Trick-or-Treat

 I emptied the kids buckets out before we left to trick-or-treat (they had some candy from Saturday).  This made Grace mad, so she found a bucket of candy on the counter and dumped it into her bucket.  Smart girl.

 Cheese!

 Bumblebee the Transformer - not Power Ranger like a few people asked.  He was so cute some random lady took a picture of him.

 The Red Ninja

 Everyone is smiling.  A small miracle in my book.

Super feminine Minnie Mouse.  I hate to say it, but it reminds me of some pictures of myself.  She refused to wear her ears, and insisted on wearing her new rain boots.  Oh well.  She caught on quick to the trick-or-treating and to eating the candy.  Overall a great Halloween.

Preschool Party

 Preschool was at our house today so we had a Halloween party.  Still some learning activities, but all Halloween related and fun.  This was pumpkin bowling.

Hulk took his turn very seriously.

 Bumblebee, a bit more of a ham.

 I love all of them standing around observing.  Their faces are so cute.

 So excited when our cat had the first strike!  They cheered like they had done it themselves.

 I believe our snake was more concerned about pictures than bowling.

 The ghosts we were knocking over.  We tried various formations to see what was hard and what was easy.  All 6 in one column was awesome if they could hit it...they usually missed though.

 Notice how close he is now standing.  The more rounds they did the closer they got.  It did improve accuracy.

 Cute pics before they left.  I don't know why I didn't think to do them earlier before they had lunch on their faces.

Why does my child look crazy in every picture? 

Such cute little preschoolers.  They are seriously so fun to play with each week.  Thanks for a fun party! 

Side note: Our snake decided he was done wearing his costume, and done taking pictures, which is why there are none of him at the end.

The Great Pumpkin Carving

We finally carved our pumpkins tonight.  Here is the play-by-play. 

 

 Grace held true to being our least fearful child and got right to business.

 Evan still thinks its nasty.  Gotta love the toothless grin.

This was Kyle's hollowing technique.  One seed at a time, using a spoon.  I think he stayed the cleanest.

 Molly while we carved pumpkins.  I'm pretty sure laying on your back using your paws to play is more of a cat thing.  Our dog is obviously having an identity crisis.

 Just as we were about done with the kids pumpkins they announced that they wanted to carve.  Kyle and I ran to the store and bought two more so they could give it a try.  Kyle was very focused when it came time to carve his.

 Evan...also very focused.

 The finished products.

 Grace loves hers.  She is going to be Minnie for Halloween since she is obsessed with all things Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.

 Kyle did the eyes, nose, and half of the mouth of his triangle pumpkin.  Pretty impressive for being 4.

Evan's creations.  He did the eyes of both pumpkins by himself, and part of the mouth of his little one.

Now I'm off to finish our evening with the Charlie Brown Halloween special.

Tooth Fairy Visit

This happened last week, but better late than never.

 One last picture of his little top teeth.

We woke Brandon up to do the honors.  Apparently he is the only one capable of pulling Evan's teeth.

It took numerous tries to get the dental floss to stay on, but after about 20 minutes of trying we had success.

Now we have this goofy grin.  It has been funny getting used to him with no tooth, and I'm sure the other top tooth is soon to follow.

Dream Car

 For about 8 years we have been talking about wanting to replace our van with a "Honda Van."  Our van died a lot, just while you were driving down the road.  Every time it did the boys would chant "Hon-da van, Hon-da van."  We have been looking on the internet to find one we liked and Monday we went to see one.  After driving an hour to the dealership the salesman says, "you didn't get my email, it sold last night." No we didn't get your email, you sent it 15 minutes ago.  We drove another 30 minutes to see another one we liked, and we didn't like it, but we found....

 This beauty

 Even the neighbor kids are excited and couldn't resist posing for a picture with it.

 It isn't super fancy.  No leather or dvd players, but we love it.  The kids were even in it Tuesday morning 20 minutes before we needed to leave just enjoying it.

So much more space than with the 3 carseats in the back of the Accord, and so nice to not stall and have working air conditioning again.  So, we got our dream car, and it is just as awesome as we imagined it.

First Day of School Part 2

 Kyle had his first day of preschool today and he was super excited (despite his forced smile).

 He was ready with backpack on an hour before it started, so I distracted him with pictures for a while.

 Showing off his super cool backpack.  It is Evan's from last year, but he was so excited to have it, and we are excited to not have to buy another one.

 We are doing a co-op preschool, and Mondays I'm the teacher.  For snack we made caterpillars.  They were a hit.

 His cute little preschool buddies.

 He decided not to create his and just eat the parts.

The one and only girl.  No worries, she holds her own with these boys.  I think it is going to be a fun year!

First Day

 Yesterday we had a very excited 1st grader.

 Up at 6:30 and ready to go at least 30 minutes early.

 He wanted a picture with his dog.  He had an awesome first day.

 He was so tired when he got home.  I asked if he wanted to do the slip-n-slide today and he informed me he would be far too tired after a day at school.  All day is rough on the guy.

 His teacher seems awesome and he is making some new friends already.  Sadly, today he didn't finish his lunch, he was tired, and somebody didn't play with him at recess so he came home in tears.  Hopefully we have the kinks worked out and things go better tomorrow.

I can't believe he is in first grade already.  We miss him around here during the day.  It is very different, but Kyle and Grace are adjusting and I think it is going to be a fun year.