Halloween

Birdy, the regal medieval princess. They don't smile at all, apparently.  She is so pretty in this next one ->

Bear, the mighty pirate.  He finally settled on this costume after considering a roly poly bug, flower, bush, minecraft creeper, and Aang from Avatar.

EJ had a vision since August. She really wanted to be a spooky ghost from her favorite books by Mary Downing Hahn (she wrote Wait 'til Helen Comes). She is a specific ghost named Sophia...

It took all my poor sewing skills to sew the dress together, but it turned out well in the end and was a fun creative project to work on together!

And, of course, our annual family picture.  We had lots of fun Trick or Treating with a couple of our friends and their kiddos! The kids got TONS of candy, too.

Halloween- Pumpkin Carving

Pumpkin carving is so much more fun with a kitten on your shoulders. He loves to be up on our shoulders, and perhaps it had a little bit to do with the fact that we tried to shove him inside one of the pumpkins for a photo. Maybe.

L-R (or bottom to top)- EJ's original stencil design, Birdy's Owl, Bear's original stencil design (cut out by Daddy).

DMP and I have started a tradition of carving our own masterpieces after the kids are done and in bed. Mine is the headless guy on the top step, his is the spooky bat-guy below.  Lots of fun to carve them now that the kids are getting older. Too bad they rot within a day or so!

Halloween- Pumpkin Patch

The day before Halloween, I surprised the girls and picked them up early from school.  I told them they were getting a shot. In the bum. Maybe 2.  They were SOOO mad and upset until they saw the pumpkin patch and realized I tricked them.  Bear was awesome because he kept the secret the WHOLE time and wasn't even tempted to tell. That is a pretty good trick for a 4 yr old!

This patch has all kinds of painted wood cut outs of different characters from movies and such. I love these extra-angsty Harry Potter people. Ron is my favorite with his pet ferret (seriously- doesn't look like a rat....) 

Birdy liked this wood seahorse.  She is sitting on it like a mermaid (of course!)

Kids with their favorite cut-outs.

Oct: Halloween!

We invited a bunch of people to come trick or treat with us this year. We had something like 14 or so kids (not all pictured below) and 8ish adults. It was a LOT of herding, but the kids (and adults) had a blast!

Hulk Smash vs. Muscle Spiderman!

This is Bear's BFF Mikey- he LOVES Mikey and Mikey loves him right back. They are super buddies.  The kids all love it when he babysits. Good guy, that Mikey!

You can get an idea of what our crew looked like going up and down the streets!

Oct: Halloween Costumes!!!!

We had our annual, unofficial ward Halloween "trunk or treat".  It was the only time I got really dressed up. I was going for a Mohawk, but my hair wouldn't cooperate. My costume? "It's a phase".  Bear decided to be muscle Spiderman and Birdy's costume was dirty from another Halloween party, so we raided the dress-up box for a pioneer outfit!

Our Egyptian princess. She was leaning towards "Monster High" but when she saw this costume, especially with the headdress, she was sold!

Birdy was also leaning towards something like "Monster High" but she is in a Justice League phase and saw Wonder Woman and couldn't go back.  Daddy is multi-talented and created the crown for her!

There was only ever one option for this guy- Hulk Smash.  He was especially excited about the green face. Isn't he cute?

I was *brilliant* and came up with DMP's "Doctor Who" costume.  You know, because the guy from the Doctor Who show is just called "The Doctor"? And non-whovians always call him "Doctor Who"? So I decided to use our Doctor costume to create the mythical "Doctor Who" that people keep talking about.  Yep. We are really, really nerdy.  See the Sonic Screwdriver?

And in spite of what Jeff says, face paint, a rope tail (not pictured) and kitty ears DO count as a costume.  Hey, I had to get everyone else ready!

Oct: Sissies go to Pumpkin Patch

So, what's a Mom to do when faced with the last of the 80+ degree weather in Oct. for a while? Spring her kids from school and take them to the pumpkin patch, of course!  I surprised the girls by taking them out of school. When they came to the office, wondering what was going on, I told them we were going to get flu shots. In the bum :)  Bear killed that story by gleefully announcing that we were going to the pumpkin patch. 3 yr olds are the WORST at keeping secrets! 

We were so excited to break out the 4T clothes and find a shirt with "Hulk Smash" on it. This is Bear's Hulk Smash face:

Notice I found the girls matchy-matchy Halloween shirts. It was funny to see all the poor kids in their festive orange and black long sleeve shirts sweating in the heat ;)  Not funny ha-ha, of course, funny sad.

These are the strangest-looking harry potter illustrations I've seen. Check out poor Ron!  EJ was excited, though.

Oct: Preschool Pumpkin Patch Field Trip

In October, our Preschool group went on a field trip to the Pumpkin Patch!  The boys had a lot of fun.  There were bounce houses, inflatable slides and lots and lots of orange pumpkins!

I texted this pic to DMP and told him it was the easiest preschool day ever- just lock 'em up!  Note W's fire hat. He wears it EVERYWHERE. It is so adorable. I got him a little dress-up fire jacket at a thrift store and I'm proud to say it is now included in the ensemble. Not sure how his Mom feels about it :)

The boys went on a hay ride that they thought was really awesome.

We took lots of pictures with the horribly overpriced pumpkins. Seriously- who pays $40+ for a pumpkin?!?!

The highlight of the trip for W:

This patch has TONS of wooden cutouts of all kinds of characters. Bear was excited to see his buddy Diego, and of course, Boots was dressed as a FIREMAN!

Soon it was time to take a rest in the shade and have snack (yes, it was about 80 degrees that day!)

Each kid got to pick a special baby pumpkin before going home: