Chuck E Cheese

This year we let Becky invite three friends from school to her birthday party at Chuck E Cheese.  None of them had ever been there before.  I need to talk to their parent to figure out how they have avoided it this long!  They had a great time.

playing a game together

We had to let her invite Drake and Chase too.

dancing

waiting to meet Chuck E Cheese himself

blowing out candles

opening presents

getting ready for the ticket blaster

and she's having a blast!

(she ended up with like 600 tickets total.  her friends even gave her theirs.  could have gotten something cool.  nope.  a bunch of little junk.  oh well!)

Colby even enjoyed his first trip there

All in all, in was a good time.  Quite possibly the most chaotic two hours we have ever spent there, but fun anyway.  Maybe next year she will have outgrown Chuck E Cheese?  We can only hope! Until then, I guess we'll keep going because she likes it, and we all know it's about her : )

Becky's 6th birthday

So hard to believe that my litle girl turned 6 on November 19th.  The time has gone so fast and only continues to go faster with each and every passing year.  This year she wanted a LaLaLoopsy themed party.  Since they are fairly new, I had to come up with a cake on my own.  After Becky got over the fact that I was not making her another castle like I had the two previous years, she thought this cake was pretty neat - especially since there were two new dolls on it!

Somebody woke up excited to be 6!  She gets to use two hands now!

Exactly what she wanted!

Since the 19th was on Saturday this year, she got to actually have her party on her birthday. 

LaLaLoopsy treehouse

LaLaLoopsy doll - Holly Sleigh Bells (who she has slept with almost every night since)

and her very own puppy! (the kind that is Mom and Dad approved!)

getting ready to make a wish

blowing out the candles

playing with her new toys

Is tomorrow really December?

Where has the month of November gone?

Early on in the month, we managed to get some time outside playing at a park.

Here is Colby trying to master his walking skills.

playing on the slide

Becky found a boy at the park to follow around, so she was too old for me to take pictures of her playing that day.

Then we went to Mt. Ayr for a day to visit Dad and Patti.
Grandma Dolecheck stopped by to say hello.

then we got to go outside and play in the leaves one last time before the weather turned cold.

Dad and Colby

kids playing the piano

Halloween fun

We had a fun couple of weeks celebrating Halloween.  The Sunday afternoon a week before, we went to Night Eyes at the zoo.  It's always a good time, and the weather was perfect!  It always makes it more fun when we get to go with Emma too!

Emma and Becky and the Three Little Pigs

Becky and The Wizard of Oz gang

Colby taking it all in . . .  and enjoying a candy bar!

family photo by the pumpkin

That was our first Halloween excursion.  On Wednesday night, I took the kids to the church where we had Trunk or Treat (after Becky's dance Halloween party).  I even put on a pumpkin shirt and wig but was too busy keeping up with the two kids to snap any pictures!

On October 29th, we went to Tingley to be in the Halloween parade.  What a blast!  I had been struggling all day on the 28th to figure out something to honor Mom with.  Hard to believe it's been 10 years since she died.  I just felt like I should do something, but I had no idea what that could be.  That evening, Mom's Mom, my grandma, called me and asked if we would like to come down and be in the parade.  (God was really working in our lives that day, wasn't He?) What better way to honor Mom than to be in the parade that she loved?  So we ran around Des Moines Saturday morning trying to figure out a costume for me and Al and a theme and then headed down that afternoon.

Here is a picture of Great Grandma with Colby and Becky. She was so glad we could come down.

Here we are!  Dawn and the girls also decided to join us in the parade last minute.  It was just so much fun! What a great way to honor Mom.  I know she would have loved it.

I can't even begin to say how great it felt to be doing something fun and to be with Mom's family on the anniversary of her death.  It just felt right.  I remember being in the parade for years as a kid, and having so much fun deciding on a theme and Mom making costumes, and just having a blast.  Also, Halloween is one of Al's favorite holidays (if not his number one favorite), and I really haven't felt much like celebrating it for the past ten years. I'm usually just sad and missing Mom this time of year.  It was nice to have that changed around, and Al couldn't have been happier.  I am hopeful we can make it a new family tradition.  And next year we hope to have a little more time to plan our theme and our costumes.  (Although I do have to say I kind of remember Mom running around last minute trying to get everything done, putting finishing touches on the costumes that day and making signs right before leaving the house.  Nice to know I'm at least a littlte bit like her! Makes me smile.)

Here is my Cousin Melissa and her two girls Tatum and Alba and Grandpa and my Aunt Ginny in the background.

And here is Al and Becky on Beggar's Night.  I decided to stay home with Colby and hand out candy.  He was just so tired, and we really didn't need any more candy. I think I answered the door maybe 9 times.  Oh well.  Al and Becky sure had fun.

Hope you all had a nice, safe, and fun Halloween!