Trick or Treat!

A Seahawk and a 50's girl!

Makylie isn't overly into the Princesses, and she has already been several different animals.
She wanted to be something "pretty" but that was the extent of her needs for her costume.
So I threw out some ideas to her and she wasn't IN LOVE with any of them.
However, top of the list at the time, was a cowgirl and Dorothy from the Wizard Of Oz...and the only reason was because she wanted the basket with the dog in it.

Then I searched online...and found some pictures of a 50's girl.
Karman was a 50's girl from the last year she went trick-or-treating, to everytime she has needed a costume since...It was, in my opinion, the best costume ever...so I was excited to do it again.
I showed her...and that was the end of that.
She was SET and super excited.
I let her pick out whatever color skirt she wanted. She picked this one first...then changed her mind to pink and purple and even red...but finally, came back to the light blue!
My mom found the saddle shoes at a garage sale. This is the very piece of the outfit that inspired me to search for pictures and try to turn her on to being this rock and roll girlie.
We found the glasses in the dollar spot at Target. They were sunglasses, but we just popped out the lenses.
Everything just came together perfectly.
I put on some lipstick and blush and that alone, made her WHOLE NIGHT!!!!!
And my 50's Girl was born!

Try as I might to get my son to match my daughter...and be a 50's boy with slicked back hair and rolled up sleeves...
He was going to have nothing to do with that!
I even offered to get him a guitar.
Nope.
Tyler went through the gammit of boy things....
Darth Vader, a Ninja, any other Star Wars Guy, Mario.
As OK as those things are to me, I am SO not into buying those cheesy overpriced, but made super cheaply costumes. And as long as I can get away with not doing so, I will.
So we looked into some other things...
and low and behold....
FOUND THE PERFECT COSTUME!!!

Tyler LOVES football. Watching it, and playing it.
It is pretty much the first thing that he asks Kevin every single day when he gets home from work...
"Daddy, can we play football"
The costume idea was perfect...but expensive.
The only sets that were a decent price did not include the helmet.
He needed the helmet to make him feel like he was a real player. :)
So I searched and searched...
Finally online, I found a great sale with free shipping.
It was like they were speaking directly to me!
And my Seahawk was born.

Kevin took the kids out trick-or-treating, as he does every year.
I stayed home with Karman and roasted pumpkin seeds, and answered the door.

Here are our pumpkins all lit up....
Top to bottom...
Makylie's, Karman's, Mine, Tyler's

This year was a school night...so it all started a little early and ended pretty early as well.
But the kids made some big huge hauls, regardless!

This is the first year that Makylie really understands that all of this is HER candy...and that she actually gets to keep and eat it.
She was a happy girl.
They both immediately started putting things into organized piles...
Making sure to put the things they don't like in the "family" pile. :)
They sure learn quickly!

Happy Halloween, 2010

Dressing up for the Harvest Festival

Kevin and I have taken over the Harvest Festival at Ty's school

We have worked tirelessly over the last two years to completely make-over the very OLD event.

Over the course of the last couple of years...

We designed all new games. Kevin built them from scratch. I painted them.

This year I took over chairing for the event as well...that involves,

all scheduling, ordering, planning, budgeting etc etc...

Tons of fun.

Tons of work...

But now....WE ARE DRESSED UP AND READY!!! Well at least Makylie and I are!

Makylie just decided to go as a sassy little thing...

Oh wait, that isn't a costume! :)

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I had nothing....so at the last minute I went as a football player.

There are no pictures of my whole costume...just these...but

You get the idea.
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Maky is showing off her brand new halloween SILLY BANDZ!

It is very important that they match the outfit you know.
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Now I feel sassy! :)

Happy Halloween everyone!

Artists at work!...

One of our very favorite parts of this season....
THE PUMPKINS!

The kids each pick their own out, every year.
They plan how they are going to carve, and then do their best to make it happen.
I love to watch all of them draw it out...and then poke and prod trying to get that perfect face.

Makylie still needs help, of course, but she planned it all out, and then told me what to do step-by-step. Mainly she wanted a giant smile with two big teeth. All on its own...that makes me happy.

Karman decided to go for tradition this year. Last year she did a pretty elaborate stencil type face and it took a couple hours. So, this year she went simple.

Then his tooth broke...but she just decided to pretend like she did it on purpose.

It turned out great!

I helped Ty cut out his mouth...but for the most part, he did the rest.

He literally had his all drawn out on paper. He has a very analitical mind like that.

It turned out pretty close to his original...

Though, it is hard to put ears on a pumpkin. :)

I really like to see the different personalities come out from my kids.

Makylie is just getting to that point, where she remembers from one holiday to the next...but her little breath of fresh air attitude in everything we do...because to her it is all new and exciting, is wonderful. I love still having someone who needs and genuinely wants my help too....

There aren't too many times anymore where Karman just sits around with us for picture taking opportunities. She has her own things to do, and isn't too into the everyday "family things" anymore...which is normal. It is fun to sit and watch her carve a pumpkin, just like I have done with her every single year since she was little. It is fun because she just acts like a little kid, and giggles, and draws her face on, and for just a moment, I can forget all of the drama that goes with having a 17 year old.

Tyler, brings his boyishness to everything he touches. If it isn't a Star Wars Darth Vader pumpkin, then it is a monster, or Frankenstein, or "something with fangs mommy"...Funny, some may see that as gross, or bad or violent or whatever....BUT...if you have a boy...you know...it is just how boys are. Because with that...Tyler brings such a warmth to everything. He is such a happy light in every persons life that he touches...I mean, who can see something wrong when Darth Vader is fighting a teddy bear under a rainbow. Seriously!

For me...It brings back childhood in a way that just can't be duplicated.

Where in the responsibilities of my everyday...

In the things that get hard or too real...

In the chaos of my mind because of all that needs to get done...

I can sit on the floor and stick my hand into a concave of goo, and pull out pumpkin seeds, and get excited because I get to roast them later while some of my favorite people in the world are out trick-or-treating.

It is just a happy place for me.

Pumpkin Patch full of friends

Gorgeous day.

Great Friends! (Chloe, Tyler, Makylie, Rohnan)

Posing, smiling, making memories.

Being silly trying to be a part of the Harry Potter pumpkin scene behind them.

We love this pumpkin farm. Craven Farms.
We come here every year for pumpkins...

But on this BEAUTIFUL day in October

We just came to hang out with our friends!

Pirates Tyler and Rohnan keeping the pumpkins safe!

Ty and Maky going for a little ride.

These are the exact reason that we love it here.

Just plain old FREE family farm fun.

And these kids ran around for two hours...enjoying the cold but gorgeous day that it was outside.

Ty has been great friends with these two since kindergarten. Their moms and I are great friends as well. We chat outside of the school, sometimes, for over an hour, while the kids play.

Because of that...they have created a great bond.

A friendship that we hope will last throughout their school years...and beyond!!!

I know you can hardly see it, but Rohnan is driving, and miss Chloe and Makylie are in the passenger seat, while Ty is tailin' it in the back!

Can you tell they liked the truck???

This is my friend Maureen and her littlest one, Mariah.

These two little ninjas doing their slick moves...can only knock people down with cuteness.

I'm just sayin!

They wandered through the stalks and stalks of corn, to find this little field, and they NEEDED me to come and take this picture.

I really enjoy our friendships with these family's.

It is so nice, to take off on an impromptu playdate...and just be able to naturally have a good time!

I enjoy being with people, who make me feel better, just for knowing them!

Thanks for a great day guys!

Maky's Fall Field Trip

This is Farmer Ben

This is part of Makylie's adorable Preschool 4's Class.

They are grouped up and excited for their Fall field trip!
Ready to pick their pumpkins and go on a hay ride!

She has been ready for days!
The Farm has a big hay maze set up that ends with this big huge VERY fast slide.

They love it. They all go on it again, and again!

**Noah, Taylor, Clara, Ruby, Makylie (back) Aizak, Natalie, Ana

They are EXCITED!!!! Can you tell?

There are a lot of cute little picture taking opportunities.

There is a petting farm.

At the end, we saw a story about the 3 Little Pigs, with real pigs...put on by THE Farmer Ben.

And we played witness to a real true duck race!

It was kind of amazing!

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Then we got to go on a hayride.

Farmer Ben taught the kids a song....

This is a hammer,

And this is a nail....

When the wagons movin'

You keep your bottom on the bale!
The kids thought it was hilarious...and sang it the rest of the day!

These are Makylie's two friends, Clara and Ana.

Then began the hunt for the perfect pumpkin!

Makylie found the PERFECT one!

All of the kids had different ideas about perfect.

Some were fully green, some were white...some were medium sized and one was the size of a baseball.

It was so much fun!

Noah, Aizak, (back) Ana, Clara---Taylor, Natalie (back) Makylie and Ruby

Then the kids got to have orange creamsicles.

It was such a fun day.

Daddy even took the day off so that he could go with us. That meant a lot to Makylie!

As sad as I get sometimes about it,

I am so proud of my little girl who is growing up far too fast for me....

But I sure love that I get to watch it happen!