Giving Thanks!

Auntie Megs has been living with us off and on and we LOVE having her here! Over Christmas break we are excited to have her full-time. Auntie Megs is always helping out with the kids, playing with them, taking them on special trips, and is always up for a snuggle and hugs. Ben and I love having our sister around!

* Bonus! Free family haircuts :) *

Ellie getting her first haircut by her favorite hair dresser!

Luke and his spiffy new do AND new gumballs for Great-Grandpa Cooley's gumball machine courtesy of Grandma Uitti!

Our first time out in the snow for this winter! Luke loved it. Elle just stood around at first not really for sure what to do or maybe she was just so bundled she really couldn't move! 

Little button nose did have fun going down the slide though... 

How in the world did my baby boy turn into a little guy?!

It's official. I have no idea how to make a snowman. Below is our first attempt...sad.

Helping Dad hang up the Christmas lights outside! This was the Morin's family first Christmas with lights outside. Ben was very planned on what type of lights we were going to buy and where we going to hang them. One night after work he asked me if I had thought about the lights at work..."Ummm, no." "Did you think about them Ben?" "Yes. All day." There you have it folks. :) 

Our Thanksgiving 2013...We have much to be thankful for!!!

Could my guys be any cuter????

We celebrated together at Uncle Chris' house. It was the first holiday (in what seems like years!) where we could really relax and enjoy it with the kids. I wasn't pregnant or nursing and both kids were old enough to really have fun with all of their family members. It was great! 

Pretty girls!

A great picture with both Great-Grandparents. xoxo

Over the break we had the chance to go to Ford Field to cheer on Clarkston to their first ever state championship!!! The kids loved being there! Still today whenever their is a football game on TV Luke will say, "Mom we want Clarkston to win right?".

GO BLUE!

My sweet, sweet babies. I am beyond grateful.

Awww, there is no place like Dad's lap to take a little snooze.

Festival of Lights downtown Rochester with Matt and Liz!

We ran into Luke's favorite preschool teacher, Miss Jo!

Speaking of Ms. Jo she bought Lukey a special chocolate treat just because...we love Ms. Jo!

Our sweet little Ellie is getting so big and we just love her to pieces. She loves crackers and asks for them throughout everyday. She would prefer to go sockless (like me!). She will pull off her shoes and socks while driving in the car. When I rock her with her blankie, if her blankie is covering her feet she will yank it off! She loves watching Curious George and will bring us the remote control and say, " Oo, Oo, Ah, Ah," code for turn on that monkey show. She loves to give hugs and kisses and if she says a phone she will put her hand up to her ear and say, " Hello!" She will point out your nose (and say nose!), and she knows her hair, ears, mouth, tongue, hand, fingers, legs, feet, toes, and her belly button.  

The kids had their first sleepover with friends. Well, kind of. Eric and Meghan dropped Ayrton and Zaydee off and picked them up late once all the kids were sleeping.

The girls paying with me and the boys playing football with Dad!

All kids in the bathtub!

And of course to finish off a fun night with a movie and popcorn! 

Off to Candy Cane Tree Farm in Oxford to cut down our Christmas tree for the first time! It was soooo cold  but so fun. One of Luke's favorite books is the Berenstein Bear Christmas Tree and it's all about Papa Bear and the cubs trying to find the perfect tree. So Luke was all about looking at all of the trees and trying to

 find the perfect one!

OH. MY. CUTE!

We found the perfect tree!

Helping cut it down...

Counting the circles to see how old our tree is...It was 15.

A special family day!

Luke actually sat on Santa's lap! He told me that it was ok because Santa's pants weren't dirty. When I asked him what he meant he explained that Santa's pants are dirty because he goes down the chimney and get dirty. Who knows?! He must have seen this in a book or something. Thankfully, this Santa has good hygiene. 

NOT so much for Elle.

Super Lukey!!!! These are priceless... and so much apart of our everyday life right now.

And a member of the stage crew...

We fell in LoVe with Fall this year!

Luke on his first hayride ever! Luke went with his preschool on a field trip to the pumpkin patch. He had fun running in a corn maze, riding on a hay ride, and picking out his very own pumpkin to take home. :) Ellie tagged along with Jacque and had a great time too!

Of course with best buddy Ayrton!

Preschool buddies...

And of course his most favorite buddy of all...Miss Elle.

By Halloween Ellie got the hang of saying, "Pumpkin!". Her other words in her arsenal right now include Dad (her fav), thank you, all done, woof woof, neigh neigh, bumble bee, Papa, Mama, quack quack, bye-bye, hi (when playing with her phone!), and cracker. 

After much thought and reflection Luke picked out his very own pumpkin!

Ellie is still going to Meghan's house on Thursday mornings to have some girl time with Zaydee. We love that Ellie is growing up with our wonderful Meghan (just like Luke!) AND has a little bestie to chum around with as well! Gotta love the fine motor skill activities...

Luke goes singing around the house, " Ellie Marie! Sweet as can be. Ellie Marie! Sweet as can be." Ellie is still such a sweetie but the older she gets the more she's realizing just how cute she is...let's just hope that she doesn't catch on anymore!

Soft, whispy pigtails, baby jeans, and a cuddly North Face...

Out to eat at Red Robin with Grandma Uitti!

Ellie loves when we pretend we are buzzing like a bumble bee to tickle her under the arm. "Bumble Bee Bumble Bee come from the arm...Going to get Ellie right under the arm!" Hence, she can say bumble bee and I knew that she had to be a bee for Halloween this year.
Below are pics of the kids on Luke's field trip to the local retirement home to ask for treats from the staff and to show off their cuteness to the residents. :)

Luke wanted to be Bob the Builder AGAIN this year. He hasn't been watching the shows or reading his book as much but he's kind of like his Dad that he liked it so much last year...why change? I talked to him about maybe wanting to be something else and after much thought he got excited about either being a cowboy or fireman...So, fireman is what we went with and maybe next year cowboy!

Trying to grow out Ellie's bangs so we are rocking the top notch pony around here. :)

It's Halloween Eve! We had fun carving our pumpkins before leaving to Trick-or-Treat!

Yes, Ellie even tried eating the pumpkin. :)

So excited to actually be able to trick-or-treat-this year!

AND this was the best pic we could get of the 2 of them with Ellie being such a busy body!

But this guy on the other hand...

This week had been so busy with us up at Traverse City that we decided to go trick-or-treating solo. We missed the other kiddos but it was nice to just go at our own speed especially on a rainy night. :)

It was so rainy and cold but the kids were troopers and had a blast!

Ellie did her own trick -or-treating this year and when we tried to put her in the stroller (to keep her dry!) she was not having it...so 10 houses or so and the Morin family was done.

As soon as we got home the wet, soggy costumes came off and into a nice warm bath. Then, my favorite part sorting the candy in our jammies.

Here is Ellie's stash...

Ellie loved putting the candy in and then taking it back out of her pumpkin. She's a busy lady with a big job to do.

Lukester's Stash....and his favorite, a red sucker. :)

Happy Birthday Dad!

We were able to buy my parent's neighbor's swing set! Here are the guys taking it down and loading it up on the truck to take back home. 

Thank you guys for all of your hard work!

And, of course the ladies!