Happy Halloween!

We had such a fun Halloween month, and the actual holiday was a fun way to end it. We didn't let the freezing weather or 25 mile-an-hour winds keep us from trick-or-treating, and Logan and Jason even went back out after dinner. We loved having Ethan, Emily, and Cooper out with us! Our kids went as Darth Vader, Hermionie, and a pumpkin. At various events over the course of the month the older two stuck to their original costumes, but Eli wasted not one time with a repeat costume and was a vampire, a pirate, a fireman, and an M&M at other events.

All the kids loved the houses with lots of decorations, but they especially loved this house.

Gotta count the loot.

They also really loved handing out the candy, and had this little set up right by the door.

We loved having Korali come over with her parents. She knew just what to do with candy. I loved seeing her and my kids all really play together for maybe the first time.

We of course celebrated Grandma's birthday, maybe for the last time in person. They left to drive out to Utah and their new home there early the next morning. A funny side note is that when I told the kids they had finally sold their home and would be moving shortly before Halloween there was a moment of panic--they had never been trick-or-treating anywhere but in Grandma and Grandpa's neighborhood and somehow didn't know that it went on other places too!

I was mean enough to insist on this picture right after the final hugs goodbye, so ignore the red eyes. We will sure miss these two! But I was so grateful to look around at the aunts, uncles, and cousins who would still be nearby.

Halloween Party

Remember that Halloween cookbook we got several months ago? Well, somehow that simple little book spiraled into me hosting a Halloween party for eighteen 3-7 year olds. Having just hosted Eli's birthday party about two weeks ago, I told them I would be happy to have kids over in their costumes and provide lots of yummy food and a craft, but that was all I was going to do; no games or party favors or anything else. This was the first party I've ever done that was all about the food. It was a lot of work, but I was super pleased with the results.

Spiderweb pizza:

Bone Bread sticks:

Witches Broom Cookies:

Spider Webbed Deviled Eggs:

There were also bat and cat chocolate cookies, cupcakes with gummy worms and cupcakes with candy corn, green wiggly jello, and slime punch. Here are the kids awaiting their guests:

And enjoying the food:

This may have been his 5th cup of punch. Can you tell?

We weren't quite sure how many kids would show up, but we knew it would be a lot because we invited tons. When I counted 18 as they came I was sure this would be the longest hour of my life and that my house would be destroyed in the end. I was pleasantly surprised that in general things were super calm. The kids were all really well-behaved and happily moved between the craft, food and toys with always a manageable number of kids at each. And not even all the toys were pulled out, just a few that were shared well. It was amazing!

I wore this wig as part of my costume (which otherwise was a spider cape and bone necklace), and the kids all thought it was hilarious. Ali had to try it on after I took it off.

Anyway, everyone had a great time (including me!) and I may allow myself to be talked into it again next year.

The Joy of a Box

Uncle JD and Auntie Lianna were kind enough to save the huge boxes their new bed came in for our kids who have been thoroughly enjoying them. The boxes have been forts, houses, boats, you name it. Here it is being a super bumpy slide.

Chicago Marathon

Jason's brother Todd ran the Chicago Marathon again this year, and Jason and Logan went down to cheer him on. Logan loved helping to make a sign to take, and I wish I had gotten a picture of it! Logan was a great sport about all the walking and waiting he did that day, and enjoyed spending it with his dad. We loved getting to see Todd and Janell and are super impressed with Todd for running again this year and even beating his time from last year!

Happy Birthday to ME!

Friday morning, my birthday, I wake up and walk downstairs to a dark house. I could hear whispers and shushing and then my three cute kids jump out from behind the couch and yell, "Surprise!" They had taped streamers all over the walls and Logan had made me toast and orange juice for breakfast. It is so much fun as a mom to see your kids get to the point where they can think of others outside themselves and come up with sweet ways to show love!

I spent the most of the rest of the day doing regular mom stuff, but looked forward to and enjoyed all the phone calls from family and friends. And after many phone calls and texts we were finally able to find a babysitter and I got to go out to a movie that night  with this good-looking guy!  It was a good day.

Is that really comfortable?

It doesn't look comfortable to me, but he sits this way a lot so it must at least be fun!

Star Wars Party

After much indecision, Eli finally chose a Star Wars theme for his birthday party. I think that is fitting since I don't know many other four-year-olds who can quote lines from the movies or impersonate any number of characters (Chewy is my favorite one he does).

I thought the cupcakes were cool and wonderfully simple, but he was disappointed for a minute that it wasn't a cake. Thank goodness I could tell him Grandma had one for him at her house in a couple of days and that made it all OK. Thanks for saving the day, Grandma!

We has seven friends, plus my three, so it was a bit of a wild party. During a couple of the games a couple of his more gentle friends decided to just watch...probably a wise choice. We played pin the light saber on Darth Vader, Musical Chairs (the "Spaceship" was falling apart), free Han Solo from his carbonite prison (Han Solo action figures frozen in ice that they repeatedly threw on the ground until all the ice broke--a huge hit!), tag with the kid wearing the Darth Vader as "it", and we fought off an asteroid attack with our very own light sabers (pool noodles cut in half with silver duck tape on the ends for the handles).

Eli's favorite part was, of course, opening the generous gifts from his friends. Ali and Logan's favorite part was that Eli is so good at sharing even his newest and coolest toys. The party was a hit and a fun way to celebrate our wonderful Eli!

Happy Four Years, Eli!

Four years ago we welcomed Eli into our family, and what a wonderful four years they have been!

Eli is such a imaginative boy. Every day, all day long we are "being" something like power rangers, ninja turtles, animals, star wars or other movie characters, etc. He is a patient and fun errand buddy, a forgiving brother, a loyal friend, and a loving and fun boy. To say I am glad he is in our family is simply not a strong enough statement! Happy Birthday Eli! We love you!

Father's and Sons

Eli got to accompany Logan and Jason on his first Father and Son campout this year and he loved it! The highlights for him were roasting s'mores and sleeping in the tent. We were proud of Logan in the weeks leading up to the event because rather than being annoyed that he had to share what, in years past, had been something for just him and Jason, he was excited to show Eli the ropes. We paid for the 11 o'clock bedtime just about every minute of the next day, but some memories are worth paying for.

Kindle Videos

We recently decided the kids wouldn't be playing their Kindle games on Sundays, but to take the sting of that away I showed them how to watch the church videos and let them pick whichever ones they wanted. It has been rewarding to hear, "Oh yeah, I remember what happens in this story because I watched it on the Kindle," while we read the scriptures. Technology really does have some amazing benefits!

Dinner Helper

I was getting dinner together and Logan asked if he could make the salad for me. Yes, please! Sweet helper.

Winnie's Make-Over

I was putting something in Ali's closet and had to laugh about the made-over Winnie the Pooh bear in there; what a transformation:)

Baseball

I was playing baseball with Eli in the yard and he kept missing my pitches. He was pretty patient about it, but after about the fifth miss, he looked at the ball lying on the ground by his feet, smacked it with his bat and said, "I hit it!" and proceeded to run the bases. I thought it was pretty good problem solving, actually! I also love his catchers crouch:)

And Baby Makes 6!

We're pregnant! Yay! It was so fun sharing the news with the kids. When we were pregnant with Eli the others were so little that there weren't really excited until he was actually born. But our three are all big enough this time around to really understand and be super excited. I love hearing them pray for "mommy's baby" and my tummy gets talked to a lot:) Logan, my planner, wanted to know where the baby will sleep and has already been making a list of things the baby will need. Ali has been making lists too--of possible baby names, all girl names of course. The funniest, though, was Eli who legitimately thought the baby was growing in his tummy and not mine. When I cleared that up he was upset, and asked, "But will it still be my baby?" This lucky little one has a whole family looking forward to his or her appearance in mid April.

Decorations!

Logan has been asking for weeks to put up the Halloween decorations, and on the last day of September ("But, Mom! It's so close to October! Just one day early, PLEASE!") I finally gave the OK. I told him we could after he finished all his homework, which ended with some on the computer in the basement. I told him what time he could be done and when that time arrived I heard some banging in the basement and looked down to see Logan happily lugging up all the decorations himself, including the fairly heavy bin. Then he and the kids gleefully raced around putting the decorations up, in the correct spots, mostly by themselves while I finished making dinner. I love that they love the holidays as much as I do!