November 7, 2010 Evelyn was baptized at Saint Raphael Catholic Church. Here is our day in pictures.
Dan's sister Marie and my brother Mark were chosen to be her Godparents.
Madeline made friends with the other babies' siblings.
Evelyn opened a few baptism gifts...
It's interesting that Halloween is not just a one-day event for young children. It is a week long affair with plenty of opportunities to celebrate and wear their costumes! Our Halloween week included a special outdoor storytime at the library, which we attended in costume with our good buddies! (Evie and I are sitting next to Alison, Ella, and Avery.)
Maureen, Erin, and Nora
Farah, Avery, and 4 week old baby Micah underneath the jacket!
This year Madeline chose to be Angelina Ballerina, one of her favorite characters from books and tv. I made the mouse ears, and we pieced together some ballerina dresses. She loved the opportunity to dance around in costume!
We hosted the playgroup party on Wednesday. Kids came in costume, we played some games, did some crafts, and had a yummy potluck lunch.
Ella and Alison
Almost the whole crowd. Organizing a picture is like herding cats.
Evie enjoys some treats!
... and enjoys some time in the Big Bird chair. :)
Then we trick-or-treated at Grandma & Grandpa Hay's house.
Dad and Madeline carved our pumpkin back at home
And we went trick-or-treating around the neighborhood with our great next-door neighbors. Madeline and Cooper...
...and Evelyn and Macy.
The swingset is finally up and functional- and we LOVE it!! Both girls could swing for hours. Dan told me the other day that when the season is over, we should put the baby swing in the garage for the winter. I promptly told him that this was a year-round activity, and if we're able to, we're going outside to play! And so far we have. Coats, hats, mittens, and boots do not inhibit swinging.
Grandma Hay has already put in a few hours of pushing swings on her Wednesday visits!
Evie gets so excited when we go into the backyard, and practically dives into her seat. One afternoon she swung for an hour and a half. (Is that good for brain development??)
Madeline can't get enough of the Underdogs!
Spending so much time working in the backyard left us begging for a break, so we headed downtown to a Halloween fun-fair with Grandma Schmitt.
It was great to play the games and get some candy, although I realized that we were going to have to do some coaching with Madeline before Halloween. Her candies of choice were things like Smarties and Laffy Taffy. Mom and Dad would prefer that she go for the good stuff instead, like Snickers and Butterfingers! :)
Evie just took in all the sights!
We met Cooper and Mr. Dave here too!
The final push... after a very long 6 weeks. Sunday evening in the dark and in the rain, the swingset was finally reassembled!
October 17- A wonderful fall day for a birthday party in the park. One of our playgroup buddies turned 1 and we all celebrated with them. Where's Dad?? At home, working on the swingset.
Madeline plays on the teeter-totter with Mr. Doug, Rori, and Avery.
Miss Alison with Nora and Ella
