Halloween 2014

Today was the first Halloween that Lillian and Caleb both celebrated at school.  Dan braved the crowds with Liam to catch them in their costume parade.  It is decidedly difficult, however, to get any good pictures of moving kids among hundreds of other moving kids in a school Halloween parade!  Once I got home from school we had a little downtime to relax and eat some pizza together.  Since the weather was very cold and windy, it was the perfect night for some indoor trick-or-treating!

Our pirate, Spiderman, and minion had a lot of fun playing games and collecting candy.

Liam even made some minion friends along the way!

All in all, the kids had a great time and we stayed warm and dry indoors!

Visit from Bada and Poppy

Dan's parents arrived at our house yesterday afternoon for a weekend visit.  Although we love time with them as a whole family, we rarely get time for just Dan and I to spend in Holland with his parents.  So, we had arranged for a babysitter for the evening hours so that the four of us could head downtown for yummy food and some impromptu entertainment by some talented Hope alum (it is Hope's homecoming weekend).  We had a great time together!  This morning consisted of lots of relaxing and piling on the grandparents.

We were supposed to watch Caleb play soccer but he was not feeling well enough to run around (he came home sick from school yesterday with a headache and it was bothering him again today). Instead we took a relaxing stroll downtown for lunch and to visit the stores that Dan's parents (and we) love.

After some downtime for Liam's nap we had a delicious, homecooked meal for dinner and enjoyed more time together as a family.  It was a lovely, relaxing time!

Happy birthday to me!

Today Dan and the kids made sure I had a very special birthday.  We started the day with a relaxing morning at home eating delicious cinnamon rolls, followed by a cold, windy soccer game.  Thankfully the sleet and yucky weather were not the highlight of the day!  After some lunch at home and a relaxing afternoon we enjoyed a nice, family dinner at Red Robin.

After dinner we went back home and Dan and the kids made me birthday cupcakes!  While they baked we opened presents, which were incredibly sweet and thoughtful.

Despite the wet, chilly weather it was a wonderful day!

Monumental day!

Notice what's missing?

We have had a crib as a fixture in our home for the better part of the last 7 1/2 years.  Today I took it down and packed it away.  It was a strange, mostly happy, only slightly sad moment in the life of the DuPuis family.  As you can see, Liam is enjoying the extra space!