NEW YORK CITY! Thanksgiving 2010

You know what? I'll take my chances with Youtube.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nwICAZLGmek

It was a dream trip.

New York City really was great....but you'll never know that.

Well, my husband made an incredible DVD of our family in New York City over this past Thanksgiving.

It was really great.

I wanted to show everyone.

But you'll have to take my word for it.

Maybe there will be a way I can post it, but for now, Youtube is busting me for copyright purposes, therefore I took it off.

I hate Youtube for that.

And now I am behind on Christmas pictures.

Oh well....

Happy Halloween....and somebody turned 5!

It's kinda weird how when your kids are really little, like 'too young to make decisions for themselves' little, you can pretty much dictate every aspect of their lives. And it's great! You forget you won't be able to do that forever.

Take Halloween for example. Years ago, Chris and I decided what the girls would be each year. We've had "Cinderella" and "The Pumpkin" "Dorothy from Oz" and "Scarecrow" and even 4 cool characters from the Star Wars movies...but over the past few Halloweens, we've done nothing but go out and get what they would need for the costume they had decided on. That is fine..it's just that the one thing no one ever told me, was that they would change their minds during the actual Halloween holiday.

Let me try and explain;

First there are the school parties, where Mylie decided she would be a granny. Naturally I thought this is what she would be for Halloween;







And then there is Darby who, while not yet in school, is very much allowed to dress up and go participate in the school parties. She declared she would be a princess...again, I'm excited her decision has been made for Halloween.





So, the school parties come and go, and the following night is Trunk or Treat at our church. Since Halloween fell on a Sunday this year, we had a bonus night! Getting ready to go was weird to me, as 3 out of my four children changed their costumes. I didn't really know you could do that.

Crisilee who, at school,was the "Charlie Brown Ghost", has now become a "Rock Star." 10 minutes before we head to church, she is scrambling around putting something together. What?







Then Darby decides to be a kitty.....huh?





And Mylie tweaked her "Granny" just a bit, while Sophie stayed a "Princess" her original costume. Thank you Sophie! (or so I thought...)




That took some getting used to. Seriously, Chris was out taking pictures and Mylie was freaking out about wearing either the mask, or the wig....it was NOT a relaxed few minutes. Anyway, we had a great "bonus" night.

Speaking of a bonus, we were blessed to have another bonus daughter come along with us trick-or-treating;

(our gorgeous niece Mariah)

Remember the special thanks I gave to Sophie? I take it back. She too changed...a "Rainbow." Yep..just out of the blue, "I'm gonna be a rainbow" (Are you keeping up?) Then Crisilee decided to change back into her orginal "Charlie Brown Ghost." My head is spinning just writing this.

There should be some sort of rule that says, "no changing costumes once you've decided on one."





It's ok. They had fun. I had a headache and couldn't remember who was what...but in the end it was a great night with a TON of candy of course!







Moving on to a less confusing topic: My baby turned 5 this past week! FIVE! She's awesome.

I love her.

We woke her up singing "Happy Birthday" with a piece of cinnamon toast and a candle!










I think she liked that.

Later that afternoon we had a nice family party with my parents. Of course Darby wanted presents first;

(Do I need to explain that she really wanted Moon Dough?)





After presents she signed the birthday chair. A chair that Chris repainted all funky, and every year the girls sign their name and put their age. Darby worked SO hard for about a month learning to write her name and the number 5...it turned out great!

Last but not least, the cake. We have this thing where we never let the girls see their cake until it's actually time to eat the cake. Oh the joy on her face says it all. Best picture ever coming up:

Happy 5th Birthday Darby! You'll always be the baby! I love you!

Funny Faces....Happy Fall!

Some beautiful DeBacker girls enjoying the season;

























Happy Fall to you...we are dreaming of what's ahead....the best part of the year is fast approaching! Savor every second. It will be over before you know it!

Little's game, Big's game, and a HUGE par-tay!

Mylie had a soccer game this past weekend;






She's pretty awesome.






She has a pretty great fan club too;

















Her team won by the way.

I think they won not only because of Mylie's superb game playing and goal scoring, but also because of the loving family cheering from the sidelines.

I am so the lucky one. To have a brother and his family take the time out of their precious Saturday morning to come watch my Mylie play.


Several hours later, we headed to yet another game. This time it was basketball, for Chris. Alumni game at Spring Arbor University, where he rocked the court.











The game was followed by a hoot of a "fall party" at our friends beautiful new home. There were hayrides, silly string wars, pumpkin painting, trampoline and moonwalk jumping, GREAT food and of course....fireworks. Of course! There are always fireworks in October!






















GREAT way to have a weekend. Games, parties, kids...loving life!