Saturday, October 31, 2009

Harvest Party










On Sunday, Maria's pre-school held a harvest party for the students and their families. Despite signs of rain, we decided to pack up the kids and go anyway. Of course, it started raining the minute we got out of the car. We tried to ignore it and have fun anyway! The girls wore their costumes (Maria was a Bumble Bee and Naomi was a butterfly), Gerry wore his 70's wig, and I wore my cat ears.

The festivities were held outside on the parking lot. They had a petting zoo, which Maria LOVED, Trunk-or-Treat, a bouncy house, a giant slide,pony rides, face painting, a photo booth and lots of food! At first, I didn't know how Maria was going to react to the animals at the petting zoo. But, to my surprise, she was very kind to them. She giggled when the sheep and goats ate food out of a cup. She wanted the ducks to come and eat the food, too, but they weren't at social as the other animals. There was also a llama and an alpaca there too!

After going through the Trunk-or-Treat, we decided to go in and get some food. We stopped by the photo booth to get a family picture and then ate dinner. The food was good and the girls were holding up. Naomi was getting a little hot in her costume, but when we went back outside she was okay. Bobb, Laura and Olivia came up for a little while. Olivia did the Trunk-or-Treat while Gerry chased Maria up and down the parking lot. Luckily, she only wiped out twice. Then, the girls decided to do the pony rides. They both seemed to love it!

Unfortunately, it started raining a little harder so we decided to leave. We were happy that Bobb, Laura and Olivia could join us, even if was only for a little while.

Friday, October 30, 2009

Exciting News!!!

We are excited to announce there will be a new member of the G Family coming summer 2010! No...not me...ARE YOU CRAZY? Bobb and Laura are having a baby!!!


Congratulations to the happy family! Olivia is going to make a great big sister. Gerry and I are very excited to have a new niece or nephew! Official due date is June 14th!

Thursday, October 29, 2009

Pumpkin Carving 2009

I was terribly mistaken when I sent out the evites this year to the 9th annual Bettlach/Giammanco Pumpkin Carving Contest. My brother kindly informed me that it was the 10th! Holy Cow...we've been doing this for 10 YEARS??? The first one we ever did was when Hailey was just 3 weeks old. She was born in 2000. So, if you count the year 2000, then this really was the 10th year. Craziness.

Anyway, we took it back to my mom's house this year. Last year we had it at our house. It's nicer to have it over there for a few reasons:
1) Her backyard is way cooler to decorate than our front yard.
2) She has a fenced in backyard so the kiddos can't run into the street.
3) Her garage is so dilapidated that it fits right in with the rest of the Halloween decor. (he he...sorry mom, but it's true)
4) The mess isn't at my house.

We were worried all week about the weather, but it turned out to be a gorgeous day. I got over there early to help my mom set up. Unfortunately, Galen go into a fight with railroad tracks and lost, so he was holed up in the house icing his hammy. When my mom and I were decorating, it brought back a lot of memories. It was just like old times...her with the tape and me with the staple gun. We pulled the trigger and bought some bails of hay at the last minute. It just adds that special fall touch
...and the yard looked too bare without them.

Most people tease my mom and I for getting so excited about Halloween. The truth is...it is our favorite holiday. We love scaring people and we love all the decorations. Every year my mom says she's not going to buy anymore, but she always does. She's gotten some pretty crazy things over the years!

The festivities kicked off around 3:00 pm. My mom made a yummy chili with all the fixins, salad (which no one ate...it was pretty funny)and Laura made crab dip. Kelly made dessert out of cream cheese and all different types of chocolate candies. Someone brought a delicious pumpkin cheesecake and my mom made some squash bread. (think banana bread, only with squash).

It was great to see people diving right in to their pumpkins. People are getting better and better each year. I carved a very basic one and attempted to get Maria to help me, but she wouldn't touch any of it. She was very interested, but would only watch. Kelly's mom, Bev, brought a little pumpkin for Maria along with some cute stickers to put on the pumpkins. Maria loved this!

Naomi spent most of the day inside where it was warm. We bundled her up a few times and took her outside. It was kind of a bummer because she wasn't eating very well that day which made her a little fussy. But, Maria had a great time. She spent the day wondering around the graveyard and carrying around skull heads. She tried really hard to say skeleton, but it comes out like "Fel-a gen". It's hilarious. If you look in the background of some of the pictures, you will see her playing in the graveyard. She loved it. It was also great to have Olivia, Micah and Gavin all there too. I love having little kiddos around. They all had a great time having a dance party in the garage.

The dance party was mostly for the kids...but one other person (who shall remain nameless) enjoyed himself as well. He won the contest for best Thriller dance that night.





Speaking of contest...I guess you are wondering who won??? Well, FINALLY a non-stencil patterned pumpkin won first place. John, Karen's boyfriend, took home the trophy. He did an awesome free hand Budweiser logo. Jeff's pumpkin and Kelly's pumpkin took second and third. Thanks to everyone who participated. We had great weather, delicious food and awesome looking pumpkins, once again. Can't wait for next year!

FIRST PLACE WINNER:




Monday, October 19, 2009

Pumpkin Patch 2009

On Sunday, October 18, we packed up the kids and drove out to Theis Farm Pumpkin Patch. Bobb, Laura and Olivia met us out there. Unfortunately, John and Karen couldn't make it b/c Karen had to work. The long drive proved to be worth it because this place was pretty cool. So far, it was the most child friendly pumpkin patch I have been to. (yes-I've been to a lot) It was especially good for the little kids, like Maria and Olivia. Their little Pumpkin Land was a totally closed in space full of hay, forts, slides, displays the kids could climb on and a huge pirate ship. They also had wagons, tricycles and tractors the kids could play on, a few tire swings and a zip line. The kids didn't do the pony rides, but we all went on a huge tractor ride which was really fun. We all piled in the tractor and it took us for a tour around the whole farm. After the tractor ride, we headed back to the van to regroup and do diaper changes. Then, Maria and I danced to the Frank Sinatra karaoke singer while Bobb and Laura waited in line to get all of us a snack. It started to get pretty chilly and the kids were getting antsy so we decided to head home. Everyone came back to our house for some Pork Tenderloin and Black Bean Chili! The whole day was successful! We can't wait to do it again next year!!!

Monday, October 12, 2009


Naomi is 5 Months Old

On October, 8th, Naomi turned 5 months old! WOW! Where does the time go??? Naomi is growing and changing so much everyday! She has started eating applesauce and peas. And she just recently started rolling over from her stomach to her back! She is holding her head up much better now. Since Maria is sleeping her big girl bed, we got Naomi out of the swing and she is sleeping in her crib now. Most nights, she sleeps all the way through. Sometimes she wakes up for a bottle, but usually goes right back to sleep. She weighs a whopping 14 pounds, 10 ounces! She is interacting more with Maria. She always wants to see where Maria is and what she's doing. Maria was showing her how to crawl the other day, but I think we have some time before that happens!

Nemo Finds a New Home



On October 5, 2009, Nemo FINALLY went to a new home. This was a bittersweet day for both Gerry and I. We acquired Nemo back in February 2004, when Gerry and I were engaged. I begged Gerry to take him. We brought him to my house for a few hours, I fell in love with him and that was it. Over the years, Nemo has brought us so much laughter, and many, MANY tears. We worked very hard to get him healthy so that he could live a long life. He was a great cat...very good with Maria who "loved" on him all the time. He never hissed at her or showed any aggression in any way. However, he drove us crazy for food. He begged constantly and this became a challenge once we had kids. We just couldn't keep him quiet. So, between the begging and Maria "loving" on him, it was time for Nemo to go. A few hours after posting him on Craig's List, a kind man responded. We met him the next night and had a great feeling about him. It was a sad night, but we knew we were doing the right thing.

So far, the man has kept in touch with us by calling and emailing to let us know that Nemo is adjusting really well. We feel really good about the situation, but we will always have a special place in our hearts for Nemo! Goodbye buddy! We will miss you!

Thursday, October 1, 2009

Too Cute!



I had to post these pictures because I thought it was so funny! I got out the Halloween decorations today...guess who put up the window clings?
Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...