November 2014

November 2014

We started the month of November by heading to Columbus to meet some dear friends at an indoor water park.  The kids had a great time playing together and in the water - but the adults found the water quite cold so we didn't enjoy it as much :)  We did have a great time catching up around the fire once the kids were in bed!

Pictures from Grace's 5th birthday party:

 I celebrated 1 year post gastric surgery and lost a total of 130 lbs and the nutritionist said that I lost 15 of these 5 lb "fat" samples.  What a year this has been!

We completed our tradition of decorating for Christmas the Friday before Thanksgiving.  We were blessed enough to have my mom, sister and her husband around while we decorated.  It was nice to start off the holiday season with family.

We enjoyed two visits from Grandma this month!  We LOVE when she comes to visit :)

Thanksgiving with the Vandervaarts included a Turkey Trot in the morning, an intense Connect Four tournament and lots of yummy food and good conversation!

We spent the last evening in November writing letters to Santa!  We also introduced our kids to Elf and made homemade popcorn.  We are proud that they like the movie "Elf" as much as we do! :)

One Sunday after church, we took the kids to Olive Garden.  We weren't considering how messy the spaghetti would be, but we had a great family lunch!

We got family pictures taken in mid-November.  We were very pleased with the way they turned out and the kids always appreciate the reward (a Panera cookie) after good smiles!

November was a wonderful family filled month with visitors, birthday parties and holiday preparation.  As you can see, our kids are growing up quickly and we are trying to embrace every moment.  

Thanks for checking in on us! :)

October 2014

We started the month of October with a visit from Aunt Beth and Uncle Matt.  We had a great time hanging out around the house and played a couple intense games of hide and go seek.  Beth and Matt were troopers and let the kids paint their nails and decorate their hair.  We are always thankful when my family makes the trip over to see us.

 The next weekend, I made the trip back to Ohio by myself to walk at 'Light the Night" which is an annual walk we do in memory of my dad.  It was a very sentimental night and I really enjoyed being able to spend some relaxing time with my family without trying to juggle three kiddos.

The final weekend in October, we headed back to Indy.  Pete and I head a little overnight getaway and drove up to Purdue.  We were able to catch up with a couple of friends in Indy and up at Purdue and we had a relaxing 24 hours away.  When we got back, we went on a shopping spree to get some new clothes.  It was a "one year post surgery" shopping spree and it was fun.  I'm usually not one for shopping, but it was one of the most fun times I have ever had shopping!  While in Indy, we celebrated my uncle and Grace's birthdays.  I always love visits home and look forward to heading home for the holidays.

No October would be complete without Halloween of course.  One of my friends from work made "Elsa" costumes for Claire and Grace.  Jake protected his big sisters by dressing up as Batman.  The weather was perfect for trick or treating, but Grace and Jake were tired after about 1 hour.  Grace was so tired, Claire carried her bag up to the houses since it was "too heavy" for poor little Grace :)  I took the younger two home and Pete took Claire to a few more houses.  Pete relived his childhood and scurried across the street to the bigger houses in hopes of scoring full size candy bars!

I was fortunate enough to help with Grace and Jake's "Harvest Celebration".  I helped paint and do art with Jake and his class and then read his class a story.  Afterwards, I went to Grace's class and read them a story.

Pictures from Beth and Matt's visit:

ELSA #1 and #2

Pictures from Light the Night:

Pictures from our trip to Indy:

Happy Halloween

Harvest Celebration at Grace and Jake's School: