Halloween Haunting...

My two little jack-o-lanterns...right after school, itching to get their costumes on...

Aiden the spooky witch...

 

   

Reilly the mummy princess...

 

  

The frightful duo...

My three little monsters...man, oh man, how I love these girls!!

Halloween 2011 Summary: Aiden and Reilly could not WAIT to go trick-or-treating tonight. They put their costumes on early, suffered through photos with mom (most of which turned out blurry thanks to my cursed shakey hands), and shoveled down some lasagna all in record time. We wove around some of the surrounding streets then ended up on the "BIG" street nearby that does haunted houses every year. It was crazy busy...a little too busy for our liking...so we turned around about 1/4 of the way down and headed up to our friend's house to join in on a little Halloween shin-dig. AND, can I just tell you that you that the "little shin-dig" was absolutely adorable. I wish I had my camera to take photos because the festivities would have put Martha Stewart to shame!! If I can get hold of some photos, I'll post them here...seriously, it was the perfect ending to a great night.

**I am posting the photos that Karly posted on her website...the pics are not my own. Any and all credit should be given to the amazing Mrs. Barker**

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So, in closing...cute costumes + happy girls + trick-or-treating + hanging out with friends = one REALLY great Halloween!! We hope your night was just as spook-tacular!!

Oh Happy Day...

...how can it not be with this smiley little girl by my side?!

What a Hoot...

Made these adorable little cupcakes for the fall festival at the girls' school. So much fun...and so delicious!

And, since not everyone in our household likes chocolate, I made some vanilla-y options as well...you can see it didn't take long for sneaky little fingers to test out the frosting and sprinkles.

Another Confession...

It's time to come clean. Again.

Time to admit that I am a faker.

I would like to think I can sew, but deep down inside, I know I am just fooling myself.

I can handle a basic stitch or two, but the problem is that I get all sorts of

brilliant sewing ideas in my head...and then I fail completely on the execution.

Point in case, Reilly really, REALLY wanted to be Spider Girl for Halloween. Pink Spider Girl.

And after spending a few days battling my machine, I finally had to give up and admit defeat.

Then came the task of finding something else that I could make last minute for Reilly.

Since Aiden is going to be a witch, we came up with the idea of being a mummy princess.

I found an idea online that I think I can copy. The sewing is pretty simple, but I think (hope) it will look super cute when it's done. Here's a preview of where we are at so far...

Roo isn't totally certain about the costume change, but she is warming up to the idea. Let's hope the finished product will win her over.

5 Months New...

 I love, love, LOVE looking into these gorgeous baby blues. It's hard to believe that five months have already passed since we brought this little girl home. She is such a blessing and a joy for our family.

"I am going to name her Polka-Dot..."

...because she is pretty and has polka dots all over her. That's a good idea, don't you think?!"

Aiden found a new friend on our walk home from school today. Surprisingly, it climbed right onto her hand and let her bring it home. Also surprisingly, it hung out with us for over an hour...even while the girls excitedly passed it back and forth between one another. Even more surprising, was how soft and gentle the girls were while handle the fragile little insect. Aiden wanted to keep it as a pet, she even went and got a larger tupperware container and filled it with leaves and flowers and such, but once the damp fog lifted the butterfly decided to fly onto other adventures.

 By far, this was the coolest butterfly experience any of us have ever had. 

Almost Ready....

....and we absolutely cannot wait to make some fresh guac from our home-grown avocados. Should be ready to pick in a few more weeks!! Mmmmmmm....so, SO good!!

Halloween Craftiness...

So many crafts, so little time. Even though I may not be able to make everything I want to this year, I figured I would share some of my favorite craft ideas for this Halloween holiday season.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I would love to see what you've been crafting this Halloween!! Feel free to link up some of your recent crafts (or crafty ideas)...

Love...

...everything about this moment.

 

 

Homework...

So here we are...five weeks into school...and the girls absolutely LOVE homework. Who would have thought, right? Every day on our walk home from school, the girls ask me what they get to do for homework. Most days, I have to make something up since they get a weekly packet of work on Monday and the girls like to finish that all in one afternoon. I'm not going to complain - I hope the girls love for learning continues to grow over the years.

Here's a peak into our typical afternoon...snacks, crayons, and fun-filled homework packets.  

 

It has been fun to see the differences in the girls' work styles...how they color (Aiden loves all kinds of colors but Reilly usually alternates 2 or 3), how they organize things (Aiden colors everything first, then cuts, then glues; Reilly colors/cuts/glues one or two things at a time, then goes back for another one or two things and repeats the process), how they write (Aiden is starting to alternate between uppercase and lowercase letters; Reilly still prefers to write all in capital letters), how they glue things (Aiden puts the glue on the intended square of the background paper, going in order from left to right, top to bottom; Reilly lathers it onto the small piece then places it randomly onto the background paper)....just fun little differences the further prove their individuality.