Happy Halloween!

On Halloween I took the afternoon off to help out at Madison's party at school. Like every school party, it was full of fun, treats and games. We made popcorn balls and pumpkin cutouts to take in. Madison seems to have a great class! Later that afternoon we meet Duane at Tom's Corn Maze in Germantown. It was such a beautiful day! The perfect Fall afternoon to be outside. The corn maze is divided up into several sections marked with different colored ribbons. In each section you have to find a mailbox that contains a piece of the maze of the map. We thought it was a lot more fun than just trying to find your way out. It was actually pretty educational. Madison was on a mission to find the most mailboxes and Molly was excited because she found on (with dad's help behind the scenes:) Madison was doing lots of problem solving and Molly got some practice with matching numbers. Mallory just happy to run free a little. After we found our way out, we got to watch a pumpkin get launch 1/2 mile into the air. They have this crazy pumpkin launching machine that they converted from an old fire engine. It's really something to see! We had a blast! I highly recommend taking a trip to Tom's Corn Maze.

Happy 2nd Birthday Mallory!

I can't believe my baby girl is 2! The time is going so fast. It seems like yesterday she was just a new born. Now she's telling her big sister to "chill out" and loves to sing, play and color! She had a great second birthday. She was lucky to celebrate it twice. On her actual birthday, October 21, we went out to dinner. Then we came home and opened her gifts and had cake and ice cream. She even got to help make her birthday the day before. We hit a home run on her gifts, which is a hard thing to do considering the fact that she is the third child. It's so hard to come up with new ideas. We got her come no mess coloring stuff, a parachute and bouncy balls and some things to go with her Geotrax. The parachute was huge, but we still managed to play with it some in the living room. She spent the rest of the night playing with her train. Her favorite part was using the remote control. That weekend we had a party with the family in Massillon at Grandma and Grandpa Scott's house. She loves dogs so we went with the puppy theme complete with doggie bags filled with puppy chow. She had loads of fun playing with her cousins. We borrowed a bouncy house and set it up in the yard with her new parachute and lots of bubbles. We were blessed to have lots of family there to celebrate her special day with us. She was very excited to gets lots of adorable outfits and a Mr. Potato Head. He was a big hit thanks to Grammy! Her eyes lit up and she sang along with us as we sang Happy Birthday to her. She even applauded at the end. It was so sweet! Now that she's two, potty training and a big girl bed are in our near future. I'm just grateful that she still takes time to cuddle with mom and listen to a good book. Otherwise, she never stops! This is one of my most favorite ages. I'm trying to soak it in as much as I can while it last. She's so much fun:)

Trick-or-Treat!

Trick-or-Treat night started out pretty hectic like it does every year. I had to work that day so I had a little over and hour to get everyone fed and dressed. It's never as simple as putting on a costume with three girls. There is always hair and make up that have to go along with it. Madison was an Ohio State cheerleader, Molly was Rapunzel and Mallory was a pink poodle. They looked so adorable. Halloween is a great time for me to see how unique each one of my kids are. Their costumes really fit each of their personality types. The Ackley's stopped by to see the girls in their costumes. We value the attention and love they give us, especially on special days. We didn't quite get to dinner, so we loaded up the wagon and took the box of pizza a long for the ride. They kids munched on pizza along the way. We meet a few other families at Donnybrook park which is just a few minutes walk from our house. All three girls had at least one other friend their age with them. Madison went full speed, Molly took her time and held her friend Sidney's hand the whole evening, and Mallory had her trick-or-treat bag in hand and fit right into the mix with her big sisters. She loved going to each house and saying "Trick-or-Treat!" The problem was that she thought that she could eat the candy from each stop. The weather was great, we enjoyed the company of good friends and they kids all had a fantastic time.