November 2017

Wrapping Up October!

Halloween weekend sure was a treat for us, again, this year!

At school on the Friday before Halloween, the 1st grade classes celebrated with some fall-themed activities. This was one of the treats Liam created & brought home.

Later that evening, we headed over to the Bengels for the annual Halloween bash. These two yahoos were my dates 😛 ….that bear head inevitably was tried on by every kid later that evening. I’m still not sure how I feel about that — #germaphob.

Halloween fell on a Tuesday this year, so that made for an interesting & late night of trick-or-treating. Nevertheless, we trudged through and still had a blast! We continued our trick-or-treat tradition of hanging out with the Bengels in their neighborhood. Liam’s official costume was the LEGO minifigure Nexo Knights Clay character.

His costume was pretty cute and elaborate. A little hot, too, so I’m glad it was a cooler evening for us …he definitely needed it with all the pieces he had to wear. It included a tunic with detachable shoulder pieces, pants, mask and pair of hands.

This is our normal set up the last few years as we head out to walk the neighborhood 🙂 …we use Liam’s wagon to load up some drinks (child & adult beverages), as well as any other misc necessities (bug spray, jackets). Thanks to technology, Alexa joins us & provides our Halloween themed background music as we walk. It’s a super fun time …and Lisa & I usually end up having almost more fun watching our husbands goof off by the end of the evening after the kids are worn out 🙂

These kiddos move so fast from door to door that it was difficult to get any good shots this year. I was reading through last year’s post and remember how Liam really took charge then with being proactive with trick-or-treating. He definitely continued that this year. If anything, he was even more so. All of us commented how fast the kids were blowing through the neighborhood this year. Much faster than ever before. In fact, we went farther down & to more houses than we ever have! I think we all definitely noticed how much bigger they all were this year. It was a little bitter sweet.

As we walked from house to house, Liam was checking each one out. If the house was dark, he would yell out really loud — “this one is not celebrating!” 🙂 …At other houses where they got candy, we would get a report back on some of his more favorable collections before he even left the driveway. It really was hilarious!  …Speaking of that, one house we had never made it to before, gave each kiddo a goodie bag that had (no lie) about 30 pieces of candy in it. I thought the kids were going to come unglued with excitement when they came running back to us!! We were trying to figure out how we’d missed this house all these years? LOL

One of our favorite parts of trick-or-treating is getting to see all the neighborhood decorations. Some of the homes really go all out. It’s so fun! ….There are a few houses that we seek out especially — one that always turns their garage into a haunted house, one whose entire front lawn is decorated, and another who makes the whole yard dark & creepy looking.

End of the night shenanigans!

I would say this face was pleased with his haul. This ended up being WAY more candy than what any six-year-old could possibly dream off. He almost had more fun just counting all pieces once we got home more than anything else 🙂 ….extra candy pays off for gingerbread house making down the road…..hahaha!!

October went by in the blink of an eye, but it was a blast!

Happy Halloween!

HERE is a look back on last year’s fun.

Until next time, friends!

November 2016

Looking Back on October

I love this time of year. It’s filled with such fun family activities. Definitely makes the days and weeks fly by. Before November gets away from us, I want to take a moment, and share some snippets of the fall memories we made last month.

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We kicked off October with Liam’s Fall Festival at his elementary school. It was still pretty warm out that evening, but we pretended otherwise 😉 ….he thoroughly enjoyed the hayride they had around the field.

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There was no shortage of bouncy houses for the kiddos. He tried out almost all of them, of course!

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This one was an obstacle course….

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Then, there was the jail. It was literally all the rage with the kids, including mine. You could pay to put a friend in jail for a few minutes as a joke {& all money went to the school as a fundraiser}. My little? Well, he just wanted to put himself in jail 😛 ….totally hilarious!

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Later on in the month, we hung out with our regular crowd for our annual Halloween get together. Liam ditched his chosen Grease costume in favor of being Darth Vader for this party.

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That night, I actually put the camera down for a bit & just enjoyed the night. That’s rare for me. This was the only photo I nabbed besides the one of Liam. I’m pretty sure I ate most of that guac….LOL!

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Halloween night was on a Monday this year. For the 1st time, this was an actual school night for us, but we still made it work and had great night of trick-or-treating. We made the rounds with the Bengels in their neck of the woods, and the weather was beautiful! Liam looked fab in his Danny Zuko costume from Grease.

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This year, he was too cute with how he went door to door. In year’s past, he was a little timid and definitely let our friends kiddos, Alli & James (who are a little older), lead the way. This year, he was a trail blazer. He RAN up to the doors and rang the doorbells himself. Many doors, he didn’t even look back to see if the others were caught up to him. Then, he turned and literally RAN away and would yell out to us, “lets go! we have to go get more candy!”. It was adorable!

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Silly kids goofing off 😛 ….Liam was pretending to be a zombie. Lisa told him to smile in the second pic and he laid himself out on the grass….HA!

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One house made their garage into a haunted house. I think the our ‘big boys’ (aka the hubbies) were more excited for this then the kids.

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Checking out his loot!

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October went by in the blink of an eye, but it was a blast!

HERE is a look back on last year’s fun.

Happy Halloween!

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Latest & Greatest News, October 2015

Happy Halloween!

Trick or Treat!

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Seriously, how much fun was Halloween on a Saturday night?!?! I vote to have it on a weekend every year!

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We kicked off the weekend with dinner on Friday night at IHOP. Liam got a FREE spooky pancake. So fun!

When we got home there was a special delivery from Papa G & G-Ma –> a Halloween tin of yummy flavored popcorn!

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On Saturday, the 1st thing Liam said was: “it’s Trick or Treat day!!!” ….he could barely contain his excitement 😉

We continued our annual tradition of hanging out & eating dinner with our good friends & walking their neighborhood.  While Liam dressed up in a few of his different superhero hero costumes in the various holiday events we attended throughout the month, he had selected Baymax from Disney’s Big Hero 6 movie as his trick-or-treat outfit. He adores that movie! ❤ …I mean, it’s a Disney’s superhero movie, afterall, right?!?! 😉 ….It was hilarious because some of the people handing out candy did not know his costume & asked him if he was an Avenger. He, very matter-of-factly, stated: “No, I am Baymax”.  Then, he would turn around and yell down the driveway, “They thought I was an Avenger!!!”

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Halloween is the look of mischief…..

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Daddy did some cool modifications to the wings to get them to stick out and not be flopping around. We glued tongue depressors to the inside flaps & then, he painted them red. The mask also fit a bit tight & squished his nose. Stephen added a few foam pieces (such a thoughtful daddy!)….however, Liam still didn’t keep it on most of the night. Ya know, it’s still pretty hot & sticky here in FL 😉

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Let the fun begin!

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Liam was so polite at every house. He said, “trick-or-treat” and then, “thank you” after getting his candy. Then, to each person, I also heard him say, “Happy Halloween!” ….my heart melted! We stayed out for about 2 1/2 hours. We even brought our wagon because we thought he would get tired and need a rest, but no, he trucked along & kept up the whole time. Heck, he even pulled the wagon (by his request) toward the end. The only thing he did ask for was to dump his candy bag and “start over” because his little bag was getting too heavy. This mama had thought about that ahead of time, so I did bring a bigger bag….lol!

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He ended up with quite the haul of candy by the time we got done. Here he is — tired, hot & sweaty…but so proud of his little stash 🙂

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It was a great weekend! We were a tired little family when all was said & done, but I wouldn’t have it any other way. When Liam woke up on Sunday morning, he asked if it was still Halloween. I told him, no, it was now November. Then, he asked if was Christmas. I said no again. Little dude proceeded to cry….I felt so bad! Once I explained that Thanksgiving was next & reminded him what that meant, he was ok. Being a 4 year old is tough work sometimes 😉

Here’s a look back on the fun from the last few years:

2014 // 2013 //

2012 (back before the blog …check out this adorbs pic). This was Liam’s 1st time trick-or-treating!! We just pushed him right up to the doors. Haha! …but he held his little bucket!

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2011 (also, back before the blog …Baby’s 1st Halloween!!)

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Until next time!

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Latest & Greatest News, October 2015

Spooktacular Fun!

We recently spent the day over at Sea World & took in the sites for their Halloween Spooktacular! What a fun-filled family day 🙂 …I really love that Sea World includes the holiday festivities as part of the park admission. A definite plus, so we put our annual passes to good use again! As you can see, we brought Thor with us that day 😉

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One of the special holiday events that we elected to do was the Dine with Shamu Spooktacular Brunch. While this was extra from our admission to the park, I have to say, it was totally worth it! We had a great meal, and best of all, we enjoyed watching two of the whales swim literally right next to us. Liam was in awe ❤

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To our surprise, we had a private show while dining!! Stephen & I honestly thought it was just going to be watching the whales swim around in the tank while we ate, which was cool enough for us…..

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….but, the trainers gave us an entire show & it was incredible! We could not have asked for a better morning 🙂

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After brunch, the kiddos were excited to check out the Halloween decorations around the park AND there was Trick-or Treating!!

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Liam posing with his bestie, Kenadie & her brother, Karsten

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Trick or Treat time 🙂 ….every time he got a candy he showed us his bag & said, “Look what I got!!” …Loved the excitement!!

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The “Sea Witch” thought these two were pretty adorbs ❤ ….Liam said she smelled like candy 🙂

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After candy time, we hung out & did some rides. Liam rode the kiddie roller coaster there for the 1st time! He also rode this one, below, “Ocean Commotion” — safe to say he loved it!

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I think I asked Liam about a hundred times throughout the day if he wanted to take his costume off ….mama bear in me was worried he was too hot in this FL heat, but he always said ‘nope, I’m good’. So, Thor accompanied us the entire day 😉 and I would say he had a fabulous time …. we all did!

Until next time, friends!

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Latest & Greatest News, November 2014

Recent Happenings

Remember me? It’s definitely been awhile….this momma was sick these last few weeks & honestly, the thought of sitting at the computer (for anything other than what I had to do for work) was just not appealing.

In the meantime, life moved on, as it always does, right?!?! LOL…I just tried to keep up. Thankfully, I had Mr Murphy there to help and lucky for him, he didn’t get it. Liam got a touch of it, but I’m happy to report that we’re all feeling much better now.

So, here’s what we’ve been up to the last few weeks….

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Halloween was so much fun! Liam was ALL about it! He was allowed to dress up for school, but yes, I was afraid his costume would get messed up soooooo he wore a back-up {go ahead & laugh….it’s ok}. He had a great time sporting his ‘Sheriff Woody’ costume all morning. We even saw from the cameras that he kept his hat on! — way to go, dude! 🙂

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Halloween night, we went over to our friend’s, the Bengels, and hung out for dinner {delish homemade pizza!} and then the kiddos trick-or-treated together. The ‘Hulk’ made his appearance for this main event!

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Getting ready to hit the neighborhood! Liam walked the entire trip. Such a little trooper! He loved going up to the doors & saying, ‘trick-or-treat’ …he’s still talking about it, a few weeks later 🙂

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The next night, we headed back out to gather with our friends for a 2nd Annual S more’s Roast. It was the 1st cool night of the season, so it worked out perfectly! The adults attempted a roasted marshmallow Kahlua shot….pretty tasty, I must say.

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The kiddos had a blast roasting marshmallows & making s more’s out back once it got dark.

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Last weekend, we headed downtown for the Touch-A-Truck event. This is a community event where the kiddos can explore various big trucks, construction vehicles, and public safety equipment. Liam LOVED it!

Here he is checking out a steam roller.

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There were a few mini monster trucks there. He thought they were the coolest things ever.

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We even got to squeeze him into the driver seat of one. Such a big, little man 😉

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Fire Truck!

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Saturday evening, we headed over to Mimi, Papa D & Aunt Heather’s to celebrate baby cousin, Sierra’s very 1st birthday ❤

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Happy Birthday, sweet girl!

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On Sunday, I got a little creative while daddy was watching football & made this turkey with Liam. I asked him for 5 things he was thankful for to write on each feather….He said: mommy, daddy, timber, rainbows, & letters

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It’s hard to believe that Thanksgiving will be here next week, but we’re definitely excited & looking forward to it.

Until next time, friends! 🙂

~H

Latest & Greatest News, October 2014

Week-In-Review

Last week was such a fun week at gymnastics! Liam overcame his fear of flipping upside down and did his pull-over on the un-even bar with Coach Elyssa! He was super proud, as were we! Even more exciting was that his coach sent him a ‘star student’ certificate in the mail later in the week to recognize this awesome achievement 🙂 …that really was such a sweet gesture from her! Much appreciated by this momma & daddy!!

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We enjoyed a busy, but super fun weekend, as we geared up for the upcoming Halloween celebration. The festivities kicked off on Friday evening with our annual bash at the Bengel’s. Liam sported his costume and looked awesome!!

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Lisa had the house all decked out and I was in love with her ‘floating candles’ in their family room. Great touch!

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The kids decided to break out some pretty sweet dance moves. Liam definitely has some moves of his own, people….so cute!

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On Sunday, we took our little guy out to UCF for ‘Trick or Treat on Greek Street’. This was the 1st year we made it out there, and it was fun for him. He definitely was happy about the early trick-or-treating, and he did pretty good participating in a few of the games that they had set up.

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Trick-or-Treating is hard work 😉 …..water break!

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Sunday evening, the boys did a little pumpkin carving out back. Even the fur baby got in on the action 🙂

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Posing with his finished ‘jack-o-lantern’ …the smaller pumpkin is a fake one but he insisted that it was ‘the baby’ and that the one Stephen carved was ‘the daddy’, so they had to stay together….LOL!!! Too Funny!! What an imagination!

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By the time the candle burned out on this guy on Sunday night, I was exhausted….such a busy weekend, yet so much fun…..and, so many wonderful memories! Lots more Halloween fun to come this week. We are looking forward to sharing with you soon.

Until next time, friends!

~H

Latest & Greatest News, October 2013

Halloween 2013

October was such a fun month for this little Murphy family. By far, we had the most fun yet with a holiday with little man, Liam. Definitely can’t wait for Turkey Day & Christmas!

Liam loved all the Halloween decorations, especially the ‘punkins’, as he called them, and the jack-o-lanterns.

This pic below was all posed & arranged by him. It was too funny! I use the purple witch hat as a decoration but he wanted to wear it and then grabbed scarecrow Minnie & said he was gonna stand next to “mr punkin’ 🙂

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So, I said in a previous post that I was super excited about Liam’s costume this year & it’s true, I was. I knew he wasn’t gonna 100% get it this year so we could still pick his costume this go round, but I wanted it to be meaningful to him. He has a Dalmatian puppy that he sleeps with every night, and when I found this costume from Pottery Barn, I knew it was THE one. However, it was priced way higher than what I was willingly to pay so I kept looking. But, you know how it goes….after you find, THE one, nothing else is as good. Then, one Sunday morning, I couldn’t believe my peepers when I came across the SAME costume listed on Craigslist. Long story short…a few days later that Craigslist costume was in our hands for a mere $20!! SCORE!! ….if you don’t take advantage of Craigslist, you’re missing out….I love it!!

We had a super fun Halloween Party to attend at the Bengel’s a few weeks ago. It gave us a good practice run of the costume and a chance to take this awesome costume pic. I was loving that Liam loved being his puppy!!

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That night, after the party, I submitted this pic via #disneybabyhalloween to the BabyCenter’s Instagram Halloween Photo Contest & I was siked that they picked it up & posted it! The contest ends today, 11/03, and we have a chance to win a $100 gift card. As of this update, his pic has 134 likes on Instagram and 783 likes on Facebook….All in good fun, but I’d say his our little celebrity!! You can check his entry out by navigating to the photocontest link on the BabyCenter’s FB page.

Quick family pick before Liam ripped his costume off at the Bengel Halloween Party 😉

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Treat-or-Treat week brought some challenges to Casa de Murphy. Liam ended up spiking a fever on Wednesday afternoon & had to be picked up from school. Obviously, that put a damper on the Halloween plans for the next day, but the most important thing was making sure he was rested & feeling better. We spent the next few days resting & make a trip to the dr ….but doing better this weekend.

We were feeling ok on Thursday evening and no fever so we did take him out for a bit. He had a great time but he was a little scared to walk up to the doors by himself. Either Stephen or me had to usually carry him. And, he had his wagon charriot to get him from house to house. He was quiet at each door until the door closed and then he would unleash with everything you could tell he had been thinking….”I got more candy….I saw a pirate puppy….I go trick or treat” Love him!!

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Out & about in the neighborhood….

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Celebrating his haul with his bff, Timber!

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I’m sure next year, he’s going to tell us what he wants to dress up as, and then he’ll be running from house to house. That will be fun.

Up next….a recap of our fun trip to Green Meadows Farm! Here’s a few pics from Liam in the pumpkin patch that was there….he carefully picked in his own pumpkins!!

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