Halloween Party

Today Abi had her preschool Halloween Party. It was great to see her interacting with her friends and seeing all the kids in their cute costumes. The party was really fun and included lots of activities like ghost bowling, face painting, cookie decorating and a pumpkin beanbag toss.

Ariel is all ready to go to her party...

Abi's Preschool Class

Decorating Pumpkin Cookies

Bean Bag Toss

Playing Basketball

I didn't get a picture of Abi bowling but I thought that this was the cutest idea!

Singing Some Halloween Songs

Creativity During Quiet Time

A racetrack for her cars, of course!

Jack O' Lanterns

In keeping with tradition, we carved pumpkins tonight and used the kid's costumes as inspiration. Josh worked on Ariel for Abi and I tackled the lobster for Brady.

Abi helped clean out the pumpkins but was not too crazy about getting her hands dirty so she quickly grabbed the little shovel for some help.

Daddy working hard on Ariel

Abi's Ariel Pumpkin

Brady's Lobster Pumpkin

Preschool Pumpkin Carving

Last night we headed to Abi's preschool for Pumpkin Carving Night. It was fun to see Abi "in her element"- smiling and waving to all of her little friends. We carved pumpkins, ate treats, sang songs and celebrated the unveiling of the jack o' lanterns!

When I asked Abi to make the face that she wanted Daddy to carve on her pumpkin, this is what I got.

Hurry, Hurry Daddy!
(we only had 20 minutes to carve)

The final product

...and the unveiling of the pumpkins!

It's Almost Halloween!

We have been busy getting ready for Halloween. We are going with an "Under the Sea" theme this year - Abi is going to be Ariel (big surprise!) and Brady is going to be a lobster. Every day Abi asks if today is the day she can go trick-or-treating. Not surprising considering her love for candy!

Playing Dress Up
Thanks to Aunt Peg, Abi got an adorable waitress costume. She loves to dress up and be our waitress while we dine in her bedroom/restaurant (which she named "The Eggplant Restaurant" - which is kind of ironic because the only things she serves is hot dogs and pizza!) Her favorite part is the fake money which she tries to give away to her customers and best part is that usually the meal is free - when I ask how much I owe, she always says, "We're good".

The problem with having a three year waitress is that it takes quite a while to order food. First, she needs to get comfortable with her order pad and pencil and then proceeds to ask how to spell all of the words of the food that was just ordered.

Brady as a Mummy - Actually his little hands and feet are ALWAYS cold so I bundled him up in a blanket to keep him warm one cold afternoon. He was so comfy, he actually fell asleep sitting up.

Haunted House
Abi and I made a gingerbread haunted house this year. It didn't exactly turn out like the pictures on the box but we still had fun. Of course, Abi's favorite part was eating the candy while we were decorating!

Before...check out that instruction manual!
During...
And it's done!

Pumpkin Patch



Picking out the perfect pumpkin

We found it!

As soon as Brady saw the pumpkin, he immediately tried to put the stem right into his mouth!


Graveyard
...and we couldn't forget the front yard

Fun With A Feather Duster

Who knew a feather duster could be so much fun?

Hangin' Around The House

With Abi starting school, the anticipation of a busy holiday season and the family coming down with colds, we have been spending a lot of time hanging out at home.

I've discovered that one of the great things about slowing down a bit is it gives you the opportunity to witness and celebrate all those little moments in life that may otherwise be overlooked. A perfect example happened today - Brady is the most impatient eater I have ever seen. He cries if the spoon is not waiting for him with another bite as soon as he swallows. As you can imagine, this has created some tearful and loud mealtimes. To help with this, I have been trying to buy myself some time by teaching Brady to pick up his own finger foods. Today Brady actually picked up a small piece of cracker and managed to put it in his mouth (along with his entire fist). It only happened once but I was so excited. As I was clapping, cheering and carrying on, I looked next to me to see Abi celebrating right there along with me. She was just as excited by his accomplishment. It made me realize that my little girl is growing up so fast and one day she won't be at home to share in all my little moments.

Abi is adjusting really well to preschool. She seems to be having a great time although she is pretty tight lipped after school, only sharing the most important information with me such as who was absent or who got in trouble. She loves hanging out with her little brother and is quite helpful when I have my hands full. I recently resurrected some of Abi's once-retired toys from storage for Brady. Both kids have enjoyed the change of scenery and it has kept them busy for hours. I think I forgot just how many loud, battery powered toys we own (or maybe I am just getting older). Of course, these are Abi's favorites and she likes to play with them all at the same time!

Abi learned how to do a somersault all by herself this week...

Visit to the Seattle Aquarium

Brady is doing good as well. He continually tries to "talk" more every day. He has his two bottom teeth and recently discovered his tongue so he has it sticking out in every picture. He is also becoming much more interested and interactive with all of us, which is fun. He is rolling over and sitting up unassisted but still loves to be held all the time so there is not too much motivation to crawl or walk!

Some of the good moments...

...and some not so good moments...


Here is what I found in Brady's crib when I went to check on him during his naptime. It must have been comfortable since he took a four hour nap!