Halloween 2013

We made bats this year!! I had a lot of extra time because I decided NOT to make costumes.  I just didn't have it in me!  I did make a cute black spider web doily to go under the pumpkin.  Hooray for being crafty!

Last year I snagged some of the table decorations from the trunk or treat.  They were WAY too cute to throw away.  I was so excited to frame and display our pictures from last year's party.  Macy Robison's photo booth is by far my favorite part of Halloween.  Even though I didn't make costumes, I made sure I was ready for her!  

We were Germans!!  Connie had all these costumes collecting dust in SLC this summer, so we took them home!  The only outfit I needed to put together was mine.  Lederhosen for all!!  The dress they brought home from Germany wouldn't fit a 14 year old!!  That Connie Cannon has very small ribs!Miraculously I had all this in my closet (minus the perfect apron from Julie).
This was my sad attempt at a family photo with my iPhone.   

Thank goodness for MACY!!  I love Sadie's face in this picture.  I also love that we have yet another picture of George hookin' his horns. 

George was such a pill! 

Clearly he did NOT want Sadie to hold his hand or have someone point a lens in his direction.  It's annoying when he's mad but I LOVE his angry faces.  He gives the best stare downs and furrowed brow I ever did see.  So much personality in this little person!

We kicked him out of the rest of the pics.  Look at these two!!  I can't handle their skinny little legs and goofy grins.  The pic below looks like propaganda Hitler would have used to further his crazy cause.  Every time I look at this picture I think of that silly song from the Producers, "Spring time for Hitler and Germany.  Winter for Poland and France."  I wish Adolf could have seen that production.  He probably rolled around in his grave at the thought of him being played by a homosexual director.  Ha ha!! 

 

I appreciate the fact that I can get Chase to dress up with me.  I think he actually enjoys it!

 

Lets pause for a moment and look at these little people.  Jack's skinny legs and knee highs are killing me!  All the way down to his ruffled, cow licked hair and skinned knee.  This boy owns my heart! Sadie lady!!  What a treasure.  I love those little braids, freckles, and her one big tooth.  Could her eyes be more beautiful?  I love her so much!!

 
Thanks again Macy for these beautiful photos.  I meant for them to be funny and they turned out to be keepsakes!

 

The next night we got a babysitter and headed to the Lunt's for a costume party.  I've been wanting to wear this 80's formal my grandma sewed for herself since Emily brought it to me in St. George.  We needed to get something for Chase so a trip to Goodwill was in order.  We scored!!

Found this wig, Bill Cosby sweater, and acid washed jeans.  Unfortunately (but fortunately) Chase already had these hideous basketball sneakers.  I'm going to go ahead and call them "sneakers" because although they're a year old, they look like something John Stockton would have worn in 1989. Probably why Chase bought them.  He was a total "Chester the Molester" and that became his name for the night. 

Take me away Chester!!

Get down with me on the dance floor Chester!

 

Go ahead and boogie "MC Hammer" style with that Trojan horse.

How the heck did I find someone so absolutely perfect for me!!  Love my Chester!

 

Halloween Day was awesome!  Jack got to wear a costume to school and decided to be Batman (not a German....sadly).  We borrowed this one from Melissa Vega and he was thrilled to be his favorite superhero!!

Sadie wasn't allowed to wear a costume but Chester was.  I don't know how anything got done at NFP with Chase dressed like that all day!

 

The kids were a little bipolar and decided to change their costumes again.  We borrowed the superman costume too so it wasn't any skin off our backs.  Sadie wore the flower girl dress from Sarah and Chad's wedding because it's just too beautiful.  She made the prefect bride!!

We attempted to get George in a bear costume and he had a tidal wave of a tantrum.  He did allow us to dress him in Lederhosen so we went as Germans again.  Our neighbors  LOVED us!! We actually discovered that a lot of our neighbors are from Germany.  Who knew?!

We gathered at the Steiger's for some chowder and cornbread.  We were able to distract the kids long enough that they only went out to trick or treat for about an hour. Less candy is always a good thing.

Sadie and Avery took off with the other neighborhood kids and I didn't see her once we went outside.  It kind of broke my heart that our whole family wasn't together for trick or treating this year.  She's growing up!  STOP!!

Examining the loot afterwards is everyone's favorite part.  George thought it was pretty amazing too.

Eventually George usually ends up naked, especially if he's eating a sticky lollipop and wearing authentic German lederhosen.

 

Glucklich Halloween!!

Loving the routine

It's time to get back into the "swing" of things.  I decided to host story time again this year.  We have a bunch of new mom's that have moved to the area and it's a great way to meet one another.  We love reading our books and singing to songs but sitting outside while the kids get some exercise is AWESOME!!

I started a walking group too!  It's so fun!!  We have a couple of "regulars" that walk every Wednesday and Friday.  We try to walk up this beast of a hill 3-4 times.  It's killer especially on a hot morning. 

George enjoys the walks a lot more now that it has cooled down.  I've also discovered that giving him a flag, even if it's plucked from the ground, keeps him pretty entertained.  That and a lollipop!

Sadie had a few lessons this summer but they were sporadic.  It's nice to have them every Tuesday and get her back on a regular practicing schedule.  We try to get it done right after school.  She is really taking off!  She just learned Allegro by Suzuki and we can now play Heart and Soul together!! She's still a real stinker when it comes to practicing and prefers that I'm not "in the room." 

Jack started flag football with his buddy Preston.  The two of them pretty much just stand on the field and run when all the other kids start running.  They don't have a clue what is going on 90-100% of the time.  Jack thinks it's REALLY cool though and likes to show us how "fast" he can run. The other parents seem to care A LOT more than we do.  We do live in Texas (land of Friday Night Lights) but lets remember that these kids are 4!! We are rookies to the degree of Jack using Halloween teeth for his first game instead of a mouth guard because I melted the first one and the second one I bought was too big. Who cares? Not Jack.

 

For the first time, George is finally entertained by a little Baby Einstein.  This is great news for me because my little shadow will finally give me 30 minutes peace while I cook dinner or clean up the kitchen.  So much better than him walking through a dust pan of dirt or slipping on the wet floors!

He also loves snuggling with Sadie when she gets home from school.

I try to get them all to the park if we've finished our practicing and homework.  George and I also love visiting Sadie at school for lunch or Daddy at Trader Joe's. 

And George LOVES all the attention he gets when all the ladies surround him after school.  What a hunk!! We have Lily come over every Monday so her mom can work.  Avery and Evan usually end up coming over too and it turns out to be a full house of kids after the neighborhood round up!

I'm still in Young Women's so I go there every Wednesday night for mutual.  I was a Beehive instructor but just got called to be the 1st counselor so now I'm over the Mia Maids.  One such MM snapped this pic of me from her mini van on the way to the church.  I love these girls and I'm loving my calling!

Jack's "routine" is shutting his door every night after we've put him to bed.  He turns his light on and "reads" books until he falls asleep.  Occasionally we'll catch him trying to watch television with us from the stairs.  He eventually passes out doing this as well. Just Jack being Jack.

Back to School

Summer s-l-o-w-l-y came to an end.  I swear if I had to go to the pool ONE MORE DAY I was going to scream.  I loved the lazy days of sleeping in and making pancakes, but I was seriously craving some routine.  Just in time for school to start. 

Not gonna lie when I say it was HARD to wake up at 7 a.m. again.  I wish elementary school could start even an hour later.  These poor chiddlers need their sleep! Sadie was VERY excited for her first day.  She looked so cute and grown up this year!! 

She is in a portable this year which is kind of annoying but I LOVE her teacher so it's a trade off.  She has Mrs. Greene who is a little more strict but I know will challenge Sadie.  Our biggest complaint from Sadie last year was that first grade was too "boring." 

We couldn't believe all those text books! This year I've noticed that her teacher is really trying to teach independence.  Sadie is taking the reigns on her homework and needs to remember when it's time to turn something in. 

I had every intention of baking something delicious for an afternoon snack when he got home but the day ran away and I ended up taking the kiddos to TCBY.  I wasn't the only mom with the idea.  The place was PACKED!!

Jack got sucked into the television screens throughout the store and finally gave me this silly face once I got his attention.  What a monkey!!

His school didn't start until a week later.  He really missed Sadie when she went off to school and couldn't wait for it to be his turn. 

He came in to our room at 6 a.m. telling us we needed to "wake up early" for school.  He didn't need to be there until 9 so we had loads of time. 

Jack is going to preschool with 7 other kids from church.  He absolutely loves it and I get a kick out of driving him and his friends every Tuesday when it's my turn to car pool.  These little nuggets are always requesting super hero songs, "what does the fox say", and think it's pretty awesome when I speak to them in Spanish.  They just giggle and ask me to keep talking.  I love 4 year olds! Especially the dashingly handsome one in the red shorts and blue "cool shoes."

 

With the older two in school, I get to spend a lot more time with this lil' peanut.  When we don't have story time or our walking group we pretty much just chill.  He's my little shadow and will usually just tinker around unless I'm brushing my teeth.  This is when he insists on being held as he stares at me with a goofy grin while I brush away.  He likes to spit too when I spit out the toothpaste. 
George is obsessed with flags "fags" as of late so we usually walk around our street and touch all the "fags" we can find.  He gets the biggest grin on his face!!  He also loves playing with the train table and will say "choo choo" repeatedly with his mouth closed.  It's a very muffled choo choo that only a mother would be able to understand.  He also loves trucks!!  Whenever we are out and about in the car, he'll either yell out "fag" or "tru-cha" as loud as he can.  This can be a little embarrassing in stores.  We don't want to offend anyone but it's tricky when George belts out "fag" anytime we see anything resembling a flag.  This is usually loud enough for any homosexual within a block (or two) to hear. 

He's become more and more independent.  He goes to the pantry and gets his own  (snacks) or points to what he wants while yelling "dis."  If he can't reach something, he'll get a stool and drag it over to where he wants it to be.  He's been very good at rearranging my pantry.  He has learned all sorts of new words and phrases.  His latest is "cookie" and "chocolate."  Can you tell what this kids has been eating? 

The weather has finally cooled down enough to appease George's love of the swing.  He screams "sing, sing!" as he looks out the window.  He also requests a front row seat for the garbage "tru-cha" when he comes around on Mondays.   

Jack comes home first and then Sadie.  It's like Christmas every day for George when his two best friends come home to play with him. 

 

 

Tejas!!

Back to the land of queso, cacti, and armadillos!  It's good to be home.  The humidity was actually welcoming after mending my poor cracked heels in Utah.  Bring it on!!


First thing we did was hit the pool and continued to do so every single day!!  Jack is getting pretty good at swimming and will probably be on his own next summer.  Sadie is a little fish but still not tall enough for the Circle C slide.  George is not such a fan of the water.  He'd rather eat mandarin oranges poolside and throw rocks around. 

With the humidity comes a very large circle of sweat on your back while mowing the lawn!

These three!!  I can hardly stand it!!
Literally!! 
Having all of them home every day might land me in the loony bin.  Good thing they're so cute! 

A fun activity we discovered this summer was the free symphony every Sunday evening at the Long Center.  Some nights were steamy but mostly we just enjoyed the breeze and bug free lawn because of the bat bridge behind us.  Each Sunday we had a new crowd of peeps join us.  Love our friends here in beautiful Austin!

 

As if there wasn't enough swimming during the week!  We had swimming parties on the weekends and showed up in style on the scooter.   

 

No school means we can build a fort and stay up late telling stories about volcanoes, storm troopers, squirrels, hiking adventures with Grandpa, and ponies...of course. 

Lots of play dates (so mom doesn't go completely insane having them ALL home EVERYDAY) and consoling the sadness when they have to leave.

Doughnut runs and getting them for free because they didn't take American Express.  The kids do look a bit homeless.  Probably why the doughnut lady took pity on them and gave them the goods anyway.

Afternoon movies with Dad during his lunch break.  George lasted all but 20 minutes during Planes.  He's much better at the Alamo Draft House when we go there with friends.  It's not during nap time and he's entertained by French fries. 

Chase tackled our first home improvement project with an ax!!  He took all his anger and frustration (not a whole lot in that sweet man) out on those boards!!  We've been wanting to replace the back deck since we moved in.  It was rotting and was a splinter playground so we bit the bullet and put this project at the top of our LONG list of improvements. 
It wasn't until after a few hours and only a few feet of deck demolished that we discovered it might be easier to unscrew the screws before trying to rip out the wood.  We're rookies and learning slowly but surely.  Our neighbor also suggested a crow bar.  That was a good suggestion and pretty much saved us weeks of "ax therapy."  I took a couple of swings with that ax.  It felt GOOD to let off some steam! 

And this is me trying to catch up on this blog of ours.  It's a lot of work but I know it will pay off one day when I have dementia and can't remember anything about this wonderful life of ours.  I don't want to forget a thing about these amazing people I get to spend my days with.  How the heck did I get so lucky?!!