October 31

Happy Halloween!

Facebook reminded me today of all sorts of cute pictures of the kids on Halloween in years past, so I took some time this morning to put together a collage of our little family's Halloween costumes over the years.

Isn't it fun to see how the kids - and our family! - have grown over the years? I love that Eli is wearing the same costume in 2015 that Caleb wore in 2009. It's a nice little completion of the circle.

This year's costumes were haphazard and last-minute, but the kids were all really happy.

Lily was a ballerina. Can you tell that she feels so beautiful?

This was her ballerina pose.

Daisy was initially going to be a princess, but when she saw the ghost costume I made for Caleb, she decided that she wanted to be a skeleton ghost, too. I dug her size 4T skeleton pjs out of storage, and threw a ghost costume together for her, and she was thrilled.

(I am fairly certain that she was "in character" for the photo above, hence her facial expression.)

This was her spooky pose.

Caleb was also a very creepy skeleton ghost, and he was thrilled with his costume.

And then there was Eli. We tried his beloved giraffe costume, a storm trooper helmet, and this worker man outfit. None stuck. In the end, I threw Lily's 3T skeleton shirt on him as we walked out the door so that at least he had some type of costume!

My four little ghouls on Halloween 2016, next to our pumpkins that were smooshed and wilted from the unseasonably warm weather.

And then we were off! We had hot dogs and played with friends at the neighborhood party, and then Chris took the big kids trick-or-treating while Eli and I went home to greet the handful of trick-or-treaters who visited our house. 

Lily was in her element tonight, and she led the way up to most houses, proudly saying, "Trick or Treat!" and then, when each person inevitably commented on how scary Caleb and Daisy were, declaring, "I not 'pooky. I a ballerwina."

Funny girl.

Chris says it was the best Halloween yet, and the kids had so much fun.

October 30

Things have been so hectic around here lately that Chris and I have been sorely feeling the lack of time to play as a family. Today we made the decision to skip church and spend time playing together. It was just what we needed.

Chris let me sleep in, and while I slept he fed the kids breakfast and let them play with Play-Doh.

I rarely let them play with Play-Doh, so this was a special treat. 

(Note to Grandmas/myself: their Play-Doh stash is getting stale. Perhaps new Play-Doh would be a good Christmas gift?)

Even Eli (whose face was smeared with chocolate and blueberry from his oatmeal) joined in, though I suspect he might be making that face because he has a piece of Play-Doh in his mouth?

Grandmother gave them a whole stash of cookie cutters, and the kids had so much fun with them!

Rolling.

Rolling.

After I got up and got dressed, we headed out. This hike was much flatter than our last hike, which made for much less complaining from a certain eldest daughter of mine. It was also shorter, closer to home, and led to the river and back. All in all, a great trail!

I even let Eli down so that he could run until he got tired. He was so happy!

Caleb and Daisy had so much fun running off ahead!

Walking with Daddy, who has an empty toddler carrier on his back.

Four hiking duckies.

They found "cute little mushrooms!"

(Yes, Lily is wearing a sequined skirt for a hike in the woods. Doesn't everyone do that?)

Hi, cuties! 

Aren't they sweet?

Yep, Eli is a tree hugger. He gets it from his mommy.

And then I put him up, and he was so sad for approximately 30 seconds. Of course, Chris chose those 30 seconds to snap our picture, but I'm not complaining. This is real life right here!

We made it to the river! It was a steep drop down to the water, so we didn't get close.

 

Caleb did throw a couple sticks in the water, though.

These kids love hiking! Now that they are older, it is a fun activity for all of us!

And then they were off again.

A major tornado blew through this area in 2013, so there were lots of giant fallen trees still around for the kids to play on. 

Look at Lily balancing! 

And then it was time for Lily to go up in our new toddler carrier. Look at how much more supported she is in this carrier! I'm so glad we were able to get it. We may not use it often, but we will fully appreciate it every time we do!

October 28

It was sunny and 79 degrees today. At the end of October. 

Chris took my van in for an oil change, so the kids and I walked up to the library as a fun morning adventure. 

As we walked home, I had to take Caleb's book away from him because he was trying to walk and read at the same time, and not keeping up with the rest of the family. That kid has become such a book worm, and I find it equally heartwarming and frustrating. Chris and I have launched a major effort to get Caleb to write more fluently and confidently, and today I felt like we are making major progress. He wrote a really great 5-sentence paragraph, with very little direction from me. Once we got past the initial hurdle of building his confidence and getting him to write, I was thrilled and delighted by his voice and creativity in writing. I know all moms feel this way, but I think my boy is something special. It's just that sometimes we have to part a curtain to see that, or get through the fog to let his talents shine. I'm working on figuring out how to help that happen more often.

While I made lunch, the kids read and played. They discovered a jack-o-lantern night light the other day, and had just plugged it in. Sweet Eli thought it was a candle, and kept trying to blow it out.

That little boy is too funny!

After naps, our day looked like this:

You can see a sliver of Daisy in this photo. Do you notice that she is wearing her swimsuit? That is because she first came up to me and said, "I feel like I want to be in my underwear".

When I told her that under no circumstances was she allowed to play outside in just her underwear, she grew indignant. I suggested shorts, a t-shirt, a tank top... nope. Finally I suggested a swimsuit, and that satisfied her. But as soon as she emerged in her swimsuit, she demanded, "Can we set up the pool? Why am I wearing a swimsuit if there is no pool?"

My response was, "No, we are not setting up the pool at the end of October, and you are wearing your swimsuit because YOU ARE WEIRD."

They had to have baths tonight because their scalps and every crevice were covered with sand.

Meanwhile, Caleb kept on reading.

I love that boy.

October 27

Today was our monthly gymnastics class, which the kids love. Eli especially dominated today!

Look at him balancing!

(And look at those weird moms in the background, ignoring their children while they chat and play on their cell phones. How ridiculous. Kidding - they are my friends and I love them and I spent most of my time chatting with them while our children played.)

This is a really short video of Eli swinging on the trapeze. He was so good at it, but this was his fourth or fifth time in a row, and he was tired. Still, he loved it!

That's Daisy, Eli, Lydia, Naomi, and Vivian. I love when my children become friends with my friends' children!

And then, because I needed more time out of the house, we went to visit my mom. Did I mention that she had her knee replaced a week and a half ago? She needed a grandbaby fix, and we were happy to deliver that, along with some lunch. It was a lovely way to spend an hour! 

We rushed home for naps, and then the kids and I got to work.

By happy accident, yesterday I randomly wondered when our favorite Trunk or Treat would happen. Had we already missed it? I looked it up, and discovered it was tonight! Luckily, our schedule was open, so I had to scramble to get costumes together for the kids. 

Eli is young enough that he doesn't care.

Lily said she wanted to be Sophia.

Daisy said she wanted to be a princess.

Caleb said that he wanted to be a skeleton ghost.

That's doable - the first three can be pulled from our costume bin, and thanks to my fabulous inherited stash of fabrics, I had plenty of white fabric to throw together a ghost costume for Caleb. Worn over his skeleton jammies (aka last year's costume) with a little bit of face paint (leftover from last year - is that gross?), he would be thrilled.

But when it came time to sew the costume, Daisy decided she wanted to be a skeleton ghost, too. So, ghost costumes x2. And then Lily decided to be a "ballerina", wearing a dance recital costume that my mom picked up at a thrift store a year or so ago. And then Eli refused to wear his giraffe costume.

It all came together, though, and all of the kids were pleased. They ended up like this:

Eli is wearing a Storm Trooper mask I just happened to grab on my way out of the house. I love that you can see Daisy and Caleb's skeleton bones through their ghost costumes, and I love Daisy's serious pose. Lily got to wear red lipstick, and she thought she was hot stuff. (related: putting lipstick on a three-year-old is like putting lipstick on a dog - i.e. nearly impossible.)

Caleb and Daisy helped me tear the shreds in their costumes, and were so proud of their handiwork!

Lily was the unafraid go-getter of the evening. That girl was in her element, saying hello to everyone and charging ahead to play all the games and take all the candy. She is so different from the older two!

They were too entranced by all the chaos to look at me, but I like this view.

Off to get candy!

Eli was terrified of Daisy and Caleb's face makeup. When I finished Caleb's face, he looked at Eli and Eli immediately started crying and ran away, yelling, " 'pooky! 'pooky!"

It was a good thing he had a Halloween shirt on, because Eli's mask didn't last long, and we were left carrying his giraffe costume around all evening. He scored candy based on his charm and personality, and not on his costume.

Lily charmed the softball team with her focus and determination at their softball bowling game. 

See? Lily leading the pack! And where is Eli?

On my back (in a Beco baby carrier borrowed from the lending library). As he grew tired, it was harder and harder for him to keep up, so I tossed him up on my back. It didn't stop him from getting candy, though! He grabbed some from every candy bowl from his perch on my back. At one point, he even opened a Twix and popped it in my mouth. I love that my boy likes to share good candy with his mama!

October 26

Do you remember when we went hiking a few weeks ago, and I mentioned that it would be really nice to have a toddler-sized carrier? A week later, I found a 50% off sale on Lillebaby toddler carriers and snatched one up. It arrived today, and when I told Lily that we finally had a carrier that was just her size, she was elated. 

I put her up, and she immediately gave a contented sigh and said, "I am SO happy!"

That girl has such a sunny, joyful disposition. I'm so glad she's mine.

And she's so glad she has a Lily-sized carrier! 

We likely won't use it super often, but it was such a good price that I don't mind. Chris will probably be the one to wear her in it at times that I am wearing Eli. Still, it will be a good option for her, and for Eli once he gets a little bit bigger. Also, having two buckle carriers is nice for situations like hiking last week. 

We have a really hectic weekend ahead of us, and Halloween is this coming Monday. I was afraid that we wouldn't have time to carve our pumpkins, but luckily our schedule was wide open this evening. In our family, Chris is the pumpkin scraper-outer, and I am the carver. We have a nice system in place!

The big kids remember what the insides of pumpkins look like, but Lily and Eli were fascinated.

Goodness, they're cute!

I had the three older kids each draw me a picture of what they wanted their pumpkin to look like. Daisy helped Lily a bit with her pumpkin stem, but Lily was thrilled with her drawing of a pumpkin! (She missed the whole "design" part, but whatever.)

Lily wanted her pumpkin to look like a baby. Easy enough!

(things to notice in the picture above: Daisy and Eli goofing off on the couch, and Lily wearing the thrift store dance recital costume that will likely end up being her Halloween costume.)

Carving with goopy hands. 

Daisy and Eli being goofballs.

Lily's pumpkin ended up being a baby, with a pacifier.

Eli's looks a little like him, with a curl on its forehead, silly eyes, and 4 teeth in a smiley mouth.

Daisy's is a "spooky tree".

Caleb's is a scary ghost.

Eli was very interested.

How cute is he?

The finished product! That's Daisy's spooky tree and Eli's Eli pumpkin.

(Don't worry, Mom. Eli was not burned by the flame inside the pumpkin.)

This year I carved lids on two of the pumpkins, but on the other two I tried a new method of carving a circle out of the bottom instead. It creates a cleaner line, and allows you to place the pumpkin on top of a candle, instead of having to set a candle down in the pumpkin. I liked it, except for the fact that somehow the stem of Daisy's pumpkin feel off after it was carved. Whoops!

Caleb's ghost, Daisy's tree, Eli's Eli, and Lily's baby (sans pacifier, for now).

And the backs - I love that we put their names on the back using the drill. It looks so cool all lit up!

(The two with "lids" are on the left, and the two with holes carved in the bottom are on the right.)

Eli was suitably impressed.

Now I just have to figure out costumes! (Yep. I have dropped my standards. No more thoughtful, coordinating, hand-made costumes around here. The kids are simply going to create costumes out of our multiple costume bins, and I am refusing to let myself feel guilty about it. This year, I don't have it in me to plan and make costumes. Maybe next year.)