I haven't forgotten you!

This time of year is the busiest time of year for me. (I'm sure it is that way for a lot of people.) We've got-- Oct. 23 Chris's birthday Oct. 31 Halloween Nov. 22 Thanksgiving Nov. 30 Millie's birthday (Also the anniversary of our engagement) Dec. 2 Mom and Joe's birthday Dec. 9 Katie's birthday Dec. 13 Lizzie's birthday Dec. 25 Christmas Dec. 31 Bill's birthday This end of the year calendar does not even include Ward/Relief Society/Playgroup etc. activities! We are constantly on the move. While it's nice to be up and about, it can be exhausting. So, as I said--I haven't forgotten about writing a post. It's been on the brain. It's a matter of carving out a period of time to do it :) Hope you're enjoying the beginning of this Christmas month!

Happy Halloween!

I like to think that our Halloween festivities begin with Chris's birthday because the sweets and treats begin to appear on that day! ;) The girls and I baked pumpkin cupcakes for our Daddy that night. The girls stayed up later than usual, and Chris drove down to class and back so he could get home earlier. We had a fun "late" celebration with Daddy. Happy 31st Birthday to Chris!

The next morning, we went down to the Montgomery Mall. We met our friends there for the kids' day activity. Lizzie and Cate insisted on getting their faces painted! Those pumpkins were absolutely adorable.

Our ward Trunk or Treat was held on Saturday night at the church. The girls were extremely excited to show off their costumes. They could barely stay still for these pictures!

Our ward decided to a carnival for the first hour before going outside for the trunk or treat part of the night. There were ten stations to explore. Lizzie and Cate especially loved the craft station (spider-making) and pumpkin bowling.

The bean bag toss, the cake walk, and the vampire teeth were also favorites!

There were tons of fun costumes. Lizzie's friend Reed was Ash from Pokemon.

And Cate's friend Andelyne was a BYU cheerleader.

This year we had all the cars who were participating in the trunk or treat park along the sidewalk surrounding the church. It was a perfect walkway for all the little kids to stay on, and the activity lasted longer than it usually does because the cars went all the way around the building, as opposed to a small section of the parking lot. All in all, the QO Ward Trunk or Treat was a great success! On Sunday, our ward had its Primary Presentation. The girls wore their new dresses that Mimi sent them!

Lizzie's line in the program was "I can choose the right by going to the temple." And she did a fabulous job with no help! The whole program turned out wonderfully and we as a Presidency received many compliments about it. Later that night, we had the Heit's over to celebrate Chris's birthday. This time I made sour cream cake. We had vanilla ice cream on the side and Canada Dry Black Cherry Wishniak soda to top it off. Great night!

On Monday, before Hurricane Sandy reached us here in DC, the Heit's had us over to decorate Halloween sugar cookies. The girls were in sugar heaven!!

Finally, to cap off our Halloween festivities, we went trick or treating tonight in the Kentlands with Lois, Reed, and Blake. Our husbands were in class tonight :( But we wives managed just fine. And our kids managed to get tons of candy! What a fun night!

We hope you had a Happy Halloween!

Gaver Farm 2012

We Killion ladies met the Heit family at Gaver Farm in Mt. Airy for some fall fun. Although it was raining very lightly nearly the entire time we were there, the girls absolutely loved it! There was so much to do--

We had a wonderful time. Gaver Farm is a keeper!

National Museum of The Marine Corps

Two weekends ago, my dad and sister drove to our house and spent the night with us. In the morning, Dad and I went to temple. Chris, Julia, and the girls went to the Lancaster Dutch Market while we were gone; they then met up with us in the temple parking lot and we took off for Quantico, VA! When we drove down to Williamsburg last fall, we saw signs for The National Museum of The Marine Corps. We told ourselves that we would eventually check it out and we are glad we did! And we're especially glad that Pop-pop and Julia were there with us.

The first floor was dedicated to wars in which the United States have fought. Each war had its own section that discussed all the major details of the war and the role of the Marines in the war. Cate really liked the phones--you could listen to different peoples' accounts of what happened.

All throughout the first floor were sections designed just for kids. Lizzie really loved them!

There were even places that were interactive--you could stand in a ship, walk through a forest, walk through a bunker, etc.

Don't you love these things? I know I do!

We definitely enjoyed out visit to the National Museum of The Marine Corps! I think we'll visit Quantico again for sure.

Cate's growing up!

For the past few weeks, Cate had been telling me she needs to go potty (this is while wearing a diaper). So I told myself that I just had to take a week and start potty training Cate. This week was that week. I started the same way as I did with Lizzie--sticker chart for successes. First day, take Cate to the bathroom every fifteen minutes, next day every twenty minutes, etc. Monday and Tuesday were consistent, four successes and three accidents each day. (Tuesday's major accident involved me scrubbing the carpet after a particularly awful disaster.) Wednesday started off well. Then Cate took a nap and after that.....well, we went through six pairs of underwear in five hours. Later that night, I was so nervous. Cate had been doing all right and then we had this setback!!! Thursday had to be better. And it was! Only two accidents on Thursday. Friday, Saturday, and Sunday (as in today): no accidents! Cate is so proud of herself and we are certainly proud of her too. She is so excited about her new underwear and will show you if you ask her about it ;D Good job Catie baby! She filled her sticker chart (and I had to add another row) and she got to make a banana split with Dad! (Lizzie decided I should make a chart for her, and she had a banana split too) ;)

It was a little difficult for Lizzie, being stuck inside for the majority of the day. But she was a good sport and she loved to cheer for Cate! We made homemade playdoh one morning and the girls loved it. Lizzie made a pizza and she's pretending to eat a slice.

Cate loved to use the rolling pin with her batch.

I tried bantu knots again, this time only for the girls! They loved them and their hair was so cute the next morning!