Halloween prep!

Yesterday the kiddos had no school so that their teachers could have conferences.  We decided to enjoy some special pre-halloween activities that ended up making a day full of special memories!

We had gotten some fun treats at Trader Joes and were SO happy to partake in all their festive goodness!

So the day started with pumpkin pancakes:

We decorated some pumpkins:

We decided to have a morning matinee all snuggled up with halloween Joe-Joes.  My favorite part of not having school is not having to rush in the mornings...

The day also called for lunch at In-n-Out:

(Yep, drive through in PJs since "real" clothes were too much to deal with today...

We made the cookie haunted house:

She waited to patiently for the icing to go on so that she could decorate it... 

 This little activity took us a little over an hour and the kids LOVED it!

We made a special pasta dinner before we carved our pumpkins:
(I've wanted to make this one for awhile now and it was REALLY good!)

The chalk board placemats made it out for the special occasion...

They grew this pumpkin and were SO excited to be able to carve it!

Ryder wanted to carve his own and Eden wanted Minnie Mouse:

 She gives her a dad a thumbs up!

 

It was a sweet day of being together and not having a schedule and just enjoying time at home.❤︎  
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Today we have a full day of school parades, class parties, and an evening of trick-or-treating...

So much fun to be had today!

Family...

We had a very special weekend with some very special friends and family!  

First, on Friday night, our old neighbors from Fullerton, Our Girls, came down for dinner after Ryder's football game!  

I can not talk about them without wanting to cry, I love them so much...  They were a DAILY part of our lives and moving away from them was the HARDEST thing when we came to Tustin.  They held my babies and loved on me in my Post Partum anxiety moments when Kit couldn't be there. They helped host our kids birthday parties and Kit played on a softball team with them.  We spent holidays together and they would take my family on holidays that I had to work.  We ate countless meals together have laughed so hard we cried.  Their family and friends became our friends and family. We shared so much of life together.  We have missed them terribly!  We love you Lisa and Maria!

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Then on Saturday, we had a family party to celebrate my cousin Heather being in town from Idaho!

 We ended the day with this Cannoli Dip...
How sweet is my Grandma Marie! 

We laughed so hard, ate too much, had a dance party in the sun, talked about the highs and lows of the season of life that we are all in, and fully enjoyed every second of our time together...
Oh how I love this family of mine!

Family Life Group

On Wednesdays, we have friends from church and their families come over and we hang out together.  We call it our Family Life Group. We spend time having fun, watching the kids play together, praying for each other, talking, sharing sweets, making crafts with our kids, and enjoying what it it is to love Jesus together. This last week, I had it n my head that I wanted to make it a special Halloween theme.

Our open share time was what is your favorite candy and what are you going to be for halloween.  We threw yarn to each to each other to make a web.

We then took a moment to thank Jesus that he has brought us together and has connected us in such a special way.

My friend Kelli brought the snacks:

Shut your face she is so creative!

 Then we made a "pumpkin decorating" craft before they kids watched It's The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown.  

I cut out orange paper and had green paper stems and black triangles and googly eyes.  Eden and I had also cut our eyes, noses, and mouths from magazines and the kids used those too.  

I'm still laughing at the potential nightmares we created!

Not OK Chad...

While the kids watched the movie, we shared with each other and prayed for one another...

I really love the rhythm of being with these people that we love each week.  Our kids LOVE Life Group evenings and being with their friends!  So do we...❤︎