Halloweeeeeeen - the happiest time of year!

I LOOOOOOVE Halloween! This year was especially fun since Nathan actually "got" it. Brian came home early from work and we carved our pumpkins (yeah, we were a little late on that, but we got them buy one, get one free for our procrastination!). We had a variety of costumes for the kids this year (especially Vivian) and we kept swapping them out. 

It was a little rainy and VERY cold so we just went to the few houses nearest us (the neighbors we know best). After about two houses Nathan was on a roll. "Go to 'nother house, Mama." He was hysterically shy given his enthusiasm in between houses. We would get to the door where he would ring the bell or knock, the door would open and he would stare (once again, these are people he knows). When prompted he would say a quiet "trick or treat" and "thank you," The door would close, and then he would grin and proclaim, "go to 'nother house, Mama!" The draw of getting candy for free was STRONG. His haul was pretty paltry, but man did he love it. We even let him eat some of it. Lucky monkey.

Vanessa Visited!

A dear friend and former co-worker (and loyal blog reader) visited in mid-October. We had a wonderful time showing her the best that Michigan has to offer in the fall by taking her apple picking and feeding her donuts. She was so great with the kids and they both adored her. I can't say how grateful I am that we have friends that are willing to come see us in all our kid chaos and act like it's a good time. Of course, my camera ran out of battery about 15 minutes into apple picking. This is a SHAME. The rest were taken with Brian's phone. She was awesome with the kids and had Nathan won over in record time.

Wednesday Nights

We have really gotten into a groove with Wednesday night dinners. People descend on our house (I mean that in the best sense of the word), we feed them lots of sub-par food, kids play, adults talk, and we all have a fabulous time! It's a toss up for my favorite part between watching the kids all play together and interact in such a familiar way and getting to see, hug, and getting to talk with some of my favorite adults all on the same day.

Leah is incredibly sweet with both of my kids, but is especially attentive to Vivian. Zach basically walks on water, according to Nathan, who frequently asks what I think Zach is doing while we're doing our bedtime routine. Liz shows up at my door almost always bearing some amazing kid gear or clothing - a Joovy Caboose stroller last week - whoop! So yeah, this is really working out for me. I don't do a great job of getting photos because I'm usually wrangling children or cooking dinner, which is a sadness since there is so much cute happening.