Happy Halloween

Kelsey has been anticipating this day for months. This summer, she became obsessed with The Wizard of Oz and has been wanting to be Dorothy for Halloween ever since. She somehow convinced her cousins to be scarecrow, lion, and tin man. (Thanks boys!)We added Megan as a munchkin and wa-la! There you have a fine looking crew of kiddos! Mary fed all the daycare kids before we picked them up so they were set to go trick or treating.

 Next up was our first stop at Great-Grandpa and Uncle Steve's house.

Next, we went to Nate and Diane's. They have such a friendly neighborhood that always has a ton of lights on for the kids to go trick or treating. Before we went out, I wanted to get pictures of the girls. Well, Kelsey was not really having it and after a day with my own classroom full of first graders who are beyond excited for Halloween and just wanting some cute pics of my girls, the combination of the two did not make for a pretty outcome. Kelsey had a meltdown and Mommy lost her patience. However, thankfully, Kelsey pulled it together and Mommy realized that they are just pictures, and the rest of the night went wonderfully. I need to be more patient in that area. Something to work on, right? Anyway, the kids all did great trick or treating. Megan even tried to say trick or treat and thank you in her own little language.

When we got back from trick or treating, Kelsey and Megan had fun handing out candy to the last few lingering trick or treaters.

 

When I was snuggling with Kelsey tonight, I told her I was sorry I got upset at her for not wanting to take pictures. She said, "It's ok, Mommy. I forgive you. And I am sorry for not listening. I know pictures are important to you." Talk about melt my heart. She is quite the girl. Needless to say, I cuddled her a little bit extra tonight. Both girls are sleeping peacefully and dreaming of all the candy they got tonight I'm sure.

Pumpkin Carving

It was that time to carve pumpkins once again. I can't say that either Matt or I absolutely love it, but we do it because we hope that the girls have a good time doing it and it is a fun tradition to continue with our girls. Kelsey was much braver than years past and actually attempted to help clean out the insides. She was not a fan of any of the guts getting on her and wanted it removed asap, but it was an improvement. I can't say the apple falls far from the tree because I don't like cleaning out the insides or touching any of it either ;) Mattey got them all prepped for carving and I did the carving this year. The girls kind of lost interest and ended up playing with their babies while I finished up. I am not any kind of artist, so they got the basics. Kelsey did tell me what kind of face she wanted on her pumpkin.

Megan had been off with a slight fever on Friday and Saturday nights, so I ended up taking her in and she has a double ear infection. She has been great about taking her meds and hopefully it is all cleared up soon. We did manage to stop at Ginskeys for some more pumpkin carving fun and family time. Now the countdown to Halloween is here!

Playing with Grandpa

Grandpa Dave came over the other night and Kelsey had so much fun cuddling with him and showing him how to play her Leap Pad. They also got in a few games of Uno. I thought it was cute that I was trying to take a picture without either girl noticing, but Megan had to give a big cheesy smile.

 

MEA break

Last week, we had a few days off from school for MEA. It was wonderful! It didn't start off the greatest with both girls having a touch of a stomach bug. They were both in great moods though and you wouldn't have been able to tell that they were sick. We even took Megan in after she threw up at daycare and had many days with icky, icky (ICKY!!!) diapers. They said it was a virus. We just continued to push lots of fluids and eventually it got better.
We all went to Matt's last regular season game on Wednesday night. It was quite chilly! I had the girls in their winter gear and we all managed to stay warm. And the Huskies won and went undefeated and won the conference. We love the coach :) Now on to playoffs :)
 The rest of the week and weekend we got some much needed house work done, went to see the firetruck at our daycare, went to the pumpkin patch, watched movies, played lots, and relaxed lots. It was so nice. Sometimes the days of just being home and not having to chase anywhere are the best. Oh, and days with no alarms buzzing are nice, too :) I loved our break. Time with my family means the most.

 

Fell asleep at the table

Back to her old self

Sitting in the firetruck

 

Singing and Smiles

Kelsey is our little performer. She has been singing and dancing since she was able to walk and talk. She loves the attention and puts on quite a little show. Megan has decided she wants to make the act a duet because she is also starting to perform. She will grab Kelsey's microphones and do her best to sing. She will also dance right along with Kelsey. It is adorable. The other night, the two of them put on their act for Matt and I and it was so cute.

Here are a few recent pictures of them that I thought turned out pretty cute. That make taking pictures so much fun :)

Field Trip and Homecoming

I got to chaperone Kelsey's preschool field trip to the pumpkin patch. I was responsible for driving 3 of the students there and back and helping at the pumpkin patch. It was so fun. The kiddos were all really good which made my job pretty easy. While we were there, the kids got to cut their pumpkins off the vine in the patch, learn a lot of facts about pumpkins, go down a silo slide, watch a magic show, and see some animals.

 

When Kelsey and I got back from the field trip, she and I went to lunch. It was fun to have some time with just the two of us. Kelsey has no problem finding things to talk about so our lunch was full of great conversations. We then went to pick up Megan and met Matt for the homecoming parade. It was pretty chilly out, but we all bundled up and off we went. We met up with the Ginskey crew there. Due to the cold temps, the girls and I did not end up going to the game that night but listened from our toasty warm house in our jammies :) It was a wonderful day spent with my girls and hubby.

 

Color Dash

Diane, Stacey, my friend Maggie, and I participated in the color dash a few Saturdays ago. It was a perfect fall morning for a 5k. Actually, you would have thought it was a summer morning rather than fall with how warm it was. We all got white t-shirts to wear and a packet of colored powder. Throughout the walk, there were color stations where powder was thrown at you. We also rolled on the ground to soak up even more of the colors. By the time we were done, we were all pretty colorful! All the proceeds from the color dash are going to be used to create a video about suicide prevention and the after effects that a suicide leaves behind on loved ones. I am glad we could be involved to help a good cause and have fun while doing it.

Before

Before

After

Fall Photos