For several weeks, Grace has been asking for a baking party to celebrate her 5th birthday. Now that we have a bigger kitchen, we thought, "Sure, why not!?" We invited all of the girls in her class (there's only 8 of them). Each girl arrived to find an apron, chef hat, and rolling pin ready for them . They rolled out dough for sugar cookies and decorated them, rolled out dough for pizzas and topped them, played a game, opened presents, and ate a "pizza cake." For party favors, the girls took home their cookie creations, and in addition to their hat, apron, and rolling pin, they also got a cookie cutter. I was amazed that the kitchen wasn't messier than it was after everyone left! We are soooo grateful for Jill & Adam, and De for all of their help during the party. We wouldn't have been able to make it through the night without them!
We feel so blessed to have so many people in our lives that shower our kids with love and attention. Today, Mrs. Karen and Mr. Darrell (we consider them to be the kids's adopted grandparents) took Grace home from church for a special birthday afternoon. Even with that, there's still so much in store for Grace's birthday this week- treats for the class on Tuesday, our family's annual trip to the pumpkin patch, Grandma's going with Grace and her class to the pumpkin patch on Wednesday, and a family get-together with Grandma, Auntie Jen, and the cousins on Sunday. So many celebrations for our special sweetheart! More pictures in the slideshow on the right side of this blog!
Our family enjoyed a wonderful evening tonight. For us, it began with pumpkin carving. Grace and Jason carved the two pumpkins Grace got on her two trips to the pumpkin patch earlier in the week. It was cute that she drew a picture of what she wanted one of the jack-o-lanterns to look like. 
Next, the kids got into their costumes and we headed to our church's carnival where the kids played on the inflatables, played some carnival games, we ate dinner, and chatted with friends. Grace dressed as Tinkerbell this year (or depending on who you ask, a fairy or a princess), and Jeremy was supposed to match as Peter Pan (or some people guessed Robin Hood). Jeremy lasted in his costume for about 20 minutes- he undid his belt, the hat was thrown on the ground, and he bent his sword soon after that. Grace didn't want to wear her wings or carry around her wand, so Jason and I ended up carrying around all of their accessories.
You might be surprised to know that Grace has never been trick-or-treating before. She discovered this year through classmates at school what it is, so of course she has been asking all week if she could go this year. Before heading home, we went with the Wiens and Lee families to a few houses near the church. I am surprised to admit that it was fun watching their excitement. Since tomorrow is Daylight Savings, we decided to take advantage of having an extra hour by having the Mack family come over to hang out after we went trick-or-treating. I'd say that tonight was a pretty Happy Halloween- the kids had a great time and we got to spend time with many good friends! (more pictures in the photo album on the right)
Oct. 27 is Grace's actual birthday. It's an Isaac family tradition to visit the pumpkin patch every year on her birthday. This year, Jeremy got into the excitement, and both kids enjoyed exploring and finding the perfect pumpkin.
To finish off the day, Grace got to open up a few more gifts. Since her shining debut as a rockstar at her preschool's Open House performance last spring, Grace has been wanting a guitar. 
Happy 5th Birthday, Grace! (pictures are in the slideshow on the right side of the blog)
Jeremy's birthday is actually October 11, but we had a small party for him today. We were so glad that Grandma, the Wiens family, and McCreary family were able to join us (we missed you guys, Micah and Jackson). Jeremy is completely obsessed with anything that has wheels, so it was easy to go with a "Cars, Planes, and Trains" theme. We met at Roeding Park for lunch, ate cupcakes, and opened presents before walking over to Storyland. From there, we took the train to Playland where the kids got to ride the Cars and Helicopter rides. Jeremy had a lot of fun, though I don't think he fully understood that everything was about him today. Below are a few pictures from today. There are some more in the slideshow on the right side of this blog. 
