Happy Birthday to "Namma!"

We celebrated Mary Ellen's birthday a couple weeks ago, but I've been a terrible blogger lately as you can see. (at least I changed the date on the post to be for the actual day it happed-lol) Jimmy, Rachel, Lily, Sam, Jim, Mary Ellen, and our fam all went out to dinner at Julianni's. After dinner we went back to Jimmy and Rachel's to sing and have cake for Namma. Lily was really excited to play with her cousins too. We had a mini dance party in her room with her disco lights. Lily is talking so much more and Sam is getting so big! They are adorable. Han, Josh and Ryan love playing together too, and fighting over who will get to hold Sam, of course. It was a fun evening.

Deck the Halls

Christmas at the Square

After Thanksgiving, we decided to try out Lockport Park District's Christmas at the Square event this year. It was a nice sunny day, although brisk, and we wanted to go check out the scene. They had live reindeer, Santa and his helpers, a wood carver, sleigh ride, mini train ride, and more inside activities that we didn't venture in to do due to our love our crowds. Although it felt like most of our time there was spent standing in line, the event was still fun. The best part was Dad's call on our way home though that mom had come home from the hospital that afternoon-yeah!

 

On the sleigh ride, crammed into one bench!

Sleigh riding through town

Hannah's Brownie Troop Trim-a-Tree

Hannah had a beautiful day for her first Brownie troop trim-a-tree at Brookfield Zoo. The girls all got together and hung the ornaments they had made at their meetings. It was cute and Hannah loves her Brownie buddies! After the tree trimming a few of us walked around the zoo since it was so nice out and checked out the animals. We got to see the seals and sea lions being fed, and lots of the other animals were out and about too. 

Hannah and her Brownie Troop

Carving Pumpkins

Today we finally carved our pumpkins. The kids got into pulling out the "guts" this year, except for Ryan. He preferred to use a paper towel as a "glove" to try to get his seeds and pulp out of his pumpkin. I won't mention where he got that idea ;) They each decided what design they wanted for their pumpkins, and then I carved them for them. Not sure what age I'll let them wield a knife or saw! Anyway, it was fun, and here are the results...

Happy Halloween from the Kelly's!

A Perfect Fall Day

Mom and Dad came over from St. Joe at the end of September. The boys were so excited to see them that they set up chairs in the dining room to watch for them.

Evidently, once they arrived I was bad at taking pics, because I notice I have NONE with them in them!! :( It was a beautiful day. When they got here we went to Portillo's for lunch for some beefs, salads, and hotdogs and then over to Melka Garden Landscaping to check out their fall fun. They had a jumpy house, games, animals, and pumpkins. The kids had a great time. We made a scarecrow there, all you had to do was bring your own clothes and they supplied the straw and the burlap for a head. Josh and Hannah started out alright helping, but only did a couple handfuls before they tired of it. Dad, Mom, and I finished it up and the kids named him "Oscar."

After the pumpkin place, Pat and Dad went to golf Broken Arrow while the kids, Mom, and I hung out at the house, playing outside and of course the boys had to play some Wii. Mom and I had fun catching up, and Hannah played with her new "PaperJamz" listening to herself sing. It was a nice day.

A blue heron on the fountain out back

We had to hit another Chicago classic for dinner, Lou Malnati's, and then Mom and Dad went back home to the Joe. It was so nice to see them. Good times!

Josh & Ryan's First Eye Doctor Visit

Today we went for the boys' first eye dr. Visit for school since they need to have one done for Kindergarten. They kind of had an idea of what was coming since Hannah had gone prior to this visit, but they still asked me, "will it hurt?" Both of them did great and didn't need glasses. They were most excited to get the "sunglasses," stickers, and tootsie rolls. Great job guys!