hAlLoWeEn

This year Dave and I decided to have a Halloween party- nothing big- just some family over for food, trick-or-treating, and karaoke. We decided to throw a party because years ago we bought a little bottle of rootbeer concentrate. Every year we talk about using it but for one reason or another, it stays in the cupboard, unopened. This year our goal was to empty that bottle. And empty it we did!

The rootbeer was a hit with the kids. They called it "spooky juice". We feasted on chili, mummy hotdogs, brain jello (Taylor's favorite), queso dip, & veggies (to counteract all the candy, of course). Alan & Sam showed up with homemade donuts.



Taylor dressed up as Commander Cody- a Star Wars Clone Wars guy. He probably wore his costume for 2 weeks straight after we bought it. I was sure he would be done with it by Halloween but nope, he was happy and excited to put it on to wear to school. I snapped a picture of him and his friend as they were running out the door to catch the bus for school. I also caught a mask free picture of him during his Halloween Parade.



Sara decided to be Ariel this year. We ordered the costumes about 2 months before Halloween. I told her she could not, under any circumstance, change her mind before Halloween. She begged and pleaded to be Ariel and told me she wouldn't change her mind. Yah, whatever. Promises, promises...

October 30th rolled around- Sara's preschool Halloween party- she came down the stairs dressed in one of her dress up dresses, ready to go. I think she feels her purpose in life is to do anything and everything contrary to what I want her to do. I am SO looking forward to her teenage years... Anyway, I had to redirect her back into her Ariel costume. I bought her a full-body nude dance leotard to wear under her costume and a wig. There was no way she was going to wear a different costume. NO WAY!



She did the same thing on Halloween, only this time she first said she wanted to be Sleeping Beauty. I reminded her that she was Sleeping Beauty last year so she changed her mind and wanted to be Tinker Bell. "No Tink for you, you little Stinker! YOU. ARE. ARIEL!!!" I'm not sure what part of this "You are Ariel" thing she wasn't processing. It worked out though. She conceded and was Ariel. And she was happy. And I was happy. One big happy family, in fact.

Liv was a "punkin". She loved it. And she was darling.



Finally! The answer to my little game the other day. I'm tricky like that- make you read the whole post before I give you an answer. Good times. So, the answer, in case it's not obvious- I dressed up as a MUMMY and TAYLOR drew the picture. I didn't even ask him to draw it. He just came up to me one day, handed it over, and said, "Mom, I drew this for you. It's you dressed up as a mummy for Halloween!" What a sweet kid. Cutest thing EVER. Don't you love this picture of my family? I live in a world where the word "cooperative" is optional in terms of behavior.



What do you think of Dave's costume? The label on the bag said "Old time Golfer". I have a feeling this will be his costume for, well, forever. It's one piece and velcros in the back. He should have no problem dressing up in it when he's 85.

As for me and my mummy costume. I liked how it turned out. I got a little carried away with the make up. A little goes a long way. So, when you put on a lot, like I did, it's just that- A LOT. I was too busy to make it look any better. It did a lovely job of scaring the bajeebees out of my kids. Livvy was almost in tears. Poor little Spencer, he didn't even know who I was. He wouldn't even look at me. I think there was just so much makeup that he didn't even register that there was a person behind all the makeup. I was feeling bad for him by the end of the night- a whole evening without a mommy is a lot to ask of a 4-month-old. I washed it off and he had his mommy back. Another thing about dressing up for Halloween while nursing a baby- not an easy thing to do! That's all I have to say about that.

I kept forgetting that I was dressed up scary. I would answer the door and the little tiny 2-year-old crowd of trick-or-treaters would just stare at me and move back toward their parents. I was confused until I remembered that duh- I have crazy makeup on. One lady said, "Your voice doesn't match your costume!" It's nice to know that I don't sound like a monster. Cuz I was worried.

I am so happy that people dressed up for the party! I think it's fun for the kids (and me too) to see their parents dressed up. My cousin's wife Jenny came dressed as a zombie. She looked awesome! It wasn't until she showed up with amazing makeup that I fully realized how loser-esque my own feeble attempt at makeup was. My sister Kristina was a princess. My dad wore that scary Jason guy mask- I'm pretty sure my dad has no idea who that is. I think he just saw a creepy mask and bought it. Actually, to be honest, I don't know much about Jason, other than I can recognize that mask a mile away and know it's associated with Friday the 13th. I don't do slasher movies. I think I watched a few back when I was younger but have blocked them all from my memory. Waste of time and creepy. Anyway, I'm getting way off track here. Back to my dad- Sara and Livvy were stunned speechless and scared out of their minds when he walked in. It was SO funny.



Here's Jenny with her little guy Brodey. He was dressed as a little Skunk.



I love Halloween! It's so fun to decorate, dress up, and do fun things. Thanks for the good times everyone!

Just can't get enough

Last year I did this post about my Halloween decor. I figure I can't put away the Halloween decorations without making mention of some of my favorite additions since last year:

I got together with my sister-in-law Lora and we both painted one of these. It was easy and fun! I even made the witch broom from a twig in the yard. Taylor accidentally threw a ball at the cat and knocked him off the mantle. He split in two (the cat, not Taylor). Taylor was apologizing like crazy (probably afraid for his life, hm, don't know why), failing to realize that cats have nine lives! A little wood glue and our furry friend was back on the mantle in no time. Since this is about as close as my kids will ever come to owning a cat, we best be taking better care of him!



I've been looking for a little Halloween Village for a couple years now. When I was a bitty kid my mom painted a ceramic Halloween village that I loved to look at. I liked to move the characters around (shhh, don't tell my mom), my imagination running wild. I finally found one that I am satisfied with- it's Winnie the Pooh. Spooky yet enchanting and fun. I bought 5 houses this year.

Livvy has been the #1 fan of the Halloween Village. As you can imagine, this has caused a few cardiac arrest moments on my part. She likes to pull a chair up to the table and play with the characters. Problem is, she likes to bang them together. Nice Liv. She also occasionally takes them on field trips. I do have to say though, she is a rather responsible little deviant- as soon as I notice that Winnie the Pooh or Piglet is missing, I ask her where they are and she takes me right to them- even if that means walking over to the next door neighbor's house.

My mom gave us this cute little ceramic ghost thing:

I think I put the vinyl lettering on this glass block last year but I didn't get the bow done. I'm a year behind on half of my projects. Oh well. If I get much more I won't have room to display it all. I guess that means I need some more furniture!

This door sign turned out great! People have really gotten a kick out of it.

I know, way too much dialogue for a post about Halloween decorations.

Punkin' Pickin'

Friday night we stopped by Walmart. I was rather excited to see that they had their pumpkins marked down to $2/pumpkin. There was no way we were skippin' this deal. I hadn't bought pumpkins yet which is totally weird for me because I usually have a bunch on our front porch by the end of September. Something about $8/pumpkin at Sam's Club turned me off to front porch pumpkin decorating this year.

Anyway, I was hoping that somehow picking out pumpkins from a bin outside Walmart would put a big black X through the kid's memories of wandering through pumpkin patches picking their favorite pumpkins from off the dirt. Uh no. Sara was not letting me off the hook. The whole time we were choosing pumpkins at Walmart (all 2 minutes), Sara was asking, "Are we going to the punkin patch next? Mommy, I really really wanna go to the punkin patch." No Sara. No punkin patch for you... or so I thought.

Saturday Dave had AirForce. I thought about going out with the kids and then realized that one mama at a pumpkin patch with 4 kids and a big fat wagon equaled a big fat mess. And so I hoped the kids would forget. Not my Sara. "MOOOOOM, when are we going to the punkin patch? I wanna pick out a punkin." When Dave got home, off to the pumpkin patch we went. It was short and sweet and now the kids are happy.



That night, realizing we had 7 pumpkins and hardly a soul to carve them, we invited some peeps over. Russ, Nat, & Stina came over for some pumpkin festivities. Turns out, Dave was the only one who carved one. The kids created their "potato head" pumpkins with a little help from Stina. Taylor and Livvy had an especially good time ramming the screw driver into the pumpkins. Sara and Kristina were making silly faces for the camera. Crazy Coots!



We spent the rest of the night watching Beetlejuice. Getting ready for Halloween this year, I was worried about the kids watching shows that would be too scary. Apparently they are braver than I thought- they have set me straight on what they can handle.

Earlier in the month I bought a couple Halloween cds- the ones with music and scary stories. While listening to them, Taylor was in tears. No, not from the scary stories, but from the lack of scary stories. His five-year-old little self was bored silly with the stupid stories on the cd and he was mad that I told him they were going to be scary.

The other night Sara was telling me that our house was not scary enough. "We need to put up some REAL spider webs" she told me. I just told her we have pest control for a reason- not that she knows what that is, but it beats spider bites on your face in the night. Yuck. Mommy knows best.

So yes, we watched Beetlejuice, and they loved it. Livvy requests watching it everyday. She loves the "shake shake" song. We listen to it in the car and it makes her happy.

Fun night. Fun conversation. Fun family! I love my family. They are the best.

Come play!! Come Play!!!

This is a drawing of me, all dressed up for Halloween. The game goes a little something like this- Two questions:

1. Who drew the picture?

and

2. What am I going to be for Halloween?



Whoever guesses both questions correctly will win... the satisfaction of knowing that they delved into the mind of a [insert age of child who drew picture] year old and actually made sense of the madness. Sorry, no real prizes. This isn't the Oprah show. Okay, really it comes down to the fact that I don't have the time or patience to wait in line at the post office with 4 littles to send a prize out. Maybe someday I'll be fun like that. Thanks for playing!

we should make a gameshow out of this

I guess I should clarify what exactly she is rubbing into her hair. I thought she was upstairs playing with the other kids but instead, she had pulled a chair over, climbed up by the kitchen sink and emptied lotion and handsoap all over her head and body. The white stuff under her armpit is lotion. She had three baths this particular day but really could have used four by the time she went to bed. Look at her face- all dry and splotchy- she is getting dried out!

Slingshots & other painful procedures

Wednesday- Taylor was scheduled to have his warts checked out. I didn't tell him about the appointment AT ALL because T is a bit of an emotional kid. I didn't want to ruin his whole week fretting over a visit to the doctor.

That afternoon Dave was home at lunch for a few minutes- I had him break the news to Taylor. Of course the little guy had a bit of a breakdown at the news, screaming "Nononono, I'm not going!" And so Dave, to ease the trauma, promised Taylor that together they would go pick out a Lego set if he went to the doctor. Funny the promises parents make to get their kids to do things. Taylor seems to be making bank lately what with his visit to the dentist and now the pediatrician. Crimany!

So he cried for a minute and was sad but calmed down on the way to the doctor's office. Once we got in the office, the anticipation got to him again and he started crying- until he noticed the video games. He was fine again...until we got called back to the room [Insert crying child here]. After a minute he calmed down. (notice a pattern here?) As soon as it was GO time, he freaked and wedged himself in the corner. The doctor had to pry his hands from off the chair while I had hold of his body and was pulling him out. It was a great time- right up there with shoving bamboo sticks under my fingernails. Despite being covered in tears, boogers, & slobber, we got the job done. I really am proud of Taylor. The doctor was saying that he usually only can freeze 2-3 warts at a time with kids Taylor's age. Taylor had SIX warts frozen. Six. The kid is a champion.

To add insult to injury, I did keep one little secret from Taylor- he was also getting a flu shot! Yikes. The doctor walked out of the room after the warts were frozen. Through his sniffles his said, "Okay mom, let's go." And of course I was like "Uh Tay, we have one more thing to get done..." So he looked at me, crocodile tears welling up in his eyes (and a look of absolute terror and panic) and said, "Whaaat mom, whaat else are they going to do to me? Tell meeeeeeeeee." It was awful! I about started bawling myself- talk about breaking a mom's heart. Stinkin' doctor's office... Needless to say, the flu shot was another fiasco. The good news is- he was carrying on so much he didn't even feel it. And I tell you what, I walked out of there sweating like a pig. Sheesh- being a mom is high maintenance sometimes.

While we were at the doctor's office I picked up a prescription for Sara. A little girl that went to the same dance studio as Sara died over the weekend from bacterial meningitis. Fine one day, dead the next. Kind of scary. They recommended that the other dancer's talk to their pediatricians and get on an antibiotic as a type of prophylaxis.

Fast forward to today. Sara had her 4-year well check at 9:00 and Spencer had his 4 month well-check at 9:30. I forewarned the girls that they were going to get flu shots. They don't tend to freak out like Taylor so I thought it might be nice to give them some advance notice.

While getting them in the car, Sara turned to me and said very seriously, "Mom, am I going to get a slingshot today?" I can't even type that without laughing. She just gets everything so jumbled up. So yep, she got a slingshot today. In fact, she got five. I had no plans to get her immunizations done but they said she could get her kindergarten ones done. I figured it's better to get the drama over with sooner than later. She still has 2 years (2 years!) until kindergarten. Heaven help me. Anyhoo, Liv got her flu slingshot and Spencer got two immunization slingshots! Whew. Busy day/week at the doctor.

So the grand tally (in only 3 days), for those of you who haven't been keeping count (tsk tsk):

1 antibiotic prescription

6 frozen warts

9 slingshots

and a partridge in a pear tree.

Boo Hoo.

We've really been keeping Barbie and Scooby Doo on their toes!

Spencer is *4 months*

My little SPJ is getting so big! Yikes.

The official stats are in:

16 lbs 2 oz

25 1/4 inches long (1/4? I've never had them be that precise before).

He is in the 75th percentile for weight and just a little below that for height.

Looking back over the month, I can't really pinpoint any huge developmental milestone he has accomplished. He moves himself around a little if I lay him on his back but he hasn't flipped over yet (he doesn't get very much floor time for his own personal safety). He still sleeps through the night. He gets stronger and stronger every day. He holds his head up well. He loves to play. He loves to people watch. He's just a well-rounded little guy. The biggest thing I have noticed is that his little personality is coming out so much more. He is a crack up- he will be watching us and just start laughing & laughing & laughing.

When I take off his jammies to change his diaper his little legs go wild. And then once his diaper is completely off, there is no stoppin' the kicking. He kicks, fidgets, and makes his little baby sounds like crazy. It's cute. He's probably getting more excercise than me (not that that is hard to do).

The swing is becoming his worst enemy. When I try to put him it, he lets out a loud wail, letting me know that it is most certainly not okay to leave him there. Oh my. I need my space little guy! He wubs his mommy very much. It's great fun.

His little legs are getting stronger too. I brought the Johnny Jump Up out of the basement for him to play in. He doesn't really get it. He'll figure it out soon enough. It's nice for him to have a change of pace- somewhere new to lounge. I also push him in it like a little swing.

He has fun in the bath and likes to be warm!

And to honor his 4 month birthday, I actually got his birth announcement put together. I know, it's about time! It's a little late but I've been a busy mama! More to come on that later.

I love this little guy and am so glad that he is mine all mine!

Hugs and kisses my little Spenny.