Quick Note to Friends and Family:

I use this blog to highlight some of the bigger things in our life - holidays, adventures, cute photos, etc. So, it may be a few weeks in between updates. If you want details about the day to day stuff, be sure to check out my 365 blog. (link should be on the sidebar) I update it every Friday.

Monday, November 8, 2010

Almost 4


We did it! We managed to squeeze in a party for Tyler before the movers came to pack up everything. We couldn't skip it right? Not when Ty has been looking forward to his Monster Truck party for months. Not when we have so many friends and family here we wanted to share it with. And not when it's sure to get lost in the hub-bub of moving out to North Carolina during (fingers crossed!) the first part of December.

Kaitlyn decided that we would treat last Saturday almost as if it was Tyler's real birthday. She happily altered the birthday crown she got from school and plunked it on his head first thing in the morning. She also made a sign for his door and insisted on staying up a little bit later then him the night before so she could secretly tape it on.
The kids party started at 10AM and we had quite the little crowd. I have to say, I love our neighborhood and the kids and I will sure miss everyone a lot.
Tyler and all the kids had a blast at the party and it all went very smoothly. Enough of the parents stayed that I didn't feel outnumbered by the kids, even though the moms spent most of the time chatting with each other and only helped when I needed them on the craft project.
Here's Ty!

We watched monster truck clips, made our own monster truck arenas for their Hot Wheels Monster Trucks (party favors), and even went through and obstacle course themselves.

See? Aren't they a cute group? :)

And of course we had the grandparents over for cupcakes and ice cream that evening. I love that part because I get to relax and enjoy instead of running the show. And Tyler gets to really explore and enjoy his gifts as soon as he opens them (I try not to open gifts at the kids' parties because that always leads to problems with sharing or breakage or lost pieces).
"Oma" Rhonda and Dave gave him this fun Front Loader tent.
And the cake. Yes that's a sad little cupcake instead of a big fun cake. He didn't care at all and I'm sure none of you can blame me for not putting forth the extra effort this year.


More playing. This kid has so much fun and such great people that love him.

Saturday, November 6, 2010

Leaves

I don't mind raking the leaves (even 4 times in a row!) when I know it will make for such fun times for the kids. And some nice photos.

Monday, November 1, 2010

Halloween

I don't think of Halloween as one of the big holidays. But somehow every year there seems to be so much packed into it. First there is the pumpkin carving.

I wanted to do something unique this year so the kids and I found some pumpkin templates online. Funny how much more work that added. The kids helped as much as they could - cleaning out the pumpkins and transferring the pattern onto the pumkins. Truth be told, Tyler probably stuck his hand in the pumpkin a total of 3 times. He couldn't face touching the gunk inside and spent most of the time I was cleaning his out saying "gross!" every 10 seconds. Kaitlyn did her best and got about half of the guts by the time I finished Tyler's pumpkin and could help with hers.

She also diligently poked holes in the template while I did the same with Tyler's and carved it. And the template Ty picked was pretty complicated and took a long time, so that says a lot about her stamina.


But finally we ended up with a Lightning McQeen



a Hello Kitty, and two very happy kids.


Friday was the Halloween activities at the school. They did a Haloween costume fitness parade on the track. Kaitlyn said she was warm enough but sitting on those cold metal bleachers...BRRRR!

Then I helped out with her classroom Halloween party. I'm not a room mom this year (can't with the move and everything) and I have to say, just showing up and being told what to do without having to plan or gather everything was really nice.


The kids got early out, so we met up with Tyler and Grandma (who had been doing dance class) at the rest home where the kids got their faces painted. Kaitlyn loved hers so much that she slept without holding Hello Kitty so it would stay nice for Trick or Treating the next day.

Tyler the Tiger had a lot of fun growling at all the residents and making them laugh.


Saturday morning they were very excited. Kaitlyn wanted Halloween shaped waffles.

I don't know how we managed to pass the time until we were ready to trick or treat - they were so excited.

Tyler makes a cute "fire truck man" doesn't he?And Kaitlyn the rock star. She loved this outfit and the pink streaks in her hair.Oh yeah, that's how Kaitlyn spent the morning - making this Halloween sign.We started early, with the rest home. Had to pick up Gma on the way (she's Tigger).Then we hit the few houses we wanted to drive to, like Rhonda's and Debbie's. This was about the only time I took the camera out - for one quick second from the car. It was nasty weather and we kept hoping it would stop raining but it never did. In fact it got worse after it got dark, but that didn't seem to ruin the fun for the kids.We met Dari, KC, and the kids at our house to walk around the neighborhood with them. I think it's more fun as kids to trick or treat with friends. Kaitlyn wasn't exactly excited about not going with Aaliyah, but as it turned out we ran into her while we were out and she got to go with us too. Back home to dry off and explore the loot. As usual, the kids got way more than they can eat in a month.