Halloween 2011

We had a weekend of Halloween fun!  On Friday, Charlie had his school parade and Halloween party.  We were all able to be there and watch our little Luke Sky Walker act the part.  As soon as he saw us he started doing all of his Jedi moves.  It was so funny!

Even Darth and Cupcake dressed up for the parade.  Heck, we don't miss an opportunity to celebrate Halloween!

Tommy's school had their parade and party on Halloween morning.

We were both a little bummed because they said no masks, so Darth couldn't be in full costume.  Clearly they didn't adhere to that rule.  Next time I will make sure to bring the mask! But Tommy was SUPER psyched to have a buddy dressed up as Boba Fett.

My sweet boy even ran up and gave me a big hug.  He was so proud of himself and excited!

And then there was Halloween night.  The time we had been planning, preparing and counting down to for months!!  Costumes had been decided on and then minds were changed , last minute adjustments made.  In the end our Star Wars fellas were a hit.  Luke Sky Walker, Darth Vader and the Emperor.  We all agreed that next year we are all going as a theme.  Wouldn't Penny be the cutest little Leia?

 We had so much fun! Tommy was unusually terrified of the "chain saw guy".  He literally has been talking about this guy since last Halloween and even asked for a chainsaw for Christmas...and got one :)  I think that last year the "chainsaw guy" was a little more aware of the little guys and eased off his scariness....NOT this year though.  Charlie was really brave though and faced off with the "chainsaw guy".  Tommy was pretty impressed by that!  Despite the terror of it all, Tom says he wants to go back next year.

It was a great Halloween!

Magic Whooloween 2011

It wouldn't be Halloween without a trip to the Magic Whooloween Event at Penitentiary Glenn Park.  Penitentiary Glenn is part of our amazing Metroparks and it offers so many different activities through the year.  Magic Whooloween just happens to be a family favorite and we wouldn't miss!  This year Daddy and I packed up the boys while Penny stayed home with Nana in her nice warm cribbey.

This year the craft was making spooky trees out of toilet paper rolls, tissue paper and stamps.  Simple and fun!

Waiting for our train ride

The BEST part of the night is the TRAIN ride through the not so spooky forest that is decorated with Jack-O-Lanterns.  It is sooooo fun, even for us grown ups!!

Tommy holding our train sign, we are next in line!! 

Tommy was old enough to ride by himself...He was SO excited.  I was sitting in front of him and heard his little voice "Hey Dada, you doin ok back there?".....SO CUTE!!!   He did great!

Charlie and I had fun getting spooked by all the pumpkins and hanging ghosts. 

After our train ride it was time to grab some hot chocolate and donuts and sit by the campfire for a bit.

After we ate and drank our fill we decided to call it a night.  Within minutes we had little people sleeping in the back of the van.  Something that NEVER happens, so you know they had fun and were worn out.

We can't wait to take Penny with us next year!  I know the boys will enjoy showing her all the fun stuff.

Perfect Bliss

This morning I woke up to a small boy standing next to our bed. He was bending down as close as he could to my face, binki in mouth, he tried to whisper (the boy did NOT come with a volume control button!!), but try he did.  "Mama, is it twime to go to Wicoles (Nicole's). I wanna put on my costume.  Can I wear the mask AND the cape?"  It was 5:30am.

By 6:30am both boys were up and I strategically placed them on opposite ends of the couch with cups full of milk and a fruit bar.  I figured it would buy us another thirty minutes of sleep, as long as little sister kept on snoozing.

8:15am came with the hustle and bustle of book bags, coats and school shoes.  One last check to make sure the costume was in the bag where I said it would be and that the treats were ready to go.  Three carseats buckled, Daddy at the wheel, coffee in hand and we were off.

The air was cold, frost on the car windshield.  The sun was peeking out from behind a handful of clouds and the trees sparkled in jewel tones.  It was beautiful and I wished out loud that everyday could be like this.

Trent and Tommy spent most of the day on search of a last minute STAR WARS costume for Daddy.  After a few attempts they came home empty handed. But with a little imagination and a few yards of fabric we had a cape that would make any Emperor proud!

After a quick trip to Wicoles :) for Tommy to show off is Darth Vader costume, we were off to the Halloween parade at Charlie's school.  I don't know who was more excited, me or the kids!  Penny was a good sport and let us squeeze her into the cupcake costume that I had picked out for her a few weeks back.  Seems our little cupcake has had a growth spurt since :)

How fun it was to watch all the little kids come parading out of the school and around the park.  Charlie looked so proud when he saw us.  He immediately started posing and acting like the real Luke Sky Walker.  Light sabers weren't allowed at school, but that didn't keep Charlie from acting as if.  He was adorable!  We were so happy for him.

After our Halloween fun for the day it was time for party planning. While Penny napped I set to work making tasty treats for Penny's birthday party and putting on the last minute touches for our not so scary Halloween party.   When she awoke from her slumber she joined me in the kitchen while we finished up.  Daddy helped put the eyes on our ghosts and whipped up that last batch of cupcakes.  There is something about being in the kitchen with my family, especially with Trent.  I love it.

After a long day I started to feel my energy drop so I headed upstairs for a quick rest.  I laid there snuggled in between our flannel sheets, my head resting on Trent's pillow.  Downstairs I could hear Trent preparing dinner for the boys.   Tommy fussed that he had mustard on his hand, Trent got a wipe to clean him up and spoke sweetly to Penny from across the room.  Charlie's laughter filled the house, some show had him going.  My heart was full.

I gave Penny her bottle and snuggled her close.  Her hair is so soft and fuzzy against my check.  She reached up and patted my face then grasped my hand with her fingers.  When she was done she buried her face in my neck and gave me a hug, something new for her.  She then proceeded to "zerbert" my neck and blow raspberries.  A new trick and we both laughed.  She is the sweetest girl.

The boys needed second and third warnings.  Tommy held my hand and tried to keep sleep from his eyes.  I rubbed noses with him and he smiled underneath the bink.  I know he is too old, but I don't care.  He has one left and then these sweet last bits of baby will be gone.  I am going to hold onto them for as long as I can.  He quickly drifted off to sleep.

Trent carried in dinner.  Our Friday night usual, Chipotle.  After a few bites a small voice came from upstairs "Mama, I can't sleep.  Dada?"  I snuggled with Charlie for a few minutes and listened to him as he spoke about what costumes his friend wore, a video they watched about needs and wants, and HOW excited he was the Ben H. was coming to the party tomorrow.  I rubbed his head and settled him down a bit.

And now I sit with my honey on the couch.  He is watching another horror Halloween flick, and I am taking the opportunity to jot down the memories of a perfectly blissful day.

Today I choose Joy, it was an easy choice.
*written on Friday, October 28th

Apples, Apples, Apples Everywhere

I knew that Tommy's preschool was taking a trip to the apple farm's fun fest a few weeks back. So, I wanted to do some apple activities with him to tie into his trip.

As a family we made our annual trek out to the apple orchard.  We picked about 18lbs of apples and made apple sauce...yum!

Tommy made the lower case letter "a" for apple.  The boy loves anything that has to do with cutting and gluing!  This was a great project to keep him busy while big brother was doing homework.

Both boys also made a fun apple poem book.  This was so fun to make with them.

The cover

Eat an apple, plant the seeds

Save the core, and grow some more.

 The poem is supose to go Eat an apple, save the core, plant the seeds and grow some more.  I just photographed the pictures in the wrong sequence...just keeping it real people :)

And Tommy made an accordion apple picture at school.  He not only colored all the apples, but also cut them out in accordion style.  I think he did a great job.

Tommy's First Field Trip to the Apple Farm

 Tommy's preschool went on their first field trip a few weeks ago.  He was SO excited and proud to be such a big boy!  He was so cute and when he wasn't climbing up one of the dozen or so tractors that he could test drive, he stuck pretty close to me.

 We have been to the apple farm fun fest before as a family, but that was 2 years ago and Tommy didn't remember all the fun.  There was so much to do and he went from each activity, mingling with some of his friends, happy to drive the tractors by himself :)

 My little farmer boy.  I think one of his favorite places in on a tractor, with his Grandpa of course. 

 Even Penny came along for the fun.  And fun we had! It was a beautiful day and I really enjoyed spending time with Tommy and Penny.  Tommy was so sweet and was missing Charlie.  So, when we stopped at the little apple store before leaving, he picked out an orange tractor lollipop for his Big Bro.  So...sweet!

Apple Picking

 The Children

Sillies!!

Pretty girl!

Yesterday we decided to make the short drive to one of our favorite orchards.  We picked apples, grapes and tried to get a few fun pictures of the kids.  It was a GLORIOUS day! Sunny, breezy, blue skies dotted with big white billowy clouds.  It was lovely and it reminded me of how much I love being outside in nature with my family!

Last year when we made our trip to the orchard, this little lady was still happily swimming in my belly.  I was so happy to have her actually here with us.  She soaked it all in and was happy.

These three guys have my heart!  Oh how I love them!!

And oh how this little lady loves her daddy!

This picture of Tommy makes me laugh.  He looks upset, but he was really just being very serious about his grape picking. 

We picked about 25lbs of apples and grapes.  I made some grape freezer jam and plan on making apple sauce and apple dumplings.  It was such a great day and we can't wait to go back!

Homeschool Kindergarten and Preschool: Week 10Thanksgiving!

One of the easiest and our favorite craft for this time of year was the Give Thanks banner we made from a variety of beans, glue, yarn and construction paper. I wrote out the letters on the construction paper, the boys and I covered the letters with glue and the boys went to town placing the beans on the letters. We will definitely do this again next year.


The boys and I went shopping for our Operation Christmas Child boxes a few weeks back...and Penny went to. That is going to take some getting use to, I am so accustomed to saying just the "boys" :) The boys picked out some toy trucks, stickers, harmonicas etc as well as some fun toothbrushes, toothpaste, soap etc. We did this last year and Charlie really remembered the meaning behind what we were doing and was excited to pick out the different things to send to his "friend".
We had a lot of fun last week and did a BUNCH of school work and lots of fun activities gearing up for Thanksgiving.

There was also a lot of loving going on. Both boys are still smitten with their little sister :)

Tommy had fun playing playdough.

Charlie concentrated on Math and Phonics again this week. His teacher gave us permission to skip through a lot of the lesson since most of them are review for him at this point. I am carefully going through the lessons to make sure that we aren't overlooking any concepts that he does not know. I am excited to see him be a bit more challenged!

Both boys had fun with our Fall sensory bin. I added plastic gourds, paper leaves, crystal pumpkins, pine cones from Grandma Candace and a few trucks. I gave the boys some measuring cups, spoons and containers and let them go to town. They really enjoy these sensory bins and it really holds their attention.

We had fun making these Turkey hand print cookies. The boys helped with the entire process and had just as much fun eating them as they did decorating them ;)



They also completed some foam Turkeys that I picked up either at the art store or at the dollar store.


I also made a Cornucopia out of dough for our table centerpiece. It turned out ok, but I have bigger and better plans to do it again next year.


We read a few books about Thanksgiving and why we celebrate. I had wanted to make a Mayflower ship with Charlie but we didn't get to it...maybe next year.

We have so much to be thankful for! It was a great week!