Decorating the Tree

 Today we put up our tree!!  YAY!!!!!  Thanksgiving was so late this year and I just couldn't put it up before but we have been waiting and waiting to do it!!  I love having the tree up.  Sometimes I just sit in the living room with the lights off just enjoying the twinkle of the tree.  It really is the best time of the year!!  We used our fake tree that I got in 2010 when we had the bug fiasco.  It has one section of lights out but that was easily remedied with a $2 string of lights from Target.  A live tree is just one thing I cannot handle during deployment.  Not only the watering of it but the choosing, bringing home, setting up in the house and not having another adult to assist (or me to assist while Brendan does all the work).  The fake tree is easy and fun and goes up quickly with no mess or fuss.  I LOVE it!!

Happy Thanksgiving!

 We had a nice quiet Thanksgiving weekend!  On Thursday we celebrated with our neighbors at lunch, roasted marshmallows, took a rest and then went back over to their house for round two at dinner!  It was great!! 

First Snow!!!

 It snowed a little bit today!!  It actually stuck and Aoife was totally excited!  Declan thought it was really cool but he was a little confused at first.  Once he realized that he could catch the snowflakes and put them in his mouth his thought they were awesome!! 

Declan loves this hat that he's wearing.  It's really soft and he actually kept it on! 

Aoife loves this Snow White dress - she wears it almost everyday after she comes home from school!!

Thanksgiving at Lucas Elementary

 Last week I went in with Declan and Aoife to eat Thanksgiving lunch with Aidan and Emmy.  They don't have the same lunch time (of course) so we were there for about an hour and a half.  Declan actually did fine - mostly thanks to Aidan's friend, Lance.  He loves Declan and played with him for about 20 minutes!! 
The food was typical school cafeteria food.  It's actually a good idea to go in and eat in the school because it reminds  me how important it is for my kids to bring lunch.  The food that they get there is just gross!!

Emmy and Aoife:

Aidan with his friends: Connor, Josh and Lance

Declan's Belated Cake

 Since we were in Disney for Declan's actual birthday, we never had a real birthday cake!!  I made one for my birthday and we made it into Declan's!!  I think 13 1/2 month olds appreciate cake more than 12 month olds!  He loved the cake and totally ate a huge piece!  What a cutie!!!

Sparklers and a Firepit

 We love hanging out with our neighbors!  They are so fun AND they are the only other people on the street who come out of their house!!!!  To finish up the long weekend, we had a special school night firepit and Monica brought out sparklers!!  There is something magical about them for sure!  Happy Fall!!!

A Visit from the NC Cullinans

 Amanda, Chase, Brody and Bryna drove from NC to visit us for the weekend!  We had a great time keeping the kids BUSY!  One day we went over to the museum on post, which was closed, but we got to run around outside and climb on all the big guns.  It was probably for the best that the museum wasn't open!!! 

 All the cousins on the porch:

 At the Chinese Buffet - they gave us our own room! 

Declan the Lollipop Thief

I must have dropped a lollipop on the floor when I was transferring Halloween candy to our candy jar.  Declan disappeared into the laundry room and I found him gnawing on this lollipop in a pile of shoes.  I'm not quite sure why the phrase "taking candy from a baby" means something easy!!!!

A Visit from Gramma!

 Gramma came to visit us this week!  We had so much fun going to the park, eating out and we even went to the zoo before we took her to the airport on Monday.  We hope we see you soon!!!!!

Basketball

 Aidan and Emmy started basketball season a few weeks ago.  These are a few pictures from their first games.  Both teams did great and Aidan and Emmy both look like they are having a blast out on the court!  They have a lot to learn but it makes me so happy to watch them.  It is so fun!

Happy Halloween 2013

 Trick or Treating was great this year!  Last year I was stuck at home with Declan since it was freezing and he was 5 weeks old but this year the temperatures were really nice!  The kids didn't even have to wear coats over their costumes!!!  Gramma came out with us and it was nice to have an extra set of hands.  They were really good about staying together this year - not like 2 years ago when Aoife kept getting lost!!! 
They got a pretty good haul of candy but wanted to also hand out candy so they went through their bags and sorted out regiftable candy.  They had so much fun sitting on the porch giving out candy.  I think they had more fun doing that than walking around getting it!

Here is the picture I took the day before Halloween - just to make sure that we actually got a picture!

Trick or Treating ended up being postponed by a day because of a crazy rain storm! So we went door to door on the 1st of November - I don't think the kids cared AT ALL!