Trunk-or-Treat and Spooky Dinner

Our ward had a Chili Cook-off and Trunk-or-Treat activity on Friday night and we all had the best time! Good food, good friends, and fun activities are a great combination! Abby dressed up as Belle this year and Sam was a puppy. If you have spent any time with either child, you will understand that these were the perfect costumes for their current obsessions. :)

I've always liked Halloween, but haven't really ever celebrated it beyond the traditional trick-or-treat and costume wearing. Now with two little ones who get excited over anything and everything, we've grown our Halloween celebrations to include a little bit more. And it's been well worth the extra effort and planning. I'm already excited about next year's repeat-and-improved performance! My super sister-in-law Catherine, who is a great cook and a master at planning around themes, and I schemed together and made a Spooky Halloween dinner. In fact, my tummy is still full from the yummy food we ate tonight. Here's a sampling of what we served:

On this side you will see: Jack-o-lantern fruit bowls (carved oranges), Ghostly Chili, Witches Brooms, and Root Beer on Ice.

On this side you see: Wrapped Mummies (hot dogs wrapped like mummies), Edible Eyeballs, Bone Breadsticks, and Swamp Juice. Plus all the yummy candy and cupcakes. Not pictured are pumpkin pizzas. It was a feast!

Just Bragging

Several weeks ago we attended a birthday party for the kids' cousin, Zachary. It was a monster-themed party and lots of fun. Here are some cute pictures of my favorite kids, courtesy of Grandma Z!

Pumpkin Patch Trip

We took the kids to a little pumpkin patch and play area on Saturday morning. It was so much fun! We went there last fall as well--I love being able to start traditions! The kids had the greatest time running through tunnels, climbing up stairs of hay, and picking out pumpkins. It was a difficult choice to figure out which pumpkins to take home. :) Another tradition we have is for the kids to paint the pumpkins instead of carve them. Abby loves to paint so even though she is old enough to help carve them, she insists on painting her pumpkin. It lasts longer and it's guaranteed fun so we just roll with it. This year she painted a pumpkin with 2 eyes, a mouth, 3 noses and 5 "nose holes", and 2 ears. Apparently when this poor 3-nosed man has a runny nose, he just wipes it into his eyes. I love the creativity and imagination she has, even if it is a little gross at times. But we couldn't be more proud of either kid!

Both the picture above and the one below are completely typical of their relationship: chasing, tackling, laughing, complete love.

Pure happiness! I couldn't decide which Sam one I loved more.

Fake smile, but having a great time.

I love these two!

My 11,000 words

I haven't been a faithful blogger lately so these recent pictures of the kids and the family are my attempt at making up for the missing words. :) Hopefully a picture really is worth 1,000 words!

We've been really busy lately with moving activities, our co-op preschool, a music class we're helping to start, playgroup, doctor appointments, ballet, etc. It's all really fun and we are exhausted each day. Here's a photo recap of what a week looks like at our house.

Abby does ballet for 45 minutes each Wednesday morning. She kinda likes it :) :

Abby dresses and undresses her babies, has tea parties, puts them to bed, sings to them, and has a great time with them. She sat me down yesterday and informed me that she knows the dolls aren't real, but she likes to imagine that they are real. It was a very important conversation and she was very serious as she talked to me about imaginary versus real.

Since we moved, Sam has been an awesome napper. He sleeps nearly 3 hours each afternoon. It's been a huge blessing! When he gets up, he's affectionate and wants to cuddle. Roy was quite happy to be the recipient of all that lovin'.

How could I not share this sweet picture of my boy?

I adore the relationship that Abby and Sam have. They are each other's best friends and biggest supporters. They sit in their beds and talk and laugh. When one gets hurt, the other races to their side, usually beating me to a hug, kiss, and pat. This picture shows just how close and comfortable they are together.

We went to the Trademark Expo at the Patent Office this weekend and got all sorts of fun little treasures. Besides getting free samples of Hershey's chocolate, seeing the He-Man statue, and getting a stress-relief frisbee, the kids also got to sit in a Caterpillar. They LOVED it!

Family Update

• Sam likes to put his blanket over his head and walk around. Most of the time, he has it draped around his face so he can still see. Abby cracks us up because whenever he does that, Abby calls him, "Mary". Yes, as in Mary of the New Testament.
• In our new house we have a big window near where we have a lot of toys. Sam discovered the windowsill about a week ago. He loves to line up tons of cars on the windowsill and drive them back and forth across. He could play there for hours!
• Sam is also very much of a boy now. He wrestles all the time, runs in for tackles, and uses everything for building. He balances the boy side with his infectious smile, his tackles that turn into gigantic hugs and cuddles, and his teasing. Abby called me daddy by accident and I started teasing her that, "my name isn't Daddy." Sam jumped in on teasing me and every day when we're at that park he points at me and says, "Hubababa Daddy!" (Interpretation: "Your name is Daddy") He of course says it with a big grin and repeats it for several minutes. It's so funny!
• Abby is growing up so fast. It seems like every day she surprises me with new words and phrases. She loves to be my big helper and load groceries up on the conveyor belt and even helps put groceries away when we get home. Of course, we may end up with the leaning tower of cereal, but she is proud to help.
• Friends and family are really important to Abby right now. She likes to be with friends all the time, talks about her friends, and turns babies and other toys into friends. She also loves our next door neighbor's new baby and considers her one of her friends. She also pretends to call various cousins on her phone and has elaborate conversations planning fun activities for when they get together.
• Abby has us busy with all sorts of fun activities each week. She has ballet and a co-op preschool each week, along with our music class and playgroup that Sam gets to enjoy too. She's really happy being this busy and doing a variety of activities.
• Baby Z is 16 weeks along, so it is about 5 inches and 2.5 ounces. Roy was able to feel a protruding head or bum the other night and I've felt some movement every few days. We have our ultrasound on November 1 and will find out the gender. And yes, I am very aware of how many weeks we have until that appointment. :)