We Survived Another Halloween!

We did it! We survived another Halloween experience...just barely! After a couple days of a yucky stomach flu that made it's way through the family, we were feeling well enough to venture out of the house. Marshall dressed up as Tom Brady from the Patriots, Ella was the beautiful Mulan, Ava was an adorable Minnie Mouse, and Sadie was a bunny.



Since we don't really live in a neighborhood, it has become a tradition to have dinner and trick-or-treat with our friends. Here are all of the kids posing for the camera, anxious to get the show on the road.


Sadie was an extra tough bunny sporting her skull and crossbones binky.....and she experienced her first churro at the festivities at church later in the evening.

After trick-or-treating, playing games, jumping like crazy in the bouncers, and then trunk-or-treating at church, the kids made quite the haul. Here they are sorting through their loot. I'm sure throughout the next few days there will be lots of trading going on!


I don't ever look forward to Halloween, but this was a pretty good one. It wasn't too cold, there weren't any meltdowns (those will probably come tomorrow), and everyone cooperatively brushed teeth and went to sleep. I couldn't ask for more!

A Night To Remember

Every time we plan a fun family night, I have a "Martha Stewart" picture in my mind of how it will all go. The kids will be cooperative, there won't be any bickering, they'll volunteer to help clean up on their own, etc....! Tonight we decided to carve pumpkins and I was even prepared for a big mess...I wasn't prepared for the rest of what happened!



Ella and Marshall really enjoyed removing the goop from the pumpkins, squishing it between their fingers, pretending to throw it at each other, the whole 9 yards.

Ava wasn't too into it, which surprised us a little. She kept complaining about the smell and could hardly stand to even look at the goop!

Check out Ava's face in this picture!!!

Sadie just crawled around trying to get her nose in where she could!

I guess it's pretty obvious where this is going....Shortly after we took this picture, Ava started throwing up! We thought maybe she just had a sensitivity to the smell or look of the pumpkins...but that's not the case since she's been throwing up every 20 minutes since then!
While we tended to Ava, Sadie grabbed the camera from the table and dropped it causing some sort of lens malfunction! I was not happy about that!


Marshall and Ella seemed unfazed of the chaos going on around them and continued working hard on their pumpkin designs.

Matt, who now thinks he should go into the camera repair business, took the camera apart and managed to fix it (minus 1 screw that's still sitting on the counter)!

Here are the finished pumpkins and one worn out girl! She will carve hers when she's all better. Hopefully soon! Another night we won't soon forget!

It's Pumpkin Time!!

Today Ava had her first school field trip to the pumpkin patch. She's been looking forward to this day for quite awhile and was even more excited when Daddy was able to come too! We started with a bumpy tractor ride down to the farm. Here's Ava beaming as we rode.


Next we made our way through a corn maze........

When we arrived at the pumpkin patch Ava was bound and determined to find the perfect pumpkin. She wanted to get the biggest one in her class.....this is when I was most thankful that Matt was there! It was cute to watch her march along on a mission!

"This is the one!!"
Sadie enjoyed herself too....but really wanted to get down and crawl in the mud. This is as close as we let her get!

We ended the trip with a snack and some fun with preschool friends! One pumpkin down....3 more to go!! Stay tuned for our next pumpkin patch adventure!

What's New!

I guess it's been awhile since the last post! We've been busy! Here are some things that have happened in the last couple weeks......

Ella lost her first tooth! It was loose for a few days, but a big bite into an apple did the trick!

Ava got her cast off! Doctor's orders are no jumping, falling, running, etc... for 3 more weeks. We'll see how that works...so far not so well, but she's doing great!

Sadie started standing alone and took her first steps! I wouldn't say she's officially walking, but at least she's thinking about it. It's only a matter of time before she's tearing through the house with the rest of them.

Marshall finally got a haircut!! We can see his face again! We think it looks great....he still likes his long hair better. I think he secretly likes it, but won't admit it!

Finally, Matt and I celebrated our 10th anniversary on September 27th! Well...we haven't had time to officially celebrate, but plans are in the works. We can't believe it's been TEN years!!!!

No more pins!

Today Ava had the pins removed from her arm. It was quite an ordeal! It took us awhile just to convince her to get in the car to go to the hospital....and she didn't even know what they were going to do at the time! There were a lot of tears and a little bribery, but the job got done! Ava was brave once again!

Good-bye old yucky cast! Ava wasn't quite ready to let it go, especially since it was so beautifully decorated.

Daddy gets to do all the holding during medical and dental procedures. It's good bonding time...plus I have a weak stomach when it comes to things like that!

Hello nice, clean, new cast!! We have a couple weeks to get this one nice and dirty until we are done for good! I guess it's time for another DQ blizzard!

Silly Sadie

I think we have another ham in the Simmons family!! Sadie has taken to getting photographed! Whenever she sees the camera she says "cheese" and makes this goofy face. I'm trying to think of a different word for her to say so maybe we can get a more natural smile, but she's still pretty cute. Ava has been the resident comedian in the family, but Sadie is coming in a close second lately! What fun!