Halloween

So, I'm sure the question you're asking yourself is, how on earth did Jared and Max end up as the squeeze aliens from Toy Story? I mean, didn't Max already have a costume? That, my friends, is a valid question.

The costumes previously featured on this blog were ones bought on clearance last year for just a few dollars. Do I get gratitude from my family for being so frugal? No. What I get is whining. Pearl just wanted to be something scary, like a ghost. She ended up wearing her witch costume from last year to the school harvest festival. Sam wore first a dragon costume, then a robot costume. Apparently we were not interested in our totally adorable hot dog. Jared whined because I didn't let the kids pick their own costumes out. Auggh!
So, on Halloween morning, I was feeling guilty that I really didn't let the kids pick out their costumes. So, I think, I can pull together a ghost costume, let's see what we can get done. Then I sat down to ask Sam what he wanted to be, and he said "Woody" (I'm sure because Evan is Buzz Lightyear this year). So, I think, no big deal, he has a cowboy hat and belt, I can get a plaid shirt and make a quick cowhide vest. No problem.
So, I head off down to the local feed store (at about 8:30) and got a shirt and some really cool cowboy boots. On the way, I call Pearl, are you sure you want to be a ghost? You can be Jesse if you want to. No, no, I want to be a ghost. OK.
I get home with the goods, and Pearl sees the cowboy boots. I think she fell in love, because THEN she decided she wanted to be Jesse instead. So, after conferencing with Grandma Hulbert, I drag all the kids to Wal Mart (never again all three on a Saturday!) to buy fleece and ribbon and binding tape and yellow felt and orange yarn. It will all be so simple, I can make Max a alien hat, and Jared and I can be Mr. and Mrs. Potato head.
Well, it wasn't as simple as it seemed. At about 2:30 as I was glueing trim to Pearl's shirt, I gave up on the potato heads (what on earth am I going to do with 4 yards of brown fleece!). Once Pearl and Sam's costumes were done, I started sewing the hat for Max. Well, I apparently didn't measure it all that well, because it was big enough for Jared. Great. So I made Jared an alien too!!!
We invited our neighbors to trunk or treat with us, this is Pearl with all her little friends. They would only give me cheesey smiles, so, lacking the time and energy to get real smiles, I asked them to give me a scared face. The result was much more entertaining!
Aww, Buzz and Woody, friends at last:) It was a fun halloween, though this is the first time I've been sad that it's over because I want the kids to wear their costumes again! Oh well, we do play quite a bit of dress up at our house!

Maxi-Man is three months!

I'm supposed to be writing reports, and here I am blogging and shopping on the internet... Oh well:)

Max is three months today. I go back and forth, it seems like since a short time since I was pregnant, but it seems like he's been in our family forever:)

He continues to be a sweet baby. Naps are still a struggle for us, but he is amazing at night, sleeping 7 hours consistently. Bless him!!! And check out his hair! It's like 4 inches long in spots - hilarious!
He's just starting to really enjoy watching Sam. When Sam comes into a room, Max only has eyes for him and will smile if he's near. This makes me happy, but it also worries me a bit... Sam has lots of great things to teach him about climbing and causing injuries that I'm hoping will wait a bit...
Love this boy!
He does sometimes give me this face - the "watcha lookin at" face.
And, for the record, on the day that Max is three months old, I officially only have 2 pounds left of baby weight to lose! (don't worry, I still have 10 pounds from being YW president and 15 pounds from Sam left - weight watchers will still be getting my money:)

Auntie Crystal

Auntie Crystal came to visit us this weekend. She is always so fun to have, and Pearl is always super excited that she is here. She was busy taking a test for much of the days, but we pretty much got her every spare minute. Pearl's favorite thing to do is to watch her put her makeup on:)

This trip we also did a photoshoot. Here are some pics I got with her and the kids.
And here are my favorites of just Crystal. Totally photogenic, right? We always tease Crystal that nobody has a smile as big as she does!

Halloween Cookies

Another Halloween tradition - decorating pumpkin cookies at my house! The cousins came last week and we decorated cookies while Pearl was in school. I think two years in a row makes it a tradition!

I always make sure each kid gets their own bowl of frosting, for occasions such as these...

Sam has the eating part down great!!!
Even Katie joined the fun. Jack was there too, he was just too distracted with all the cool toys in Sam's room to make a cookie:) (don't worry, he made one later...)
Yeah for holidays!

Provide

Jared told the kids they needed to help provide food for the family. So, they went outside and this is what they came back with.

Walnuts! Only 6, but hey, that's a start!

Sunday

You know you've been obsessed with blogging when your husband asks you why it's been so long since you've posted something and it has only been 3 days. Really I've just been waiting for a chance to download some pictures... here's the begining...

This was the sunset last saturday night at my house. Isn't it totally awesome? I know the sunset is pretty everywhere but there's something special about seeing it in the country. Ok, I know, random.

So, Sam has been hating getting ready for church - he hates his church clothes (even though he specifically picked them out) and wants to wear "comfy" pants. Sam, those are comfy. "No mom, fuzzy pants." (In fact, he's home sick today and made sure to confirm with me his comfy pant status as Pearl was getting her dress on...)

So, in an effort to distract both boys, I told Sam to see if he could make Max smile.
This was the solution he came up with.
He finally did admit, once he looked in the mirror, that he was one handsome boy!

Max

Max laughed at me today!

Pearl Girl

It was time for school pictures, and I decided I could do better. Plus, they are EXPENSIVE!!! So, I had Pearl's friend Makayla come over and we did our own version. I'm really pleased with how they turned out (as in I had to create a whole new collage wall in my house so I would have some place to put them!)

Pearl has spent enough time with a camera in her face now that she knows I get a better smile when she's laughing, so she hams it up! Actually, she is pretty good at turning on a real smile now:)
I am surprised at how much I enjoy this. I don't really consider myself an artistic person, but I have really learned a lot about photography over the last year and I think it shows in my pictures. I'm not going to be a professional - that was never the goal - but I won't have to pay someone to take my kid's pictures now.
It helps that I think my kids are the cutest - maybe that's why I like taking pictures of them so much!

Kelly's Halloween Party

We went to a grownup Halloween party at my friend Kelly's house. She LOVES halloween, I think she has more halloween decorations than for any other season. See, look at the punch, she totally gets into it!

She was so cute with her little apron and Martha Stewart pumpkin cutout appetizers!
This is where we sat to eat, tell me, doesn't it totally set the mood?
Yummy treats - I had the orange cheesecake myself:)
Ok , this is a terrible picture, but I just put it in to explain why there are NEVER any pictures of me on this blog - apparently, it does matter who's standing behind the camera, even if it is a fancy one! Come on, Jared, couldn't you TRY to put us in a more flattering pose? We didn't know what we looked like...
Oh well. Maybe in 15 years when he's taken a few hundred he'll be better:)

Girl Scouts

I am totally insane (or else I just love my daughter VERY much) and volunteered to be the assistant leader in Pearl's brownie troop. I actually love it, time spent with girls (lately I feel like I'm surrounded by boys!). This last meeting was at our house, and we had a great time!

The girls did a brownie pond ceremony, where they spun and chanted the brownie poem (the one I remember from my short stint as a brownie myself) and discovered that they were the brownie helper the family was looking for! They really seemed to enjoy it. When I did it as a brownie, I remember they had some fake greenery set up around a mirror. I was all set to do that for these girls, then I remembered... wait, I have a real pond! It worked wonderfully, and as the girls came off the bridge the new girls got their pins and the veterans gave Dee (the leader) the girl scout handshake. So cute!

Then they went on a hunt for the parts of the girl scout promise. There are 10 parts, from "friendly and helpful" to "be a sister to every girl scout." I hid them kind of hard, I had to help the last few teams find theirs, but they really enjoyed that.
The meeting ended with happy mayhem, games of jack frost, duck duck goose, and 17 little girls rolling down the lawn. So much fun to be a girl scout!
Poor Sam - he always wants to come to girl scouts too. Don't worry, Sam, there are MANY years of scouting ahead in your future!!!

Aaah, this is the life...

Tummy Time

Hmm... Tummy time... ok, not so bad...

Hey, this is kind of fun!!!
Oh, now it's hard - I don't like it!
SOMEBODY PICK ME UP!!!!