Attendance Week

Last week was perfect attendance week at the kids school. They had something fun to do each day so that all the kids would attend...apparently the importance of education is not enough to get everyone there! I only got pictures of Monday, Tuesday and Friday :(
Monday: pajama day
Tuesday: crazy hair day
-Anika was not thrilled with her hair, she wanted it all straight up but it is so long I could not make it stay. Celtin changed his mind 3 times, first it was three rows of spikes, then it was a circle spike in the middle and flat on the edges then it was all spiked. They all looked the same to me! :)
Wednesday: mismatched clothes day
-Anika had a field trip on Wednesday and did not want to look silly so she only mismatched a little (pink pants and a green plaid shirt) Celtin went all out with brown camo pants, black t-shirt and a navy blue plaid button up. He wanted two different shoes but we were running late and couldn't find the other pair.
Thursday: wear character colors
-Anika-blue, Celtin-orange
Friday: Halloween parties

Halloween Fun

I have been MIA lately because I have been so busy. I was trying to get Anika and Celtin's costumes sewn and Lochlan has not been feeling well so he has been a little clingy. Plus I have been watching my cute niece Hayden a few days a week and my friends little girls all day Thursday while she had surgery. I am back now and will try to be more diligent about posting...although I do have Anika's birthday, baptism, Thanksgiving, Celtin's Birthday, Christmas, New Years, Our Anniversary, Lochlan's birthday all coming up in the next few months. It is good to be busy but I tend to overbook myself. :)

Pumpkin Carving

After the trip to the pumpkin patch the kids begged daily to turn their pumpkins into Jack-O-Lanterns. After a few days we gave in and did it for FHE. It was two weeks before Halloween so now they are piles of rotten mush-Yum!

We pulled out our one good knife and Adam cuts out the tops and the kids cleaned the insides. Then they drew their design and carved them mostly by themselves. Adam's pumpkin is a cyclops, mine is a pirate, Anika's is the heart eyes and Celtin's is a traditional scary pumpkin. Lochlan slept through the whole thing but we did draw a face on his little pumpkin!

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School Parties

I helped in both Anika's and Celtin's school parties. I went to Anika's first from 1 until 2:15, they had tons of goodies and a special witches brew punch, they decorated pumpkin cookies and had a parade through all the second grade classrooms. After I left they played some games. Celtin's party started at 2:15 and went until the end of school at 3:25, they had 5 craft tables and a snack table. Celtin was so busy doing all the crafts he did not even sit down at the snack table. He frosted and ate a cookie, made a candy necklace, a tootsie roll sucker ghost, a fridge magnet ghost and a popcorn hand. They both got tons of candy from all their friends and had a blast. Adam too the day off an Lochlan stayed with him.

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Costumes

Anika is a spider witch. I used some of her old costume from last year but made a new shirt, the hat and made the skirt fuller with frayed ends. She had specific plans for the face makeup.

Celtin is Indiana Jones, his shirt, pants and sack are made from two of Adam's old dress pants that were headed to DI (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle) The hat I got at Dollar Tree and made a few changes so it would look more like Indiana Jones Fedora and the whip is made out of some scrap material from last years Anakin cape.

Lochlan is a turtle; I made this costume when Celtin was a baby...glad to be able to use it again. ;)

Trick or Treating

After school we went trick or treating with our next door neighbors and a friend of Anika's from school in the neighborhood just north of us (Our neighborhood did trick or treating the Sunday before Halloween-retarded) After about 45 minutes we went over to our friends the Clayton to trick or trick in their neighborhood and each yummy chili and cornbread. The kids had so much fun and got way to much candy. Luckily mom and dad are good at helping eat the candy! :) Lochlan went trick or treating but slept for the first little while and since he can't really eat much candy we didn't even take a bag for him. Anika and Celtin are more than willing to share with him when I say they can.

Stade's Farm

We went to a pumpkin farm last weekend with Adam's sister and her family. The kids had so much fun and picked the perfect pumpkins. The kids began the fun day crawling around in the corn boxes. Anika and Celtin loved it, Lochlan not so much. He was not happy when we set him down but was very intent on picking up a single corn kernel. They had a slide and some tubes for the kids to play on as well.




We then went over to the mountain of hay bales. The kids climbed to the top and watched the pumpkin cannon go off several times. Those pumpkins really shoot far!









We took a hay ride out to the pumpkin fields where the kids searched for and found the perfect pumpkins. This year they both wanted white pumpkins...I prefer traditional orange. :) Adam picked a great big pumpkin in hopes that it would be filled with extra seeds for roasting.








We went back and ate apple cider doughnuts-YUMMY! Anika did not want to try them because she thought apple flavored doughnuts sounded disgusting, but after one bite she changed her mind. They were super good, tasted kinda like a churro. My new favorite health food (It has apple in it right)






Last we went to see the pumpkin car and huge pumpkins then Lochlan got to pick out his own pumpkin from the farmers market. We had so much fun and most of it was free, of course the pumpkins were a little pricey but it was well worth it.

Brownies

Hip Hip Hooray!

• I got my camera back from the repair shop so I don't have to make do with my old, outdated camera and its tendency to tint everything pink.


• Mr. AT&T fix it man came and spent several hours this morning getting my internet back up and running. He upgraded our modem and installed a whole house filter, lets hope that we don't have any more issues.

Anika started Brownies last week. She absolutely loves it. They meet right after school twice a month in the cafeteria. She has several friends in her troop including her best friend, Amanda. We went this week to watch her invested ceremony. It was so cute to see how excited she was and brought back ancient memories from my brownie days. :)

Field Trip

Celtin had his first field trip this past week. He was so excited to take the bus. I wanted to go but was not picked, only 5 parents could go. :( Celtin was put in a group with his best bud, John, and his mom was their group leader. She was so sweet and took some great pictures for me. They went to a pumpkin farm and got to pick their very own pumpkin and gourd. The only rule was that they had to be able to carry it all the way back to the bus. Celtin said he tried to pick up a very big pumpkin but it was so heavy he dropped it and it cracked open, Oops! He decided he better go with a smaller pumpkin and an even smaller gourd! :) They also went on a hayride and ate snacks. Fun! Fun!

Walking...Already

Lochlan is just barely 8 months old and he has already decided to take his first steps. He really wants to follow his big brother and sister around so I should not be surprised. I am excited and he looks so cute but boy am I not ready for a toddler. I thought I had at least 1 more month before he tried to let go of the furniture...guess I was wrong! Here is a little video of his short and still wobbly walk. What a big boy :)

Fall Festival

Our neighborhood association had a fall festival this past weekend. The weather was so nice, around 80, and the kids had lots of fun. Everything was free including snow cones and cotton candy YUM! Lochlan could not get enough of the snow cone. Anika and I stood in line for 20 minutes so she could get her face painted...2 minutes after we got home she washed it off. Oh well!

Anika and Celtin went on a bunch of blow up slides, a climbing wall, a bouncy house, an obstacle course and a spinner ride. Anika and Lochlan rode some ponies. I don't think Lochlan really knew what was going on but he was happy none the less. The lines were not too bad considering it was all free. The kids each ran into several of their school friends which of course they loved. It is so funny how exciting it is to see school friends outside of school. We met a few of the parents briefly and now know who lives close by.

The last couple of days it has really started to feel like fall. The temperature has dropped into the 50's and there is a definite chill in the air. I like fall but I am so not ready for winter! :( Glad we were able to get out and enjoy the warm weather while it was here.