You can tell from the pics...

This cutie turned 6!!

Madie turned 6 this year!  My oh my, my Madie girl!  She has a smile that just lights up her whole face and her laugh makes those around her laugh too!  She is our feisty child.  If looks could kill, when she gets mad...you get the point!  She is a picky eater...she LOVES Nutella, go gurts, fruit, pasta, chocolate and sugary things and hates a lot of other food.  She still takes gymnastics and bars are her absolute favorite!  She is definitely still our monkey girl!  She recently started taking ballet and is excited about her upcoming "hoppin" role in the production of Cinderella as a bunny!  Her favorite color is blue at the moment.  It changes a lot.  She is in Kindergarten and finally doing better with me leaving a little before the bell rings!  She loves Frozen and princesses.  She is a girly girl through and through!

Miss Madie, you are such a joy to have in our family!  Your beautiful brown eyes remind me of a little puppy when you want something!  Your laughter makes me smile, your stubbornness will pay off some day, and your persistence in the right things will take you far!  You are an amazing older sister to Ethan and I adore listening to you two playing together!  I love you my girly curly!

This year Blake took Madie and the other kiddos to Kids Plex to play in the play zone over Thanksgiving break!  We tried going earlier but discovered their hours had changed:( Bummer.  I had sinus and nasal reconstructive surgery  (story for another day) so I was not able to go with them.  I do know they all had a wonderful time!

Mel has done it again!

Mel from Mel's Kitchen Cafe has done it again!  Her recipe for French Bread Rolls knock it out of the park!  They are the best home made roll recipe I've made so far and I think I will be sticking with them for a long time!  They are great to have for mini sandwiches, in fact, we use them when we have zesty barbecue chicken sandwiches and hold up fabulously!  The only thing is I may have to get a bigger kitchen-aid.  I about blew mine up trying to double the recipe last time...oops!  Our family gives this recipe seven thumbs up!!

This lovely above is a Pinterest find!  And one that certainly is a favorite of ours!  We call this beauty our favorite Pretzel Jello Salad!  When I first saw it on Pinterest, it had me at cream cheese!  My hubby doesn't care much for pretzels and sweet things combined (pretzels dipped in chocolate...a big I don't think so in his book) but he even likes this one!  We have served this as part of dinner, yes dinner, and as a dessert!  It's just that yummy!  We give this one seven thumbs up also!  Woot Woot!

Click on the Names and you will be linked to the recipes!  Yum Yum!

Hocus Pocus

What do Elsa, a Girly Skeleton, Harry Potter, Little Red Riding Hood and the Little Old Man from Up have in common?  Nothing really...other than five cute kids dressing up as them!  We had a spook-tacular time with friends and tons of fun costumes!  The two oldest even got to go trick or treating with other friends and their parents this year (hence the lack of pictures...oops)!  

Ethan was the cutest little old man!  He got more compliments!  He thought Trick-or-Treating was the best thing.  All he had to do was look cute and say Trick or Treat and people gave him candy!  He even got a Hot Wheels Car at one house and another Hot Wheels Car from our friends son Isaac!  He thought he hit the jack pot...that's for sure! 

Between perfect weather and well behaved kids we had a fun and safe Halloween!

Carving it Up

Carving pumpkins with five kids!  It can take some time...that's for sure!  We had fun though and now that three of the kids are old enough to carve some of it themselves it helps in how much time it takes to carve!  Ethan thought it would be cool till he stuck his hand in!  He didn't like the feeling of the the pumpkin GUTS...EWWWW!!  We told the kids that if they wanted us to roast the seeds this year that they were going to have to help collect and de-gut the seeds.  Abby really wanted them and I can't believe how much she collected...haha!  It was great!  The others helped out a little bit but she went to town!

Happy Pre-Halloween!

We've been Boo-ed

This Fire's Not The Pits

It was the perfect amount of chill in the air after we went pumpkin picking and a fire pit was just the fun treat to end the evenings festivities!  One of Blake's favorite things to do is sit out by the fire pit and enjoy the nice evening air!  Roasting hot dogs and marshmallows was the perfect ending to a fun family night!

Q-utest Pumpkin Patch

Fall=pumpkin picking!  Woot Woot!  We had a great time picking our at the Q's Pumpkin Patch again this year!  The pictures speak for themselves!  We had a great time!