Wednesday, November 15, 2017

Mary Celeste is THREE!!

"Baby" just turned THREE!
A few weeks ago we had a birthday party
at grammae and papa's house.
Such pretty girls!
My kids with the R cousins
It was my celebration, too, but "41" isn't as
exciting as "3".... :oP
Present time!

A new dress for Christmas 
On her "real" birthday we went to her favorite
"restaurant" New Seasons for her favorite
meal--mac & cheese and doughnuts.  :o)
We brought her presents along.  Here she is, opening the
present from grandma and grandpa.
Hatchimals!  The kids love these!

Happy birthday, sweet girl!  You are the SUNSHINE
in our lives!!  :o)




Monday, November 13, 2017

Operation Christmas Child

This is our second year participating in "Operation Christmas Child!"

Last week we shopped as a family at our local discount store, Ross, and found all sorts of goodies to fill our boxes.  We also took a trip to Dollar Tree to add some toothbrushes and small toys.  

It was a lot of fun to go through Ross and go on a shopping spree!! The kids were all very thoughtful in their purchases.  The older kids really wanted to include flashlights, since the recipients may not have electricity in their homes.  They also wanted to include candy as a treat, and most of the kids packed art supplies.  We'll be able to track these boxes in the holiday season to see where they end up.  Last time, it was the Philippines!

Here we are packaging up the goodies.

Sedric chose Play-Doh and lots of candy.  :o)

On Saturday, I took Sedric and Celeste to our local church--also the church where Sedric goes to preschool--and we dropped off the shoeboxes in time for collection later this week.




The church also happened to have a rummage sale that day, so we walked away with a bag full of goodies.  Celeste chose a Weeble-Wobble and it's been her constant companion these past few days.  :o)  Sedric chose a little ornament (which he gave to cousin Sophie) and a piece of bead trimming.  So funny!

It was a THUMBS-UP experience for sure!!  :o) :o)




Monday, November 6, 2017

Happy Halloween

I played the part of Lazy Mom this year, and waited until the DAY-OF to pull out the costume bins and let the kids have at it.  :o)  Luckily, they were all cool with it.  They had a fantastic time trying on the different costumes we've collected over the years, and running around the house as dogs/witches/pumpkins/princesses (and any combination of the aforementioned personalities).

swimming in a sea of costumes
Sedric the Witch ;o)
Gemma's pick

For the 3rd? year in a row we went to my friend Lisa's house (Mrs. N's daughter) and had dinner before trick-or-treating in their neighborhood.  We were joined by some cousins as well!

most of the kids


Bunny made this AMAZING Mandalorian
costume, with help from her sibs
Don't you love my GORGEOUS new
Halloween dress?
pounds and pounds of candy
inspecting the candy haul
It was a fun and fabulous night, and we enjoyed All Saint's Day by feasting on the candy haul before the Halloween Candy Fairy took it all away in exchange for presents.  ;o)



Wednesday, November 1, 2017

Preschool field trip to the pumpkin patch!

Monday was Seddy's preschool field trip to a local pumpkin patch.  

Sedric is the first of my kids to attend ANY kind of group-school situation, and it's working out very well. He goes to a preschool program run by a local church--the "4s" class meets on the exact days that I do my homeschooling, so it's just PERFECT timing to give him some fun and give us some peace and quiet, ha ha ha!

Anyway, this was our first field trip and it went very smoothly.  I took Celeste as well and they both had a blast.  When it was time to go, Celeste made me PROMISE that we could come back again and play.  :o)


loaded up for a tractor/trailer ride to the pumpkin field
(with Seddy's bestie, Madison)




waiting for the return trip
The farm had a "farm to table" activity for all the kids--
picking "produce" and taking to the "farm stand"

snack time!  Good thing it was a BEAUTIFUL day!


We had fun...but the tractor ride at home was the best.  :o) :o)