Halloween 2012

This year, Caleb wanted to be a knight for Halloween (no idea why, he doesn't watch any kind of knight show or play "knights" with friends) so I wanted to think of something that "matched" for Molly Kate to be. Princess was an obvious choice, but I figured she has lots of years ahead of her to be a princess for Halloween, so I decided a dragon would be cute. Trouble is, almost all dragon costumes are the same, and are "boy-ish." I wanted a GIRLY dragon. I looked high and low, but no luck. I FINALLY found what I wanted on a Canadian EBAY site. Oh, the things we do as parents...;-) I think it turned out pretty darn cute, though, if I do say so myself!! 

Caleb had an awesome time trick-or-treating this year. He is SO social, and wanted to talk in depth with each person he got treats from. Love that boy so much. And I love that he doesn't want to be anything crazy or scary or mean or anything. A knight is COMPLETELY his personality and I just love it. He has a heart of gold. <3 nbsp="nbsp" p="p">

Baby Aiden came along with us in the stroller, too, although he slept most of the time of course! He was dressed like Frankenstein and looked so cute! Next year should be so much fun with both MK and Aiden (most likely) walking. Can't wait! 

 This little dragon was a little scared of such a big, brave knight at first.

 See, he's safe! She warmed up to him. :)

                                                               View from the back

                                                               View from the top

                                                                Decent family pic.

                                                      He loves this lil' dragon. :)

                SOOOOO ready to GO! His battle cry was, "Let's GET TREATING!!!!!"

Baby Aiden (aka Frankenstein) came along as well! 

Ahhh, it's Frankenbaby!!!! 

The reason Caleb may never be left alone again......

A picture says a thousand words, right? This is Caleb's wall in his bedroom. He had a playdate with a sweet girl friend yesterday and her mommy and I were so excited to have some mommy time downstairs while they played in his room. It got AWFULLY quiet, but time got away from us and before we knew it, they had been up there for QUITE some time, so we decided to go and check on them. We walk in and THIS is what we see on his main wall. It is a mixture of fingerpaint (washable, thank goodness), Elmer's glue, MASSIVE AMOUNTS of glitter, and permanent marker. All the way up to the (low) ceiling. Oh yes. 

 See those "M's"? His partner in crime's first name starts with an M, and she has much daintier hands than Caleb. This door is her masterpiece.

 We can't seem to get the handprints off his textured ceilings without it staining. Sigh. And for the record, I REALLY wanted a pic of the two instigators since they were COVERED in paint, but I didn't want them to think I found their work amusing in the moment, either.

Ok, so, after our initial ABSOLUTE SHOCK, my friend and I put the kids to work helping us scrub off the paint (luckily it came off pretty easily, except for where they had layered it with glue) but it still took a good hour and a half. Not sure what we're going to do about the permanent marker situation, as it is EVERYWHERE. I was remarkably calm, and honestly didn't feel anger at all...this is totally the "peace that passes all understanding" because I should have been mad!  I felt more exhaustion just thinking about how long it was going to take to clean...and then how I was going to remember this for the rest of my life, and how I would be talking about it to HIS kids when they do something equally crazy!! The sentimental sap in me kept thinking,  "these are the moments! This is childhood, and he won't be little and thinking this is a fun thing to do forever. Savor it. Even these moments where you cannot even believe what you're seeing."When we first saw it, my friend and I  had to hide our faces so they couldn't see that we wanted to laugh SO BADLY but had to act sterner than we felt because we didn't want them thinking this was an okay thing to do!

 I got so many comments on FB about the pic, I decided to send the pic on top to the Ellen show, along with the story. I'm pretty sure nothing will come of it, but it would be fun if it did. I could totally see Caleb and his friend up there with Ellen telling her about "the incident." Ha! 

Caleb's first statement to me when we saw it was, "Doesn't my room look beautiful now, Mommy?" and utter disappointment when we started cleaning it up. Many people on FB have said they would have left the one wall the way it was, but I just couldn't for fear of him thinking it was ok...which it wasn't. But a part of my heart did want to, because it was pretty amazing--very artistic! And they certainly had a blast. I figure I'll have the pictures and the image stamped in my brain for the rest of my life, so I'm good. :) 

So, the moral of the story is...silence from a 4 year old's room during a playdate is never a good sign. NEVER EVER EVER. Ever. :)

Baby Aiden is here!

I can't believe he'll be 2 weeks old tomorrow and I'm just now updating this, but my baby nephew Aiden Carson is here! Yep, my baby brother is a DAD! Crazy. Aiden was born Oct 3 and he is sooo cute! Yay for cousins!! :) Bryan and I said he wanted to be a member of the Cool Kids Club by being born on the 3rd, like both of us. Ha. Caleb LOVES his baby cousin, but Molly Kate would rather grab his face and scream because I let someone else hold her for 30 seconds while I got a picture of him. ;)

In the hospital nursery

 Day 2, Caleb picked out a bear for him the hospital gift shop, that is just like a bear he got when he was born at the same hospital 4 years ago! He was SO excited to give the bear to his baby cousin. LOVE his sweet heart. :)

 I'm one proud aunt! :) And I'm trying to look happy even though MK is screaming bloody murder while this pic is being taken!

 Cousins!

 Mommy and son

 Hoping these boys will be friends for life.

 We went over to see Aiden on his first day home from the hospital. This baby loves his bouncer!

Caleb was very excited to get to see him again. :) 

Trip to the Orchard

We went to the orchard on Friday and had a great time! The weather was perfect. MK got to wear her "Cutest Pumpkin in the Patch" shirt and cute tutu with jeans, so mama was happy. :) Caleb had a blast running around, going down the huge slide, doing the hamster wheel, the "hay" ride (with no hay!), eating a yummy lunch and apple doughnuts for dessert (which he DEVOURED), and picking out our pumpkins for the front porch. We're headed to another orchard next weekend, so that should be fun! I LOVE FALL!!!

 She was VERY unsure of the hayride at first. She eventually warmed up to it. :)

 She LOVED the swing. This girl LOVES to swing!!!! SO wish we had a good tree for it at our house.

 This is my new fav pic of these two. She adores him. He adores her.

I may or may not have a TINY obsession with these feet. :) 

What's new with us!

It is officially fall!! We've been having fun enjoying the cooler temperatures and all that fall has to offer. The leaves are changing colors and it is just so beautiful here. Here are a few recent pics of my little family. 

 A friend gave us this little bunny hat for MK and she got to wear it on a pretty cool morning last week. So cute!

 My little family before bed one night this week. Love the warm jammies we break out in fall!

 Smiley girl after church last week!

Happy as a clam in Daddy's arms. :)

 Caleb got to bring the class mascot, Clifford, home from school. They had a lot of fun adventures together!

 Mommy read Caleb and Clifford a Clifford book before nap. :)

This little girl LOVES to eat. She LOVES peas...anything green, really. She is down to nursing MAYBE 3 times during the day. Makes me sad, but I've so enjoyed experiencing that with her this year. What a blessing.

 The fall soccer season is almost over! Caleb has had a good time and learned a lot. I love his little team--they are all such SWEET boys.

I accidentally cut off Coach Ted's head! Oops! Team pic. :)

 Getting in there! He really improved from the first game to now.

GOOOO BANDITS!