Catching Up : Halloween 2012

Here we are getting into the Halloween Spirit.

A little pumpkin carving. Guess who enjoyed getting messy?

We made sure to get those seeds out so we could roast them later. MMMMmmmm.

This guy is always happy to show me whatever it is playing with. In this case, a carving saw.



And this wumpkin is becoming quite the kitchen assistant. Dare I say 'Sous Chef?'



On the night of our Halloween party this is the type of mood the kids were in. Oh yeah. Tons of fun. Good thing we had plenty of well stocked (*ahem) coolers. It couldn't have been all that bad, though, because they are STILL talking about their Halloween costumes 2.5 months later!

Here we are as King Kandy and Princess Lolly from Candyland. Aaaaand now I remember why I grew out the bangs I had in grade school. Geez. Nobody copy and repost this, okay? But how great of a King does Trav make? It really bugs me when his half of the couple costume turns out so much better than mine, even though I made them. Remember Fred and Wilma Flinstone?

Halloween 2008

How heavy were we?! Guess that's what 30 and 55 extra pounds looks like. Please, nobody copy and repost this picture either, okay?

Anyway. Back to present day.

Here's all the Sectors that could make it. Totally awesome group costume, once again.

And the Jeziorskis! I promise Belle had a good time. She's just not a fan of posing for pics when there are toys to be played with.

(*Insert sad music here.) No picture of my other favorite princesses, Valerie and Wraylyn. How did I let that happen? Sorry, Gen.)

Look! Uncle David is wearing make up! Good job Auntie Laura! You were a very convincing Mad Hatter and Alice.

And here's the cutest niece ever! Cousin Kiera, you made a darling Minnie Mouse.

 And anyone else who came to the party but didn't get their picture posted either, a) Never had their picture taken to begin with because I got busy hosting or wrangling children, or b) I took your picture but for whatever reason, it didn't turn out well/ flattering. Either way, sorry about that.

On the actual night of Halloween Auntie and Uncle brought Cousin Kiera over to trick-or-treat with us. I was pretty excited to be able to see her first "real" trick-or-treating experience.

I just had a random memory I need to insert here because I want to remember it. When everyone was milling around waiting for everyone who was on their way, I walked out to the garage fridge to put something away and when I came back inside almost everyone was else was walking in the front door. I couldn't see anyone because I was still walking through the laundry room, but I could hear everything. (No one in this family has every been accused of being quiet.) Anyway. I heard so much ooh-ing and ahhh-ing over the kids and so many laughs and squeals from everyone it instantly made made me smile and laugh out loud. It was one of those everything-is as-it should-be and life-is-good moments. Love it!


 This little "skeweton" did not want to wear his hood, hands, or feet. But he was happy about the mask so I guess that's a win?



This little witch was all smiles and could not wait to go trick-or-treating!



Grandma and GG and Grandma and Grandpa joined us as well.




Oh, and Uncle Jeff and Kaeleb met up with us about half way through the trek. Kaeleb was a skeleton, too!



 It was a lot of fun, caravanning around the block together.



The end of the ghouling came soon after Ethan collapsed and screamed on the sidewalk, "I just want to see Haw-o-ween!" He really didn't care too much about getting candy. He just wanted to look at scary decorations. (No photo of that little moment in time. This picture was a little before the meltdown.)

 

But Katie? Well, she was a professional by the second house. A great teacher for little cuz. So cute!

Catching Up: Best Big Sister Ever (Sept. 2012)

Katie is so good at teaching Ethan how to use the potty. Lots of book reading and conversation was had in September. (About a month after we took this we REALLY started the potty training. Still working on it. He is proving to be just as stubborn as she was about it.)

Catching Up: Preschool (Aug. 2012)

Since January 2012 this little wumpkin has attended the preschool I teach out of our home once a week, but Daddy and I wanted her to have some classroom experience without me in case we decide to test her for early entrance into Kindergarten next year. So we decided on a parks and rec class (of course) on Mondays. 3 hours long! The best part: Mommy uses this time to go grocery shopping with JUST Kiera and Ethan instead of all three of them. Hooray! This was the first day. If I am honest, we are not all that impressed with her teacher. She is not a very enthusiastic or smiley person and is not very helpful as far as giving me specific info on Katie's progress. But the program is pretty much what we need it too be otherwise. It's a long enough block of time that I can leave and get other things done instead of waiting with two other kids in the hallway, there are transitions and routines similar to those in kindergarten, Katie is around new children, and her teacher is someone besides Mommy, you get the idea. Plus she enjoys going. 

This little guy also started a little parks and rec class once a week. We are quite happy with it and so is he. His teacher was Katie's dance teacher, so we already knew her. Very helpful because the first few weeks he struggled in class. Crying when I dropped him off, staying on task, etc.  Normal 2-year-old stuff. But tough for me to hear/ see. Thankfully he's an old pro now. Not with the staying on task part, but the saying goodbye at drop off.

Catching Up: Summertime Fun (June 2012)

This is how Katie and Ethan spent the summer. Naked. Every time we played outside we either had the kiddie pool out or the water table full. When Katie gets we, she strips. And Ethan does whatever his cool big sister does. So naked kids were a regular thing. Which meant extra laundry for Mommy. Oh joy. I wish I could say that we have seen a reduction in load frequency, but we have been potty training Ethan since October. Not sure we are ever going to get back to a normal amount of laundry...

Catching Up: Mother's Day Pool Party 2012

We have been learning how to jump off the side of the pool.

 

With a little help from our Puddle Jumpers, of course. These monkeys LOVE 'em!

 So much fun.

Catching Up: Dancing Girl (May 2012)

One of my goals for the new year is to catch up on this 'ole blog! And then to keep up with it the way I used to. (That darned move just screwed up my whole blogging schedule for the year.) There are quite a few little things I am afraid I will forget by the time I get around to scrapbooking them. (Also on that 2013 Goals List.) So here we go... The second half of 2012 in a nutshell. Starting with May.

 This was a fun dance class for Katie. It was also the last one she's taken because she started showing more of an interest in sports, so we enrolled her in sports class with Coach D. That's alright, though. The teacher, Miss Jennifer, is now Ethan's Tot Time Preschool teacher. (Pictures to come in August catch up.)

I do miss these cutie pie leotards. And watching her dance around the house after class. Maybe I will be able to convince her to take a class this summer?

Catching Up: Easter 2012

 We woke up to find the Easter Bunny had hidden our colored eggs in the backyard!

 After we found them all we relaxed and ate a few of them. Mmmm.

 Later that day the family came over for playtime and dinner.

 AND another egg hunt. (But this time they were chocolate eggs!)

We had to check out each others baskets. And there was absolutely no thieving amongst us. (Ha!)

 Get a load of this little cutie!

 Kiera had so much fun playing with her mommy and the tunnel.

 I can't remember who it was, but one of the grown-ups drew a wobot for Ethan.

 This guys loves a good wobot. (This handsome shirt was courtesy of Great Aunt Linda.)

 Someone also drew a silly guy for Katie and she added the finishing touches.

 It was a great day!

And we will treasure it always because it was the last holiday with this great guy, Uncle John. We miss you, Uncle John.

Catching Up: The Zoo

On the 5th of March we finally made it to the zoo. We had attempted multiple time since the beginning of the year but things kept coming up. No pun intended. Anyway, Katie fell in love with the Komodo Dragon. She says he is her friend. And now all lizards are Komodo Dragons.

Catching Up: Random Moment in Time

I love this. Ethan standing on the couch, having thieved Daddy's hat while he tries to use the iPad and Katie climbs all over him. Priceless. (Feb 17th)

Catching Up: Miss Thang

Some serious style right here, folks. And don't you forget it. (February)

Catching Up: Valentine's Day 2012

 Mommy loves any excuse to leave fun surprises for the kids. Especially when it is a container with special "treasures" inside.

Their little smiles and giggles are so sweet.

Catching Up: Enough Said

Feb. 10, 2012

Catching Up: Sibling Love

This past Christmas season the kiddies became OBSESSED! with "How the Grinch Stole Christmas." (The animated version, not the Jim Carrey version.) This was taken at the end of January. They like to hold hands when The Whos get together on Christmas morning, singing and holding hands. They even try to sing along in gibberish...it's precious.

More Catching Up: Christmas 2011

I know, I know, I know. It's almost summer for crying out loud. But I don't want to deny you the pleasure of these treasures:

 On Christmas Eve Katie and Mommy made some reindeer food for Santa's reindeer.

We put it with the milk and cookies to make sure he saw it.

 On Christmas morning we woke up to find that Santa came to our house! He left Katie this tea set...

And Ethan this basketball hoop.

Sometime after we finished opening presents Katie asked me where Santa was. She thought he was actually going to come hang out at our house and was really disappointed when I clarified that he only comes Christmas night and we don't get to see him. It was so cute and so sad at the same time.

Ethan was not a fan of his Santa outfit, but was all about dress up shoes and a hat. Aunt Linda and Grandma thought this was just the funniest thing!

 

Auntie Jenny drove in from Cali to have Christmas dinner with us. That was so fun. Good thing, too, because we needed lots of help putting together this awesome train table!

 

We all couldn't wait to get chugging along.

 It was special to have Uncle John come celebrate with us, too. We didn't know it at the time but this would be the last picture we would take of him and Grandma Jody together (they are twins, by the way.) He died a couple of weeks ago and we all miss him so much.