Boo Blast!

The children LOVE Halloween!
Candy, costumes and more candy!
They were all so excited to share this wonderful "event" with Ben and Joey!
Ben get's it, he gets everything!
Sweet Joey is on a different track but if he is like Abby and Madeline he will "get it" by next year!
That works for us!
Some kids just need more time and that's okay!

We kept telling Leonardo/Ben he needed to smile for the picture but he refused

; - )

Poor guy tried!

We love our local "Boo Blast"- a pre Halloween gathering near our home!
It's one of the things that makes our Halloween soooo much fun!

So nice to meet up with friends!

We have had an amazing fall this year!
And today was just as perfect as the other days have been!
It looks like we are in for a change in the weather pattern and the 31st will be very chilly...
Thankful we had so much fun today!

Minor difficulty... a few forgot to look at mom while I snapped the pic!
Hellloooo children- over here!

Many of our kids are soooo good at the hula hoop-
I don't know how they do it!

Sarah ended up winning the event!
They had to have the kids start going down on their knees, putting an arm in the hoop and so on-
in order to get a winner!

They could have gone on
F.O.R.E.V.E.R

Free hotdogs and more for lunch!

Lots of dancing and games!

Emma was not happy when we left the house- she had a few costume malfunctions but
she rose to the occasion and enjoyed the celebration!
Good job, Emma!

They played the Scooby Do theme song and everyone attacked Sarah!
She handles it well!

And the crowd grew and grew!
And the fun continued on!

Dancing!

Games!

And a candy toss!

Our traditional group picture!
We've been doing this for YEARS!
I need to put up a pic from one of our first years!

We did lots of trick and treating,
and then...

Hopped in the car and went to Johnny's game!
He scored- which is always a day maker for us!
The teams tied but it's a step in the right direction!

It was a glorious day!

And then we went to church after the game- LOVE church!
After that a very nice man offered to buy us ALL dinner at McDonalds!
What an incredibly kind and thoughtful gesture!
He was from St Cloud, MN but his family is from China and his wife is from Taiwan.
Thank you Freeman and Joyce!

They have 4 grown daughters and grandchildren!

Sarah had a few questions about his daughter -
Are your daughters Christian?
Yes, they are!

 Did their daughters marry Asian Americans or Caucasian Americans.
I think this was a good question just because
she is interested and she is trying to figure out her future.

All of their daughters married Asian Americans but we told Sarah
it doesn't matter-
either way works!
Just see where God guides you and who God guides you to!

It was a wonderful day and evening!
Feeling thankful and blessed!

Everything Emily!

Oh My, our sweet little girl is growing so fast!

She is 6 1/2 months now and I have not see her since she was 5 months old...

It hard on this Nana to go soooo long without seeing her sweet baby girl.

My goodness, I miss her so much!
I want to hold her!

Emily still has blue eyes like her to two grandmas(Evelyn and I)!

Katie and Andrew have hazel (green/brown eyes) so it was a surprise to all of us that they have stayed blue!

(all four of Katie's brothers have blue eyes, too)

These pics have been sent to me over the last 6 weeks.

They are not in chronological order.

 Since we last saw her she is now- rolling over, sitting up and pulling herself to a stand!

I know... don't say it... I've missed the best 6 weeks of her life...

She's ready for their Oktoberfest party and matching her Momma!

This pic was before she was officially sitting up.

Katie put her down for a nap (in her newborn napper) and she quickly popped up-

"What Mommy? Your leaving so soon?"

I believe this was her last nap, in the newborn napper ;-)

She has gone through quite the growth spurt lately and is weighing in at 17.5 lbs!

I think it all went to her cheeks!

JUST KIDDING KATIE!

...just kidding!

See,
she thought it was funny!

This is Emily's first cousin Greyson.
They don't look a bit alike, do they?
Haha!

We are blessed to have the technology where we can get pics of our darling girl just as it is happening! So thankful for that!
Plus, we get lots of videos too- so we can see her meet the new milestones as it happens!

Katie and her friends made these tactile boards.

I think she's gifted!
What do you think?
wink, wink!

They are ALL gifted in their own special way!!

Happy 8th Birthday Madeline!

I took the kids to build a bear to celebrate the fall(girls) birthdays!

(when allllll of the other children in the world were in school- I love that about homeschooling!)

They immediately started a game of limbo and our fun salesperson joined in!

 The kids love build a bears- no matter how old or young they are!

We brought build a bears to China with us when we adopted Mia, Melissa and Madeline.

This is the first time they got to pick out their own!

I love their choices!

First the stuffing!

Then the heart ceremony!

where we had to give our hearts lots of...

cuddles and

and brains...

and a sense of humor...

and love...

and strength!

And then give them to the bears!

Next it was bath time!

And here is the final product!
They are thrilled with their build a bears!

Then it was time for everyone to pick out an outfit!

Our salesperson was a hoot!

Lots of positive energy and tons of fun!

Everyone was happy because they got to bring something home but especially the birthday girls were thrilled!

We didn't schedule a party ahead of time just took the kids into the store but we pretty much got a party out of it!

Next it was lunch at Friday's!

And they sang their Happy Birthday song!

Madeline opened her presents at home!

HaPpY BiRtHdAy

Madeline!

Which one is the birthday girl?

She is allll girl and loves everything fancy!

So sparkle pink pants and a sequin vest worked for her!

Along with clip on earings and a jewelry box!

A fashion drawing set is fun to do, too!

Especially when you have some older sisters that want to do it with you!

The ice cream cake has a picture from Frozen!
It's hard to see on this picture.

Johnny is home with pneumonia so he joined us for the celebration.

Belting out the 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY 

song!

Sweet girl had a hard time blowing out the candles.

With 6 candles still lit - she has lots of boyfriends!

I think one reason is because she has verbal apraxia.

He mouth doesn't always do what she wants it to do.

But eventually she got the job done (with a little help... Ava)!

The celebration was a success and once again we have another darling 8 yr old!
Praise GOD!