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!! 

Halloween: Part One

We are just getting off our candy high from Halloween festivities the past week. The kids had such a great time dressing up, getting treats, and pretending to be pirates! (Mommy and Daddy had a lot of fun too!) 

We kicked it off the Friday before Halloween with school dress up and parade day.  The kids go to the same pre-school, but on different days. Grayson goes to school on Fridays, so he got to dress up first.  

Unless you have a child under the age of about 5, you probably think he is just a pirate. But in fact, he is THE Jake...from Jake and the Neverland Pirates, a cartoon on Disney Junior that the kids adore!! 

Here's the handsome pirate...

 All of the classes fill up the gym, parade around and then sing the songs they have been practicing for the last month while parents and grandparents take snap pictures for about 10 minutes straight.

 I think the whole thing is a bit overwhelming for a two year old.  I think Gray did too, as he just stood there looking around and chewing on his sword. 

 I'm skipping ahead to the following Wednesday when Avery had her school parade. Avery dressed up as Izzy, the girl pirate on the same cartoon who is best friends with Jake. Avery wanted to be a bride since last Halloween and then changed her mind to Izzy last month. So we basically made Grayson be Jake because we thought they would look cute together.  

She was thrilled that it was her week to be line leader, so she got to lead her class into the gym. 

 She did a great job singing all of the songs.

Then, we had a photo shoot back at her classroom with all of the other four year olds and their wonderful teachers. Notice there are indeed two Izzys!  Apparently, other parents are just as lame as us and bought a cheap costume from Target. 

I guess things change once you are in 4 year old preschool. Avery is learning so much so far this year and is often teaching me things! For example, did you know fruit bats only eat fruit? I never even heard of such a bat! This was her fun fact for the week that she told everyone. 

Ready to Run

It was an exciting weekend for runners in Bethlehem. It was the 2nd annual Runner's World Half and Festival! A weekend that included a kid's race, 5K, 10K (Mommy participated in this one!), half marathon and even a dog race in our beautiful historic city!

So our little runner was at it again...

First she participated in a pre-race warm up/yoga session.

 While Grayson watched the kids in awe, 

 but would not join in. (He decided to skip a nap earlier in the day, so he was not the happiest boy).

 But Avery had a smile on her face the entire 1/4 mile!  

 She ran it in just over 3 minutes...I think she's getting faster!

 At the finish she told me she wanted to keep going... 

 until she saw the snack she got at the end.

 Post-race refuel!

You go, girl!

God Bless Giuliana

Last Sunday was a very special day.  Not only was it a perfectly gorgeous fall day, but also....

our niece, Giuliana Kathryn, was baptized!  

Even more exciting, I have the honor of being named her Godmother! 

 

Have you seen a more beautiful baby girl on her baptism day?!?

She was a perfect angel and slept through most of the baptism...

while Aunt RaRa entertained the rest of the cousins.

Giuliana and her Godparents

Giuliana, her Godparents and her wonderful Mommy and Daddy

Of course, the day was completed with a wonderful dinner and dessert at The Deremers.

May God Bless you always, Giuliana!!

We were thrilled to share in her most special day!

It's official!

Adam refused to let me post anything on Facebook or the blog until was official (since we thought we had sold and bought several other times before this)...but it's definitely official as I am typing this in the office of our new home! 

Many of you know that we got an offer (our 4th!) on our old home while we were on vacation at the end of summer, so we had 6 weeks to find a new one! As the weeks kept going by, we were slowing accepting the fact that we would not find (and move into) that "perfect" home. We planned on renting storage space and staying with Adam's family for however long it took.  

Meanwhile, we kept looking at houses and started to like one enough that we wanted to see it again before we made an offer. To us, it was a "good enough" house that we would learn to love.  For some reason, the owners of that house denied our showing request for a Friday night and said we couldn't see it until Sunday afternoon.  

It was DIVINE INTERVENTION!!!  Saturday morning, Adam sat down with his coffee and iPad to check his email. In it was an alert from Zillow that a house was just listed for sale in our top choice neighborhood AND in our price range.  We called our awesome realtor (Therese Kelley from Croslis Realty) right away and she got us in to see it a few hours later.  She came with the paper work and we literally had our offer in less than 2 hours later!  

That was only 4 weeks ago. Our mortgage consultant and his team were absolutely AMAZING!!! He made it possible for us to close on our new house the same day we closed on our old house with a total turnaround time of less than 3 weeks....a record for him! 

(I highly recommend Luke Pickel from Gateway Funding for your mortgage needs!)

It's been whirlwind the past few weeks....but here are some pics of what we've been doing!

Packing up our old home...

(the kids were a real big help with that!)

Leaving our mark there...

(we let the kids sign their names on the inside of an attic door).

 saying good bye to a very special place...

and saying good bye to the crib for Grayson!

Mommy was a mess that last night thinking about all of the wonderful memories we shared in that  home....we brought two little six pound babies home to this nursery, celebrated six holidays there, and threw six kids birthday parties there (4 for Avery, 2 for Gray). It was and always will be a very special home to us! I hope I took enough pictures for the kids to remember it! 

I get a little teary-eyed thinking about it, but then I look around me here and I get teary-eyed about how much I LOVE this house and all the wonderful memories we will create here too.  

The kids have been adjusting very well.  The first night was Gray's first night in his big boy bed that Avery handed down to him.  Adam and I were busy getting Avery ready and we thought he was playing in his room, only to find that he already tucked himself in...

and then slept 11 hours straight!  We were in shock!

Avery loves going up to her own room to play by herself when we get home...

Sometimes, she even lets Gray in her room.

Coloring at the kitchen table is a must!

Even an empty basement is tons of fun for all!

Guster is doing well too...here he is scoping out his new lookout! 

(We have since gotten blinds on the windows thankfully).

 We are still unpacking, but getting more done each day. The kids, again, are of no help. But they sure enjoy playing with the boxes and air bubbles.

But we take breaks to go out side often....it's so awesome to have a sidewalk!!!

 (our front porch will look much better after it's power washed...)

 But here it is, our forever home!!!

After a year of highs and lows, we never thought this day would come.  God has put us through a real test of patience, but with the help and support of our family and friends, we were able to keep faith till the end.  And it is oh, so worth it...Life is complete!

Top things we love about our new house:

1. We can walk up the steps at night or during nap time and NOT wake the kids like our old creaky steps did. Carpet is amazing! 

2. We have doors on our closet instead of just a curtain. 

3. Our house doesn't shake when a big truck or car with loud music drives by the front our house (our street now ends in a cul-de-sac).

4. We don't have to go downstairs to shower.

5. Avery and Grayson get to be neighbors with their cousin Madi!