Happy Halloween!!!

Happy Halloween!!!

As you might have guessed, Halloween is a pretty fun time around here! We have so much fun thinking about our costumes and getting into the Halloween spirit. One of our favorite traditions is going to Zoo Boo. The girls get to wear their costumes and go trick-or-treat through the zoo while seeing all their favorite animals. 

The theme this year is BIRDS. I love that the girls are into matching costumes and I really hope that it's something that we can continue through the years.

I love how Lo's costume came out! She really wanted to be a peacock, "but a girl peacock that is colorful because you know the boys are really the pretty ones but I want to be a pretty girl." It required absolutely NO SEWING...just A LOT of tulle and hot glue!

The headband is one of my favorite parts! Lo took one look at it and said, "Cute, but you know peacocks don't wear peacocks on their heads right?"

She loves all the sparkles and twirliness of her tutu and I love that she loves it!

Noa's owl required a little sewing and A LOT of cutting of ovals! She wanted to be a pink owl and I think Mommy delivered.

With all the corduroy and her cozy hat she'll be the warmest of the bunch trick-or-treating.

We all had a great time at the zoo! GG was even so generous and shared all his candy with Mommy and Daddy.

Another family tradition is the carving of the pumpkins. Honestly it's not my thing so I am happy to let the hubby run the show and he and the girls have a blast. There is lots of planning and drafting involved. It's a very extensive process. This year the girls decided on a larger family pumpkin instead of individual pumpkins. 

Have a happy, happy Halloween! It's supposed to be cold and rainy here in Indy, but that won't stop my flock of birdies! We're looking forward to a large loot of yummy candy that Mommy can steal while the kids are at school...shhhhhh they'll never know!

Fall Fun At The Pumpkin Patch

Thank you all so much for your input on our family picture! While it was pretty close, the "winner" was the full color photo. I can't wait to get it printed and up in our house! The backdrop for the photo was our trip to the pumpkin patch. Like most families it's been an annual tradition and each year we've been in Indy we've visited a new patch. This year we checked out Pumpkinfest in Zionsville and I think it may be our new patch! Even though it was a little bit of a drive, the whole family agreed that it was a ton of fun! The girls loved all the activities and the hubby and I loved the price (why does it cost a fortune to go to the pumpkin patch lately?!?!?!). We paid to get into the patch which included all the activities except the pony rides. Each child under 12 even gets a small pie pumpkin to decorate and take home. The day we went was unseasonable warm so it was pretty crowded, but it didn't seem crowded. There was plenty for everyone to do. It was a great day full of family memories!

I had "warned" everyone that I wanted to get a few family pics-mainly one of all three kids together and of course, our family picture. I thought it was best to get the kids shot out of the way first. G had just been fed so he was fairly happy and I knew once the girls got into their fun they wouldn't want to stop. We got a few good ones-as I've said before, it's near impossible getting everyone to look at the camera at the same time so as long and they are looking forward and their eyes are open I'm happy!

 GG was tired of being propped up by pumpkins!

There were so many activities for the kids!!! You could see the huge slide from the road. Noa wanted to do that one first!

 Logan picked the hayride as her first activity.

The girls have never met an arts and crafts table they didn't like. They had a great time decorating their pumpkins. I loved that there was even a drying table so we didn't have to carry the pumpkins around while we were enjoying all the other fun activities.

The big bikes were also a huge hit! That area was utter craziness!

There was even a little "train" for the kids to ride.

Daddy was so nice to wait in line TWICE for face painting so they could get both cheeks painted.

GG was there too...he was such a good baby! This is what he thinks about not being able to do any of the fun activities!

There was even an area full of wooden animals and hay bales to climb. It's no wonder that Noa crashed as soon as we were in the car!

There was a little snack area with live music and even a few more areas that we didn't even get to. SO MUCH FUN! We will definitely be back next fall!

This is my favorite picture of the day. Not because it's a great quality picture, but because it is so sweet and spontaneous! It wasn't planned or posed, Lo just took her little sister's hand and I was fortunate to have my camera ready.

A Family Picture (FINALLY)!!!

If you've been following me for awhile you've probably noticed that I'm not a big fan of being in-front of the camera. My friends joke about my "Facebook approval process" for posting pictures of me. We don't need to go into my personal neurosis, but clearly I like to be in control and BEHIND the camera. 

Since it has been over 4 years since we had professional family pics taken and 2 years since we had one of all of us that I deemed "hang worthy," I declared that we needed a new family picture!

This weekend we all headed to the pumpkin patch and I was determined to get a decent family picture. Not an easy task with our bunch...G can barely hold up his own head so getting him to look at the camera is near impossible. Noa is in that weird pose phase and no matter what, Nate always seems to have his eyes closed (hence his sunglasses) . 

It's always a little bit awkward asking a stranger to take your picture...You want to give them some direction, but not too much...and how many pictures is it acceptable to ask them to take? The spot we selected for the family pic was VERY popular. Not only was it the only place without sunlight (so no shadows on faces) but it had a huge red tractor that every kid in the patch was drawn to. The line was long. We waited our turn. There was a dad with older children ahead of us. I politely asked him if he'd like us to take a picture of him with his kids (hoping he'd return the favor, which of course he did). I could tell he was my guy because he was taking his time, making sure his kids were in the right position and wanted to get the right shot. He got a few good ones of us and what do you know! We're ALL looking at the camera!  WOO HOO!!!

So here's where you come in...which picture do you like better? I've been playing around with my editing software and came up with the two versions below. I like each one for different reasons and we're having a little trouble deciding which one we want to have printed. Tell me what you think! Seriously, I want to know!!!

Take 1

Take 2