Wednesday, October 31, 2007

Halloween Costumes

I made this witch costume for Jessica 3 years ago. Because I made it I didn't have the heart to get rid of it and I have been keeping it in the Halloween box. Well Jessica grabbed it and asked if she could try it on. I scoffed and told her she could try, but I doubted it would fit. Well here are the pictures of her in October 2004 (taken by my Aunt Marcia because we were in Thailand).


And here she is today at her school costume parade. Isn't she adorable?? So that was Jessica's costume this year.


So what was Justin you ask? A Red Power Ranger- with muscles and a mask, that's how he describes his costume. Of course he will only wear the mask for a minute.



We went out around 6pm tonight. Stopped at a couple of neighbors houses first and then picked up Jessica's friend/ classmate and his parents. We went two streets down and picked up Sara and her sister. We had a great time. The weather was beautiful, the kids didn't even wear coats, of course they were running non-stop. Justin pooped out a little early- he was thirsty. Jessica and I returned home at 8pm. There is way too much candy in my house right now- ugh.

Pumpkin Carving

Since my birthday is 2 days before Halloween it has been our tradition that we carve our pumpkins on my birthday. Dee comes over and she, Marc and I go all out carve at least one pumpkin each. I did two this year. The other part of this tradition is that I scoop out ALL the pumpkins, not sure how this came to pass but I know this is Marc and Dee's favorite part of this tradition. So when Jessica got off the bus I was out on the driveway, scooping away. The kids had no interest in cleaning out the pumpkins, Jessica gave it a good effort for about a minute. But they were very interested in the carving. They carved 3 little ones. Justin was all about the power tools. His pumpkin is unique to say the least. I had to take the pumpkins away or else there wasn't going to be much left by the time they were finished.



Here are the pumpkins that Dee, Marc and I carved. Can you guess who did which one? Remember I did two. The one on the left was on the cover of the Extreme Pumpkins book that Andrew gave Marc for his birthday and the kids insisted someone do that one.

Well it is Halloween and there will be plenty of pictures tonight I am sure. Happy Haunting!

My Homemade Birthday

My birthday was on Monday. I got two presents both homemade. Dee made me a very yummy batch of Chocolate Chip Cookies- no pictures, sorry they are almost gone. Kathy made me a hangable (sp?) scrapbook page. Isn't it beautiful? I love it, she did a great job. On the petals are all the things that we both love. We are always pointing out our differences that it is nice to remember there are things we both love. I did not downsize this picture before uploading it, so if you click on it you should be able to see it fairly well. [There is no black border on the page that was just what I propped it up against in order to take the picture].


Now don't feel too sorry for me that my loving husband gave me nothing. We don't really exchange presents unless we are inspired. Plus we will be upgrading my camera, soon I hope. And let's face it that will be my birthday and christmas present all wrapped up in one.

Sunday, October 28, 2007

Thanks Dee!

We invited Dee to come with us, the kids and I, for a walk in the reservoir. Guess I should have mentioned that I still had some pics to take for my class, huh? Um, thanks Dee for not giving me the "I'm so annoyed with you face" and actually smiling.



Thursday, October 25, 2007

Too Funny

We delivered our ghostly goodies last night. You should have seen the kids they were so into it. They would walk slowly up to the house and one of them would put the candy down and the other would ring the bell. Then they ran like bats out of hell, flat out. Our car was waiting with the lights out and the kids would launch themselves inside and we took off. Too funny, they loved it. Now we will see if Jessica can keep the secret since one of the houses has a classmate living inside. Anyone else ghosting?

Wednesday, October 24, 2007

We've been Ghosted!

We received quite a nice surprise yesterday morning. On our front doorstep was a little bucket of candy and an envelope. Inside the envelope was a letter and a picture of a ghost. The letter read:

You've Been Ghosted!

The Phantom Ghost has come to town,
to leave the goodies that you have found.
If you do not wish a curse to fall
You must continue this "Phantom" call.

First, post the ghost near your door so it can be seen
And leave it there until Halloween.
This will scare other visiting Phantoms away
So be sure to participate and don't delay.
Second, make 2 treats, copy 2 ghosts and 2 notes like this.
Deliver it to 2 neighbors that might have been missed.
Don't let them see you, be sneaky, no doubt
And check back later to make sure they put their ghost out.
You should act within 2 days so please be quick.
Leave goodies only at the doors where the Phantom has not hit.
Deliver it before 8:00 but when there is no light
Ring the doorbell and run and stay out of sight.
Be safe, have fun and try not to be seen, share in the spirit of
HALLOWEEN!
Needless to say the kids are so excited that we have been ghosted. When I brought Justin to school today another mother said she was ghosted too and her kids couldn't stop talking about it all day. I just went to Walgreens to get our goodies. We will deliver our treats tonight. Thought I would share this with all of you, maybe some ghosts could come to your neighborhoods.
Here is one of the treats we will be delivering.
Here is the ghost in our window.

Monday, October 22, 2007

The Last Soccer Game

Yesterday, Sunday, was the last game of the season. Jessica was excited that both Aunt Sheri and Grandmommy were going to be there to watch her play. Let me back up a little. This past Wednesday on the last practice they played parents against the kids. The parents were an embarrassment and lost something like 15-5. The coach kept the boys that are normally the big scorers back in defense and put all the other kids up front. He made sure every child got a goal. Let me tell you, the dad in goal had a tough time looking like such a buffoon- especially when it took some kids, like Jess, many attempts before they got one in the goal. The girls were on such a high, they each got goals, Jessica ended up getting 3 total that night. It was very fun (unless you were Justin trying to play but not understanding why you didn't always get the ball. but they even let him score one goal too and he was ecstatic). What I noticed was that in the game on Saturday many of these girls suddenly had a lot more confidence than they had been showing all season long. With Jessica it has been a struggle all season to just get her to get her foot on the ball during the game rather than just running along side whoever was dribbling the ball.

Which brings us to the final game on Sunday. When Grandmommy arrived Jessica told her she thought she was going to score a goal. Marc and I smiled and nodded. The thing is, they have been drilling it into the Jessica to go to the net. Jessica, wanting to follow the rules and not upset anyone, always runs right to the net as told. She in fact is very good at going to the net. The problem is that she doesn't really know what to do once she gets there. She hops around and when the ball gets near her she gets so excited and kicks her feet but thats about the sum total of what happens. Coach has been saying to her the past few weeks, "I can feel it Jess, you are so close, it is going to happen soon". Add to this that passing the ball is not something anyone on the team really wants to do, so being at the net is only good if the ball is passed to you. So there she is at the net. She got really close once or twice, but the other team knocked it away or she went wide. Then with less than 5 minutes in the game she has her chance again. She is AT THE NET. The ball come, we are all so excited and.... SHE SCORES A GOAL!!!!!!!! We were on our feet screaming. She was high as a kite. She turned around and ran right towards her coach. He usually stays on the sidelines and lets the other 3 coaches get on the field with the kids, but he came running onto the field to give her a double high five. I could tell he was just as excited as the rest of us. I got no pictures of any of it because I was carried away. Afterwards I asked another mother who had her camera if she got any pics and she said she didn't because she was screaming and waving her camera in the air too.

So Jessica's team ends the season undefeated. We try to tell her that is not usually what happens, but for now she says, "my team always wins". She is already talking about soccer next year and looking forward to basketball soon.

As a side note I have to say I was hesitant to sign her up for Soccer. Marc really pushed for her to play. Knowing her coordination, lack of focus, and sensitivity I just thought she was not ready for competitive sports. I was very concerned about how she would be coached, we have all heard the horror stories about agressive coaches and dads and I wasn't sure how she would do in that environment. In the end it was a great experience. Her coach was wonderful. He was very supportive and positive- all the time. He really gave her the confidence and support she needed. I truly believe he was as excited by Jessica's goal as when his own son scored a few weeks earlier. All of the dads that helped out were so nice and positive with the kids. Of course it didn't hurt that her team never lost.

Here are a few pics I did take yesterday.




Visit with Aunt Sheri

Sheri came up for the weekend. Soon after she arrived we headed out to Randalls to pick our pumpkin, go on a hayride and run through the corn maze. The first time through the maze we missed signs #3 and 5 so we went back in again. This picture was taken during the second run through the maze. Justin saw that someone before him had used their pencil to leave a mark as to where they had been. He thought this was a great idea and stopped at every intersection to leave his mark- a W (no idea why). So Sheri waited patiently while Justin put his plan into action.





the only way I got Justin to look at the camera was when I said I was about to drop my camera, he thought that was worth a look.

Sheri agreed to be my subject, since my other subjects were not so interested.


And sadly this is how Justin spent a lot of the weekend. Everything is frustrating to him, everything is upsetting him, everything is unfair or not nice. Thought I would capture the moment, I mean when I look back at this time it is important to remember how it actually is, right? Wouldn't want to end up with a third child...




Friday, October 19, 2007

A trip to the Pumpkin Patch

Justin's preschool went to the Pumpkin Patch on Monday. It started out cloudy and cold but by the end it was nice and sunny. It was a great time with a nice group of people. Here are just a few of the many pictures I took. In no particular order. First Miss Laurel- adorable.


and my friend Jenn said she would not give me a ride home unless I got a cute picture of her daughter, the pressure was on. I wasn't sure how to get home in a car never mind on foot. so what do you think, did I earn my gas money?



Justin actually asked me to take this picture of him, so I did!

My blog poster child, Miss Amy.
There are these huge slobbering cows that come up to the hayride and take ears of corn right out of your hand. Justin loved this part and fed them many ears.
This next picture was taken by Justin- not bad, my new apprentice.

King of the Pumpkin Patch!
wouldn't be a field trip without Mrs. B
Miss Amy's big brother Luke, what a great poser!
King of the hay bales!



Sunday, October 14, 2007

Yahoo!

Took the kids to the reservoir today since the weather is so beautiful. Grabbed my camera on the way out the door. So glad I did. Finally got a pic of Justin where he is not yelling at me (is it bad that I told him we were not going to keep walking until he gave me a nice face?), oh well I will take what I can get. Of course now I realize he really needs a haircut...





Saturday, October 13, 2007

For Bec...

Becky and I decided to take advantage of the beautiful Fall weather and the fact that our husbands were off canoe/camping this weekend. [Pity them they are in upstate New York and the weather is cold, rainy, and there is a chance it might snow tonight.] Anyway, off we went to the Mount Holyoke Campus for some pictures. I had a lot of pictures I still needed to capture for my homework assignment this week. Well, trust a 3rd grader to understand the importance of getting your homework done, Emma was quite cooperative- thank you Emma. The kids all had a great time, running and chasing each other, playing pooh sticks and occasionally stopping for a quick pic. So, here is your sneak peek Bec, I still have a lot of proofing to do but I had to share these with you all now.






Friday, October 12, 2007

My kids

Here are some pics of my kids- didn't want you to forget about them :)


I am determined to get a pleasant picture of Justin this week, but for now I will have to settle for ones like this one.



Wednesday, October 10, 2007

Amusing Video

Click here to view a very funny video of a woman who puts everything a mom would say in one day to the music of the William Tell Overture- very amusing.

Monday, October 8, 2007

One Beautiful Family

What do you get when you take 4 beautiful girls...






and 2 cooperative parents ?
beautiful family portraits!


thank you to my friend E for welcoming me into her home and to all 4 girls for being so cooperative and friendly. E- I think you should have a few more!

And here is one for me...