More Miscellaneous

We got to stop by and visit Natalie for about an hour on our way home from seeing Neil!  She looks adorable in her Minnie dress.  We had a hard time getting to her house because a motorcycle accident occurred right at the end of her dead-end street.  We had to park and walk in the deep snow to get to Rebecca who picked us up.  That was definitely an adventure!

This is my awesome outfit that I wore to the concert.  Emily's mom was so kind to let us borrow some of her old clothes.  Neil always wears sequins so we wanted to match.  We don't know why some people were looking at us weirdly, they were the ones dressed way too plain.

And here's Mia, my little baker.

Another picture of Luke dressing up like a girl.

Girls at Luke's basketball game

Miscellaneous - haircuts, Emma, Neil

Miscellaneous Pictures

I've been bad at updating the blog so here is a collection of random pictures I took recently.

Luke's haircut!

He wanted spikey hair.

Emma and I had some "girl time" in Roanoke a few weeks ago.  We went shopping, ate at restaurants, and talked.  It was so fun!  When we were shopping in the mall a lady offered to curl Emma's hair with a straightener.  Her hair looks awesome!  I can't help but notice how grown-up she looks in these pictures.

Emma also competed in the Spelling Bee in Roanoke this year, and she won 3rd place!

This is a picture of me and Emily , sporting our Neil shirts we bought at his concert in Allentown.  Yes, we drove 6 hours each way to see Neil and it was so worth it!  

Luke's 8th Birthday

Happy 8th Birthday Luke!  

Today is Luke's birthday.  Eight.  My baby!  It's hard to believe that 8 years ago today we had to cancel Emma's 3rd birthday party because Luke arrived two weeks early (which was awesome).  I had spent hours the night before decorating the Dora cake  We postponed the party to the following weekend.  WHAT?!  Why didn't anyone stop me from hosting a party with a one week old baby plus two more kids?  

Joel always gets creative and prints fun posters.  We always decorate a "birthday chair".  The highlight of the birthday was his gift  - a Kindlefire.  We have been hearing about the Kindle for months; he likes to tell us in detail exactly which games he's going to download.  Minecraft seems to be the favorite.  He requested my chocolate cupcakes for school, and toffee latte ones at home.  We also had a soda buffet (hence the orange soda in the picture with Superman) and a tea party.  I'm not sure why he wanted a tea party, but he kept saying he wanted one with Sprite.  We had Sprite, but he drank so many other sodas that he couldn't manage drinking Sprite!  I guess we all are going to be going on a camping trip this summer for 2 nights?  Camping is usually part of his gift.  Time will tell whether this will be a full family camping trip, or if one of us will stay at home :)

Halloween

Luke with Molly.  He definitely is her guardian, if anyone leaves the door open for a second he closes it right away.

Just love his Halloween costume this year

Annual trick or treating picture BEFORE it started raining

Emma dressed up like a character from Phineas and Ferb, Vanessa Dufinsmorch or something like that.  She does look exactly like her!

Amelia dressed up like McKenna - a gymnast with a broken foot.

Of course we went to Light the Night at BCF like we do every year, and Amelia chose a pumpkin for her facepainting picture.  The kids had a lot of fun, especially since it was cold and rainy outside.  First we stopped Trunk or Treat and quickly made the rounds, getting lots of candy in a short amount of time in the rain, it is the most efficient way to trick or treat.

We made this video for a sweet friend of ours who loves "Tats".

Misc pics

Amelia's family tree with cupcakes!

A cupcake tower I made for a wedding

I get to see Neil Diamond!!!  His first stop of his world tour.

Amelia likes to dress up her pumpkin,

Amelia with her crutches

Luke and Mo with their soccer trophies

Molly got into the spirit of Halloween by dressing up as Professor McGonagal from Harry Potter.

First Day of School... a little late

Of course there needs to be a crazy picture

The girls with KK

Spontaneous playdate after school one day with lots of kids

GO HOKIES!

Luke?

Something strange is going on at our house.  I think someone kidnapped Luke, and replaced him with a much more easygoing, obedient, and helpful child.  For example, tonight at dinner, Joel asked if someone could get the ketchup.  Luke said, "I will!".  He also told us tonight that Sunday is his favorite day of the week because you get to make boxes in Sunday School and learn about God.  Emma fell on the stairs and he gave her a hug.  He made his bed without being asked.  He put his homework folder away in his backpack by himself!  And the other day he put on his shoes without being asked.  Now, he did throw a mini fit this morning because he wanted to take blue blanky in the car and we wanted him to wear a jacket, but  it was nothing in comparison to some other fits he's been throwing lately.  

Could the change have anything to do with his new girlfriend?  About a week ago he asked a girl in his class if she would be his girlfriend.  Apparently she said no, but Luke said she meant yes.  She must have because they are all giggly around each other, and her mom said she is so excited to be his girlfriend.  He chased her around the playground and when his teacher asked why he was chasing her, he replied "Because I love her".  Secret candy has been given, books have been retrieved for her, and he plans to buy her lipstick.  We wholeheartedly approve of the match :)

Other news in the house is that Amelia broke her toe a few weeks ago; she was doing cartwheels in the living room and her foot slammed down on the coffee table.  At first they thought her foot was broken too, but luckily it was fine.  This has forced her though to take a break from gymnastics, hopefully she will start up again after Christmas.

We have loved the fall weather this year!  It is the most beautiful fall I can remember.  But, I think winter and snow are on their way :)