the force

This afternoon our neighbors son came over and played with Jake while Brooke and I were doing some yard work.  He was such a sweet guy and was so nice to share all his toys with Jake and Grace.  He brought over some of his Star Wars planes and action figures, Hulk hands, light sabers and his scooter.  He made a special trip back to his house to get a 3rd light saber so Grace would have one to play with.  They all had fun and played really good together.  It was fun to watch Grace try to be a part of their fun or just watch what they were doing.  Everyone was disappointed when it was time to go in for dinner.

campout

Last night we had a little campout in our backyard.  When we were setting up the tent, the kids were so excited to get in it.  Then when blowup mattresses were added to the mix, they went crazy!  Jake planned the activities for the evening:

1. roast marshmallows

2. dance in the tent

3. tell ghost stories

We got thru his list and had a great time.

When we all got in the tent and were ready to sleep, Grace was having a blast.  She alternated between giving us all kisses and bouncing on her mattress.  I think she finally crashed at about 10:45.  no doubt she was on a sugar high from the S'mores.  She is very tired today, but nothing that her nap won't fix.

Sorry all these pictures are blurry, i was amazed at how fast these kids were bouncing and running around.

6:15, rise and shine!

buzz and bug

Here are a few shots of the kids dressed up last night for Halloween.

Jake decided a few months back that he wanted to be Buzz Lightyear.  His costume actually came with inflatable wings, but he opted not to wear them because he "didn't want to knock anyone over."

And Gracie was a Ladybug.  My parents were visiting us 2 weeks ago (which by the way was great fun, even though a few of us were sick for most of their visit) and my mom made her costume.  I love how it turned out...she is amazing with the sewing machine!

It was a great night and we all had lots of fun!

spooky dinner

Last night we had bloody brains, oozing eyeballs, witches fingers and spiders to eat for dinner, with a bit of blood to wash it all down.

Jake liked the witches fingers

And Grace enjoyed the spiders

We all had fun eating our spooky dinner!

snow!?!

yes, it snowed.  This is what we woke up to this morning. Nothing stuck to the road and it was all melted by lunch time, but how crazy that we got snow in October.

Brooke made a snowball for Jake and then I took the kids out a little later.  We are a bunch of wimps, so we didn't stay out too long.  Just enough to take some pictures

So, Danelle, to answer your question....it is COLD here!

carvin' time

With Halloween just around the corner, we decided to do a little pumpkin carving last night.  Jake isn't too into getting messy, so he pretty much just watched.  Grace was very interested in the process and even scooped out a few pumpkin guts.

This morning, Grace cleaned up....

and Jake ran around with his hamper on his head.

hide and eat

We have been having a good week so far.  Jake is getting harder and harder to take pictures of.  It is more fun for him to run and hide while i am taking pictures and it turns into a game for him.  Grace is still cooperating...but in other areas, not so much.  She has entered the stage of independent eating.  She wants to feed herself everything (which is nice, unless we are in a hurry) and is doing pretty good at it.  Jake is glad to have the long weekend over with so he can go back to school.

Eating beans...a favorite

Hiding

Hiding some more

smiling

smiling some more

playing