October 27, 2011 - Celebrations

Miriam, Jen, Mimi and Maria enjoying an evening in Pleasanton

Pedicures!

The girls relaxing at the spa

All dressed up for our anniversary

Riley stayed home to cheer on the Bears, paint her toenails, color and play with play-doh (Sam and Joe kept her busy!)

Brunch at Wente

Riley loved riding in the wagon

Wheeeee!!!!!!!!!!!!

Our little Minnie Mouse

Running through the patch

Enjoying a ride on the circus train

"Hi!"

Lining up for the Halloween parade at preschool. Riley's Christian preschool did not allow witches, devils, ghosts, etc. so she had to squeeze into last year's cheerleader outfit, which she was NOT happy about at all.

Parading for the parents

A long line of costumed toddlers

After the parade the kids went back to their classroom where they danced and showed off their costumes.

Each was released individually to wash their hands before snack time.

What's a party without cupcakes?

Riley's friend Selina dressed up as Minnie Mouse

2 tables full of sugar-high toddlers.

We've had a very busy week full of celebrations. On Friday we had dinner with some friends who are moving. They chose a nicer restaurant which had me concerned, but Riley was on incredibly good behavior and she sat through a 2 hour dinner! Sometimes she completely amazes me. Saturday we had some Illini and Purdue friends over for breakfast and the game. Sadly, this was not much of a celebration. That evening 3 of my girlfriends took me out for a pedicure and dinner to celebrate the impending arrival of Baby Freese #2. It was great to spend some time exchanging stories with fellow moms without chasing around our toddlers.

On Sunday Chad and I celebrated our 7th wedding anniversary. Some friends generously offered to babysit for the day so we had brunch at Wente, one of our favorite local restaurants, then saw a matinee showing of the musical "Hairspray." I'm really glad we had this day together before the next addition to our family arrives.

Chad decided to extend the weekend and took Monday off work, so we had an extra day together. We dropped Riley off at preschool then had a leisurely breakfast at a Swiss cafe and ran a few errands at a relaxing pace...very unusual for us. That afternoon we went to another pumpkin patch to pick out some big pumpkins for carving. Our little girl really loves pumpkins, it is just so much fun to take her to patches.

On Tuesday my Grandpa John had open heart surgery to replace a valve on his heart. I am happy to say that the surgery went well and he has already begun his recovery. Its hard to be so far away, but we are thinking of him and hoping he heals quickly.

Thursday was the Harvest Festival at Riley's preschool. She doesn't usually attend school on Thursdays but we went for the special occasion. Riley decided back in August that she wanted to be a witch, but witch, devil, ghost, etc. costumes were not allowed at her Christian preschool, so she wore her cheerleader uniform from last year. She was NOT happy about this at all. In the classroom each child was asked what they were dressed up as and Riley completely confused her teaches and answered, "I'm a witch!" Despite this, she *somehow* managed to have fun at the parade and party. She just can't wait for Halloween!