Halloween

Halloween was a busy day for us. Meredith had her first awards assembly at school and was inducted into the "ABC club" for being able to recognize all upper and lower case alphabet letters. She was so proud (and so were we).

That evening we headed to church for the annual "Trunk or Treat" in the parking lot which was a lot of fun. After we left church I took the girls to a few houses on our street and as expected they got tons of candy. Probably most of you already know this but Alli absolutely loves candy and basically all things sweet so she was all about this trick or treating thing. Meredith likes it but isn't as focused on the candy. Here are some pictures of the girls. Meredith was Belle from Beauty & the Beast and Alli was Aurora from Sleeping Beauty. I have also included a picture of Meredith & Alli with their cousins Will & Zach. Will was James the Train from "Thomas the Train" and Zach was a baby scarecrow.

Alli turns 3 !!

The big day finally arrived and Alli turned 3 years old on October 20th. We had a great little party for her and the weather really cooperated. We rented a Princess bounce around for all of the little cousins to play in and they had a big time. The actual theme of the party was "Little People" and that's as in Fisher Price not as in vertically challenged human beings (I think that's politically correct). Anyway, Confectionately Yours did a great job on the cake and it was delicious as usual. We had all of the relatives over from Broken Arrow and this area and had hot dogs, potato salad, etc.

Alli had a tremendous time and loved all of her gifts and eventually I will get the thank you cards sent, I promise. I'm kind of afraid to say this but I really think I'm seeing the light at the end of the tunnel as she was a bit more challenging than my oldest as in more strong willed, stubborn, etc. She is getting easier to take out to eat and to the store which is so nice (however, I still prefer to go alone to the grocery store since it is twice as fast so don't get any ideas Michael). She is such a delight and just as you are about to pull your hair out with her she just knows when to come up and say "I love you mama" which goes a long way. I love you too Alli!

Here We Come Branson!

From October 12 through the 17th we were rebels and took Meredith out of school that Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday and spent time in Branson with Michael's parents, Tom & Patty along with his sister Becky and her husband Patrick along with their kids (our nephews) Will and Zach. We did have a great time. We figured Meredith could catch up on her kindergarten studies and we could also avoid the large crowds on vacation as well. Our trip consisted of visiting a Children's Science Museum in Springfield, hanging out at Branson Landing, going to Celebration City and seeing a show on the Branson Belle. All of the kids seem to have a great time too. Here are some pictures from the trip.