63rd Annual Children's Hospital Association Storyland Ball

We once again were lucky enough to attend the 63rd Annual Children's Hospital Association Storyland Ball.  It is so much fun to get all dressed up and spend a formal night out with adults and it is for such an amazing cause that it is a honor to be in the same room as all those people who are making a difference.  It is so wonderful to see the pocket books open up and the donations pour in for the children and so touching to hear the success stories from families who have been saved by Children's Hospitals.  And when we get home all I want to do is hug and kiss my boys because I realize how truly blessed we are to have to two healthy and happy little kids.  

We love fall!

On Saturday the boys and I decided to head out to find the perfect pumpkins for our pumpkin carving party.  A friend tipped us off to a great pumpkin selection with low prices at Gerten's so we headed over there and she right as they had tons of pumpkins for only $2.99 a piece.  Little did I know that they also had all kinds of things going on for kids including a hay bale maze, face painting, hay rides, petting zoo, pumpkin bowling, haunted inflatable house and pumpkin painting to name a few.  We decided to make a stop at the petting zoo and venture through the hay bale maze and then it was off to find our pumpkins.  I seriously love this time of year, so many fun things to do and doing it on a crisp Minnesota day makes it even better.  I wish fall last a lot longer than it does!

Sneak Peek: Miss Kylie

I had the honor of taking some newborn pictures of Miss Kylie last week.  She refused to sleep almost the entire two hours I was at her house but her mommy was able to feed her and get her to relax and close her eyes for about 5 minutes and we successfully got some great shots.  She is such a beautiful little girl and I had a blast taking her pictures!

Mr and Mrs Moe

Saturday night Frankie and I left the kids with my parents and enjoyed an evening out to help Zack and Liz celebrate their wedding.  I used to work with Zack and was excited to help him celebrate his wedding as it was something we talked about a lot when we were cubical neighbors.  Several of my other co-workers were also at the wedding and we had a great time.  I can't remember the last time I had that much fun at a wedding, we laughed and danced and enjoyed fun times in the photo booth and auctioned off Special K bars and didn't head home until after midnight (which for me is very late)!  Frankie and I had fun spending a night surrounded by adults and not having to worry about diapers, snacks, cartoons and bedtimes.   Here are just a few of my favorites pictures from the night!

Leaves, Leaves, Leaves

We got home today and I realized our backyard was covered in beautiful yellow leaves.  It really was a beautiful and we knew we had to go out and play in those leaves.  Colton and I raked up a big pile of leaves while Mason pushed his lawn mower around the backyard and then it was time to jump into the leaves and play.  I love this time of year, I really wish fall lasted longer than a few short weeks!

Hayrides, Pumpkins and Apples, oh my!

We enjoyed our beautiful Sunday afternoon by taking in a hayride, picking pumpkins, picking apples, eating apple donuts and just spending time together.  Mason slept right through the hayride but woke up in time to pick out the perfect mini pumpkin.  Colton loved the hayride and even got the driver to stop so he could jump off and run out into the pumpkin patch the pick the perfect pumpkin while the rest of us sat on the hayride and waited for him (he thought he was pretty special)!  After pumpkins we headed over the Aamodt's Apple Farm to do some apple picking.  Mason didn't get the whole concept of picking an apple off a tree but after one bite he sure understood what to do with them!  Colton on the other hand was searching for the perfect apple, being as we are late in the season many of the apple trees were empty or the apples were all laying on the ground.   We had a great afternoon, I wish everyday could be as relaxing as today!

 Tonight when we got home Mason was acting hungry, we put him in his chair and try several of his favorite snacks.... he just kept shaking his head, yelling no and getting angry!  He kept pointing at the counter but couldn't express what he was wanting... finally we cracked the code, he was pointing the bag of apples from the orchard... he is an apple freak I tell you!

Miss Gemma

So I tried my hand at newborn pictures recently and I realized they are so much harder than they look.  I look online at pictures all the time and see all these great newborn shots and totally think, I can do that.... whoa, I was wrong.  Luckily my daycare lady was willing to let me practice with her new little angel.  I did get a couple good shots but still want to give some serious credit to all the newborn photographers out there as it is not as easy as they make it look!

Sneak Peek: Family

When my friend Erin asked me to take some family pictures for her I jumped at the opportunity.  We met at a park Sunday afternoon and despite the chilly weather and wind we managed to get some great shots.  And I must say that there is nothing better than outdoor pictures - you just can't beat the natural lighting and backgrounds!  Here are just a few of my favorites out of the 100+ pictures we took.