Happy birthday, Daddy! We were able to celebrate Ben's birthday a few times this year! Once with Mom and Dad, a mid-week dinner with just the 4 of us, and then off to Dayton for the weekend to celebrate with some of our favorite people...Brad, Becky and their girls! When we arrived to their house (late Friday night) streamers draped their kitchen and living room and signs all over saying, "Happy Birthday, Mr. Ben" :) The kiddos were all so excited to see each other and they ran through the streamers tearing them down. It was GREAT being able to spend the weekend away with such a loving family.
Gearing up for Dad's big day!
Grandma Cooley came over to help bake the birthday brownies...
You know it's not easy always being the person behind the camera! Thank goodness I was there to turn it right side up.
First fire of the season.
We love Saturday mornings! Jacque pancakes, bacon, gooey faces and all.
Whoah. I said, " Give each other a kiss," and this is what I got. What a couple of smoochers!
Elle is loving "putting each of us to bed." It is her favorite thing to do! "Lay down Luke." Then she will cover him with all of her blankies and "rub his back" (which is more of a hard pat). Good thing Luke is a good sport...most of the time.
Now Elle's turn...
She laid there for a good few minutes, didn't move a bit. This made Luke crack up :)
Inside the life of Elle...What is she up to these days???
Will gaze at Benny their fish for a long time...
Loves to build a tower with her blocks. She has pretty good balance and it cracks her up when it topples...
Playing her drum at Grandpa and Grandma Cooley's house...
Takes care of her babies wherever she goes. Notice them bundled at the table with her...
Washes her babies hands before they eat...
And then there's Luke. What is he up to these days?
Rolling around...
Playing catch...
Tackling...
And thankfully, both enjoy hanging out with one another. (Well, most of the time)
We are making acorn cookies and pumpkin pretzels to get ready for Luke's Thanksgiving feast at his preschool!
Ta-da...Pinterest original.
We found out this morning when we got to Elle's daycare that they were closed for the day. Really?! Luckily, Grandpa and Grandma Cooley picked her up from my morning staff meeting to watch her for the day. They were then able to surprise Luke at his Thanksgiving feast at school. :)
Mr. Todd, quite the carver.
" Can I have seconds, please??"
Telling Ms. Mary exactly what he wanted.
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That night we met up with our parents and kiddos for a celebratory dinner before they left for Florida!
Happy Thanksgiving everyone! We all have so much to be thankful for this year. We were able to celebrate with Aunt Jan's family at the Cooley Compound in Fenton.
Thank you, Aunt Jan and Paul!
Listen to these sweet gobblers...
Then we got to see one of our other favorite families...The Brang's stopped by for a visit! These 4. They are all too cute and love spending time together. If only we could steal them to the East side...
Kicking off Christmas with our annual Downtown Lighting in Rochester! We are waiting for this big count down to see all of the lights...
There they are!
Luke with his preschool to see a play, " Original Snowball Fight" and see Santa at the Old Person's Commission. :) Luke wanted to wear a tie this day because he was going to meet Santa!
Luke walked with his besties and Ms. Bubba downtown Rochester to Santa's mailbox to send their letters to Santa.
This little one will get you in the Christmas spirit...
Ben and Luke rang the Salvation Army bell downtown Rochester! After the bell ringing we were off to the Library for a night of the Polar Express!
Elle saw her teacher, Miss Charlene!
Our library puts on a fabulous Polar Express event each year. The library is setup with different stations: cookie decorating, Santa, Santa letters, making reindeer food, reindeer games, a reading of the Polar Express by our Mayor, and trolley rides through downtown to see the Big Light Show!
It looks like Luke is helping Elle. However, I assure you...Elle was reassuring Luke the entire time.
Santa!
When their turn was done, Elle Bell ran back for one more hug. This girl...
Writing to Santa with bottles of "Frozen Snow"!
Getting the letters stamped to the North Pole,
and putting them in the mailbox.
Getting ready for the Polar Express reading!
This was by far one of my favorite memories of Ellie because it completely showed off her whimsical, free spirit. This room is packed with kids and that is Mayor Barnett reading to them all. Luke, our rule follower, scooched up towards Ellie whispering for her to come sit down. What do you think happened??? First, do you see the water spilled on the carpet. Yep, Elle went up and dumped the water out of that bowl...
Then she wanted to get more comfy so proceeded to take off her boots AND her socks...
And the rest of the story she stood next to the Mayor with hands on his knee, reaching her neck around to see each page of the book.
What did her parents do...We weren't for sure because the room was so packed. So we giggled along with the other parents and took pictures. It was just too sweet and neither one of us wanted to stop her excited, little soul.
Needless to say, we hung out with Brian (Mayor Barnett), his wife Corinne and their 2 boys the rest of the night. He was so taken with her. :) When we were all in line together to ride the trolley the "really tired and old librarian" said we are cutting the line off here and cut our 2 families, making Brian's family wait for the next trolley. Ben turned and said, " Maybe next time work a little bit harder and you'll get on the ride. " We all laughed so hard. :)
On the Trolley, what a night!
Next morning...Rise and Shine for the kiddie Christmas project at Home Depot!
Ben and the kiddos made and painted Christmas stakes to put in our yard while I headed to do some shopping!
We had every intention to make it to our Christmas Tree Farm this year. When I got back to Home Depot, Ben even asked me if we were ready to head out there. BUT then we saw all these homeless trees right there and so a Home Depot tree it is this year. And to be honest, with so much going on I was perfectly happy to get the tree, drive it 2 miles back to our house and have it up before lunch.
And the kids didn't seem to mind with their bags of free popcorn in hand. :)
Decorating...
Luke's first ornament he picked to put up...The Mickey ornament his Dad brought back for him from Disney.
Same choice by Elle...Her Anna and Elsa ornament from Dad.
And a fun Sunday afternoon with their Great Aunt Cathy and Great Uncle Tom! We had a great time catching up with both of them over lunch at Buddy's Pizza.
Love.
