Such a Ham

Who is that kid behind the big nose? Sometimes Lucas is such a Ham. Today I am thankful for my amazing children and the times they make me laugh and make eachother laugh. What are you thankful for?

Lilly's Turns ONE!

Wanted to get some pics up for those of you who couldn't be here. Lilly had a great 1st Birthday! She was all dolled up for the event as you can see below! Ladybugs were the theme mostly b/c we call her Lillybug. She looked absolutely adorable!

What?? I get to eat cake?!?! Hmmm...this ladybug is kinda sticky...

...and VERY yummy!!

I'm the luckiest girl in the world!! I get to have my cake and eat it too!

This picture pretty much sums up her day! We are thankful for such a beautiful and healthy 1 year old baby girl. Her laughter is contagious and her energy is exhausting. It is going to be so much fun watching her grow up and chasing after her brother.

More cute pics

Here are my two adorable Super Men!

And here is the 75lb lap dog getting some much needed attention from Michael! Poor dog gets no love at home with two kids...unless you call Lucas chasing him love.

Ahhh...Noah and Lilly fighting over the original Hess boy toys. This is a good reminder to keep certain toys for later in life when you have grandkids...they still love them and it brings back memories for everyone!
Three sleepy baby heads sitting on a couch,
Lucas is thinking...should I push them off??

A California Wisconsin Thanksgiving

This past weekend we headed North for an early Thanksgiving with our cousins from California and Wisconsin. It was so great to see everyone! We are very thankful for such a wonderful extended family! Here is the whole gang out for Breakfast.
Here is the "cousin end" of the thanksgiving table! And don't forget Santa on the end! (Grandpa is growing a beard and looks like old St Nick).

Here is the San Diego couple Tricia and Michael. They survived the fires last week and got to meet Silly Lilly for the first time.

This is the Wisconsin cuz with his girlfriend. (She's a keeper Rich!)

And the other San Diego girl Kristin getting her baby squeezes in.

Can't wait to go out to California next summer and see everyone again! Hopefully there will be two new little cousins from Russia that we get to meet too! Look for more pics later this week from our family filled weekend.

LUKE...I am your father

The greasers turned into Jedi's for Halloween night (costumes were a bit warmer). Lucas actually loves to watch Star Wars with daddy. He really only watches the first one when Anakin is small, the pod race is his favorite part if you are familiar with the story.

No, Tim didn't have his own candy bucket...just Lucas. But it only took me abouy 1/2 hour to make these costumes...no sewing involved!
We were trying to bribe Lucas to put his costume on...but as soon as he saw the glowstick he thought that was cool and was calling that his sword (b/c of course Jedi's light sabers glow!)

And here is a pic of our pumpkins too!

Happy Halloween!

Here are some more great pics from the Halloween Bash...

What a couple of studs!

Such a Doll!
Two Cowgirls decided to forget the horse and tavel via Car!

This is one unhappy banana...probably cause her sister was trying to eat her!

Beware the Warewolves come out at night!

And we did enjoy the firepit and some smores at the end of the party! Good times with good friends! Can't beat that! Happy Trick or Treating tonight!

I stand corrected...7th Annual Hess Halloween Party

Happy Halloween! We like to celebrate with a Costume Party!

Yes, it was the 7th Annual but the first to make a blog! We started going to costume parties in college and thought after we got married it would be a fun tradition to start! We have had a great party every year and now with the addittion of children into the mix, the numbers and costumes keep growing! (And the parties are a little more "family friendly" than they use to be). The costumes were great as always. See below for all crazy people who we like to hang out with!

The 50's hostess'- two greasers and two pink ladys! The Big Bad Wolf and the three little pigs!

Busted costumes...long story but they still looked great!

Missed you Michael and Nola!

Two shy cowgirls, Saddle their horse,

the horse trainer and a proud daddy.

A beautiful Angel

Notre Shame and a Big bunch of grapes...when the grapes came off they turned into the kids favorite toys!

Arrgh! A pirate and his wench!

The turtle and the Hare

A mummy, a bat, a warewolf and little Miss Frankenstien!

The man in the yellow hat, his girlfriend Maggie,

Curious George, and a yummy banana! The M&M Family- Don't forget the Little Peanut!

Unfortunately the Kearney's didn't make it due to Ethan having exploding vomit the night before...but here is a picture of them from last year- they always have halarious costumes! Just save the costumes for next year guys!A Chicken farmer, a chicken, a deviled egg and a Hard Boiled egg!

Everyone had a blast and we are still eating leftovers! Come on over if you want some chili!!

Can't wait till next year!! Trick or Treat!

The Pumpkin Patch

We went to a pumpkin patch this past weekend for the kids to get thier "Carving pumpkins" Lucas was pretty cute walking through the fields of pumpkins but wouldn't make up his mind b/c they were all "dirty"...(although he eats dirt).

Lilly liked the tall pumpkins b/c she could stand up at them.
They also had a giant pile of hay for the kids to jump in...I need one of these in my backyard since Lucas likes to jump off anything and everything and always tries to jump farther and higher than before.Daddy and Lucas hiding from Lilly. That is one big tire!

The girls had fun too!

Here is the family pic on the hayride. (You took a hayride out to the pumpkin patch and back). Lucas thought this was great b/c he got to watch all the mud as the tractor drove through it- such a boy! The weather was beautiful and with a fire later that night it was a perfect end to a great day.

And then their was FIRE...

Initiation of the Firepit- Complete with Hotdogs and Smores!

Lucas didn't quite grasp the "Don't touch the food to the logs" concept but after one lost hotdog (which Wrigley got to enjoy) and a few dirty marshmellows he finally understood. I am sure this firepit and deck will be enjoyed for years to come and we hope you will come and enjoy it with us!!

DRUMROLL PLEASE.......

Yes, if you can believe it the deck is complete! (Except for painting/staining which we will do in the spring). The last phase was the bench which you can see started below...

Lucas standing inside what will be the bench.
Miss Lilly approves of the new bench!

And the final bench...with hinged top for Fire Supply storage (of course!)

And yes the bench is large enough for a human body (or two)...so beware!

And the FINAL product complete with Lattice.

Is my husband the deck-building rock star or what???

I will post more before/after pics this week along with pics of the new firepit!

ARE YOU READY TO PARTY??????? We are!!!!