A Truly "Scary" Night

With 5 children so small and close in age, I find that days and weeks tend to blend together. It is sometimes hard to remember particular memories clearly... This is not one of those nights. We went to the zoo in early October 2014 for Boo At The Zoo and it was one of those nights that was full of wonderful memories... The weather was perfect. Cool, but not cold. It was sunny. No traffic getting into the parking lot. My Mom, Paul(brother), and Laura(sister in law) all came to help us keep track of everyone. There were no melt-downs(unusual with 2 two year olds). Hadley led our group from candy station to candy station like a pro. A trip to Comfy Cow for ice-cream afterwards. After getting everyone in bed that night, Blake and I sat down and were able to look through these pictures and have distinct memories about all of them! Such a gift during such a busy period of life...

Hadley

Will

Emery, Will, Riley

The Gang

The crew with Mimi, Uncle Paul, and Aunt Laura

Ainsley and Aunt Laura

Emery

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Ainsley

Hadley

Ainsley

Hadley

Advent

I feel that by the time November hits, the next 2 months just fly by, so Blake and I sat down last night and came up with our advent list. We have always thrown one together last minute, but wanted to be really organized and do it well this year since our eldest are reaching an age where we are making memories... My Pottery Barn Kids advent calendar got eaten by a mouse - literally - so this year we are going to try a DIY! This is my favorite idea:

The Ring Families Advent List:

1. Decorate Christmas Tree

2. Put Up Outdoor Christmas lights

3. Make Popsicle Stick Star Ornaments

4. Christmas Themed Candy

5. Go See Nutcracker In A Nutshell

6. Make An Edible Christmas Tree

7. Take Money To A Salvation Army Coin Collector

8. Christmas Themed Candy

9. Christmas Pizza for dinner

10. Hang our stockings

11. Make Christmas Cookies

12. Make Cinnamon Dough Ornaments

13. Read Christmas Books With Fire And Hot Chocolate

14. Christmas Themed Candy

15. Start Advent Candles

16. Lunch/Dinner At Old Spaghetti Factory With Carriage Ride

17. S'mores

18. Christmas Movie Night - Popcorn / Hot Chocolate

19. Homemade Christmas Cards For BFG teachers / Neighbors

20. Bake For BFG Teachers / Neighbors

21. Christmas Themed Candy

22. Look At Christmas Lights With Hot Chocolate

23. Make Happy Birthday Jesus Cake

24. Collect 1 Toy A Piece To Donate

*These gifts/activities are not yet organized by date. I hope to have everything organized and purchased for before December so I can hang everything up ready to go!*

Baked Smore Bites

Ingredients:

Honey graham crackers

Large marshmallows

Chocolate bark

Sprinkles(if your feeling festive)

Break your graham crackers into 4 pieces. 

Lay on a sheet pan and place 1 marshmallow on each piece.

Bake on 400 for 3-4 minutes.

As soon as you remove them from the oven top with another piece of graham crackers.

We had to wipe the excess marshmallow off of the sides, but it only took an extra minute or two. 

Transfer to wax paper and let harden.

Dip in the melted chocolate bark.

We added sprinkles to ours to make them festive.

Let chocolate harden.

Happy Easter

Just wanted to share a few photos of the kids from this morning...

Out of 5 photos this was honestly the best choice! :)

A little blury, but this is totally Riley... I have no idea where she picks these things up!

Easter Sunday with Papa and Mimi

Family Photo - Take 1

Family Photo - Take 2...
We have learned to become content with very few family photos :)