happy halloween

halloween on a saturday was a super treat. we started the day with some pumpkin pancakes using chocolate chips to make them into jack-o-lanterns (don't worry, the kids didn't see it either until having leftovers the next day).

after breakfast, we went outside to carve our (very cold) pumpkins. the kids helped a little with the scraping, but then abandoned me to take care of the rest - not that i minded too much.

mason went in to eat a special marshmallow from one of the ladies at church.

now for the main even - trick-or-treating!

this was my first time ever making 'scraped' carvings. it wasn't as bad as i imagined.

once the kids were done trick or treating, we went up to the clubhouse for a potluck dinner. this is one of my favorite neighborhood gatherings. happy halloween. love.

you know you have a house full of kids when...

... your wine rack is full of confiscated toys. love.

honor roll

madelyn made the honor roll on her first ever report card with grades! we are so very proud of her hard work! love.

boo u.

every year we get a flyer for "boo u." at one of the local university campuses and every year we have a conflict. it was going to be tight, but i decided that we would do a quick costume change in the car after madelyn's class and check it out for 30 minutes. amazingly, we were even able to pick up daddy to join us (he had a late meeting at a location on our way to the school).

i've got to say, it was worth the effort. there were maybe 40 tables set up with different themes staffed by costumed students for the kids to trick-or-treat all over campus. while we have been to this campus before, it has always been to crowded for the event to really appreciate how lovely it is to walk along the paths. it was windy and cold, but it added to the halloween feel and we all enjoyed the time outside.

a quick picture with the school mascot

there were science activities inside the student center but they were so similar to the "spooky science night" at the high school that we opted out of waiting in line for them.

this was the best table - not only were they cute, but they were easily the warmest!

the kids had a lot of fun with this game where they were able to pretend to be bees. each kid was given a glove to wear. they dipped that hand into a bucket of velcro balls and then find the matching color flower to 'pollenate.'

we all enjoyed this outdoor event and will try to make it again next year!

we decided to go out to a pizza dinner on our way home and were planning on dropping me off at book club on the way home. only we forgot that we didn't drive together and had to double back to get matt's car at work. love.

passing the time

each week madelyn has an hour long acting class. the boys bring quiet activities to keep them busy while we wait. tonight, maddux and manning were cracking me up by taking turns making body shapes on the ground, pretending to trace each other, standing up and admiring their imaginary work and then switching roles. 

mason finished his halloween scratcher from papa and nana.

i just love their creativity! love.

preschool harvest parties

in my head, these were simple snacks; there were few ingredients and no baking. but making them for both boys' preschool classes meant that i had to make 44 "pumpkin patch" cups and over 100 "apple" and "pumpkin" candies. the boys and their friends loved them. that is the payoff. (and secretly, i do enjoy making these crazy snacks.)

maddux snacking with his class.

the boys' classes came into the harvest party at the same time. they snack in their classrooms and then come play games together. the school decorates their gym super cute (the pumpkin balloon towers were a neat addition this year) with pumpkins and hay bales and lots of different games run by parents.

i missed that the parents needed to sit by a game and ended up helping with a pitching game. i was chasing balls and resetting so many times that i was working up a sweat!

the teachers were going around and taking pictures of the kids with their parents. for some reason, only my pictures with manning were posted to the school's facebook page.

i feel lucky that i am able to help more this year. love.

spooky science night

we were double-booked tonight. i was leading bible study at church and the school system was putting on a "spooky science night" at the high school. the elementary schools both cancelled their trunk or treat events and encouraged the kids to attend the high school's event instead.

so we got the kids ready and then went off to our separate destinations. they were pretty excited to wear their new costumes.

well, maybe manning wasn't super excited...

it sounds like the event was pretty cool. the high school science students dressed up and had science experiments for the kids to try - goo, glow in the dark slime, etc. i was bummed to miss out (even more bummed when i heard that daddy didn't take any pictures)!  but i am glad that they had a great time. love.

father/son camping

the text i got from matt last night read: "we are so unprepared for this." it came with the picture here so at least i knew that they had successfully gotten their tent up. and that mason was super excited to be there! it wasn't going to be warm at all, but at least it wasn't freezing.

we woke up to a stunning sunset this morning. the picture isn't even half as gorgeously red as it was in real life - even reflecting off of the pond. matt said they didn't even have anything close to this sunset when i sent it to him today. that and that he only slept for about 20 minutes. they were cold and a child's sleeping bag just didn't cut it for him. (by the way, i told him to stop at walmart and buy himself a sleeping bag.) poor guy.

while we were at the chess tournament, i started getting pictures of their camp fun...

archery was, by far, mason's favorite part of camping! by far. so much so that it trumped the story of the deer. let me explain. on their hike last night, matt saw something coming at them fast through the dark woods just moments before a deer slammed in to the dad walking about a foot behind them - knocking him to the ground! the guy was fine because he had landed in a bed of leaves and the deer didn't have antlers. the deer had fallen to the ground also before getting up and running off into the woods. crazy.

so the archery was pretty amazing.

this is not the complete picture of them riding a horse together, but matt cropped himself out for the purpose of the blog. in matt's defense, he was taking a selfie while on a horse with his son. let's just say that he was very focused on not falling off. and i love him so much.

while not a perfect trip (really what trip is?), they made a lot of memories. maddux can't wait to go with them next year! love.

first chess tournament

while mason and daddy were surviving in the wilderness, the rest of us loaded up early in the morning and went to madelyn's (and mason's) first chess tournament. of course, mason was missing out, but madelyn was SUPER pumped to be there! i was pretty nervous about keeping the little boys quiet, sitting and entertained for more than 5 hours. 

i was relieved to discover that the room where we would be waiting was a least a little noisy and not too close to the rooms where the chess would be taking place. we aren't allowed to watch the kids play chess. the kids were called by age/ability for each of four rounds while we all waited. when the kids finished each round, they came out to wait with us for the next round. surprisingly, they played chess while they waited too!

and i was ready for the waiting - i hoped. i threw together a few crafts for the boys (lots of glue sticks, scissors and paper). our first one was making a "squirrel tree." the craft was very simple and the boys really liked it. we were sitting under the only fan in the room and were having trouble keeping our tissue paper squares on the table. this turned out to be a good thing though because apparently the room was really warm; we never noticed.

madelyn lost her first match. then she won the second! she was SO excited. then she said that she beat a really little kid. "like, i think he was a kindergartener." it was so sweet how she was a little embarrassed to have beaten someone younger. but i told her that it was her first year and his first year so they were a good match. her coach put it this way, "a win is a win, you can't underestimate the kindergarteners."

we had a little packed lunch (i treated the kids to purchased pizza from concessions) and then got back to sitting.

manning working on a scratch Halloween craft that nana and papa sent the kids.

madelyn came out with a loss in the third round. several ipads and other tech devices came out around the room. you could tell where they were by the hoard of kids clustered around them. except for ours.

i told the boys that they could use the ipad after lunch (after all, they had already sat at the table for a little over three hours but that point). one little boy felt the pull of an uncrowded screen. he was super sweet. he asked if he could have a turn and then let maddux pick which game he would play.

madelyn ended the tournament with a draw. she was really excited because she played against someone from her team and that meant that her team earned the point no matter the outcome.

mason's school came in first place in their division.

and madelyn's school finished second in their division.

the little boys sat still and quiet for five and a half hours. yes, five and a half hours. they were AMAZING! several parents came over to complement them as we were all heading out. not that i ever want to have to chance that again. love.