Halloween

This is really the first Halloween that Katherine had a clue what was going on. We have been out of town the two previous years, first for a funeral and then while living in Norway.

We started by Trick or Treating at a few neighbors houses. We went at 5pm so most were not home but our next door neighbors were really glad we came by. Katherine loves Ms. Betty and was glad I finally allowed her to ring her doorbell. Then we met dad, Nana and Pops up at the church for the annual fall fun fest. This started when I was in junior high so I have a lot of fun memories.
There was a petting zoo where Katherine got to touch a Kangaroo. That was pretty exciting.

We tried to get a good family shot. As you can see, Katherine was a bumble bee and Caroline wore her clown costume.

Our good friends Madi and Andi went as a pirate and his treasure. Their son Ben was a rock star.

Jen and Evie, Carrie and Mason. This was a few moments before they shared a kiss.

There were a bunch of games for the kids. Katherine is quite timid. She tended to sit back and watch. Sam or I would pretty much have to do the game for her. She liked "go fish" once she realized that candy was the prize.

Digging for candy.

Bowling

Katherine surprised us because she dove right in to the tunnel. I followed her. There were glow sticks hanging so it was not pitch dark. We were in there toward the end of the evening so some of the tunnel had fallen in and there were a few dead ends. You can see that Katherine did not crawl out the proper exit.
There was a silly band. Katherine and her friends really enjoyed singing and dancing. I love these pictures with her friends because you can see Katherine's true happy smile and expressions which are not easy to capture on film.


Our final activity was the inflatable slide. Katherine would only go with Sam but she really enjoyed it.
Katherine came home with a pretty good amount of candy, most of which is not very toddler friendly. Being young, she has already forgotten about it though mom and dad have not. She did enjoy her first wowwypop (lollipop).On Thursday Katherine's school took photos in their costumes. I dressed Caroline hoping to get a photo of the bumble bee and the flower together. Katherine absolutely would not cooperate and they got nothing. Later in the day they got a horrible photo of her not even in her costume. BUT - they got this great photo of Caroline in her flower costume. She cried every other time she wore it because the top part was actually supposed to go up over her head and she hated it. I am glad we have such a cute picture.

Ethan's 1st

Ethan celebrated his first birthday on Halloween with a costume party. His house was full of kids (I guesstimate 20+) and I think by the time it was over every toy he owned was on the floor.

Luke is sure a handsome football player.

Katherine and Caroline did not wear their "real" costumes. We saved those for the evening festivities. Katherine was not really in the mood and it is not a very friendly costume for a toddler who gives very short warnings for when she needs to use the restroom. They both wore their tutus and as Katherine says it, "I ballet". Caroline's was work over her tie-dye pumpkin shirt so she was a hippie ballerina.

As with most 1 year olds, Ethan was not sure what to do with his cake at first. He was pretty timid. Mom put some icing in his mouth and he soon figured it out.

Happy Birthday Ethan!

Pray

Have you voted? I voted last week. Voting is a great privilege that many around the world do not have, so please, go vote if you have not already done so. I hope you are voting the same way I am but regardless, go vote. Today I am praying for our election. I am the first to admit that I am not on top of politics and all of the issues but I do know who I do and do not want to win the presidential election.

Regardless of who will be our president for the next 4 years, I know that God is sovereign. He is above earthly leaders and His will can be accomplished regardless of who is president. His plan cannot be thwarted because a certain man is in leadership. That is a huge comfort in these times. So, I voted last week and am praying today for the future of our country.

By the way, I saw on the news last night that if you vote you can get a free coffee from Starbucks, donut from Krispy Kreme and ice cream from Ben and Jerry's. I am not sure if you actually have to take your stamped voters registration card but even if your candidate does not win, you can at least get some free stuff out of doing your civic duty.

Final Pumpkin Patch Visit

Today we met Aunt Shanon and cousins Emily, Nathan and Hannah at the Arboretum. Our main objective for the day was to take their Christmas card photos (I am not posting any of those, they are for Shannon). After we got out of the cars, loaded onto the strollers and selected the wardrobes, I realized that my bag and camera were still on the kitchen table to I had to go back home to get them. Luckily it was a perfect day and Shannon took all 5 kids in to wait.

The Fall Festival was technically over yesterday. That meant that all of the pumpkins and fall decorations were still up but there were no crowds. It was wonderful. The hay maze had been dismantled but the pumpkin house and pumpkin patch were still there. I had not had a chance to take photos in the pumpkins in Halloween costumes so we did that while we were there. For those of you locally, I would highly suggest going to the Arbo tomorrow if you still don't have that perfect picture. We were the only ones there for most of the time.

A flying bumble bee

Caroline was supposed to be a flower to go with Katherine's bumble bee costume but every time I put it on she would scream. So, she ended up being a clown instead.



Here are the 5 kids in various wardrobes. Katherine is dressed for Halloween, Nathan and Caroline are in regular clothes. Hannah and Emily are ready for Christmas photos.
I changed Katherine and Caroline into holiday clothes since they were in pictures with the cousins. Caroline's beret was falling off.
I have a new appreciation for professional children's photographers. It was a pretty impossible task to get a pictures of 3 kids, ages 7.5, 5 and 2 to sit still, smile and look at the camera. We took a lot of "silly face" pictures.
Katherine and Hannah are 6 months apart. They look a lot alike. It is fun as they are getting older because they are playing and interacting more.

Preschool Halloween

Thursday Katherine's preschool dressed up and took pictures for Halloween. The kids were so cute. I stayed for awhile because Katherine has been wanting me to see her class. It was fun to see what they did and how she interacted with her friends and teachers.

Kyle and Katherine

Cowboy Kyle

Eating snack

In the indoor play area

Halloween at the Children's Museum

Last week I took the girls to the Children's Museum for a Halloween story and craft time. It was a lot of fun but a lot of work since I went by myself. I usually go to places like this with another friend and it sure helps in keeping up with kids, especially when you have to take a break to nurse a baby.

Katherine decided she wanted to get her face painted. This was the first time she actually let someone do it. She wanted a kitty cat. It looked a little silly with her bumble bee costume but Oh Well.

She is admiring her new whiskers in the dress up mirror.

She thought that the cones were a lot of fun. She stacked them all up and then lined them up again.

Outtakes

Getting Caroline's monthly pictures is a challenge. She is still a bit floppy. Then add to it the fact that Katherine wants to join in the fun and it makes for a challenging task. It so happened that the camera and "3 months" sign were still in Caroline's room so Katherine wanted to try again. I love the first photo. It shows what I am working with. There, that is much better.

NaBloPoMo

Last year I participated in the National Blog Posting Month by posting one blog entry for every day in November. I am going to accept the challenge again this year. There are prizes drawn for those who complete the task. Last year I did not win anything but hopefully I will this year. If you are interested in participating in the challenge, go to NaBloPoMo to sign up.