i haven't done this in a while

comparison- both babies in the "i love mummy" shirt on the day we carved pumpkins.

ava (8 months, 2012)

bella (6 months, 2009)

carving pumpkins 2012

from the first Halloween Randy I spent together, we have been carving pumpkins. it is so much fun to include the kids these days.

all the supplies ready to go:

the artists:

the pretty monster:

working hard:

and the finished products:

we have an "E" for Eich, Elmo, Mickey & Tinkerbell:

the wagon came in handy taking them back to the front:

nobody else would pose for me to show the new front porch display ;):

of course when it got dark, we went back out and lit them up!
(if only you could see them better! seeing them lit up makes a big difference):

snuggles (it was cold!):

and just being silly, making ava look like a boy:

Happy Birthday Randy!

We had so much fun celebrating Randy's birthday at Nakato's. The kids' faces were priceless- the pictures just don't do them justice.

Ava says, "No more pictures paparazzi! I am trying to enjoy dinner with my family."

Giving Daddy some birthday love:

if only her finger was not in the way- I love this face she kept making!

Bella covering her ears:

birthday preparation

I will be sure to post some pictures from our celebration tonight but here are a few of the girls preparing for Randy's birthday.

Making the crust for Randy' favorite: Apple Pie

And now getting the apples ready:

Helping with the cake!

The truth is we don't like chocolate cake and actually, Randy doesn't like cake at all but I could not resist making this golf cake for him when I saw it on Pinterest. It was surprisingly easy!

Here is a final:

Ava was there too :)She mostly just wanted to eat what she saw though!

We also made him cards and wrapped his present and made some other treats for him to enjoy. Bella loves birthdays so she is a lot of fun to have around during this process.

the treats she helped me make for him (and her teachers):

(I love the idea, also from Pinterest, to use scrapbook paper and the like to make your baggies look more like favors- just fold them and staple them on!)

It has been a great few months and with that, I am officially caught up with the blog, and you are officially caught up on Eich life! :)

Annual Hoe Down

Tonight was the Hoe Down/Family Fall Night at Bella's preschool. We took dinner and had an indoor picnic, watched the kids perform songs and dances, then went around to different classrooms to play games.

We had a seat right in front (thanks to our friends who agreed to get their early and save us a spot!!) but we still couldn't see Bella very well. She did a great job though. She had been talking about the "show" all day. She wanted to know when the show was and if it was now and if we were going to miss it. It was so cute. She was so excited she talked about it for hours, right up until the moment they called them up to the stage.

Her with her buddy Landyn:

Ava was there to cheer sissy on!

And just look cute :)

And yes, one little boy decided to take off his costume mid-show ;)

family farm

we usually go to Miller's farm across the street from us. it is a tradition around here. we walk and take the wagon, pick out pumpkins, visit the animals and take a hayride but to our disappointment, they didn't even open up this fall. we were just there this summer picking strawberries so we don't know what happened.

we were forced to go elsewhere this year. we tried out Hall Family Farm in the ballantyne area. we packed lunches and ate them there and then let Bella run around playing all the kiddie games. when she got tired of that we took a hayride and then when for a walk in the pumpkin patch.

Ava's first bike ride!

Bella loves the idea of Daddy riding a bike too and she has been asking if Ava could come for a while. Once we got the helmet situation settled, they were all ready to go!