Trick or Treat!

Carving Pumpkins

Today we carved our pumpkins! With the two little pumpkins, we made pumpkin pie and pumpkin bread and with the two big pumpkins, we made jack-o-lanterns. Molly was funny carving the pumpkins. She did NOT want to touch the inside with her hands. She would use a spoon, but she would not put her hands in there. Such a princess!

For all of those who know Brian's history with pumpkins, don't worry! No members of the Hines household were injured in the making of these photos! :-)

You guys need some help with the baking? I'm a good helper!

Pumpkin pie---yummy!
The pumpkin bread is in the oven. Can't wait for breakfast tomorrow!

Our jack-o-lanterns are ready for the trick-or-treaters tomorrow night!

Celebrations!

We've been doing a lot of celebrating this weekend. Molly's birthday was Friday and Nana made Molly a happy birthday cinnamon roll and Brian and I left her a gift to open.
Then Tara brought her to school to eat lunch with me. She LOVED it! The kids were so excited about meeting Molly, but they did a good job of not overwhelming her and she loved being at Mommy's school.
Today we had a little family birthday party for Molly. She and Rayna both got lots of goodies! Nana made Molly a custom birthday cake. Seriously. Molly told Nana EXACTALY what she wanted and Nana made a precious cake for the birthday princess! And we've also been celebrating with Justin and Tara who are expecting their first baby! We've had such a good time with the Evoys. While Tara was in town, Anna and I threw her a baby shower. It was so much fun! I am SO excited about meeting Baby Evoy!!

Happy Birthday Molly!!!

I cannot believe that my precious baby is 3 years old today!! She is such a special little girl and we just can't imagine our lives without her. She is becoming a big girl before our eyes, but she will ALWAYS be our baby!

While today is such a happy day of celebrations for our family, I can't help but think of Molly's birth mother today. I just cannot put into words how thankful I am for this special woman that I will probably never meet. I am so thankful that she chose life for her daughter. I'm so thankful that three years ago today, she wrapped her in a blanket and left her with a bottle of milk at Dong Ahn Orphanage. I'm so thankful for the gift she has given our family.

Happy 3rd Birthday, Sweet Molly!!

The Fall Fun Continues.....

Have I mentioned that Fall is absolutely my favorite season?! I love the cooler weather, apples, pumpkins, hayrides, and all of the other Fall festivities. I think my very favorite thing about Fall is just being outside every afternoon with my girls.

This weekend we went to a bonfire/hayride with my mom's church. Molly loved the hayride, the animals, and getting her first taste of roasted marshmallows!

And Fall is just going to KEEP getting better because Justin and Tara are coming into town TOMORROW!! YAY!!

School Pride

I'm so proud to be a teacher at Benton Heights Elementary School of the Arts!

Pumpkin Patch!

Persepctive

I know that Molly is small for her age and Rayna is big for her age. It's obvious from the hand-me-down pictures that Rayna is wearing clothes that Molly wore when she was much older. But for some reason, this little pink outfit really put it into perspective for me. I remember putting this outfit on Molly all winter and wondering if she would ever grow into it. So when I pulled it out for Rayna, I remembered how HUGE it was and thought, "oh, this should be a good fit for Rayna."

Here's Molly wearing the outfit at 12 months. (This is actually her first birthday.)

And Rayna in the same outfit at 11 months.

Isn't it funny?! And the REALLY funny thing is how your child can be (less than) 5th percentile on the growth chart or (greater than) 95th percentile on the growth chart, and still be the perfect size!

The reason I worry when my children are quiet:

The bad news: Rayna ate a marker.
The good news: Rayna ate a washable, non-toxic marker.

Is it my imagination, or does she look rather pleased with herself?

Happy Birthday to Nana!!

Speaking of Nana.....today is Nana's birthday! 10/10/10--what an exciting day for a birthday! We had fun celebrating with Nana. Molly pretty much made her cake with me as her assistant. That girl LOVES being in the kitchen. She can crack an egg with one hand--seriously! I've got to get it on video! She was so excited about Nana's birthday--I can't imagine how she's going to be later this month when it's HER birthday!

Nana is such an important part of our lives. She's investing so much into the lives of our girls by being with them all day while we are at work. And I just can't imagine it any other way. She is AMAZING with them and they love her! (See previous post!) Nana is such a blessing! We love you, Nana!!

Don't Tell Mommy!

Hi! It's me--Rayna. I'm gonna let you in on a little secret about my very favorite place--Nana's house!!

Nana lets me stand on her favorite chair......

And drive her car.....

And eat ice cream in our jammies!!
It's the best! But don't tell anyone!

Other than Sissy. She's in on our little secret, too!