Life as a Leach

We had 4 crafts the kids could do to go with our four seasons theme. pumpkin playdough (fall) and they each got their own little pumpkin ball to take home Planting flowers (spring) Bubbles (summer) and painting ornaments (winter) We also had a moon bounce, just because it's fun and it lets them get some energy out! The crafts seemed to be a hit and kept the kiddos busy!  :) This little one was just completely worn out!

As you well know, "We Choose Joy" is sort of a family slogan for us.  It's been something we've been striving to do long before Abby was born, and it's a continual choice.  Some days are easier than others! Since this phrase is so important to our family, it was only natural that we wear tshirts saying it to Abby's birthday party! Abby and Caleb's were special orders from a store called no other than We Choose Joy!   I'm really pleased with how theirs turned out.  I just made Matt and mine on Vista Print.  Nothing fancy, but the message was there!

My crazy-talented sister-in-law made Abby a beautiful sweater for her birthday.  It made for the perfect addition to her dress on a chilly day!  I should probably also mention that she originally learned to knit from a YouTube video.  I should probably also mention that I can barely sew a button on and my sister did my cross stitch project in middle school home economics because the airplane I did looked like a whale.  Good thing Abby has Aunt S to make beautiful things like this for her! Thanks so much, Aunt S!  It's beautiful, soft, warm, AND purple!!

She stared at it for a minute or two... But then she got the hang of it! She managed to successfully get cake everywhere:  in her hair, on her pants, in her ear...

What a difference a year makes...

I'm planning to drag the birthday posts out for as loooong as possible, if you haven't noticed!  :) We asked Caleb's girlfriend, Heather, :) to take pictures at Abby's party.  I didn't want to stress myself out taking pictures (or worse, NOT take pictures!), and I don't like asking party-goers to take them when they're there to have fun too.  We think she did a fabulous job and got the pictures back in just a week!  I hear she's available... :)  Heather took a lot of pictures of the treats we had, so I figured I'd share them with you!  My awesome sister made the cupcakes using a Georgetown Cupcake icing recipe.  She even learned how to put a chocolate filling inside to make them extra fancy!  These were a true "labor of love."  Thank you for all of your hard work, Amy!! Abby can't eat cake, but she can eat frosting.  Solution:  a cake made entirely of icing!  Sammi, who has made cakes for us in the past, made this beau...

Fighting... Rolling... Jumping... Bouncing... And taking pictures!!

On Abby's birthday, the four of us went to our favorite pumpkin patch (well, it's a little bit pumpkin patch, but more fall festival) and celebrated the day doing something fun.  I can honestly say that we all had fun, because Abby is to a place in her development where she can enjoy some of the activities as well. They started out by acting silly in the picture cut-outs.  This is my favorite one.  I love her face! We then took a barrel ride through the pumpkin patch, which ended up being a whole lot bumpier than I had thought it would be.  I had to hold on really tight! Caleb went through the hay bale corn maze. He also navigated his way through the big maze, without any help from us or the map!   It was pretty amazing.  I'm glad he got his daddy's sense of direction. Abby L-O-V-E-D the hay pit, so be on the look out for many more pictures of that! There were too many wild kids to put Abby in the corn pit, but I gave her some corn to play wi...