Trick or Treat 2016

Last weekend we attended the Euro Car Fest in Greenville. They had a great little photo op set up with hay & pumpkins. It's the first year I didn't have to take the boys to a pumpkin patch to get a fall photo. They loved the cars. It got us in the mood for driving a race car at Halloween.

Our neighbors host a wonderful party each Halloween at 5 pm. They have pizza, desserts, drinks, and a great play set in the backyard for the kids. All of the neighbors gather with their kids dressed up to eat before dark. We took the boys to the party and then came home to get their little red car. It's much nicer to trick-or-treat with a car than a stroller. Plus Darth Vader and Captain Phasma (head stormtrooper) need a cool ride.

 Our neighbors "booed" us and gave the boys light sabers (glow sticks). 

I ordered Vince's Chewbacca coat months ago. Needless to say, the 80 degree weather rendered it useless. We took our customary photos and then Vince ditched the jacket.

 I was R2D2.

 The boys did great in their costumes. Evan wore his mask for less than 1 second.  Alex loved wearing his every day but opted to not wear it at night because he couldn't see well out of it.

We were able to see lots of neighbors and rang many doorbells.  Evan took a nap after about 5 houses, so Alex and I collected the candy from the neighbors. Everyone was so generous. I prepackaged some bags of candy and left them on the front step with a sign to take one. I had to refill it only twice. We did not get our usual crowd of kids bused in from other areas, so we had tons of candy left over.  We had a very productive Halloween!

2016 Fall Family Fun

I found some photos of fun things we did this past fall and had forgotten to post earlier. We went to the Children's Museum in Hendersonville, NC during their apple festival in September.

We had a fun cookout with friends in September in Greenville.

We also went to another children's museum in October in Greenville, SC.  The boys love love love children's museums. My sister, Kim, and my mom joined me with the boys.

The boys had farmer's day at school in October.

My birthday

My birthday fell on a Tuesday this year. We had school & work as usual. My co-workers did serenade me at my desk shortly after I got to work. We ate at Bangkok Thai for my birthday lunch. I then treated myself to a late afternoon massage at the mall. Vince got me two new purses and a protector cover for my Kitchenaid mixer that prevents splatters. My parents gave me a future dinner at the Piedmont Club (yum!!), and my in laws gave me some cash, which I promptly spent on clothes at the mall. Vince got home just in time to take me and the boys out to dinner at City Range. I had a great steak dinner, and an overall nice birthday!

Family Pictures 2016

This year we decided to dress in jeans and white shirts for our yearly pictures. The last several years we wore nice pants and sweaters that coordinated. Vince wanted them informal this year, and I was happy to comply. Hurricane Matthew threatened our weekend and made landfall on Friday. However, it is always beautiful weather right after huge storms, so we didn't cancel the photo shoot. I'm so glad we didn't. The weather was in the 70s and sunny - perfect! Jessie met us at a local college campus. This was also different from our usual backyard back drop. I'm always amazed at how quickly and effortlessly she captures our boys. The pictures turned out fabulous, as always.