Catching Up

I have a ridiculous amount of pictures to post since I have pictures from over a month ago that I haven't posted yet.  So, lots of pictures and few words.  We'll start with two pictures from a (not-so-)recent visit to the zoo.

I took all three boys to the park one evening to take Patrick's 2 year pictures.  I was pretty happy with how they turned out considering I had no help (Jim was working).

My favorite:

A recent playdate with Charlie's new friend Emilia.

Trying to get a picture for our Christmas card:

I am honored to be Ryan's Godmother!

Ryan was pretty happy to become a Catholic!

We finally made a trip down to visit Uncle Michael and Auntie Kathleen.  I didn't take many pictures, though.

We went to a cabin with some friends. Jim and I took the kids 2 years ago when Patrick was a few weeks old and have been talking about going back ever since.  One night we were out with friends and mentioned our plans and they wanted to come along.  So, Jim and I took our family on Friday night and the other families met us on Saturday.  We had a lot of fun!

Jack's preschool Thanksgiving celebration:

Thanksgiving was fun.  We were able to spend time with both sides of the family.  Here are our gorgeous nieces.

And our handsome nephews (and sons):

Charlie's Baptism was over Thanksgiving weekend.

Uncle Michael is Charlie's Godfather and Aunt Margaret is his Godmother.

Nana and Papa with their six grandsons.

We had a skype shower this past Saturday for David and Melanie, who live in Australia and are due on Christmas.

Happy Thanksgiving!

I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving.  We certainly have a lot for which to be thankful!

Smile

I've had trouble finding the time to post a new entry lately, but this picture should tide you over until I can post more.

Halloween

I am finally getting around to posting all the other Halloween-related pictures.

One morning I took Patrick and Charlie to the Magic House for a Halloween-themed day while Jack was at preschool.  My little giraffe had a lot of fun.

He played with puzzles...

light switches...

balls, and much more.

Funny face:

This sweetie hung out in the stroller for most of the visit.

The next afternoon, we (all five of us!) went to Pumpkinland!  My mom and aunt met us there.  Jack and Patrick liked going down the big slide while sitting on potato sacks.

It was pretty fast, so Nana went down with Patrick.

How tall this Fall?

Jack brought his flashlight so he could explore the dark tunnels.  I went with him a few times, and Jack loved it!  Then, he went by himself!

The zipline was definitely a favorite of both Jack and Patrick.

Jack actually came off the seat this time:

There was a smaller slide Patrick could go down by himself.

Jack and I climbed through the "Tower of Terror" up to the roof.

My pumpkins:

Jack's preschool had a Halloween parade.  All the kids paraded around the gym and then sang songs to us.  Our little "James the train" was excited to see us.  Jim had the day off work, so he got to come, too.

The kids all gathered together to sing songs to the parents.

The Saturday before Halloween, we went to the second annual kiddie Halloween parade that our neighbor has.  Jack and Patrick posed with their friend from across the street.

Jim, Charlie, Patrick, and Jack in the parade:

My friend Connie was in town for the World Series, so she and her daughter Alexa came to the parade as well.

My cousin Katie, who lives in Kansas City, has a good friend in our neighborhood.  So, she and her husband and 4 month old came, too!

After the parade, the kids gathered for snacks, games, and crafts.

Patrick stopped at a neighbor's step to rest on the walk home.

Connie got to hold Charlie.

On Halloween night, Jim's mom and my parents came down for dinner and trick-or-treating.  Here is a family picture.  Charlie is the happiest of the kids in this picture (if you click on the picture, you can view it larger and see that he is smiling).