Wednesday, October 31, 2007

Happy Halloween!

The kids have class parties before school gets out! They get to dress up (in last years costumes), eat snacks, and play games. They are beyond excited! Then of course will come trick-or-treating later tonight! I love getting them dressed up and watching them walk door to door! Many pictures will be posted later this week I'm sure!

**********

He looks like a fat, jolly little guy doesn't he?

Too bad he's the guy that ate the whole front of Ethan's pumpkin.
He tried to finish off Nat's too! I quickly shooed him away and brought the pumpkins inside.

Ethan had worked so hard on his, I felt really bad for him. So this morning I carved the other side. Its not from a pattern (obviously) because we threw all that stuff away--carvers included. But I think he'll be happy that at least his pumpkin still has a face and can be lit up tonight!

Tuesday, October 30, 2007

Halloween Two Years Ago


Awww, they're so cute!

I am always surprised at how different they look in just two years!



I'm very excited to dress them up tomorrow!!! :-)

Merry Birthday Uncle Nathan!

Today is my brother's birthday. He is two years older than me for another five months (I'm not sure why, but this was always a big deal when we were growing up!). Although he probably doesn't look at this very often, I am thinking of him and want to wish him a MERRY 26th BIRTHDAY!!!
**********
I was going to light the pumpkins last night, but wasn't feeling well and completely forgot. I knew that I needed to do it this morning before the sun came up because they are already extremely wilted. So here they are, the kids pumpkins!!!

Ethan's Werewolf
(He cut almost the entire thing himself!)


Natalie's Cat W/A Spider Landing On Her Nose
(Yes, its a girl kitty!)

Monday, October 29, 2007

Busy Sunday

Grandma Nan sent a Halloween box a little while ago. The kids LOVED the treats and small toys! Also included was a sugar cookie kit. I thought it was adorable! Yesterday after pancakes and dishes it was time to make them!

Natalie cracking an egg.

I was impressed with her skills! She didn't break the yoke or get any shells in the bowl!

Ethan on the other hand jabbed his thumb in and got shells everywhere! I think he needs a little more practice! :-)

Pouring the cookie mix in.

And adding the butter.

All mixed and wrapped up! Ready to be chilled for at least 30 min...or in our case several hours while we carved pumpkins!

After carving pumpkins we kneaded and rolled the dough so we could use that cute ghost cookie cutter! I didn't think about frosting, so we made snicker doodles (adding cinnamon sugar to the top). mmmmm
**********
On to pumpkin carving! The kids were extremely excited about this! What kid isn't?! It seems that every year they forget about doing it the previous year! I find it entertaining, although I also forget how long it takes!

Roby was game and pulled out the big knife to cut the tops off!

I love those faces! Probably the only time I whole heartedly encourage them to get really messy! (I did tell Ethan to jump in puddles a few weeks ago when it was raining! He was soaked and having a great time!!! :-) Wish I had pictures of that!)

Cutting Nat's

I think she was more intrigued by what was inside than by the actual carving process!

Look at her face!!!

Now she's into it!


Slimy hands!

Still going long after Natalie's was done. He didn't seem to mind too much!

Nat wanted to use a pattern and have some help instead of drawing her own. She watched intently for awhile (before getting really bored!).

We had to talk Ethan down from an Expert pattern to a Moderate one so that he could do most of it himself. This is the first year he carved his own pumpkin! (With just a little help from me.)

Watching Dad to get the technique down.

Getting the last pieces out.

I love the concentration!

While Ethan was still working on his, Natalie got a few dress-up things on and started drawing at the table. She loves to write and draw! In this picture she was sounding out "from" (correctly!). She is amazing me with her new found ability to do this!

CHEESE!!!!!
By the time we ate dinner and did bed time things, I completely forgot to take pictures of the finished pumpkins! I'm such a bad mom! :-) Those will have to wait until tonight!


The kids had a good day, and I was quite tired by the end of it! :-) Natalie stayed home from school today because both her and I have head colds. Ugh Hopefully we will be better tomorrow instead of worse so we can have a fun Halloween!!!

Friday, October 26, 2007

Muffin Song

I love Jiffy blueberry muffins. I made a double batch of them for lunch the other day and gave the kids some for breakfast today. As I was putting a little butter on Natalie's I started singing a song (I only do this when its just me and the kids!)...I sang just two lines and Natalie finished it for me! I was greatly impressed with her quick rhyming skills!

Me:
Muffins for you,
Muffins for me!!!

Nat:
Muffins for everyone,
In our whole family!!!

Monday, October 22, 2007

I Made Abby's Day

The last few days I've seen Abby laying in Max's crate more and more. I figured she was doing this because she is feeling more comfortable here...and more importantly, because he has a nice bed and she didn't. I have been quite crafty all day and decided that I should see if I had anything to make her a bed. I found some black fabric left over from a quilt I made Roby about nine years ago, and ended up using a pillow that we don't need to stuff it. The end product?? Not perfect, but I think she's happy!

Since I put it in her crate she's been going in it every few minutes. She even went in there to take a nap while I was crafting at the table! She looks much more comfy to me!

Max Just Wants To Play...

...I mean chew on Abby's head! He's so much more vocal than she is, at first it was scaring her! But lately all he does is bite her head/neck! I don't know if this is how he thinks he should play or a dominance thing??? But she often goes back for more! Other times she'll stand by me and look at him like he's crazy!

Sunday, October 21, 2007

From Ethan's Eyes

I have been meaning to do a post of Ethan's pictures for quite some time. He wasn't as excited about getting a camera as Natalie was...but somehow between getting to NE and when I had time to put their pictures on my computer Nat's were lost. I need to check her camera to see if she has any recent ones. I am still disappointed that all those were lost because she took some great pictures while we were in WA.

Ok, here are Ethan's pics!!!

Grandma Nan's dog Mischa.

Auntie Catie at the Science Center--waiting to go into the butterfly room.

Nat at Grandpa Bob's.


He wanted Nat to take a pic of him at Grandpa Bob's!

Gotta get one of me in there too! :-)

Max at our new house...before we got our stuff.
Natalie in our new house.

Nat and Max

Max sleeping...or trying to anyway.

His toys!

I think he likes Max!

Natalie's friend that came over to play.

Natalie hiding somewhere in there!

This is my favorite one that he took! I love how he set up his little Lego guys specifically to take a picture of them!

And Natalie being silly.