Beefsteak

Last night was my school's major fall fundraiser, the Beefsteak dinner. A bunch of the faculty was there and we had an awesome time enjoying delicious Filet Mignon and good conversation. After dinner, the Lip Sync contest started and we were able to watch some of our students show off their talents! The evening was capped off with a group of dads doing a spoof on "Single Ladies". Sadly, I don't have any pictures of that!
After the beefsteak, three other teachers and I headed right down the street and stayed at a local hotel for the night! It was great to have a girls' night out and be able to unwind with friends and laugh ourselves to sleep!
No pictures of that either....for good reason! ;)

This was brought as a gag gift from to my friend Rich.
It was the hit of the night...and consumed!

Happy Birthday Aunt Liz!

After a VERY busy morning and afternoon the kids and I headed to Grandpa's restaurant for a birthday celebration. Pat's sister, Liz, celebrated her birthday this past week and today a bunch of family and friends gathered together to have dinner and celebrate Liz's birthday again! The kids had a ball with their aunt and grandpa and uncle, as well as cousins and friends! And we all enjoyed delicious food- prepared by daddy!
Happy Birthday Aunt Liz!

Ch-ch-Changes

No pictures tonight.

BIG changes around here.
Nicholas went to see a specialist yesterday to see if we could get his eczema under control again and instead of getting some new antihistamines and creams, we found out that he has tree nut and apple allergies and moderate to severe asthma. Needless to say, the past 24 hours have been filled with LOTS of changes!
Nicholas has new asthma medicine he has take each night and he's been given some emergency medicines. We've been equipped with a number of epi-pens in the event that he has a serious reaction to one of his allergens. And we got some new cream to help control his eczema!
Every label gets read now and we've been on the hunt for yummy foods that don't have nuts or have not been prepared in factories with nuts. We've also been looking for juices that don't contain apple. It's definitely a new way of life and Nicholas seems to be doing ok with it. He asks if he's allowed to eat certain things and is pretty understanding when we have to tell him 'no'. His school has already stepped up and made everyone aware of his new restrictions. Grandma and pop-pop are already equipped with plenty of snacks and foods that Nicholas can enjoy safely. While this is all new and somewhat frightening I think that as we become more used to it, this way of doing things will become much more routine and easy to follow!

Fall Fun and First Tooth

We had a perfect Fall day today, even though it felt more like early Spring than mid-Fall!
After a morning of swimming lessons, the gym, the playground and delicious bagels, the kids and I headed down to Grandma and Pop-pop's for the evening. We spent a good part of the afternoon outside playing and watching the kids ride bikes.
Also part of our weekend was a HUGE milestone for Nicholas- He lost his FIRST tooth! I couldn't believe it when I saw it and I was afraid he would be freaked out so I wanted to wait until we got home from the store, yesterday, to talk with him about it. I was so wrong!! He knew all along he had lost it! He informed me and Pat that his tooth came out while he was eating a bagel yesterday and he put the tooth on the floor - OF THE CAR- for safe keeping. Needless to say, the tooth is gone but the tooth fairy did make an appearance last night and Nicholas has been showing off his tooth fairy loot and empty spot in his mouth all day long!

Happy Halloween

Happy Halloween everyone!
We had a GREAT day today! Nicholas had his last soccer game of the season this morning and he scored a goal! Then we had lunch with grandma and pop-pop. After that we headed home and cleaned and got ready for some Halloween evening fun!
I took the kids out kind of early for Trick or Treating because of the weather and also so we could be home for our own trick or treaters. Daddy met us along the way and we were able to hit a lot more houses!!
After scoring some great candy we headed home for some yummy homemade pizza and apple crisp and, of course, candy sorting and eating!!
All in all, it was a pretty great Halloween- hope yours was just as good!!

Halloween Prep

We've been getting ready for Halloween around here!
The kids celebrated the holiday today at school and had a ton of fun having a big Halloween Party and Parade.
Last night and tonight we took time after dinner to carve our pumpkins.
Here is just a small sampling of the past two evening's activities.
And ever a sneak peek of a few of our creations.....

Nicholas did NOT enjoy getting his hands dirty

Addie started off painting

And then dug right into some pumpkin guts!

Daddy actually ended up cleaning out the pumpkins last night....
I got that job tonight!

Like Father, Like Son

Nicholas' First Creation

Working on creation Number 2

Mommy's Creation

Happy Halloween!
Go Yankees!

Pumpkins and Haunted Houses

Recently, Pat and I took the kids pumpkin picking in preparation for Halloween and fall. They had such a good time wandering through the pumpkin patch and checking out the animals and the corn. We had a great time watching them, as well. We were lucky enough to unexpectedly run into friends of ours at the farm and we spent a little time chatting and let the kids run around the pumpkins.

Our Ghouls!

Grabbing the wagon and heading out to make their pumpkin picks!

Nicholas has spotted one of his picks, now he just has to get the wagon to it...

Nicholas and Mommy

Addison and Mommy
(If you look, Addie has hair that is the color of a plump, ripe pumpkin)

Found his pick now getting it to the wagon

Making our way out of the pumpkin patch

Our Corny Little Man

They had a hay maze that Nicholas was so excited for!
Addison got stuck and her big brother went into the maze, a third time, to help her!

Heading in to pay for our picks!

Sampling some cider as we get ready to head home for the day....

A friend of mine from work has been kind enough recently to bring in a ton of "New to Us" toys for Nicholas and Addison. As a thank you for all the new goodies, Nicholas decided he wanted to make something for my friend, Rich.
Nicholas, Addison and I made a pilgrimage to Michael's the other day and they chose a Halloween themed gift- a foam haunted house that they constructed with help from daddy.
The three of them had a ball putting the house together and Rich absolutely ADORED the house and has it proudly displayed in his office!

Our crafty boy!

Addison helping out with the craft project

Crazy Faces while making a Crazy Haunted House