Annual Halloween Party!!

We have started to host an annual Halloween party at our house and it all started by chance 3 years ago when we had just first moved into this neighborhood.  Several friends called us that year on the day of Halloween to ask if we could be Trick-or-Treating and if they could join us.  Of course we love to host and we said "Yes of course!".  John came home with a bunch of pizzas that year and we headed out!  Last year, I made a quick chicken sandwich recipe and the party grew! This year, we had an even bigger group and everyone brought some food to share!  It was a hit: a totally busy, wacky, crazy night with lots of fun!

Nana even came over since my dad was away on business.  She got to enjoy the crazy with us!

The boys LOVED being Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - they played the part well!

and Eden was a perfectly adorable little owl!

Bennett wore that owl costume when he was one, so my mom just doctored it up with some pink and some long eyelashes for Eden.  :)

With so many little kids, it was such a fun night!  They were all so cute in their costumes!

Eden latched onto Mollie for the night!!  Mollie didn't complain: she loves owls (and Eden!)  ;)

John finally remembered to bring home some crazy clothes so he could dress up.  Of course he wouldn't miss a chance!

Here's Benny showing off our pumpkins!

Eden wasn't so sure about all the kids playing with her stuff.  Here's our friend Adeline.

Eden turned out to be quite the little ham...even cozying up to David!

Finally the best part of the night arrived!  The boys were so excited they could not even eat their dinner...they were waiting to Trick-or-Treat!  I think it was the first year they were really excited for it.

Maricella and her adorable little ones!!

Mollie and Eden; Adeline and Nic

We were quite a crew - with so many tiny ones!  It was a sight!

The weather turned out to be pretty cold so many turned in early after just a few houses.  Our kids are the oldest, so they wanted to make a turn around the block while the others headed back.

The boys did a great job and they stuck together!!

Me and my "Foo-foo", as Eden calls it!!

Eden got brave near the end and wanted to be sure she didn't miss out...she went with the boys up to the doors!!

And when we were too cold to keep going, we turned in...and immediately enjoyed treats!!

Thanks for coming, Nana!!

Thanks to all our friends for joining us for our fun night!!

Try Hockey for Free Day

Today was a BIG day.  BIG.  HUGE.  A day we have been waiting for ever since I put it on the calendar over a month ago: "Try Hockey for Free Day".  Logan kept saying "I'm gonna try hockey for free on Nov 2"! to anyone who would listen.  Since we've been on the fence about getting started in hockey, we thought this would be the perfect chance to let the boys feel what its like to have all the gear and the on the ice.

Logan was just so excited and Bennett loved trying on the pads because he felt "like a transformer".  But Bennett didn't get much further before he decided that was enough of that crazy gear.  He'd watch instead.

The day was well organized and the Parks & Rec had all the gear set out for kids to borrow.  We brought the boys' skates and they were given a cool jersey to keep, but they borrowed pads.

When did Logan become a teenager?!  He looks so old here...its like a flash forward to a big kid with big muscles or something.

And what is this?!  I mean I never knew all the crazy stuff you had to do to get your gear on.  Personally, I am not interested in doing the whole get-up for the kids every week.

THRILLED!!!!

Logan getting on the news.  :)

Eden getting all kinds of germs from gross machines that Mommy doesn't let her touch.  Ewww!

And just like that (after 30 minutes of gear putting on) Logan was on the ice.  It was tricky to get used to skating with all the pads, but it didn't take him long to warm up.

They had some coaches and parents and older hockey players helping the kids.  They even asked John to get on the ice to help out since they had a big turn out of kids today.

Before we knew it, Logan was skating around with a puck he had rounded up.

And looking' good!!

Our friend William was there, too!

"Its AWESOME!"

After seeing all the fun, Benny decided he wanted to give it a try, so I asked someone to help us get dressed.

Bennett wanted to use this pusher-thing, so that was perfect for him.

John helped with a helmet

and off they went!

Brothers chatting it up on the ice!

Logan liked to hang by the goal and shoot!

Bennett decided he was done and we were so proud of him for trying!  He did awesome out there!!  Really brave to go out on the ice with all that gear when he isn't super comfortable on skates yet.  Way to go Benny!

While Bennett got his gear off, Logan continued his favorite part: shooting goals.

After the 1.5 hours was up, we headed into the next arena to see the BluGolds women's team play and have a little snack.  

It was a fun day for our family!