Another reason why we love our new neighborhood...

Just outside our neighborhood, there is a little farm with horses, donkeys, cows, sheep and llamas.  So one day while Daddy and MomMom were inside painting,we ventured on a walk to take a closer look at all of these animals that we pass almost on a daily basis.  The kids were fascinated! It's like a zoo right outside our door!

We love free entertainment!

Little Bakers

I had been itching to bake in our new kitchen for weeks, so I found the easiest, least-time consuming recipe I could make with stuff I already had in the house....pumpkin muffins! 

I NEVER let the kids eat any batter that has eggs in it (although I sneak some licks when they are not looking). But this recipe had no eggs in it, so the batter was fair game.  This was the result....

 Seriously...look at these faces! It was as if this was the best thing they have ever eaten.  I think they were just in shock that they were allowed to eat it!

Pure heaven!

Leaves are Falling!

We didn't think we would have any leaves to jump in this fall, but boy were we wrong!  All of a sudden Friday night's wind brought them all down into our yard (although not nearly as many as our old house used to have!) Saturday morning was quite warm, so had a lot of fun "raking" them up.  

 Action shots...

 (you may notice that the kids used their shovels to rake since we only have one rake!)

 Avery tried to sneak a kiss, but Gray was not having it.

Happy Fall!  

Baby Ethan has arrived!

We have been waiting a long time for our best friends, Ryan and Ashley, to have a baby (like way longer than just 9 months!)  But last Monday was the day (after being well overdue!).....

Ethan finally arrived and we could NOT wait to get our hands on this little cutie! 

 Grayson literally wanted to grab him from me....

 We can't wait to show this to them when they are older....

like when they are getting in trouble together and sneaking beers in the basement.  

We can just see it now...they are going to be trouble just like their daddies were in high school!

 Time for another one daddy? 

 He is just the picture of perfection...and a spitting image of his Mommy.

Ethan has been the topic of conversation for the past few weeks in our house. Avery asked if Ethan was going to be her new cousin.  We said "sure." To which she replied..."I'm so happy he is part of our family now!" We couldn't agree more! Congrats to Ryan and Ashley!!! We can't wait for all the fun times ahead! 

Halloween: Part Three

We took a break on Saturday, but then Sunday was another big day. Our realtor, Therese, organized a 5K and kids race to benefit the Red Cross. So, of course, we participated! I scrounged up some pirate gear of my own so I could fit in with the kids. 

I love this pic of Grayson with his hand on his heart during the pre-race National Anthem.

As you know, we like to encourage the kids to participate in these races. This was the longest one yet... 1/2 mile!  Avery ran the whole thing with lots of encouragement from Therese, who ran it with her!

 Grayson ,on the other hand, made it about half way before I had to pick him up! We came in dead last, but we finished!

Yup, that's a peep you see with us. Leslie had the best costume! 

 The kids did some more exercising while the adults ran the 5K....

Grayson, as usual, was hesitant and just looked on.

 I had a rough time running the 5K that morning. Leslie, who just kicked butt in the NYC Marathon this weekend, stayed back with me at my pace and cheered me on. Funny thing is that I won 3rd place in our age group.  Totally should have been Leslie since we ran it together and crossed at the same time!  Leslie, if you are reading this, I owe you a 30 minute massage!

Later, Grayson along with Leslie, won some treats at the cake walk! My caloric burn was quickly replaced by the delicious chocolate cannolis we got to take home with us. 

Good thing, I also won the raffle prize of a 1 hour personal training session. 

What a lucky day we had!

Shortly after that, we headed downtown to Bethlehem's annual Halloween Parade. It was chilly, but a very nice afternoon for a parade. 

Being silly while waiting for the parade to start.

 Watching the band of the high school that she will be going to in a few years (which is the rival of the high school that Mommy and Daddy went to!)

Gray waving to fire trucks.

We were all having a good time, when all of a sudden....

this creepy couple came up behind us!  We are pretty sure they were professionals of some sort....or maybe real zombies. I'm not sure!

 Hannah was NOT amused!

 What a fun few days we had! Hope you all had a Happy Halloween as well!

Halloween: Part two

Right after Grayson's school day, we hopped in the car to head to one of our favorite activities of the Halloween season...BOO BASH!!! This is the awesome party that Adam's work throws for Mars  employees and their families.  There are some definite perks that come from a Daddy who works for a candy company!  Here are Jake and Izzy together for the first time....

See the resemblance now?

Ready to head in...

Caution: M&M crossing

 Yo Ho Ho!

 This year, Boo Bash was actually downscaled and held at the factory. Adam was a little disappointed in it, but the rest of us thought it was amazing! These are just some of the MANY photos I took in front of M&M paraphernalia. They are all over the place there...So colorful and happy! Also, it smells amazing there!

 All of the employees put in so much thought, time and creativity to make a "theme" for their area. Snow White was obviously Avery's favorite...

Here is Izzy walking the plank..

and Jake shooting hoops...

 and then ending up in Wonderland!

 As if they didn't get enough candy, the afternoon ended with some ice cream treats, donuts and apple cider.  I have to say, they did not ask to eat a single piece of candy while we walked around for  almost two hours (even though we were surrounded by it at every turn)! So these ice cream treats were well-deserved I think.

 Finally....about 15 minutes from home, they fell asleep in the car. Are we bad parents because we let them continue to sleep there for a while after we got home? I feel like we can kind of get away with it now that we have an attached garage!  (Don't worry, I kept the car door and the door to the house opened and literally checked on them every 3 minutes).

 We only did this because we knew they would need their energy for trick or treating a few hours later (yes, we are the odd ball city that Trick or Treats on the Friday night before Halloween!)

 They were ready to go!

 First they practiced at our own house.  Thanks to Mom Mom, Bob Bob, and Nonna who handed out candy at our house so that we were able to go out Trick or Treating and meet some of our new neighbors!

 We met up with one neighbor and soon we had a whole group of us! 

 Gray did awesome! He tried so hard to keep up with the big kids, but finally gave in after over an hour of running.  The temptation of M&M's helped!

 As you can see, our neighborhood was definitely Mars dominant!  I was so hoping for some more PB cups or Reese's pieces since I am never allowed to buy them (Hershey products).  But we are happy that our new hood indirectly supports our family by buying Mars! 

So hard to believe that last year we trick-or-treated in this neighborhood, along with Madi, soon after we listed our old house for sale (since our old house didn't have sidewalks and wasn't really safe for trick or treating). I clearly remember "dreaming" that one day we could live in this neighborhood.  Still can't believe that this dream really came true. We LOVE our new house and neighborhood so much!!! I think we were just as happy, if not more so, than the kids were that night! We are blessed!!