Eight!!

Annaliese's eighth birthday was on Monday! She's eagerly been planning her birthday party for several months and we worked hard to make sure it was what she was hoping for! It was a multi-phase party with phase 1 being bowling with friends and phase 2 being a sleepover with cousins. 

We started our birthday celebrations by inviting a few friends to go bowling and eat rainbow cake and ice cream. Annaliese found a picture of a Betty Crocker cake online sometime during the summer and saved it on my computer. We did our best to copy it! There were three girls who were able to join us at the bowling alley and they all looked like they had a great time!

Koda (Lucy's brother) patiently waiting...

Savannah and Lucy

Our birthday girl!

The Final Scores!

Haleigh showing off our rainbow cake!

After bowling, we went back home and rested for a few minutes before Grandpa, Grandma, Aunts, Uncles, and Cousins came over. Phase 2 of the birthday party was cheese pizza and a sleepover with all the cousins except Owen. Sorry buddy, maybe next year! Annaliese, Elias, and Mallory slept in Annaliese's room and Malachi, Haleigh, and Lydia slept in the other bedroom. Everyone played hard and they were all asleep shortly after 9:00! Sunday morning we ate waffles and then headed to church. Annaliese loves her class at church and is always asking if she can bring her cousins along so this was the perfect opportunity.

Most of the time Annaliese is fun and a joy to be around but she can also be rather moody and rude and hard to deal with. She loves singing and school, hates to be told what to do, is certain she is always right and would spend all her time crafting if we let her. We recently went to the orthodontist where we celebrated that she has finally stopped sucking her thumb! Annaliese loves getting one-on-one time with us, is definitely a planner and loves making lists and writing things down. 

A little about Annaliese:

Favorite subject in school: Math

Favorite sport: Gymnastics

Favorite after school activity: Arts and Crafts 

Favorite color: Turquoise

What she wants to be when she grows up: A Nurse

Favorite number: 8 and 35

Favorite book: Owl Diaries

Favorite Bible verse: Joshua 1:9

October

October brought with it things like gymnast classes, dance class, a field trip to Stoney Ridge Farm, the school jog-a-thon, Halloween, and lots of playtime at home and with cousins. Thankfully, there are quite a few pictures to remind me of what we did because the weeks pass by so quickly!

Annaliese has been in gymnastics and recently switched from a recreational gymnastics class to a parkour class. She was pretty hesitant about the change, but the timing of the class worked out better for our schedule, so she went ahead and made the change. She's only 2 weeks into this new class but so far it's been a lot of fun! Haleigh and Lydia both go to a dance class at the same place. I haven't been able to get many pictures of them because of the way the dance studio is set up, but they both leave class talking about how much fun it is!

Both girls went to Stoney Ridge Farm for a field trip early in the month; the whole school, grades K-4th went together which made it nice for me! We had a little talk about bees and pollination and then were free to explore the farm. Lydia and I spent most of our time in the corn maze (not on purpose) and missed out on the hayride!

Trying to pick the best pumpkin to take home!

Haleigh and Mallory

Lydia and her friend Charlotte (they'll be in school together next year!)

Elias

We also had the jog-a-thon this month! The girls (and Kyle) went door-to-door in the neighborhood and called their grandparents to raise money for school. They ran at Civic Field and both girls ran 13 laps each (3.25 miles!) It was a beautiful day and they each raised enough money to get a free Dairy Queen blizzard (which they were very excited about despite not knowing what a blizzard was!) I wasn't able to go watch, but I did get a few pictures from Auntie Kelsey and Grandma who were there cheering them on.

Halloween fell on a night that I had to work and Kyle wasn't too sure what they were going to do, so the girls had to look through their rooms and come up with their own costumes. Annaliese was a gymnast, Haleigh was a butterfly, and Lydia decided to be a unicorn fairy. They ended up going trick-or-treating in the neighborhood and came home with a pretty good collection of candy!

And lastly, a few pictures from around the house:

At the dentist!