trick-or-treating

the weather forecast for today showed 100% chance of rain during the one hour our neighborhood selected for trick-or-treating (the rest of the city trick-or-treated on sunday afternoon).  so i decided that we would push to do the indoor trick-or-treating options so that manning would get to participate.

first stop, the library.  they had about five stations where the kids could get some treats.  the kids' favorite was the bowl filled with chocolate wrapped to look like fingers, toes and eye balls.  really, they were fairly creepy because the images on the foil wrappers were very realistic.  manning ended up being carried because he threw a fit when we went in and did not head right upstairs to the children's floor.  he made a cute lion though.

matt called me to say that he was home about five minutes after we left for the library so i gave him instructions to finish dinner that i had pulled out of the oven before we left but still needed to cook more so that we could eat a quick meal as soon as we got back.

we never got around to carving our pumpkin this year (it has been a long week for some very tired and crabby kids - and me).  but matt went out to get one, at my request, this weekend so he got that sucker carved in about 15 minutes!

we didn't have much time because we had one more indoor trick-or-treating option - the grocery store.  we had a great time last year and wanted to go again.  there is a scavenger hunt with clues throughout the grocery store - maybe 15 clues and stops - and then several of the other stores in the shopping center give out candy/treats too.  our favorite is a burger place that gives out milkshakes!  of course, we had to walk in the rain once we were done inside the grocery store but the milkshakes were worth it.

stacked pepsi case maze.  they gave the kids glow-sticks before sending them through the maze.

and then we were home again about 5 minutes before the neighborhood trick-or-treating started.  matt  got a few more layers on the kids while i worked on lighting all of the candles outside.  the rain and wind did not make things easy on me.

the weather was way too bad for manning so he stayed home with me and went to bed after about 15 minutes.  he just waved good-bye when i laid him down.

matt and the kids were only out about 30 minutes but it was enough to bring back some big smiles on dripping wet kids!

daddy seemed to be the wettest.

 and, sorry, mason, but your hair was too funny not to share!  love.

happy halloween

we aren't huge halloween people.  it is fun, but not something we like to emphasize - we pretty much just do the costumes and pumpkins.  the boys aren't allowed to do anything halloween related at school (in fact, wearing costumes will get you sent home) so instead they had a "harvest party" today!  (madelyn doesn't have anything at school today for halloween.)

the school colors here are orange and black (not to mention that orange has been everyone's first favorite color) so we have a few items they could wear in fall/pumpkin colors.  since everyone was wearing similar colors, i thought that i would try and snap some pictures.  everyone was a little too excited for a group picture.  and maddux is just in a no picture kind of mood lately.

today was weird because manning was the only one with me and we just stayed home.  he was very ready to play, but he did not want to play with me.  he also didn't want me to do anything else... sigh.

maddux after school showing me his "leaves".

we have some busy plans for trick-or-treating because the weather is looking lousy for today and less than ideal for trick-or-treating.  love.

babysitting playdate

our neighbor across the street had to go in for a second ultrasound (the baby just wasn't cooperating last time) and her husband got stuck in a meeting so she asked if her daughter could come over and play for a bit.  of course!  lo (short of lauren olivia) is just a few weeks older than maddux and she loves trains and cars - she fits in with our crew perfectly.  the boys were super excited to have her over (and madelyn was quite upset to miss out).  it was a little like teenagers with a crush on the same girl - the boys couldn't do enough for her or stop trying to get her attention.  lo isn't super verbal so she would just nod "yes" and "no" most of the time.

at first she just sat at the table while maddux offered her stickers one at a time based on her nod or head shake that she stuck on a piece of paper.  and then mason started building her a train track on the floor and she moved over to play with him until manning came over and wrecked the track.  so while mason moved it up to the train table, maddux showed her the ball popper/track.  she wasn't interested in moving back to the trains once mason was done so he got out the hopper ball and got her attention.

the hopper ball was a hit with all four kids for a while.

everyone got hungry and we headed up for lunch, but lo's mom came home before we were done.  lo didn't want to leave and the boys can't wait to have her back.  love.

deer crossing

this is what greeted us at the preschool this morning.  huh?  i wasn't really sure what to make of this and was thankful that there was a full explanation printed out and hanging right inside the front door.  apparently, while the kids were off last thursday a deer jumped through the window of the kindergarten classroom and ran down the hall.  it tried to get out the front door and in attempting to jump through the much too narrow window, it pushed the bar to release the door from the inside and escaped.  crazy.  love.

tuesday tip - the power of a glue stick

i was chatting with a new neighbor last week about thanksgiving.  she was worried about how to entertain her granddaughter because she didn't have any toys.  so i suggested a glue stick.  this is one of my least expensive 'crafts'.

some paper (even newspaper or other scraps) and a glue stick is almost always a long period of self-guided activity.  when they are able to handle it, i also let them have safety scissors.  there is just something about gluing paper to itself and other pieces that is captivating.

added bonus, the clean-up is super easy! (see tuesday tip - baby wipes clean everything.)

if you could only have one craft supply, what would it be and why? (i am always looking for new ideas!)

love.

monster jeans

i have not sewn in a long, long time.  in fact, there were items in my sewing bag that the kids had already outgrown!  oops.  after a few hand sewing mending, i was able to do a fun project that i have been dying to make!  i tried to talk madelyn into letting me make her some monster jeans last year.  she is the ideal candidate because she rips the knees out of everything she wears.  seriously, this girl is crazy hard on her clothes!

now i finally have a pair of boys jeans with a hole in them!  the sad part is that mason has outgrown the jeans and he wants to wear them.  but maddux, who they fit, wants nothing to do with them!  he likes them, but wearing them is a very different story.

maybe manning will like them...  love.

pumpkin jars - part 1

the kids have been asking to make these jack-o-lantern jars we made two years ago.  so for the past few months i have been saving jars and today we got to work while manning was napping.

it didn't take long before maddux got paint on his shirt sleeve...

mason lost his sweater mere moments after this picture. 

madelyn is telling me that her hand is stuck.

notice the large orange streak on madelyn's chin. 

there will be a "part 2" post to show the finished and candle lit jars on the front porch to come...

while the jars were drying, the kids spent some time coloring in their new coloring books from papa and nana (thank you!).

madelyn working on illustrations for her daily journal entries.

just a lovely way to spend a sunday afternoon.  love.

free morning fun

we started today with some pumpkin chocolate chip muffins.  (well, i started the day when maddux woke me up at 4:15am to find his socks and i never did get back to sleep - busy mind.)  then i took the big three out for some fun.  daddy and manning headed off to run a few errands.

first stop, the library.  i had signed the kids up for a "halloween party".  they love the library programs.  this one was really well attended and a little bit of a whirlwind - there was a lot to do in 30 minutes!

first we sang a song and heard a story.

after the story time, we were all given instructions about the activities and let loose.  madelyn led our pack right over to the craft tables - there were four different crafts.  first we made door hangers, then drew jack-o-lanterns.  madelyn started on making a cute handprint bat but there wasn't enough time to finish (there was a lot of cutting) so we took the bat and owl crafts home as was suggested.

they also had a haunted house photo opp for the kiddos.

madelyn pretty much did crafts the whole time but the boys tried out all of the activities.

balancing ping-pong balls made to look like eyeballs on spoons

there was also pumpkin bowling (but with a ball and pumpkin pictures on the pins), spider web bean bag toss and witch hat ring toss.  on our way out each child was given a goodie bag with some candies and a 'monster' rubber ducky.  the kids really enjoyed themselves.

but our fun wasn't over yet.  since the party had been short enough, we had enough time to head over to toys-r-us for a loom demonstration and free bracelet.  i thought that madelyn would be the only one able to handle making a bracelet on the loom but the boys were both able to make it on their own too!  i did have to help maddux a few times when his slipped off the wrong peg but he really, really did a great job.

while we were at toys-r-us we did a little browsing for maddux' birthday and Christmas ideas.

it was a cold and blustery (really gusty) fall day here so this was a pretty great way to spend the morning.  the plan is to work on some pumpkin decorations this afternoon, but i think mommy might just have to take a nap instead...  love.

candids by maddux

madelyn and i meal planning

it looks like matt has some candids on his phone courtesy of mason...

boys day - part 2

we had a pretty full day today.  first we said good-bye to madelyn at the bus stop and then headed off to the ymca.  the boys had fun in childcare while i took a class.  when i was done showering, we went to the large motor room (think large vinyl covered blocks, steps and tunnels).  they have been begging to go ever since we met some friends there on monday. i don't know how we didn't find out about this place sooner!  the boys just love it.

we didn't stay long because it was pretty close to lunch time.  a quick lunch at home and i took the boys for a surprise trip to the museum.  i had a feeling that they might have a lot of halloween decorations and even if they didn't, the boys love the museum.  i didn't get any decent pictures because you can't use a flash and the exposure isn't fast on my camera without a flash.  here are a few of the 'best' ones...

they just love the 'ball popper' that shows aerodynamics

i was trying to get a picture of all the halloween decorations in the 'town'.

because the kids always want to and it was sunny, we climbed the steps to the top of the monument.

manning made it this far walking up the stairs on his own - almost halfway - before asking me to carry him.

i was trying to get a picture of all three boys at the top (the picture does not do the view justice), but they were uninterested.  mason was the only one who even attempted to look at me.

we had a really great morning/early afternoon.  and as a thank you, maddux and mason had complete meltdowns once we got home.  maddux was able to shake it off but mason had to take a nap.  he was so tired that he would have to stop crying to yawn.  it was pretty exhausting for me too!  love.

the real super hero

big pop sent this over for the kids.  they loved it!  mason said, "i knew that was Jesus and i know that he saved the world."  love.