This week was all about Halloween. It seemed like we had an activity to do or dress up for every single day. It was a lot of fun. I know these years will pass all too quickly so it is important to enjoy the holidays and silly times. For Family Home Evening we carved pumpkins. This was the first year Annie had to gut her own pumpkin and she made it very clear that cleaning out pumpkins is gross. But we told her she can't carve a pumpkin unless she does all the prep work too. Hopefully next year she won't whine so much - or maybe she'll just decide to paint her pumpkin rather than carve it.
Tommy was so excited about the pumpkins all day but when carving time came at 7:00, he passed out on the living room floor. He missed everything. We just picked him up and put him to bed. He slept from 6:45 p.m. to 7:00 a.m.
The girls drew and carved their own faces this year. Daddy was inspired by a picture he saw online of a pumpkin with teeth and braces. He went to work and did a great job.
Annie and Mommy's pumpkins
Pumpkins made by: Mommy, Annie, Mommy #2, Lily
It was so windy that we had to light the pumpkins inside!
Daddy was proud of his work.
Tuesday afternoon was Annie's class field trip to the Red Barn Pumpkin Patch. Mommy and the boys got to tag along too. It was a perfect fall day. This place was so cute. Annie's teacher will send me some group shots later so you can see her whole class.
Tommy was all about the trains! There was a little one to climb on. Plus we got a ride on the U-Pick Railroad. It was barely big enough for adults to ride.
So fun! Tommy kept saying "choo-choo!" and the whistle on the train was just the right volume. Loud enough to hear it but not so loud that it was annoying or scary for the kids. Tommy cried when the ride was over.
He was easily distracted a mountain of straw while Annie fed the chickens with her class. Tommy loved sliding up and down the straw pile - until he got straw inside his boots.
Joey was a little cold and Tommy wasn't happy about the straw poking his feet, so we went into the big red barn to take a break. The barn has a train running near the ceiling just like at Papa's dental office. Tommy got dizzy turning circles to follow the train around the room over and over again. There were also some barn kittens snuggled together under a heater. Tommy and Annie spent some time cuddling the kitties. I didn't dare take pictures because I was trying to keep the poor kittens alive.
Joey was an angel during the field trip. He was happy to be along for the ride - as long as he was with Mommy.
Annie and Mommy got to pick a pumpkin. We could choose any pumpkin in the fields as long as we could carry it by ourselves. Annie chose this pink bumpy one. It doesn't look as rosy in this picture, but it is a really pretty shade of pink.
We had fun in the straw maze for kids. This one was less stressful for Tommy since he could see over the walls.
Tommy's other favorite spot was this corner with toy tractors. He sat with some of the other little siblings and played. This place was little boy heaven. Dirt, straw, machines, barn, train, tractors, pumpkins, popcorn....all the good things in life!
Before leaving Annie and Tommy wanted to play on the little train again. They figured out how to ring the bell for the engine. Joey was tuckered out after all the fun. All the kids fell asleep on the way home.
Speaking of sleep.....Tommy is successfully sleeping in his big boy bed! We had to take the crib out of his room to get him to try the bed. But he is doing pretty well. He stays in bed most of the time and now we don't have to worry about him falling while trying to climb out of the crib.
On Wednesday Annie's dance class had their Halloween party. All the girls dressed up. Annie wanted to dress up as a ballerina so it looked like she didn't have a costume on - since she is there to do ballet anyway. They danced to Monster Mash and Thriller and had treats. Annie's dance teacher was Minnie Mouse. It was cute.
Joey is growing bigger every day. His eyelashes grew practically an inch overnight. He is over 13 pounds and "stands" at 24 inches tall. He is wearing size 3-6 month clothes and is already in size 2 diapers. He's definitely our biggest baby yet. Sometimes he almost lets Mommy sleep through the night. We're pretty consistently down to two feedings a night. He is just such a sweet little guy.
Thursday was a busy day! Annie's preschool class had their Halloween party. Glinda the good witch came to teach the class a spell they can cast to chase the scary things away. Annie wanted to dress as Ariel the Little Mermaid. For those keeping track, this is costume number 3 for Annie. So far she has been a cheerleader, ballerina, and mermaid. Good thing we had all the costumes in our dress up clothes already!
The big hit of the party was witch's brew. Mrs. Stirling put dry ice in the cauldron and the brew started smoking. The kids were fascinated - and a little afraid to drink it.
We also got to decorate cookies together. It was so nice of Annie's teacher to let all of us come and play.
Look at all those little goblins!
Right after Annie's party, we drove to Lily's school to take her to clogging class. Lily asked me to make more rice krispie Frankensteins. I made a whole pan which would have been enough for her whole dance class plus all the little siblings who tag along. Unfortunately there was a car vs. tractor accident on the highway which prevented most of the class from coming. I was left with 20 Frankensteins that I did not want to bring home. When the teacher for the next class arrived she panicked because she had forgotten to bring a Halloween treat for her class. All her little students were filing in with their costumes on. I pulled her aside and showed her all my rice krispie treats and said she could have them. She almost cried. She is a teenager and just didn't remember that the studio had told all the students that the classes would be having parties this week. I was glad we had so many extras so that she could have fun with her class too.
Friday was Lily's school Halloween Party. I did not help this year because of Tommy and Joey. I just knew I couldn't juggle the boys and help at school. But Lily said it was fun and she came home with lots of treats. Right after school we drove to Rexburg for a little party at our pediatrician's offiice, a community trunk or treat, and to show off our costumes at Daddy's office.
Our favorite treat from that day was "pumpkin poop" - cheeseballs. It was nice to get something not sweet. And everyone who knows Tommy knows that he loves Cheetos! We had a good time.
Friday night we went to see a Halloween display at the home of Daddy's friend. It wasn't that great. But it was very scary. We liked their tree swing better than their Halloween display. We spent extra time snuggling and reading stories to get all the zombies and skeletons out of the kids' minds. It worked. No nightmares. We're not ever going there again.
Finally Halloween came! We did a little lunch with the kids friends. We had macaroni and cheese, carrots and cucumbers, and purple Jell-O topped with whipped cream ghosts. The kids loved it.
After playing all morning with friends we got dressed for an afternoon of fun. Our kiddos were so excited!
A business center called Hemming Village put on a big free community event. There were hay rides, cake walks, free food, dances, prizes, and more. It was really cold. We didn't last very long. But the theme this year was Star Wars, so Lily got some fun photo ops.
After Hemming Village we went to a local Chevy dealership for a trunk or treat. It was huge. Every car in the sales lot had someone giving out candy. Annie's dance teacher invited us. Her husband is a sales manager at the dealership.
Daddy and the boys missed the fun - and the cold! Tommy and Joey were asleep in the car and we didn't want to wake them.
Can you spot us in the photo collage from Annie's teacher?
That night we went to our annual neighborhood trunk or treat. Brady and Madison came too. It was windy and chilly but the kids ran around enough to keep warm. We had an amazing turn out. It gets bigger every year. We had chili and hot dogs to warm our bellies plus lots of veggies, fruit, chips, and drinks too. Mommy made a large pumpkin sheet cake. We love that our kids can get their trick or treating done in such a fun and safe way. Plus Mommy and Daddy get to socialize rather than stand at the end of driveways waiting for our little trick or treaters. Happy Halloween. We partied this holiday to death this year! And we have the loot of candy to prove it.
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