Happy Halloween

I thought it would be fun to compile a group of Halloween photos from the past and came up with a really fun slide show below. It is hard to believe looking at them in succession that there were so many years before Emily! Seems like she has been a part of our family since the beginning. It is amazing to see the changes in all the kids over the years and to see photos of our cousins with no Emily or Caitlin - if only we had known :)

Pumpkins are carved, costumes ready (sneak preview below), candy out. We are trick-or-treating with our neighbors and then heading to their house for cider and pizza afterward so I will post photos tomorrow.

Happy Halloween to all the kiddos and happy birthday to David who missed the day entirely...flying out on the 30th in the am and landing in Japan on the 31st pm!

Halloween Through the Ages!

Happy Birthday David!

Not really part of the party preps but I thought you might enjoy the scene from one of Emily's "quiet times"...with scissors.

I just know Emily and I bought orange frosting and candles for the cake but we couldn't find them anywhere. This started out to be a "fall" decoration with leaves and pumpkins but we quickly lost focus.

Hmmmmm

Happy Day! It tasted good anyway.

Thanks Aunt Kathy

Aunt Kathy sent a birthday card to David that was quickly hijacked by the girls! We have been doing this ALL weekend :) Just remember when you go to buy kids those hundred dollar toys for Christmas this year...one silly talking piece of paper can entertain for hours! I think I will send her son Jacob a drum set:) BOO!

Halloween is the new Christmas?!

Can I possibly be as busy this week as my calendar is saying? Since when did the week prior to Halloween rival Christmas? Between getting costumes together, class parties, Halloween parades, buying candy, decorating the house, carving pumpkins and oh yeah, Davids birthday, this week hasn't even begun and I am exhausted! Helps that the kids are totally hyped on sugar already too.

Luckily we have had a nice relaxing weekend complete with a trip up the road to Emily's favorite stream to collect leaves for pressing and a soccer game in the pouring rain. We are celebrating Dada's birthday tonight since he is heading out of town before Halloween and I think the rest of the week is going to get too hectic to do it justice.

And More Fun!

Here they are...the mighty Ducks! Emily's class (the Ducks) went to the Pumpkin Patch today and I only lost her once. I wasn't really worried but most of the other moms are first time moms and they freaked so I pretended to be all in a tizzy - it was like 2 minutes - pshaw.

Oh...and here he is...SAM. For those of you who don't know, my little Miss is OBSESSED (yep - all caps, that's how serious I am) with Sam here. Apparently she has to get in line because so is every other girl in the class. His Mom says he is quite the lover and we frequently get "talked to" about the level of hugging and kissing in the class. Look at her expression (but better yet, look at his!)

Snack time!

The girls

Fun!

I accompanied the Girl Scouts on their trip to the Pumpkin Patch yesterday - lots of fun, too much dirt! Everyone had a great time - 10 yr olds are pretty easy to manage. I will have the pleasure of going with Emily's pre-school class on Thursday, probably won't be quite as easy!

Girl Scout Pumpkin Patch

Boat Envy

As you know my family has become quite the sailing buff's as of late - we had a lot of fun this weekend because there was a LOT of wind and rough sailing makes for giggling kids when the water splashes Mommy in the face numerous times! We always take a look around the marina and pick our favorite boat. No surprise that David, Olivia and I have our eye on a gorgeous 43 foot Beneteau...

We think the owner lives aboard (Olivia and I peeked inside and she was pretty wowed by the 40" plasma TV aboard!) Anyhoo...who needs all that...I bet it's a real pain to sail on that and sip your wine with friends as you glide effortlessly over the water. Yuck. Less is more right? Let's hope so, the boat we rent is below. Just to the right of the red one. No plasma TV but still fun for Gilligan and his crew.

No surprises here...this is much more Emily's style! Yes, it's a Harley. Lord help us.

BRRRR

It's a chilly 40 something this morning after some unseasonably warm weather for October. Emily woke up and said, "I am cold, I have bubbles on my arm!" Ahh, the discovery of goosebumps :)

Homecoming Parade

Blogging

Hello loyal readers! Now that I have a blog I have begun to look at life in a new way. Everything my family does gets viewed through a new pair of glasses called "hmmm, can I blog that?" and "Darn, I forgot my camera!"

This weekend was no exception. You saw most of the fun stuff we did but allow me to share the mundane. On Monday I decided the house needed to be cleaned and my family was going to help! Not a super popular decision but why shouldn't they get to share in a little of the 3500 sq. feet + 5 bathrooms of joy we call home? Why should I have to clean it by myself during Emily's school days thus "wasting" my free time? Besides, it's good for them to have chores, pitch in...these are tough economic times right?

Well, they hung in there pretty well, Olivia did a great job organizing her room and getting rid of all the clothes that don't fit her anymore (how did she get to be a size 12...what happened to 10)? and David was a good "schlepper" as in schlep this to the basement and bring this to the upstairs. After an hour or so it became not so much help mom as it became "get out of her way and entertain yourself or she will put you to work." It's all good.

As you can see from the photo - help is not all it's cracked up to be when your husband tosses in one more thing into the white load (forgetting to remove the wallet) and turning everything a nice shade of orange. This is AFTER 3 more washes with bleach. I just love a good stereotype don't you? Now we all have orange undies to enjoy - perfect for Fall.

48 Hours

As usual (and like everyone else) we have been busy lately...in the last 48 hours

Olivia has;

Gone to school, soccer practice, had a birthday party sleepover with her best friend (I use the term sleep loosely), come home in am to change, head back out with the birthday girl to "Club Libby Lu" for a makeover (hair, nails, shopping spree...sparkle t-shirt, sparkle ball cap, silver purse, stuffed dog, and sparkly BFF bracelet...see stunning photo below), lunch, home again and back out with real family to an Oktoberfest at our friends house in Maryland.

Emily has;

Had a playdate with the 2 neighbor girls at the library which also included a picnic at the playground, book rentals, a Diamond Castle movie viewing (of course), dinner at our friends house without Olivia who was at the sleepover and also without food cause she doesn't really eat...you know all that, another playdate with the "girls" (so Olivia and the birthday girl could have big girl time without little sisters) which included dress up, playdough, singing (see stunning video below), eating and general trashing of the house, girlfriends out...sister in and off to Maryland for the Oktoberfest.

I have;

lost my mind but at some point I managed to stand still long enough to get a little more video of the girls - this even includes guitars (Ukulele's - whatev). As usual Emily has a different take on how to play it!

Picture day

Today is picture day at school and Olivia wanted her hair curled. Ok, no problem. Well, small problem...it took me so long to curl all that hair that she missed the bus! Beauty comes at a cost right, I guess 9 is a good age to learn that. I don't know why this photo is blurry (I know GF, I need the SLR).

Emily quote of the day (I know how you live for these). This was in the car on the way home from soccer practice last night.

"I'm tired Emily, I need a nap."

"Take one."

"I can't, I'm kinda busy driving."

"Yes you can, just close your eyes, put your head back and keep your hands on the wheel."

"How will I know where to turn?"
"Helloooo, turn on your GPS, Jill (that's what we call the GPS) will tell you!"

So, to all my fellow overworked, underpaid moms out there...Hellooooo didn't you know a good time to catch some zzz's is while driving? Duh.

Hair Cut

I can't even remember the last time I had Olivia's hair cut - one of those things I never seem to have time to fit in. Tomorrow is picture day so I took her after Girl Scouts yesterday and had about 3" cut off. Looks great doesn't it? Emily was upset during the whole thing and was convinced that by cutting her hair I was turning her sister into a boy!

She is relieved to still have a big sister. Now if I can find a way to get those fingers out of her mouth...

Finally!

Yes, finally we have come to our senses in this town (well, in this case at least) and opted to take our own group photo after the soccer game today instead of traipsing 10 miles to some school, waiting in line with 200 of our closest friends for a professional photographer to take team and individual photos for the low, low price of $45 per package! Do you know that they do this every season (not just the fall or spring) and twice a year now in schools?

really, it's true. Except in my house where we buy 1 package from the school (even if you look funny cause those are the hysterical ones 20 yrs later) and that's it! I still can't get over the fact that in my fifth grade photo I have a feathered roach clip in my hair and a Schlitz mini beer can necklace around my neck! I will have to dig that up and post it - seeing is believing.

Mom...was that just a bad year for you?

Anyhoo. Cute picture of the pink Grasshoppers who won big today and my girl was awesome. Ok-David's girl cause he gets the athletic credit in the family. I'm just the fifth grade pot smoking, beer drinking loser :) We still fight over who gets the credit for her being the tallest one in the bunch.

It's Done!

What's this you ask? Since I spent the last few days transferring images of my Dad's artwork from his computer to mine to set up his new website I thought I would share one of my favorites. You can check out his shiny new site with the link to the right appropriately titled "Dad's Art." I am so clever!

The girls voted to add the new countdown ticker for Halloween (and Daddy's birthday). They are both great and enjoyed their visit with Grandpa.