Another birthday message...

Happy Birthdays Grandma & (not really a baby anymore) Jack!!

Happy Birthday Uncle Gregg!!!!

Take One:


Take Two:


Take Three:

Okay...so I've learned a couple things filming these videos...First, Ava & Sofia really like to sing in front of the camera & then see what they look like! Second, and perhaps most important, it's really important not to be a perfectionist when you've got two crazy & fun 5 year olds...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY UNCLE GREGG!!

Halloween, leaves & a snake...yes, a snake.

Let's see . . . lots of pictures to post for you all. First, I will show you what Ava & Sofia were for Halloween. In an attempt to save money this year, we pulled out their old costumes - the elephants, Uniqua & Pablo from the Backyardigans & puppy dogs...They both wanted to be puppy dogs & no one wanted to be the elephants b/c they had fat bellies!


(Bella was a wizard. This is the costume I made back in 2000 when I had a lot of time on my hands . . . She only wore it for about 5 minutes - long enough for the picture. She's elderly & shouldn't have to put up with costumes anymore - even though she is really cute.)

So, as you can see, the puppy costume is a tiny bit small. I did all I could to try to convince both of them not to be the puppy. Ava finally agreed not to be a puppy dog, but Sofia would not budge!! She insisted the costume was fine & fit perfectly!!

So here's a picture of how they looked from behind.
Perfect fit? At least they were both happy!

P.S. Weird house we went to. The sign tells the trick or treaters to go to the house in the back after they get candy "her"












They got a lot of candy & wanted to eat it all that night, but we put aside a few pieces for them to eat over the next few days & Chef G took the rest to work (okay, okay, not all of the rest - we put aside some for us, too) & luckily the girls haven't asked for more!

We did some raking last weekend, too, but that was a fruitless endeavor. It was a lot of fun for the girls . . .

. . . and it looked all nice & clean after we were done.

BUT - the big but came the next morning & we looked outside & saw the yard carpeted in leaves again!

We do love our old trees but boy do we have to rake a lot when autumn comes.

One other thing we did this October - We went to a local corn maze & got pretty lost! And the girls & I got to go on a hayride. The boys stayed back b/c it was too costly for all of us to get jostled around in a wagon!

Oh - and of course we all went to vote on November 4th. Sofia & Ava are celebrating our right to vote with white chocolate dinosaur pops.

Whoa! I almost forgot the best thing we found on our walk the other day -- NOT!! Thank heavens that Chef Daddy was with us because I would have freaked the frick out if I were alone with the girls & we saw this.

I did my best to restrain myself when they said they wanted to touch it. Then when they said they wanted to hold it I almost lost it. I did hold it together long enough to take this picture. They loved the picture & brought it to school to show their teacher & all their friends. I'm glad I have brave daughters!!