meant that all cousins could attend!

Audrey's Interview

Here is Audrey's six-year-old interview, too...

Favorite Food:  Pickles
Foods I Don’t Like: Eggs
Favorite Thing to Learn: Math
Favorite Color:  Pink and Purple and Gold and Silver
Best Friend:   Lilly
Favorite Game to Play: Toilet Tag (a game in gym class)
Favorite Books to Read:  Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls
Favorite TV Show:  Sunny Day
Favorite Holiday:  My Birthday
Things I Do Well:  Listening (and then she laughed really hard about saying that because she knows it’s not always true)
Favorite Place to Go:  On Vacation
Favorite Thing to Do With Family:  Play outside with Dad
Favorite Thing about House:   Kate, Mom, Dad, Belle, Mila, and Charlie
Favorite Thing to do Outside:  Play with chalk
Favorite Chore:   Helping Dad wash his cars
Least Favorite Chore:   Picking up my room
Favorite Song:  “That Don’t Impress Me Much” (Shania Twain)
When I Grow Up I Want to Be a: Teacher
Place I Want to Visit:  Everywhere 
Favorite Part of Each Day: Being with Mom, Dad, Kate, Mila, Belle, and Charlie 
Favorite Drink:  Lemonade
Favorite Sport or Activity to Play:  Don’t Take Buster’s Bones (a board game in her kindergarten room)  
Something New I Want to Learn How to Do:  Drive a car
Best Part of Your Family:  Being with Mom, Dad, Kate, Mila, Belle, and Chuck

Happy 6th Birthday, Audrey!

Six years ago today, a little girl stubbornly entered the world, refusing to come out after too many hours of labor.  Little did we know, that stubborn baby would melt our hearts immediately and change our world completely.  Today Audrey turned six, and it is so hard to believe.  She has grown into a beautiful, kind-hearted, creative, intelligent, and sensitive little lady.  She is starting to read like crazy, has made new friends in kindergarten, and continues to grow in her confidence.  She still keeps us on our toes, but we wouldn't have it any other way.  We love you with all our hearts, big girl!  We know you've got awesome things ahead of you this year, and we will be here to support you through it all! :)

Audrey woke up with about 25 balloons in her room this morning, and she said, "I thought I was still dreaming!"

Play Date

A couple of weekends ago, we invited two sweet girls over to play.  Audrey met her friend in kindergarten this year, and luckily, her friend has a little sister who will turn four in December.  Kate had never met the little sister before the play date, but she didn't care at all!  The four girls had a fun afternoon together, playing dress-up, doing art projects, and decorating cupcakes.  It was nice to have a friend for each girl, so that no little sister felt left out.  We'll hope to have them over again soon!

Guess What Audrey Can Do?

We practiced hard on Sunday, and now Audrey can tie shoes!  Here is her how-to video...

We had to do a few takes of the video because one take involved gas being passed by the person tying shoes.  Once that happened, it took a looooong time to recover from the giggles.

Happy Halloween!

Another Halloween has wrapped up!  After a party at dance lessons, party at daycare, party at school, and actual trick-or-treating, our costumes were out and about quite a bit.  The girls had a fun night walking around town.  One of our favorite memories of the night was seeing brave little Kate clicking in her black high heels up to doors first because she was the leader of her more timid big sister.  Audrey warmed up (figuratively speaking) to the idea of trick-or-treating and was having more fun as we walked on.

Once we had gone about 45 minutes, the girls declared they had enough candy and were very cold!  Jeremy and I had enough of the cold, as well, so we all settled in for a jack-o-lantern pizza and a couple pieces of candy.  Now begins the fun of rationing the candy...

Happy Halloween from our beautiful girls!

Our beautiful Minnie Mouse, complete with those high heels.

Ariel decided that evening she should probably have had red hair.  Luckily we avoided a meltdown about that one!

Kate's Minnie Mouse pumpkin

Audrey's Elsa pumpkin, which she actually carved much of herself!