Happy Thanksgiving!

Today was a milestone Thanksgiving for us....it was Cassandra's first Thanksgiving!

We had a lazy morning watching the parade (well, some of it-Avery isn't very interested in it yet) and eating cinnamon rolls for breakfast.

We headed to Gabe's parents' house around 2 so that we could put Cassandra down for her afternoon nap. Thankfully she took a little snooze before everyone started showing up!

My Mom and Aunt Pat came in from Buffalo to join us for dinner once again this year, so that was nice having them there to celebrate with us!

Aunt Pat and Cassandra

The kids had their own table to eat at:

Bianca and Avery

There was so.much.food....crazy amounts! I think we counted 12 side dishes (each were huge as well) along with the turkey!  You couldn't even fit a little of everything on your plate!

After dinner, we relaxed before having dessert.

Mom and Cassandra

Can my children look any grumpier?! I just wanted a pic of them in their dresses! Haha!

Cassandra loves her technology stuff already-checking out Daddy's phone!

And the best family photo we could get with the two kids! I think we took 5 of them and this was the best we could do!

We all had some yummy dessert then headed home shortly after to get the kids in bed!

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving....we sure did!

Bianca's Birthday Weekend!

Our niece, Bianca, turned 5 a few days ago so this weekend was her birthday weekend!

Saturday we went over their house for dinner, cake, and presents with the family.

Avery was dying to help her open her gifts!

Her Hello Kitty cake (turned sideways):

When we sang to her, Owen and Bianca hid under the table! This is them popping up at the very end!

Make a wish!

On Sunday morning we went to Gabe's parents' house for Bianca's kid party.  The kids did some coloring, play doh and lots of playing!! We had some snacks, the kids had sandwiches and then cupcakes for a treat.

Cassandra was a good sport and left the party hat on a few minutes so we could get some pics!

So big!!

Happy Birthday Bianca!!

Do You See What I see?

The Ham, Books and Bath

I have a few random things from the past few days....

1. My little ham.

As soon as she sees the camera, this is what I get.

Every.single.time. (sorry for the turned photos)

This is from a different day just to prove it to you!

2. Books

Sister loves books.

What she really loves about them? Turning the pages! She's pretty darn good at it!

3. Bath time

Cassandra tried something new today....the jacuzzi tub!

Avery was taking a bath in there and we decided to see what Cassandra thought of it.

Avery looks terrified-I told her to smile!

The verdict? She loved it! She loves her baths so it didn't surprise me. I'm sure she'll be hitting the jacuzzi more in the near future!

I did my duty

Today I did my duty as a US citizen...

....I voted.

I voted for these two girls and their future as grown women.

That they may have equality and freedom and never be treated like a second class citizen.

Happy 1st Birthday Leigha!

Today we went to Buffalo to celebrate a special girl's 1st birthday...Leigha!

They had her party at a local YMCA so when we got there, the kids had free time in the gym-they got to run around like crazy and play with some stuff they put out for them.

Then we went to the party room for some pizza, wings and snacks.

Avery was obsessed with Leigha-she kept wanting to "pet" her (yes, her words!):

Gabe and the birthday girl!

The cute (and yummy) cake:

When everyone started singing to her, she started to cry!

After some reassurance, she was ok!

Family photo:

Noah, Todd, Megan, Leigha

And of course she got to dig into some cake!

After cake it was time for gifts, then time to head out!  We ended up going back to my Mom's house for dinner then headed home shortly after since we both have to work tomorrow.

Happy Birthday Leigha!

Halloween, For Real!

Finally one of the "big" holidays was here!

I had to work, but got out a little bit early to go to Avery's daycare for their Halloween to-do.

They had all of the parents sit downstairs while all of the kids were upstairs getting ready. They decided to introduce each of the kids as their costume and they came out one by one. Here is Avery getting introduced:

The three teachers were dressed up as owls and the costumes were adorable. This is the only photo of them I got:

Once all of the kids were introduced, we went outside to have a parade. This is Avery and her BFF before the parade:

We walked around a few blocks, then came back to the daycare where the kids did a group photo (which was next to impossible to get!):

My Mom met up with me at daycare for the party then came back to our house after. We had a quick dinner and got the kids all ready to go out trick-or-treating.

Gabe, Avery, and Cassandra

Family photo

And I had to get a photo of our pumpkins that Gabe worked on:

Doesn't the Rapunzel one look good?!

We really lucked out with the weather. With the hurricane that came through we were expecting it to be cold and really crappy out. Yes it was chilly, but it stayed dry thankfully!  I think we did maybe a dozen houses then Avery said she was done! She kept saying her hands were cold so we called it a night....way earlier than I anticipated. But I'm sure she's just happy to have candy!

Happy Halloween!