Halloween Bash

Saturday night was our big Halloween Costume/Birthday Party at our house! We had so much fun, and the kids and I spent the whole day preparing. I posted last week (over at My Four Monkeys) about all the fun food ideas the kids and I were going to try. You can read that post here and compare our results with the originals. What do you think? Pretty good, huh? We may not have gotten perfect results, but the kiddos were a big help and so proud of all their hard work. I took all these photos before the party, and then in my "sick fog" forgot to take any pictures of the actual people at the party! But I promise there were really people here! Here's the spread before it was devoured...

Our Forked Eyeballs

Our Ghost Brownies - Kylie thought it was funny that her ghosts ended up looking like they were throwing up! I guess that added to the Halloween charm. :P

Our Witches Brooms - I sacrificed myself for these delicious cookies, burning my fingers while heating up the chocolate. Again in my "fog", I forgot and left the spoon in the bowl while I microwaved it!! By some miracle, it didn't blow up my microwave, but I grabbed a hold of the spoon without thinking and now have a nice imprint on two of my fingers. Ouch!

Our Halloween Pops - My mom helped us make these cute cookies on a stick while she was visiting. Everyone took a couple home after the party.

Our Witches Hats

Our Moldy Bones

Our Birthday Boy - Happy Birthday Sweetheart! Go Yankees!! Sorry, couldn't help myself ;)

Another thing that we worked hard on and I forgot to take a picture of was our party favors. I saw this post on Living Locurto and knew this would be the perfect project for the girls and I. We made all the women attending the party a Cookie-in-a-jar Favor. (This picture is from Living Locurto.)

Living Locurto has a link in her post to download a free template and recipe, but we created our own, printed them out, and backed them with orange construction paper. The girls did almost the entire project themselves, measuring out the ingredients into the jars, cutting out the tags and recipes, even hot gluing the bows on. This would be an easy project to adapt to any occasion. I am planning on making more for favors for my Christmas Cookie Swap Party next month. You can find more cookie-in-a-jar recipes here at allrecipes.com.

Costume Success

Even with being sick this week, the kids and I managed to finish everyone's costume in time for our church's Fall Festival on Friday night. Minutes before we walked out the door, we hot-glued the last bits together. You can see the original post with our costume picks here. Compare our creations to the originals! Not bad! {Somehow, I managed not to get a picture of me in my Ms. Pacman costume, but I'll put in back on and get a pic sometime this week!}

Kylie the Ice Cream Cone

Luke the Tiger

Caitlyn aka Cave Girl

My Little Yoda

What a wild and crazy bunch!

Pumpkin Carving!

While we didn't wait till Halloween night this year to carve our pumpkins, we only managed to squeeze it in a few days before! Thursday after everyone had a bath (hence the wet hair and weird clothes), Jeremy brought in the pumpkins from the porch and away they went. Over the years it's been so fun to watch what faces they create. Of course the whole process starts with cutting open the top.....

Success!

I think Caitlyn had forgotten what was inside!

Now, time to clear out the pumpkin guts!

While Caitlyn wasn't so thrilled about getting her hands messy, Kylie seemed to enjoy it. In fact, she wanted to make sure she got every little bit.

Then the carving commenced......

This is last year's pumpkin picture.

Wow! They've grown up so much!

The girls put earrings on theirs, while John David added vampire teeth!

Family Halloween Costumes

Nothing like waiting till the last minute! We have changed our minds several times, but I think we have mostly decided on our costumes for this year. Luke is wearing the tiger costume that John David wore at that age, John David is being Yoda of course and I just have to finish his green felt ears. Kylie is dressing up as this Ice Cream Cone from FamilyFun.com.


Caitlyn is venturing out as a Cave Girl from FamilyFun.com.


Jeremy has yet to decided if he's going as Chewbacca again this year or trying something new. I am having trouble deciding between this Ms. Pacman Costume I found at FamilyFun.com....


or this Bubble Bather also found at FamilyFun.com.


I am definitely leaning towards the Ms. Pacman. I'm not sure I'd be able to find a tub big enough! What do you think? If you are like us and are scrambling to get a costume together at the last minute, FamilyFun.com is the place to look! They have tons of quick, easy, and creative ideas! I'm going to try and talk Jeremy into this one: Alien Encounter! :D

Grandma and Poppy Are Here!

My parents flew in on Thursday and the kids were so excited! We have all been having a really great time, and enjoying the few days we get before Mom and Dad have to return home. Even though we will see them again at Thanksgiving, it seems like we just haven't gotten much time with them this year. Since we never get to spend my mom's birthday with her (it's on Nov. 9th), we decided to make her a carrot cake and surprise her with a mini birthday celebration. The kids decorated a big poster which they were very proud of and we tried our best to let her know that though we are far away most of the time, she is always thought of and close to our hearts. We love you Grandma! Happy Early Birthday! Note: Don't worry, she's not really turning 72! We were just joking! :D

New Family Pics

Saying it's difficult to get all the members of our family clean, happy and looking at the camera at the same time is an understatement. A friend of mine managed to catch this rarely seen moment on film for us a few days ago. Thank you, Dar!





The place we went to get our pictures taken was so pretty! Afterward, the kids had fun exploring. Kylie, not surprisingly, took off after the geese!



This is Luke right before he tried to dive off the dock!

Fall is Here!

The last few weeks have brought chilly nights, our leaves changing colors, talk of Halloween and pumpkins, and lots of fun! Today has been our first "real" chilly day with temperatures in the mid-50's. Kylie has been having a blast at her new dance class, and is learning lots of new stuff. they are even putting on a performance of the Nutcracker on December 11th and Kylie's hoping for a part as a snowflake! She woke up this morning with a croopy sounding cough, so I'm hoping that with some rest today she'll bounce back quick from her little bug.

Caitlyn is doing well with violin back in session for the year. She started fifth grade last month and is has been a bit of an adjustment. Her work actually requires her to study (something she's never had to do before) and she's trying to get used to that. She is still getting A's and B's but gone are the days of easy 100's. Caitlyn is actually two years ahead in school and we're just letting her go at her own pace right now. Since her adventure at camp this summer, she has been a bit more grown-up. She's is experiencing her first real crush and we hear about him ALL the time right now!

John David just turned five yesterday! Here's some pictures of him and his best friend, Raymond, visiting the fire station for his birthday. I made him a R2D2 cake and he was so excited! No laughing! He got a couple Transformers toys and a BB gun for his birthday. I can't believ how fats he is growing up. We measured him the other day and he has grown a whole three inches since March! No wonder I can't seem to keep him in clothes.





Luke is everywhere and happy exploring. He has discovered how to open the front door and tries to escape on a regular basis, so we have to keep the door locked at all times now. He is eating table food now and learning to use a fork and spoon but he has a ways to go yet with that. He recently learned the word "no" and likes to run away from me when I call him, typical toddler stuff. He definitely keeps us on our feet! Luke is growing by leaps and bounds too, and is wearing 18-24 months clothes. Where does the time go?!

Jeremy and I have been pretty busy. Jeremy has been swamped with extra work at Dupont. But we're thankful that he has a job so I won't complain too much. :) My website, My Four Monkeys, has kept me busy as well as school and church activities. We are currently doing some painting and home improvement work at the house. Thanksgiving is fast approaching as is our trip to Tennessee that we are all looking forward to. My parents are coming to visit the end of next week, and Jeremy's Grandpa Marvin was here just recently. It's always so much fun to see everybody!

That's about all for now. Love you all, and thank you to God Almighty who has blessed us with a healthy and happy family!