Aidan's Family Party

We celebrated Aidan's birthday with our families the day after his friends party. Gram and Dzia hosted our family along with Memaw, Pepaw, Uncle Drew, Uncle Ross and Aunt Ash-a-ley for some pizza, cake, and presents.

Big man cleaned up pretty well as he came away with some really cool "Toy Story", Colts, and Dragon stuff. Here is Aidan looking pretty cute rockin' away in my Gram's rocking chair - the same one I used to rock him in when he was itty bitty:
In the true spirit of being a kid, posing for the obligatory picture when he gets clothes:

Squeezin' on two of his new best friends, Buzz and Woody:

About to blow out the candle on the Batman cake Gram and Dzia got for him. See the REALLY bright blue piped icing on the edges? That turned the kids' poo nuclear green a couple days later. Why am I telling you this? In case my readers who are parents have this experience with their own kids, they won't freak out:

Aunt Ash-a-ley, Ava, Uncle Ross, Aidan, and Buzz:

Carvin' Pumpkins

Last weekend we held our annual Kimble family pumpkin carvin'. To keep with our tradition, we chose a nice round and fat pumpkin and one tall and skinny pumpkin. Sean and I have had this thing each year since we've been married to carve a jack-o-lantern on one, and a character on the other.

The kids always like to watch and help pull the "guts" out. Here they are watching Daddy intently:

The finished product! We opted for a witch on our character pumpkin, so I found this design online and sketched it on the pumpkin for Sean to carve (that's always been our system):

And the mean jack-o-lantern. He's meant to scare off any young hooligans and/or scary spirits:

The "group shot":

Aidan's Friends Party

For Aidan's 'friends' party, we headed to "Monkey Joe's" for some indoor jumping fun! We had the party on a Friday night, and it went really well! All the kids ran and jumped non-stop, and when it was time to reconvene in the party room, they all stopped what they were doing and marched right into our room for cupcakes and ice cream.

Those kids partied like pros and none of them seemed phased by even the tallest of slides.

After making lots of delicious cupcakes for Ross & Ashley's wedding, I enlisted the help of Memaw to make some yummy "Devilishly Good" chocolate cupcakes with homemade butter cream icing - complete with "Toy Story 3" liners and decorations. They were soooo good - kids and adults alike gobbled them up:
Ava and Emma on one of the jumps - pretty girls!:

The birthday boy zipping down one of the slides:

L to R: Logan, Ava, Ian, Aidan on the obstacle course:

Don't mean to brag, but we think Ava's pretty beautiful. And how do we know others know that too? To date, there have been three confirmed accounts of our friends' boys carrying a picture of her around their respective homes. I won't name names, but in this jump, Parker followed Ava and did every thing she did (they were running into the "poles" and bouncing off as hard as they could):

All the cute kiddos stuffing their faces with yummy treats:

A special thanks to all who attended to help celebrate our little guy's big day!

Pumpkin Party

Every year, Ava's preschool does a Pumpkin Party where the parents are invited to come and participate in all sorts of fall activities with their kiddo. I wasn't able to go last year, so Sean got to have all the fun. This year, however, Mommy got to go and hand with little miss.

We went on a hayride out to the "pumpkin patch" where each kid got to choose a pumpkin to take home. Here we are on the hayride:

Ava and her best school friend Ella showing off their gourds:

After the hayride, we went inside to do some really cute crafts - including this pumpkin (which she named Ella):

We strung beads to make a really cute Halloween necklace:

Ava modeling the finished product:

Zoo Boo

This year was the first time we made it out to our zoo for the annual Zoo Boo. We had an absolutely beautiful day for the kids to get all dressed up, go see some animals, and do some safe trick-or-treating.

We went with David and Jenny and their brood, and all of the kids were wonderful (and pretty cute, if I do say so myself).

You nay notice a super hero theme - Ava and Aidan both independently decided to be Batgirl and Batman, Ian dressed as Ironman, Katie was "Catwoman", and Logan was a hero in his own right dressed as a fireman.

L to R: Logan, Katie, Ian, Aidan, Ava:
Monkey see, monkey do (ALL the time!):

I love this picture because Aidan's costume is a bit snug and I think he looks simply adorable. I had to buy the toddler size, because the only other size offered was big kids:

The cheetahs were very active that night. She looks like she wants to nibble on my kid:

Happy 3rd Birthday, Little Man

Strange as it may seem, our little man is officially 3 years old. To say "time flies" would be a huge understatement. When did the little pumpkin who I used to be able to hold in one arm become this big, strong, energetic boy that he is today?

Aidan definitely keeps us on our toes and is a challenge to attempt to keep up with his non-stop action - but we wouldn't have it any other way. He is the epitome of a boy in its purest form and to watch him is entertaining, to say the least.

As sassy as he can be and as hard as it is to get him to sit still at times, when he wants to be sweet and give you love, there is nothing better in the whole world. I get little chills in my heart and smile as I try to absorb every second when I'm holding him and he is playing with my hair. Something else he does that I absolutely love is say the sweetest things like, "Mommy, you're a princess". These are the times when I tell him there will never be a girl good enough for him (sorry, future daughter-in-law).

We love you, sweet little man. Our lives would not be complete without you (or Ava), and every moment we get with you is a blessing.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Gym Rats

A few weeks ago, we enrolled the kids in gymnastics classes. For Aidan, it was his first time participating in an organized sport, so it was kind of a big deal. Ava, on the other hand, continues to want to try new things in an effort to find something she really likes to do. As indecisive and athletic as these kids are, we are confident we have a couple multi-sport athletes in our future.

The first couple weeks, Aidan had a rough time adjusting. Now, he is doing a great job of listening, waiting his turn, and following instructions (the main reasons we signed him up). Ava was herself - quite the social butterfly and never afraid to try new things.

The kids liked it so much, we have signed them up for the next session! Stay tuned on Ava's cartwheel progress...

One of Aidan's favorites: The jumping track that ends in a big foam pit:
I just thought Ava looked too cute patiently waiting her turn in her cute little leotard:

The monkey swinging from the parallel bars:

One of the things that has really impressed us with Ava is her balance beam skills. This girl walks across it like it's nothing! Backwards and forwards!

A Few of our Favorites

We finally got our picture CD in the mail this week, and were able to see the results of our "photo shoot". I thought I'd share some of our favorite shots:

I think she's looking a little Liv Tyler in this one:

Big cheese:

Look closely...Sara kept Aidan's eye color:

Looking a bit angelic (where's the halo?):

Our absolute favorite pic of the kids together - probably going in the hallway:

And I think you all remember this one. I called it before - this is the one! As much as I love this in color, Aidan's cheeks are pretty pink from running around like a maniac, so we'll probably opt for black and white or sepia. And yes, this IS going above the mantle:

Annual Kimble Family Pumpkin Patch Excursion

Our insanely busy month of October was kicked off with our annual trip to our favorite local pumpkin patch. The weather was perfect, and the kids were as great as we could have hoped for.

We grabbed some awesome pumpkins and gourds (always one really round and fat one and a tall skinny one, the ones the kids pick for themselves, and extra bumpy and ugly gourds for the pets).

Here's the kiddos before scouting the perfect pumpkin (I think Aidan already has his eye on one):
The kids also got to jump on the giant jumping pillow. A big deal for Aidan, because he was too young last year:

They also got to ride ponies. Here is Ava taming the wild Diablo:

Another big deal for Aidan! Last year we attempted the pony ride for him, but he screamed and cried so much, the nice lady gave us our money back. No tears this year as he commands his pony, Chieftain:

Ava found a good one:

Aidan did choose his own smaller pumpkin, but apparently, he has other ideas:

Momma and her beautiful babies:

A Good Laugh

Some of you might be familiar with the website Etsy, but for those of you who aren't, I'll provide some context.

Etsy is a website where do-it-yourselfers peddle their wares. You can find anything from custom printed stationery to jewelry, and everything in between. Not only that, but if there is something specific you are looking for, you can find an artist you like, and ask them to create exactly what you're looking for.

Well, then there's Regretsy. This is something I found on another blog I follow. Regretsy is a book of some - how do I put this lightly - interesting finds on Etsy. When my friend Jenna showed it to me I busted out laughing.

If you're in the mood for a laugh, feel free to check some of these out!