Veteran's Day Parade

The first weekend of November my mom invited us to be in the Veteran's Day Parade with her company! We went last year too and Liam loved riding in the bucket truck so I painted stars on Lyla and I's faces and lightning bolts on Liam's (per his request) to dress even more festive this year. It is so fun to see the streets lined with veterans and see flags waving everywhere!

They were thrilled they got to have a donut!

They decided to have the company snowcat in the parade instead of the bucket truck this year and it was already full of little kids so Nic rode in their commuter vehicle behind it with the the kids. We were pretty far back on the starting line this year and they regretfully got in this tiny car too soon that halfway through the parade both kids were OVER IT. As you can see by Lyla chucking her flag out the window. haha Don't worry, I swept it right up! But poor Nic, being stuck in that tiny car with two kids pouting, whaling, and gnashing of teeth on his lap. haha

I got the fun advantage of walking along side the car with my momma and waving at all the people who came to watch and support the parade! My mom had me in tears I was laughing so hard at one point when person after person kept complimenting her American flag pants ... then she notices a news broadcaster camera get pointed right at her and she goes, "Look! I'm going to be on the news! They love my pants!"

My FAVORITE part ... the giant American flag the firetrucks hang out front of the capitol building!!

Here was the snowcat we followed behind and I loved the support our trips with letters from home banner ... 

The kids happily got to take home balloons at the end as they took down the decorations from the parade float ...

So grateful to get to live in this beautiful country and to have loved ones who serve it!

Random moments from October

In October we decorated for Halloween and I stenciled this cute door mat for our front porch!

We wrapped up some house projects before the holidays including this trim work on our entry wall. It turned out so beautiful! More updates, projects, and plans for this room in the upcoming year so stay tuned!

I took my favorite girl shopping and she spotted a puppy the moment we walked in the door ...

Speaking of shopping, she loves being the bag holder. ;)

I threw away my waffle iron after this disaster of a Saturday morning. haha I PROMISE I sprayed it with cooking spray but it stuck anyway and was impossible to get out when he can't soak it in water.

The kids ate their fair share of sugar including these Swig cookies brought to them by a sweet friend. Lyla's face in that second picture! She was covered from head to toe by her last bite.

Waking up from nap time is hard ...

Found this gem of a keepsake of my dad and Lyla last fall ... I could not love it more!

Watching "PUPPIES!" on my phone when she refuses to nap ...

Showing me her belly button ...

And Liam got his first cavity filled. I was initially stressed about the experience but he did amazing and blew away all of my expectations. So dang thankful for laughing gas during the needle part!

the things he wants to remember ...

These pictures might not mean anything to you, but for me, they are the sweet reminder of everything Liam loves at 5 years old.

Something I adore about him are the cute things he makes or creates that he wants to remember and the humble confidence he has in himself to create. I can always tell when he feels like something is special or he is proud of something when he asks me if he can take a picture of it. 

Here's to all the things he (and I) want to remember he created lately ...

Monsters and "booby traps"! haha

Legos are his whole world and we spent 3 full days together at the kitchen table building this Avengers airplane after he got it for his birthday ...

"Hey mom, look! These fit together!"

Another birthday lego he was proud to share ... cutest boy ever!

He makes up a lot of things himself though. This was one of his own inventions ...

He is incredibly creative and crafty and I often get cute pictures of him from his preschool teacher of things he is creating there ...

Nic and I literally could not stop laughing after seeing this one. haha

Love him so much and his creative heart! 

Halloween 2019

I can't believe I'm sharing about our Halloween 2 days before Christmas but I bought Lyla's Christmas gift the first week of November and have been spending every spare minute on it since. I finally finished it yesterday and now have the time to get caught up here.

Halloween night already feels like it was forever ago but the ages of our kids were so magical this year that I'll never forget it!

I love nothing more than a good family themed costume and I thought after last year that my days of getting everyone to agree on that were over but I somehow worked my magic this year and we all dressed up to go ...

OFF TO NEVERLAND!!!

Happy Halloween from Tiger Lily, Tinkerbell, Peter Pan, and the crocodile!
Lyla made the PERFECT Tinkerbell with her adorable blonde spout and Liam loves any animal right now that would be considered "spooky" (bats, spiders, scorpions, and CROCODILES oh my!)

A crocodile costume was next to impossible to find in a child's size so we made do with a dinosaur costume from a local kids' thrift store and covered it with felt scales to cover up the blue underneath. It was a labor of love but I'd do it again and again and again for how happy it made him and how much he loved it!

On Halloween morning while everyone was working, we invited Liam's cousin Olivia over to make spooky candy necklaces!

Then I proceeded to hear, "Is it time to go trick-or-treating yet?!" hundreds of times throughout the afternoon until Nic got off work. We had our traditionally chilli and cornbread for dinner and headed outside to snap a couple pictures of these cuties! 

Her adoration for her daddy (Peter Pan), just like the movie ... 

Then 2 minutes before actually leaving to go trick-or-treating, everyone decided they didn't want to wear their costumes and switched into something else. haha So we actually took an adorable little lion and a blue Power Ranger trick-or-treating that night. I didn't really mind because I've always wanted Lyla to wear this adorable lion costume that was Liam's at her age ...

Our neighborhood is the perfect size for our age of kids. Basically one loop of homes and they are done. They made out like bandits with everyone giving them a handful of candy at each house and some, even a full size candy bar!

How cute are they together?! And that tail!! We had to keep encouraging him to slow down and wait for her because he'd run way ahead and get to the door significantly before her. This house it was her turn to ring the door bell ...

I love when neighbors leave their treat bucket on their steps if they aren't going to be home. This one even had toy snakes and spiders in their basket, Liam's favorite!!

I can not get over how sweet this little lion is!!! Animal costumes are my fav!

He is pretty darn cute too with his sword!

Poor Lyla tripped trying to keep up with Liam ...

Matching the sunset ...

They both came home with a bucket full of candy and ate 3 pieces each while watching Room on the Broom before heading to bed for the night. My mom came trick-or-treating with us and left them these adorable witch hand gloves filled with candy and spider rings!

I'm already excited for next year and have a child who loves pretending he is a bat to keep me in the spirit until then. haha Happy Halloween! Or if you're reading this tomorrow ... Merry Christmas Eve!