Boycotting School Photos!

School pictures are a racket! (in my opinion)  I can't stand paying for photos of my kids before I can even see them, sending them to school looking picture perfect but not knowing what they'll look like by the time their class finally gets to see the photographer, and then dealing with the inevitable "picture retake day."  No thanks!

Because of my school picture hangup, I've really dropped the ball the last couple of years.  So...a couple weeks ago, after getting home from church, we took the kids to our very own backyard and snapped some quick pics.  To my surprise, they actually turned out pretty cute.

Mason - 12 years old, 7th grade

Logan - 10 years old, 5th grade

Brady - 7 years old, 2nd grade

Claire - 4 years old, pre-k

I love these cute little monkeys!  How did I get so lucky?

Halloween 2013

I just love Halloween!  I love how excited the kids get, decorating for the season and helping the kids get all dressed up.  This year, Claire was a ladybug (complete with a cute little dress I found for $2 at Goodwill), Brady was an army guy (2/3 of his costume can be reused for everyday wear), Logan was a ninja (with a $6 set of accessories) and Mason was a "windy guy" (the cost...exactly zero dollars!).  Gotta love cheap costumes!

To make things even better, it was 75 degrees that day.  Perfect weather for trick-or-treating.

Scott did an amazing job on our pumpkin this year.  When he puts his mind to something, he gives it 110%.  Sorry for the picture quality...I uploaded it from instagram.  

Scott and I throw a Halloween party every year.  The first couple times, we invited tons of people and it just felt really crazy and impersonal.  In more recent years, we've scaled it down and just invited some of our closest friends.  This is the first year we didn't do a couple's costume....

Scott went as Walter White from Breaking Bad (a show I don't watch) and I opted for something a little more "punny."  I was a Dunkin' Donut!  The crazy thing is that I wore Mason's clothes and shoes.  When did my baby get so big???

I usually do a sit-down dinner, but this year I decided to simplify things....everyone brought something to share and we ended up having PLENTY of food!

I hope you all had a HAPPY HALLOWEEN too!