SNOW

 Our city became a winter wonderland. Hardly any leaves had fallen, and it made for many heavy trees and broken branches.

 We also lost this tree in our front yard.

 Branches from the neighbor's trees.

 Helping.

 Cleaning up the mess.

 

The city is supposed to come by and take away the limbs. There are piles like this all over town. They said that saws and most saw accessories are sold out in every store in Fort Collins. For those who haven't seen our house, ours is on the left with the cream colored paint.

Party time

 

 We invited a few friends over for a little Halloween birthday/costume party. It was fun and we had a lot of fun preparing the week before as well. Gracie and Gunner helped me make the pumpkin pinata and I think it might need to be a yearly tradition. It was a lot of fun. I stuck a giant spider in there, along with candy, some spider rings, and some fake worm snakes. I love spookiness:)

 The people who helped me pull of the party. I would have been in way over my head.

 The demolished pinata.

These were the poison apple cupcakes. Gracie was really worried about me making them. She said, "Mom, none of my friends are going to eat those if they think they are going to die." I think of all the scary looking cupcakes I have made, these spoke the "scary language" of little girls the best.I had lots of worried looks. I'm glad they could be pretty AND spooky.

It's great to be 5

  How did Gracie get to be so old? We love her and are so happy to have her bright spirit in our family.

 The day was full of all kinds of things that I've told her she can do on her birthday. Whenever we go to the grocery store, she asks for a donut and I say, "maybe on your birthday". I say the same thing when she asks, "can we go to McDonalds and play at the play place?". So... the special day rolled around and the poor girl finally got a donut and finally got to go to McDonalds. As we left the play place she stopped at every table and told them, "It's my birthday today, and I'm 5 years old."

 Before opening some presents. Her teacher made the cute crown. She did get a little sad during the day and asked if she was really 5 because she is only as tall as a 4 year old. I told her that the calendar doesn't lie.

One little story about Gracie... She has been bringing me clothes and will ask, "Mom, what "t" are these?". I answer according the tag, "4t" "5t". I think it is so cute.

Birthday Cake

Justin offered to make apple crisp for my birthday, so I took him up on it. It was delicious. I didn't mind stepping away from the traditional cake and was also glad to avoid too many candles:)

My birthday and the ward party

 We went to the ward party in the evening on my birthday. I just turned 30, you know.**sigh** I'm actually really liking my new decade and all you spring chicks can look forward to being this age one day.:)

 My ballerina, with her cute witch friend.

 Woody. I made the costume myself!

 The little kitty.

Posing. She was full of dance moves the entire night, and informed me that she wanted mascara so she could be the most beautiful person in the family.:)

Pumpkin Patch

 We went to a farm north of town to see their pumpkin patch. I've been here each year since we moved to Fort Collins and really like it. Lots of entertainment for the kids and it is all free (except for the hayride which is $1). Petting zoo, Mazes, cool pumpkins, and many photo ops.

Halloween and the farm

 We have been getting ready for Halloween! We went to the farm in town with Gracie's pre-school class. I brought along the little kiddos too. I love the picture of Gunner and Gracie (below). Gunner is so drawn to animals but also really afraid. He couldn't take his eyes of the Turkey or the picture. Doesn't he look scared? poor boy.

Gracie's class with their pumpkins.

It was a little chilly, so Maisy never got out of her chair. She doesn't like to keep her hat on, but it sure looked cute while she did.

Collins Football

 We went to the homecoming game for Fort Collins High School. Our friends, the Mosbruckers have a son that plays for the team and we wanted to watch. It had been a rough afternoon and I was worried about how the kids would do. They were AWESOME!! Makes us want to go again:)

 Brady (the football playing son) was even up for a homecoming royalty nomination. We just love this family. They help us every week with our kids at church and are such good people.

Maisy Mischief- 11 months

 Maisy turned 11 months yesterday. I have no idea how much she weighs or how tall she is. I do know that she is growing but that she seems increasingly small to me as she starts doing way too much big girl stuff. Maisy loves pulling to a stand on EVERYTHING. She isn't walking but is getting closer to walking holding onto one hand. She has stood by herself for a few minutes at a time, but I'm guessing she will start walking right around her first birthday like the others did. The top picture shows the first and only time I've put Maisy's hair in a pony. She really resists the bow thing too and doesn't have much hair anyway.

 Maisy is still putting her mouth on everything and likes to yell while doing so. She has really found her voice this month and seems to be "talking" and babbling a lot more. She says "ma" for mom and some other things. She also says "da" for dad and a lot of other things.

Do you like the fuzzy hair? Maisy has totally wild hair and it is curly (or fluffy if it isn't fixed)

This is the mischief I mentioned. She opens up and empties cupboards and likes to tease me by pulling the towel off of the oven.

Gotcha, Mom!

Not pictured here, is Maisy's love of the toilet. It is like Gracie all over again. She loves to fish and swish. I have to keep an eye on her at all times and we try to keep the bathroom doors closed.

My favorite thing about this age is that Maisy is starting to understand so much more and is becoming a snuggler when she is tired. At church she is the squirmiest thing I've ever seen. We sure love Maisy. I cannot believe she is almost a year. She is such a happy girl.

Never want to grow up.

Gracie is at a really fun age. I love seeing her excitement about pre-school. There are 16 kids in her class and she knows the names of all of them. She loves it and really loves being a big girl. It has been a little tough, I think, realizing that she is growing up. The other day we were walking into the school and I threw Gunner and Maisy in the stroller. Gracie really wanted to get in but I told her that she was on her way to pre-school and I wanted her to walk. She was sad and I told her that sometimes it is hard to grow up. She complied and walked to class.

That night, she was talking about a little girl who had a hard time sharing at school. I told her, "sometimes it is hard to learn how to share". She said, "yeah, and sometimes it's hard when your baby sister and little brother get to ride in the stroller and you don't. Sometimes it's hard to grow up too. Huh, Mom?" I think I got a lump in my throat when she said that. I held her close and felt sad that she is growing up.

But, we weren't made to be little forever. Growing up has its perks too. She loves playing outside with the neighbors and bossing and helping the younger kids. What a joy. She is a cutie and is still as determined as ever.