Halloween 2015

Hey folks! It has been wayyyy too long. I partly blame my recent binge watching of House of Cards, but also life, as always, has been crazy- crazy wonderful, of course.

Here's my long overdue Halloween post!

When Nicholas was born we started a tradition of inviting over friends and family for Halloween. We are lucky to have a great neighborhood. The houses are close together and we get approximately 100+ trick or treaters. It is SO fun to watch, we even had a great time before Nicholas was born. This year Nick's brother and wife came over with the kiddos as well as our friends Matt & Jen and their daughter Eva, my Mom was visiting, and Nick's parents and sister stopped in to see everyone as well.

Nicholas went back and forth a lot on his costume (Iron Man, Superman, Wolverine, a super dino robot....) and one day he pulled out his Superman shirt today and I said "how about you be Superman for Halloween?" And it was settled! My brother Erik has bought his costume every year and this year was no exception. The costumer came in and Nicholas was in love, haha. I let him try it on but then had to hide it so he didn't ruin it before Halloween came.

Also, Teddy's birthday falls on Halloween so we celebrated his big day as well. <3 Here are some pictures of the night.

Halloween 2014

Halloween 2014= Great success! Dan and Kingsley came over with the kiddos and Nana and Papou stopped by for a minute to say hello. Our friends Matt and Jen also came over with their daughter Eva (who made the most adorable mouse)! We took the kiddos around the block and then decorated cookies. Thankfully Nicholas didn't have too much candy (I don't ever give him candy). He put up a bit of a fight going to bed, so hopefully he gets a good night's sleep.

It was fun to watch Nicholas this year, he was definitely less afraid and more willing to run up and say "trick or treat", then he liked being handed the candy so he could put it in the bag himself. He was full of energy, as always, and I loved watching him every minute. So many people commented on how cute he was and for some reason he went up to one woman and just hugged her to say hello (he had never met her before). She looked a little like my Mom so maybe he thought that it was her :) Quinton, Teddy, and Alice were all so adorable and excited as well. Quinton would run up yelling TRICK OR TREAT and THANK YOU! And sweet Teddy walked with Kingsley's Dad and really enjoyed himself.

I say it all the time you guys, but- Life is Good. :)

xoxo

LHS Come.Sip.Stay

Last weekend I helped out at the LHS beer and wine tasting fundraiser, entitled Come.Sip.Stay. I feel so very fortunate to be a part of an awesome group of people. The event was a great success that raised several thousands to support animals in need. I cannot urge you all enough- if you have or find a cause that is important to you, and have the ability to help, go out and do something about it. xoxo

Halloween 2013

Nicholas had a great second Halloween. The first one was pretty mellow since he was just learning to sit up and would pretty much fall over at every attempt to take pics in his costume. For example, here he is last year:

And here he is this year:

He was very intrigued by the children running everywhere and had a wonderful time. We went to about 20-30 houses and he smiled and laughed the whole time. There were a few kids who bumped into him and knocked him over...but he brushed it off no problem. I had to carry him a bit so he didn't get lost in the shuffle, and I'm pretty sure my right bicep is now much buffer than the left one.

My parents were visiting for the week and as usual, Nicholas made them laugh constantly. Here are a few pictures from their visit:

Halloween Preview

...that is all.

Smolak Farms

My brother Erik and his husband Joe visited this past weekend and we had an awesome time. It is always so great to see them and I'm so thankful they are building a relationship with Nicholas. On Sunday we participated in the Steps for Pets Fundraiser for the Lowell Humane Society. I volunteered for the event and although it felt great to help, I would like to and hope to be able to do more in the future. I made a good connection with one of the workers there and I'm hoping when my Mom visits I will have some free time to spend there and help them out with office work.

Today Erik, Joe, Nicholas and I went to Smolak Farms for pumpkin picking. Unfortunately Nick had to work so I'm hoping to go back there as a family and get another exorbitantly expensive pumpkin (it was worth it to see the little dude running around in the pumpkin patch though).

Here are some pics of our adventures today:

We started at the ducks and I knew instantly he was going to enjoy himself

This was probably his favorite guy, a huge animal but very sweet and gentle when he was fed (I fed him a lot too and had to remind myself to give Nicholas food because I enjoyed it so much!)

A perpetually smiling goat. Also adorable!

Chatting with the big guy

Being chased by Uncle Joe

More conversations with this guy. He honestly just sat down and start jabbering away.

An apple tree with pumpkins hanging from it- cute idea and a great photo op!

He only tried to pick up the heaviest pumpkins

My pumpkin smiling

He insisted on walking Bella in the pumpkin patch. She was not amused :)

My handsome bro with his pumpkin of choice

NOT a fan of pictures with Mom