This week, I took Kelsie in to our favorite photo place for her 4 year old pictures. They had their Christmas decor up already so I also did our Christmas card pics, which I will not post so you'll just have to wait until you get your Christmas card! Mimi came with us to help out but it was still tough with 2 moving toddlers to get a "perfect" shot. Who needs perfect though, they all looked absolutely adorable in their coordinating outfits if I do say so myself! Kelsie did great for her pictures- lots of smiles.

Last weekend, Grannie and Granddad came down from Kentukcy for a visit and to help Brian with the electrical work in the basement where he is finishing off part of. We love having them come and Kelsie always gets so exited waiting for them to arrive. On the morning they left, I looked in the guest bedroom to find Granddad holding Cade and Kelsie and Peyton snuggled up in the bed with Grannie- it was priceless! We'll be heading up there in just over a week for Thanksgiving and I'll post pictures of that when we get back. With adults, kids and babies, there will be 15 of us there so there will be lots of fun to be had with all the cousins, grandparents and aunts and uncles!

Halloween and Kelsie's birthday

What a crazy weekend of parties and celebrations we have had! Needless to say, after all the treats, we need a serious sugar detox in this house! It started with Kelsie's Halloween party at school on thursday. They all wore their costumes for a little parade outside for the parents. Then they went back to the room for a party. Then of course we had Halloween on Friday. First I got the kids dressed and took them over to trick or treat at Mimi and Pop Pop's and Miss Sherrie's. Kelsie was a fancy cat and the babies were kittens. We were in Mimi's house and Kelsie took a piece of candy out of their trick or treat basket. I looked at her and said, "wow, you're only taking one, I'm surprised", and then I walked in to the family room. Well about 2 minutes later, Kelsie walked in with a bucket full of candy- guess I should have just kept my mouth shut! Our next stop was her friend Keith's house, where we had dinner with a few friends and then off to trick or treat. She had a great time with her friends and was thrilled with all the candy she got.

When Kelsie left her basket of candy unattended, Peyton and Cade decided they would check it out!!

On saturday morning we had a breakfast celebration for Daddy, Kelsie, Aunt Michelle and Uncle David's birthdays. Then of course on Sunday was her birthday. We started off the day with a birthday breakfast. Daddy made homemade waffles and let Kelsie have chocolate syrup and whipped cream on them-what a treat. She was so wound up all day waiting for her friends to come over for her party. She had decided on a princess/beauty day party. All her friends came dressed in their princess dresses and then they got their hair, nails and make up done. Then of course cake and ice cream and then some dancing to princess music. The girls were all so exited to get all beautiful and had a great time dancing together- they were so cute.

After the party, Mimi and Pop Pop came over for a family celebration. Kelsie got to pick her favorite dinner and birthday dessert...yes, more treats!! She was definately worn out at the end of the day. It's hard to believe she is already 4 years old. I don't know where the time has gone. When I went to bed Saturday night, I remember thinking about how I had gone to bed 4 years ago knowing that next time I went to sleep in our house, there would be a baby in a bassinet next to me.

Apple Orchards

Today we went to Hillcrest Apple Orchards- what a great place with lots of cute things for the kids to do. They have a general store where you can buy all the apples they grow as well as fresh hot apple cider donuts and apple fritters. Then you can pay a small admission to go in and do all the outdoor activities. We got there at lunch so we had some burgers from the grill they have outside. The burgers were pretty much terrible but the apple fritters well made up for it- they were absolutely delicious. Piping hot with icing drizzled all over them- yummy. I had part of one after lunch and then had to get another on the way out (which shouldn't be a surprise for those of you that know me well enough to know I have a HUGE sweet tooth). After lunch and dessert, and a quick picture on the John Deere (below), we headed down to the pig races. I had been inside the store getting the fritters when a lady walked to the middle of the store to announce it was time for the pig races. Well, she just happened to stop right next to me to yell it was time, so needless to say, I got an earful of "suuuuuueeeeeee......pig, pig, pig, pig"!!!

Kelsie on the John Deere.

The pig races were so funny to watch and hear them sqeal. For each race, the "Announcer" picked seven kids to go up on the platform and Kelsie got picked! Each pig was given a pig to cheer for that had a name and a color spray painted on their back. Kelsie is above in the dark green, second from the left. As he was talking to each kid before telling them which pig was theirs to cheer for, he asked each kid where they lived. Some said Florida, most said Georgia, but when it got to Kelsie and he asked "where do you live", she quickly answered, "in my house" and everyone laughed! Then, the pigs were off and everyone cheered.

Kelsie must have cheered the loudest because her pig won! And this rock candy lollipop was her prize for winning.



They had a cute little petting zoo where Kelsie got to hold a baby chick. She also fed the baby goats which was so funny to watch because every time Daddy put some food in Kelsie's hand, the goats would jump all over her and she'd try to run away from them. Of course she had food, so they'd chase her and she'd just laugh.





Next to the petting zoo there was a playground and this giant slide that she loved.

There was also a bull that the kids could sit on to get their picture taken. The man told them to put one arm up in the air so it looked like they were riding it.

Before getting on the tractor to tour the orchard, the kids could stop to milk Bessie the cow. She thought that was pretty cool. The next day when she told Mimi about it, she said the milk came from the cow's hiney. Guess I need to work on my animal anatomy lessons with her!!

All of us on the wagon ride thru the orchards.

Pumpkin Carving

A few nights ago we carved the pumpkin that we got at Burts. Kelsie had never carved one before so she had no idea what was going to be inside. She reached in and pulled out some seeds and pulp and thought it was cool at first. Then she decided it was too mushy for her and didn't want to touch it anymore!

She decided she wanted a spooky pumpkin face so daddy drew out a few options and she picked one for him to carve. She watched quite intently as he carved it but was most exited for him to hurry up and be done so she could take it out to the porch and put a candle in it.

Kelsie sitting outside with her Pumpkin.

This has nothing to do with Pumpkin carving but I had to include it. This is how I found my son one afternoon after nap time. I can imagine how easy it was for him to get off because getting a diaper on him straight and tight is always a challenge, must less getting him dressed after wrestling him to get on said diaper. He is such a mover and laying still to get a diaper change is definately bottom on his list of priorities!

The Princess show

Kelsie and her friends before the show.

Kelsie watching and loving it! What fun it was to see it from her eyes.

Kelsie dancing on stage with Belle- she was so intrigued by Belle.

Getting her picture taken with Belle after the show.

She was so exited that Belle sat down with her to have snack. I think the girl that was Belle knew it was Kelsie yelling at her and made a point to sit down with her- so sweet.

This is out of order, but I wanted to post it anyways even though we did it before the pumpkin patch! A couple of weeks ago, some of my girlfriends and I took our daughters to the Princess show at the local high school. Kelsie and her friends put on their princess costumes to go and were so exited. The dance club at the high school put on the show and it was just fantastic. They had about 8 songs that they did tap, ballet and Jazz too and each of the 8-10 high school girls was dressed as one of the Disney princesses. They even had 4 princes. It was so cute to watch the girls with their eyes glued to the stage as the princesses danced about. In between the dances, a couple of the princesses would sit on a bench on stage and talk to each other in front of the audience. At one point, Belle from Beauty and the Beast was one of the ones talking and everyone in the audience was silent...... except for Kelsie who screamed out "hi Bellle". It was priceless!! During the last song, all the little girls got to go up on stage and dance with the princesses- too cute! Then, the all got to have their pictures taken with the princesses. You could also pay a little extra to have a tea party on stage with the princesses after the show and that was so great- they had juice, cookies and brownies and Kelsie's favorite part was that Belle sat right next to her for "tea time". It was such a fun morning. The high schoolers were so talented and did a great job- they were all so sweet to the little girls. It was a great way to support the local high school and I hope they will continue to do it every year.

A Day at the Pumpkin Patch

Peyton wasn't sure what to think of the pumpkins where as Cade just stood against them banging on them with his hand!

Peyton was much more interested in the mulch!

My big girl.

The babies just loved the straw in the hay ride.

In this picture, Kelsie is watching the talking pumpkin display on the hay ride. She wasn't sure what to think of them.

My handsome little man.

Today a friend and I took the kids to Burt's pumpkin patch. We packed up the mini van with the 2 babies, 2 big kids, stroller, a picnic lunch and headed out right at the baby's morning nap time. The plan was fool proof- the big kids would quietly watch a movie so the babies could nap on the hour drive up and be fresh and rested once we got there. Well, you know how the saying goes- best laid plans....... The nap didn't last as long as it should have but Peyton and Cade ended up doing fantastic. If you've never been to Burt's, just imagine a sea of Pumpkins of every size- really neat. Keith and Kelsie were so exited to run amongst the very large pumpkins, stopping every now and then to let us take a few pictures. We got some cute ones, despite how difficult it is to get 2 babies and 2 big kids to all look at the camera at the same time, must less smile! After some pictures and running and laughing amongst the pumpkins, we went on the hay ride. The babies just sat in the pile of hay, enjoying playing with it as the big kids checked everything out along the ride, best of all, the singing pumpkins. Then we went and had our picnic lunch and of course finished the day with picking out a pumpkin to take home and carve and some home made goodies from the store. It was such a fun day with great friends. Here are a few pictures we took.