Halloween 2016

 There were two butterflies, a blue ninja, and a storm trooper who had a fabulous Halloween at our house this year. The ninja took his posing very seriously. 

{Addie right, Emmie left}

 That's one sweet Storm Trooper.

He saw this costume at Walmart, and that was it. Search over.

 Two Little Monarchs

{Emmie left, Addie right}

 Again...poses...serious business

 Emmie

 Addie

And a few action shots...they were excited to say the least.

 Addie was ON it.

The McDonough Crew with their friend Chewy.

CHF Field Trip 2016

In October, the kids' school headed out to one of our fall favorites, Cedar Hill Farms. It was fun {and quite interesting} this year, because all four kiddos got to go. It was definitely an all hands on deck situation, and I was thankful Mike was able to take off of work and head out with us. It was a fun day with friends, lots of dust {it hadn't rained in weeks}, pig races, zip lines, and some pumpkins and a donut to go. That's a recipe for a great day!

E left, A right

Emmie

Addie

Emmie

Addie

Max and some of his BFFs. He has been friends with all these kids since birth,
and it's so fun that they are all in class together!

Fun Happenings This Fall

My favorite picture from this fall...all dressed up in our fall finest.
Emmie left, Addie right

Getting older and going to school means more fun! From birthday celebrations to dress up days, we had fun partying it up this fall!

Birthday breakfast for the six-year-old

His Kinder teacher doesn't play. That dum-dum bouquet lasted weeks.

Teams Day...Supporting our Texas teams!

Emmie left, Addie right

Hat Day!

 Crazy Sock Day

Emmie left, Addie right

 Pajama Day

Addie left, Emmie right

 Ready for a Super Hero Birthday Party!

Emmie as Batman, Addie as Superman

Community Helper Day in 4K. Ben requested to be a mailman, and he was just SO STINKIN CUTE.

Max's class made Shape Robots. He was so proud of this little guy!

The McDs Go to Preschool

August was a big month in our family, because all four kiddos started school/preschool this year. It has been a fun and busy adjustment for our family {trying to be in three classrooms for parties at the same time should be some sort of Olympic sport...yes I'm being dramatic}, but it has been great. The kids really enjoy their classes, we love their teachers and school, and they have learned so much! During carpool, one of the teachers took to calling them The McDonough Crew when calling for them. The kids took notice, and the name has stuck. They call themselves The McDonough Crew now, and it's kind of adorable.

Just a quick look back at the beginning of the year...

Emmie and Addie at Meet the Teacher with Mrs. Susan

Ben with his new teacher Mrs. Rachel

Max was so excited to be a big Kindergarten man!

Although they are all at the same school, Max actually started Kinder the day 

before the other three started. 

We snapped a few pictures to commemorate the big day.

He was just a tad excited.

The other kids started the next day with the same results...a whole lot of excitement. I was thankful they posed for a few sweet pictures for me.

Little Miss Addie took a dive into her headboard a couple days before school started, so she was sporting a mean looking bruise on her forehead.

And yes...I made sure they had their names on them to help their kind teacher {who has two sets of twins this year}.

Silly Faces...

And a couple of cute brothers!

Looking back at these pictures, it's hard to believe a whole semester has already come and gone. Here's to many {soooo many} more in the years to come!

Ben Turns Four

It's no secret that I'm a bit behind on the ol' blog this year, but I am trying to at least get the big moments on here in hopes of catching up some day. Instagram gives my OCD brain a great sense of peace, because I know I have so many of favorite pictures all sorted and captioned. Here's to catching up in 2017!

Anyhow...Ben turned FOUR back in May, and I definitely count that as a BIG moment. This little guy is a hot mess in the very best way. He can be big, loud, hilarious, and a bundle of energy, and then he can turn around and be the most snuggly guy you've ever seen. He loves books, Legos, Veggie Tales, Star Wars, and {since I'm writing in now in good ol' July} I happen to know that he is a master of VBS songs and choreography. A master I tell you.

Ben's birthday fell on the last day of school, so his teacher decided to celebrate his birthday along with all the summer birthdays in the class.  I don't think he minded too much. The icing is what tipped me off.

Here he is on his actual birthday, but you know what really mattered in four-year-old world. The birthday party.

When it came to celebrating Ben's big day, he requested a "fireman and policeman" Lego party. I thought it would be easy-peasey since the I had seen the City Lego party sets online, but as it turned out they were discontinued. With a few improvisations, we were able to pull of a party that I think he really enjoyed. Legos? Cake? Pizza? What's a four-year-old boy not to like???

 All ready for the party to start!

Hanging out in front of the Build Your Own Lego Fireman Table

And the Play Doh table...

I printed out some Lego coloring pages for them to work on.

Fireman and Policeman Lego plates

Technically, they are Brik Tek, but let's not bother with semantics. Ha!

 

I got a little desperate for decorations, so I got some Lego City books and threw them around. I figured it was a win, because now they have them in their library.

The birthday boy requested that I make him a chocolate cake.

And I may have felt like I needed to get a cookie cake to round it out.

 Enjoying the party!

 Cake time!