Trick-or-Treating at DHS

Today, from 3:30-5, Daryl's office had trick-or-treating for kids of the staff. All of the cubicles participating had a pumpkin picture taped to the doorway. Daryl asked if I wanted to take the kids (fully expecting me to say "no", I think!) and I told him that it sounded like fun! He asked me as an afterthought on the last possible day to sign-up. I like to call him "scrooge" when it comes to holidays! I had to get the kids up early from their naps, but I think it was worth it!

Aliyah was the cutest skunk ever. She wanted to carry her bag all by herself but it was too big for her so she just dragged it on the floor behind her. And she always had to have a piece of candy in her other hand. Sometimes when she would get a new piece of candy she'd throw the old piece of candy in her bag and hold the new piece. Then she'd change her mind, set down her bag, fish for the piece of candy she had been holding, pick it back up, throw the new piece of candy in, pick her bag back up, and continue on. She walked the whole way and refused any help! Although, towards the end we did have to carry her bag for her because it was getting too heavy for her to drag.

The kids really got into it and had a great time!

Everyone in Daddy's office enjoying a treat from their bag!

Such a (happy) mess!

My little soccer player.

Hope wins the prize for scoring the most candy. She learned the art of grabbing more than one piece of candy at a time. By the end of our trick-or-treating her bag was so heavy that she couldn't carry it anymore. And we didn't even hit all of the cubicles! After about an hour the kids were ready to be done and we decided that they had more than enough candy! In fact, they had so much candy that we didn't even go out trick-or-treating at night. Instead, we stayed home and handed out all of the candy that the kids got that they wouldn't/couldn't eat!

Soccer in October

Anna had a lot of home soccer games in October, so I prayed hard for beautiful October weather so that it would be possible for me to be at all of her games.  The Lord definitely answered those prayers . . .as you can probably tell by the pictures!  Once again . . . all pictures of my kids and none (except the very last picture) of Aunt Anna.

I love this picture of Aunt Anna and Samuel.  We love you, Anna!  You had a great soccer season and we are so proud of you.  Praying for the Lord to give you clear direction for next year!!

Books, Coats, Sisters, and Tin Cans

Last week we went to the library and Samuel found a Thomas the Train book that he checked out. It's all about Thomas getting a snowplow and all of the other trains making fun of him and laughing at him. One of the other trains said, "It looks like Thomas is wearing a tin can!"

Fast forward to this morning.

I am outside with the kids getting ready to go on a walk. Samuel is on his bike, Hope on her tricycle, and Aliyah in the stroller. Aliyah was sitting in the stroller and I was working on adjusting her coat and strapping her in. Samuel started laughing and said, "Aliyah's coat looks funny!" He kept on laughing and then said, "Mommy, Aliyah's coat looks funny! It looks like a tin can!!"

Oh dear.

Pumpkin Carving

I wasn't sure we'd find the time this year, but we did!! Tonight we carved pumpkins with the kids. Samuel was pretty excited to put a "happy face" on his pumpkin.

True Story. I wore this same sweatshirt last year when we carved pumpkins. Is that weird or what?

Hope was a big help with scooping the insides out of the pumpkins. She dug right in and got her hands nice and messy. Good girl!

The finished pumpkins. Take 1.

Take 2. Not bad (except for Samuel hiding behind his pumpkin). Should have quit at this point.

Take 3. This is really what life is like at our house.

Take 4. Aliyah is the only one looking.

Take 5. Yikes.

Take 6. I give up.

Samuel wanted "football eyes" for his pumpkin. Hope specifically said that she wanted 4 bottom teeth on her pumpkin. Daryl tried to one-up me by giving Hope's pumpkin eyebrows. Fun stuff!

They all thought it was pretty cool when we put candles in the pumpkins, lit them, and turned out the lights. Hope wanted to know what song we were going to sing. She thought we needed to sing Happy Birthday to the pumpkins. Which we did end up doing. Why not?! :)

Aliyah and her babies

I think that I have about a million posts about this . . . but it's too cute to not take more pictures of and post about again. Aliyah loves her baby dolls. They are one of her favorite toys (her other favorites being books and little people and messing up whatever her brother or sister is playing with) and it's so sweet to see her be so nurturing. Sometimes, as you can see from the picture below, Hope will join in. Hope like to play with dolls but not as much as Aliyah does.

Right now Aliyah is really into taking off the baby's clothes and putting them back on (actually, having her Mom it for her!). She also loves to rock them and she'll start singing "Jeee" (Jesus Loves Me) and want me to join in and sing while she rocks her baby.

She also loves to pat their backs and tell them "shhhh!"

Yup, definitely cute enough to do another blog post about. I love it!

Trunk or Treat!

Tonight we took our kids to Trunk or Treat at our Church. It was a big hit. And not just with our kids, but with about 800 other kids. So much fun! Samuel was a soccer player, Aliyah was a (cute!) skunk, and Hope was a giraffe.

My parents did a "trunk" - I thought this was pretty clever and very creative! They love to ride their bikes so this was perfect.

The Oscar Meyer Wienermobile made an appearance. Pretty cool!

It was chilly but not too bad. Aliyah was pointing because she saw Grandpa and Grandma (Grandma is her favorite person).

Samuel was pretty shy about the whole thing at first but he quickly warmed up when he realized there was candy involved! Aliyah should have been strapped into the stroller. Enough said. ;)

Samuel loved being a soccer player. When I was getting him ready at home he giggled and giggled the whole time I was dressing him. He looks totally legit in these pictures!! And I think he felt like a real soccer player too. It was so fun to watch him!

Aliyah was the cutest skunk there. Okay, well maybe she was the only skunk there!!

After we were done outside we headed inside the community center where they had a blow up obstacle course and donuts. We skipped one row of cars just because the line-up of people was so long.

Samuel and Hope both loved the obstacle course and did great on it! They had so much fun that they did it a second time.

So much fun!! Look at those smiles!

Samuel at the top of the slide.

Hope on her way down the slide.

We had so much fun! Thanks, Centerpoint Church, for putting on an awesome Trunk or Treat!

My Mommy's Dress

Aliyah is wearing a dress that I wore when I was about her age. It's more like a shirt on her but I think she still looked absolutely adorable.