Trick Or Treat

Yes, I realize that it's November 20 and that Halloween was in October. I was gently reminded by my sister that I promised pics of the kids in their costumes and I hadn't delivered. It's good to have people in your life that will keep you on your toes! :)

...Let me bring you back to the day before Halloween...

24 hours to go...and costumes are just a thought in my head. No, seriously. I had pictures in my head, but no actual, tangible costumes to put on my kids. Jason's job that day was to fashion said costumes so I could finish them that evening. Well, as usual around here, we get a bit distracted and as nightfall came, we had 1 out of 4 costumes semi started. I told Jason he needed to stay up and finish his part so I could start mine right away in the morning.

12 hours to go...I woke up that morning to find that our project hadn't progressed any from the night before. Yikes! Less than 12 hours to go and I had a lot of work ahead of me. I broke out the exacto knife and started creating. I got out the spray paint and bathed them in a lovely shade of each child's choosing. I brought them into the house to dry as it was so foggy outside, you could literally see the water droplets in the air. Then panic set in. Within about 2 minutes, my entire house smelled like a spray paint can. It was aweful! I was forced to open the windows just to try to air it out. I quickly came to the conclusion that the only way they would dry was to be inside and since that wasn't going to be happening, I was in a pickle.

6 hours to go...No costumes for 4 children and we were becoming desperate. I didn't know what to do, so I started laughing like crazy. (Yeah, not that laughing really actually helps the matter) The irony was setting in. One year ago, I was scrambling to get costumes ready up until the bitter end and I vowed that the following year I would plan and be prepared. I was losing my marbles trying to figure out what to do.

Ella, being so creative, decided that she wanted to use her leftover birthday balloons, which were purple, to be a bunch of grapes. Ever tried stapling on balloons to a shirt? No easy, my friends...not easy. We finally got them all attached...just the right amount left after a few minor casualties. We went upstairs to show Jason and as Ella went into the room, she cut the corner a little too close...and POP! Hmmm....back to ground zero again.

I called around and found some costumes I could borrow from friends and as I did that...the sun came out. Oh...that lovely sun. I was so happy to see it! I quickly hauled out the costumes to dry and air out, knowing they still needed 2 more coats of paint. I quickly got to work and became more determined than ever.

We had to do a few change-ups at the end...but we managed to get each child a costume that they were excited to be in. It turned out to be a raving success. And I bet you are just dieing to see what each one wore...

Oh...just as a disclaimer...we were so excited to get out to start trick or treating that I forgot to take any pictures. Wait...before you sigh in frustration for leading you on...I did take pictures. The next day. Yep, I made them put their costumes on again just so I could snap a few. So if you are wondering why the costumes look a little worse for wear...it's because they had survived an evening of getting in and out of the trailer being pulled behind the 4 wheeler, delivering all the kiddos and their friends to houses upon houses.

Ella was a ballerina, Ben a red lego, Lily a purple lego, and Cora a mouse.

Not easy to get 4 kids to stand still and look at the camera. Especially with a lego ready to fall off at any moment.

Ben's costume? The bottom part of the lego connector fell off and disappeared before we even reached the first house. I sprayed another one just for your viewing pleasure. Unfortunately, the cover wasn't the right size so he had to hold it on for the pictures. Ha!

Heeheee, this picture makes me laugh. She loved being a lego.

And Miss Mouse? She couldn't figure out why on earth I was making her wear this again. Oooh, just seeing this picture makes me want to scoop her up and kiss her. Those cheeks get me every time.

They mangaed to get to every. house. in. the. development. Oh, yes they did. I'm pretty sure that we will have candy until next halloween.

Guess we'll have to ration this out or there might be tummy aches in our future.

Hmmmm....brush up on our sorting skills, do some candy math with addition and subtraction problems, and make some beautiful graphs.

And enjoy the big smiles all of this brings.

Tuesday's Tidbits

The kids have been playing Veggie Tales cds a lot around here lately. I'm pretty sure that Larry the Cucumber's versions of a few fun 70's songs will forever be etched in my brain.

Another hot commodite right now is Veggie Tales: Bible Stories. Ben was at the table belting out a tune the other day...Jonah was a puppet...woohoo...yeah, he never really got it, sad but true. Jonah was a puppet...woooooohooooo. We all burst out laughing cause Jonah? He was a prophet...not a puppet. 

Before lunch, Ella announced she was done with the book she was reading just a few minutes earlier. I was dumbfounded that she had finished it so fast! I replied "You finished that chapter book about the lion? You just started it this morning!" She answered back "No, this was the one about the mummies in Egypt. I read the lion one right before that." So to my surprise, she had started and finished not one, but two chapter books before lunch.

As Lily was sitting next to me at the table, she leaned over and in the sweetest voice said "Mom....you're tute." There's nothing sweeter than hearing a little person tell you they think you are cute. :)

Ben asked me the other day "What if it rained lollipops?" Oh to be little and have such an imagination. I'm afraid that if it rained lollipops, I would be 10 pounds heavier.

Ben was talking about his birthmother in Korea and how little he must have been to fit in her tummy. Here's the conversation that transpired:

Lily: I wanna be in Daddy's tummy.

Ella: How will you get in Daddy's tummy?

Lily: Use tools.

Milk just about came out my nose.

Ella was learning the Pledge of Allegiance. I was busy working on it with her and we were just nailing down the ending.

...with liberty and justice for all.

She stopped, cocked her head, and in an inquistive voice asked me "Who is Liberty and Justice anyway?" We promptly went to the computer and learned the definitions of two new words to add to her vocabulary. She giggled at herself when she realized they weren't names of people.

We returned our library books today. With Ben reading books on his own and Ella mastering chapter books, we go through a lot of books these days. Would you believe I had 59 books to return?!? That amounted to three shopping bags full.

We were excited to put our outside christmas lights up this weekend. Out of 14 strings of lights, only 1 worked. How does that happen?!?



Cheese Anyone?

I have more pics of halloween that I will post soon, but couldn't resist posting this one right now as a sneak peak to things that will make you smile.

If mice really looked just like this...my view of the rodents would change dramatically. Isn't she cute?

My Mom had come down a couple of weeks ago. Words can't express how much this woman means to me and how much I enjoy just being in her presence. There's just something about spending time with her. She calms me, she grounds me, she makes me a better mom to my own kids. The other thing I know for certain: time always goes way too fast when I'm with her.

Posting this pic because it's too beautiful to keep to myself. I love to see my mom with my kids. It's inspiring and it makes my soul smile.

Wednesday's Ramblings

Jason was wearing a Detroit Lions shirt at the supper table. We started talking a bit about the shirt and Lily piped up "I don't like the Lions...I like the Cheetas."

Ben and Lily were busy playing in the playroom. I asked him "Whatcha' doing?" Ben answered "Just teaching Lily her manners." I guess someone's gotta do it. :)

I took Ella and Ben with me to run some errands. One of our stops was Joann Fabrics. They have all of their seasonal pinecones stacked up as you first enter the store. The overwhelming scent of cinnamon just about knocks a person over. Apparently I wasn't the only one who felt that way...Ben, in a way too loud voice, said "This place stinks...I wish I had noseplugs."

As I sit here typing this blog post, I am listening to Ella read both Ben and Lily a book. These are what sibling moments are made of. Oooh, just heard Ella say "Sit down or I'm not going to read anymore!" Maybe alls not hunky-dory afterall.

I made some hobakjeon for lunch today. The kids always, always love this korean dish. After gobbling it up, Ella asked me if there was more. When I replied that that's all I had made she informed me "Mom, you never make enough of this! I always want more."