Gingerbread Houses

We had our annual gingerbread house decorating party today! 

Brody decided to have me help him this year and Daddy could work with Addisen.

I've gotten much better with the 'hands off" approach! 

We will be leaving for Pennsylvania on Tuesday - wish us luck!  We are going to stay at Great Wolf Lodge on the way down.  I'm a little nervous about 11 hours in the car with 3 kids!

 

Busy Week

We don't have too many pictures this week because I was too busy to take any!  Jim had to travel for the past two weeks...so I have been in survival mode!  I took the kids with me to Ryder's 9 month appointment...because I had to...but also because they needed their flu shots.  I have to say it went a lot better than I expected.  Addisen cried a little and Brody was find until the Nurse went to find the perfect band aid...really that was the least of our worries!  That gave Brody long enough to tear up and say that he really didn't want a shot.

Ryder is staying right on track.  He is thinning out a little bit, but is still in the 50-75th percentile for weight and height.  Of course his head is off the charts!

My two little Indians :)

Showing our Penn State Pride!

We found the Jersey that Brody wore when he was a baby in the barn this week - so of course Ryder had to put it on to show his Penn State Pride!

I still can see a lot of Uncle Neal in Ryder, but he is becoming his own little Raguckas!  Daycare says that they see a lot of Addisen in the way he cries, laughs, etc.  I just see Ryder :)  He still has his red hair, so it appears that he will be like Uncle Neal in that aspect.  He is a master crawler now...and really prefers to stand and follow his way around furniture now.  It amazes me how quickly they change and grow up!  He really only says Dadda...I heard momma for one day, but now it is just back to Dadda.

Brody was gone this weekend to Grandma and Bobo's house so we had a glimpse of life with just two kids again!  It really is easier!

Addisen was the Princess who slayed the Dragons!  She was funny with what she chose to play with!  I think some of it was the novelty of not having to fight an older brother for anything!

Grandma knitted her this pink sweater!  It is so cute and fit perfectly!

On Saturday morning I took Addisen on a girls adventure.  Sesame Street live was in town!  She isn't in love with Elmo, but she does like Abby.  The show was about 1 1/2 hours long and she made it about 1 hour 15 minutes.  It was okay with me because we were able to get out before the crowd.

The show really tired her out!

Brother and Sisterly Love!

We had planned to head to the cottage to attend the annual neighborhood party this weekend but Addisen started with her coughing on Friday.  I took her in to the doctor on Saturday to see if they thought it was due to her asthma, but they said she sounded clear.  I tried everything to calm the cough down, but nothing worked!

While we were at the Doctor Addisen got a sucker and when we got home she figured out how to keep it away from Ryder!

I looked over and just laughed...she was pretty smart!

Jim and Brody headed to the cottage while we stayed home.  Addisen enjoyed lounging on my bed and watching her shows!

Halloween Fun!

Addisen and Brody had a lot of fun carving pumpkins this year!  Addisen liked to get the guts out!  She was prepared for how slimy they were because she made pumpkin seeds earlier this week at daycare.

They both love to use the drill and then pound in the pegs!  I should look for another set of these, it will be difficult to share among the three of them next week!

We were lucky this year that no one wanted a special carving of a princess or buzz light year!  Just some easy jack o lantern faces!

Ryder was a good cheerleader!

 

Everyone is looking a little stressed in this picture...about 2 minutes earlier Ryder almost took a head first fall off the porch!  So mommy yelled "hold on to him tight!"

Brody made it easy for us this year for Halloween - he wanted to wear the same costume as last year!  Luckily I bought it a little big so it still fit!

We had fun at his Halloween party.  The kids did a parade through the Gym for the parents (it would have been outside but it was raining).  Then we played some games in his classroom and had snacks!

Ryder was the skunk this year!  He didn't venture out for any trick or treating due to the rain.  Instead he stayed home to pass out the candy with Grandma and Bobo.

 

Brody was being silly!

Everyone was dressed up and ready to go!

 

We met up with Brody's friend Aaron (also a blue batman) and trick or treated in his neighborhood.  It rained the whole time but that didn't stop the kids from having a lot of fun!  You can't even see Addisen's mermaid costume because it is tucked up under her coat!

 

They sure made out with a lot of candy!

Marathoners!

Ryder was trying out his new sweatshirt before we left for Brody's Marathon!

The two runners in our family!  What a great weekend seeing them both achieve what they set out for!

It was a rainy day for Brody's Marathon completion on Saturday.  Addisen and Ryder were troopers through it!  Ryder couldn't be seen because he was under the poncho in the stroller!

Brody was going to run the 1.2 miles himself, but then with the rain and all of the people he decided to have dad come along!

Go Brody!

We are so proud of him!  I know Jim took a lot of pride in having his son want to run in his footsteps!  Brody was very proud of himself too!

On Sunday we were off to watch Jim run in his 3rd Grand Rapids Marathon.  It was a cold morning but we wouldn't miss it for anything!  Grandma and Bobo joined me to help manage the kids and all of the stops!  Bobo is becoming a pro at driving us around!

High Fives!

The two best cheerleaders on the course!

Run Daddy Run!

 

It was a race to the finish line for us spectators!  We took a wrong turn and ended up getting there with only about 2 minutes to spare.  Jim called (yes he is crazy...he uses his bluetooth headset to call me while he runs!) to tell me that Brody could run to the finish line with him.

Brody was scared to try to run fast enough but I'm glad he decided to try!  This will be a picture they will cherish for a long time!

We all made it!

Daddy and his biggest fans!