Tree trimming

We love our friends!

 After William's soccer class, we had the good fortune of hanging out with some awesome people.

 

 

And the really good fortune of meeting Sara's new beautiful baby, Francesca.

My little soccer stud

 William has been in soccer since September.  He was technically only two when he began, but since he is just as big or bigger than the other kids, I don't think anyone really minds.

 

 

 He has grown so much in only 2 months.  He actually looks small to me here.

 

 

 Check out those skills  :)

 

 

 He really enjoys these classes, and I really, really like his coach.  I feel like between preschool and soccer, we made such a huge leap with William this year.  He went from being my tag-along buddy to a little one with his own activities and agenda, just as it should be.

 

 

Cutest little distractor ever :)

One of my other favorite days this year....

Outdoor lunch with the family on a sunny Sunday (in September)

Labor day weekend

 I have a backlog of pictures from this year that I will try to get to when time allows.  These pictures are from Labor Day weekend.  We spent the day at mom & dad's cabin, and I can honestly say this was one of my favorite days of the entire year.  There was no hustle and bustle...just some laid back fun with family.  Good times.

 

 

 Mom and dad bought this land a long, long time ago.  It remained untouched for many years, but you can bet that my dad envisioned what you see today from the time he bought it.  It took many years to come to fruition - with the pond, the cabin, the pole barn, deer stand (and still things yet to come...), but I think it is an awesome example of dreams fulfilled.  It is also a good lesson for those not in a position to fulfill all their dreams just yet that good things do come to those who wait (and work hard and plan ahead)!

 

 

 The cabin and pole barn

 

 

 Inside view of the cabin

 

 

 Lily caught a teeny, tiny little frog - like father, like daughter.

 

 

 Roasting marshmallows over the fire pit

 

 

 Our big boy getting the hang of it

 

 

 That is one happy guy on his tractor, in his element.  (His shirt says, "TGIF - Thank God I'm Frank", by the way.)

 

 

 Tractor ride!

 

 

 Someday, little man....  Dream big!

 

 

Zoo Day

 The weather was absolutely beautiful today, and I can't think of any better place to spend a gorgeous day than the St. Louis Zoo.  These are a few pictures from our day.

 

 

 We made sure to make a special visit to the giraffes in honor of a very special little boy, Grant H.

 

 

School Halloween Party

 Guess who was in charge of the decorations for Lily's class Halloween party?

 

 

 And guess who was up at midnight put glitter names on placemats?  Only this crazy mom.

 

 

 I really liked these little sayings in the glass containers.  The beautiful thing about shopping for decorations the day before Halloween is everything is half-off!

 

 

 The snack table

 

 

 Halloween parade

 

 

 The Sugar Plum Fairy and her best friend, Bat Girl

 

 

Playing a game with friends.  These three were in Kindergarten together too.  I love Lily's school, and we will be sad to leave it next year.

Halloween

 We had several Halloween events, or really more importantly, several opportunities to dress up.  They had a superhero day at school during spirit week so Lily went as Catwoman.

 

 

 Ingrid took the kids to Boo at the Zoo.  It was really cold that day so we had to do costumes that would work with coats.  Lily went as Rudolph, and William was an engineer.

 

 

 On Halloween night, Lily and William went out as the Sugar Plum Fairy and the Nutcracker.  Emilia stayed with mom & dad and handed out candy. 

 

 

 I thought this was one of our best years yet.  William was at that super-fun age of "getting" Halloween and LOVING the concept!  He was so excited.  He would yell "Thank you!" and "Happy halloween!" at every house.

 

 

 Dad partaking in a candy cigarette

 

 

 Lily was in two parades this fall with her dance school.  For this parade, they dressed up for Halloween.  The colors of her dance school are pink and black, and I thought her sock hop dress was appropriate for a dance school.

 

 

 The original costumes planned for Halloween were Clara (Lily), the Nutcracker (William) and the Sugar Plum Fairy (Emilia) (pictured below).

 

 

The stars of the show