Gingerbread Houses

We decided to make Gingerbread Houses with all of the cousins this year. It was so much fun, the kids enjoyed spreading on the frosting and choosing their favorite candies. Aaron's favorite motto as he was making his selections, "One for me, one for my house."

Callaway intently works on his creation

Auntie Jill and Natalie observe from the side

Julian carefully places his licorice

Marshall joins in the fun

Maya carefully frosts her house

Helena samples the decorations

Lexi, Helena and Ainsley

Finshed products: Helena, Ainsleyy, Lexi, Aaron, Callaway, Maya and Julian

Little Cruiser

At ten and a half months, Natalie is quite the mover. She can move very quickly and is pulling up and taking steps, as long as she is holding on to furniture. Natalie loves to be near other children, she loves watching them play and likes to be right in the middle of all of the fun!

Here comes trouble...

"Look at me, Mom!"

Natalie plays with her new Nativity set

Tree Lighting

Thanksgiving weekend, we all bundled up and went to Niantic to watch the tree lighting. This is the second year we have gone and this year we participated in the snowball drop. Thanks to Uncle Adam we even caught a "snowball" and were treated to chocolate lollipops at the local candy shop. Aaron especially enjoyed watching Santa and Mrs. Claus ride in on the big firetruck.

Aaron and Helena stand in front of the tree

We ended up running into Aunt Kristie, Uncle Adam, Maya and Callaway

We are Thankful!

This year we have so much to be thankful for. We celebrated with our wonderful families by hosting dinner at our house. The kids had fun playing in our newly renovated play room and the adults enjoyed football and great company.

Aaron and Helena pose for a photo together

Mommy and Natalie

Mommy and her kiddos

Cousins: Lexi, Natalie, Aaron, Callaway and Helena - This was the best we could do

Natalie was exhausted by the end of the day

10 Months Old

Natalie is 10 months old now and she is really making her way around. She loves to be where all of the action is and can crawl just about anywhere she wants to go. On top of moving around quite a bit, Natalie is now pulling herself up on anything she can support herself with. She has several toys, waist level, that she pushes around and takes small steps while supporting herself. She loves following her big brother and sister around the house too! Natalie loves clapping and waving, although she seems to be going through a bit of stranger anxiety as of late, but most of the time she is a very happy girl!

Growing Fast

Natalie is growing so fast! She will be ten months old next week and she is moving everywhere. She crawls very quickly now and we have seen her pulling up onto her knees and even onto her feet once or twice! She loves playing with Aaron and Helena's toys and wants to be everywhere they are. Her new favorite place to play is the Tupperware cabinet. Natalie's final two baby teeth cut through last week and she looks so much older now that she has eight teeth!

Leaves

Aaron, Helena and Natalie had a great time outside playing in the leaves as we started our fall clean up a few weeks ago. We always have tons of leaves that fall in our yard, and it helps that the kids have so much fun playing outside while we get a start on cleaning up!

The kids play in the leaves

Yard Cleanup

Helping Out

Halloween and the Stomach Bug

This year Aaron and Daddy celebrated Halloween with Stacie's family by going Trick Or Treating with cousins. Unfortunately, Helena came down with a stomach bug Halloween morning and was not able to join in the fun. She was such a good sport and was feeling well enough by the end of the evening to visit a few houses on our road for treats.

Grandma and all of the kids: Lexi, Landyn, Ainsley, Marshall, Aaron and Julian

Aaron shows off his bat wings

On Saturday we joined cousins Ainsley and Marshall for pumpkin painting and Trick or Treating on Main Street in Manchester. The girls had lots of fun together!

Marshall, Ainsley, Helena and Ainsley

Making Jack O' Lanterns

We helped Aaron and Helena to carve their pumpkins on Friday afternoon. They liked scooping out all of the seeds from the inside. Helena drew her own face and had us cut it out. Aaron tried several times to draw his face just right but decided he wanted us to draw the shapes he wanted before cutting them out.

Helena described her Jack O' Lantern as "surprised"

Aaron poses with his Jack O' Lantern

Halloween Costume Parade

Aaron and Helena celebrated Halloween at school with a costume parade and party. They brought their costumes to school and marched around the school entertaining their family and friends. It was so cute to see all of the kids dressed up and so excited for Halloween! Natalie loved looking at all of the kids as they showed off their costumes.

Helena and Mrs. F.

Aaron marches with his teacher, Miss Eley, and all of his friends

Natalie dressed up for the event and enjoyed the entertainment from her stroller

Nine Months Old

Natalie is nine months old this month! Over the last week, Natalie has gone from sitting unassisted to crawling, and even beginning to pull herself up! The rest of us are getting our running shoes ready, because our little one is on the move! In addition to moving a whole lot more, Natalie has cut the last two of her first year baby teeth and is sleeping great! Natalie continues to be such a happy little girl and has also learned to wave and clap her hands. She is such a big girl!

Pumpkintown U.S.A.

We visited Pumpkintown U.S.A. again this year and all of the kids had a great time exploring and celebrating the season. Aaron and Helena were able to do almost all of the activities and exploring by themselves this year, and Natalie enjoyed taking in all of the sights and people walking around.

Natalie - 8 1/2 months old

Helena poses with her new painted face