It's Halloween!

It's Halloween and that means Family, Friends and Fun!
I love this time of year! I love the traditions that our family has created
and continues to create with those we love!

This year was no different. We celebrated at the girls' school with their Fall Harvest parties.
We celebrated at home with Trick or Treating with the neighborhood.
We celebrated with our friends with some of our favorite traditions, like our annual trip to Living History Farms Family Halloween.

We did what we always try to do, bring God's example of Love into everything we do. We started our Halloween Day at church, worshipping and serving and we ended it celebrating with friends. It just doesn't get any better than that!

Enjoy ~

The Rouse Girls were peace loving disco girls this year! I even got in on the fun!

We are blessed to have a great neighborhood of friends and we hit the streets together!

Avery led the way this year, no surprise there!

Next, our trip to LHF with the Liskeys. Wendy is serving in Haiti right now, so she was with us in spirit. We have fun, despite missing her! But we did enjoy have GiGi with us instead.

I was lucky enough to get to celebrate with Ella at her class party this year. What fun!

All in all, Halloween 2010 was another great success!

Happy Halloween from the Rousehouse!

Claire big day, Avery's big secret!

It's been a busy weekend for us. Not only did we celebrate another fun Halloween, Claire performed in her very first piano concert!

Claire has been taking piano for 7 weeks, and already is an accomplished pianist... okay, well maybe I'm exaggerating a little, but she really is quite good!

Her teacher suggested they perform a duet together for this weekend's pop concert. I thought for sure Claire would decline, since that is most certainly what I would have done at 8 years old with 7 weeks of piano under my belt. But instead, Claire thought it would be fun! What a girl!

We arrived at the concert and Claire leaned over to me and said, "there are a lot of people here, and teenagers too!" I could see the nerves starting to set in. The teenagers played first, a four-person piece on 2 pianos that was outstanding! Then 2 younger kids played, did well, then Claire.

I could not have been more proud. I knew she was nervous, but no one else did. She stood right up, walked to the piano, and played perfectly! She was forte when appropriate and pianissimo at the right time and finished in perfect timing with her teacher! (The best part, she wasn't actually perfect. The piece called for them to repeat it at the end. I saw her hands go up like she was done, but then she smiled and put her hands back down and got right back into the rhythm. She didn't quit or get flustered or any of the things I imagined happening in my head!) When she was done, she stood up, took her bow and sat back down. After she caught her breath, she leaned over to me and said, "that was really fun mom!"

Oh, you just can't pay for these moments! They only come from the gift of motherhood. Thank you God for these amazing children of mine, of yours, that you let me play with. I am so blessed!

Claire, after the big performance!

Now, for the other child......

After the concert, which Avery sat through playing on the itouch, I couldn't find her at home. It was very quiet, which is never a good thing. I looked upstairs, downstairs, all around, until I finally opened the coat closet. There is Avery, paci in mouth, itouch in hand, watching Max and Ruby.

I don't know what's worse. The fact that she hid in the closet to play with the itouch or that she knows how to use the itouch all by herself!!