This is Halloween!

And mama's a cripple. Yup, no walkin' with the kiddos tonight, I have to give out candy.

This is actually my favorite part of Halloween, because I get to see all the cute costumes. And smile at the cute kids. Usually, though, Doug refuses to take out the kids. Instead, he stays home and refuses to open the door and give out candy. Rude, huh?

Anyway, Halloween has brought some serious issues to our house. Namely, What Shall I Wear? This crisis has come to several of the kids. Sophia had a great queen outfit, which she wore to a party last week.

But she would rather be Mariposa, the butterfly fairy. This was Malena's costume a few years ago, so all Sophie had to do was rescue it from the costume boxes.

Getting her costume situated just did not happen...

Jack and Collin both wanted to be ninjas and showcase their newly-acquired karate moves. Last night, though, Collin decided to be a wizard. Problem: no wizard costume. After many words were exchanged, he decided to go with the ninja outfit after all.

Meanwhile, Jack found his Spiderman outfit in the costume box. He asked if he could wear it, and was surprised when I said yes. Honestly, if we already own it, why not?

Who is that masked man?

Oh, it's Jack! Spiderman with a sword...a boy's dream!

The older girls have thankfully kept with their original costume ideas. I made Malena's pioneer costume:

And Bonnie just bought her witch's costume. I think this is at least her fourth time being a witch. Hopefully, she doesn't really identify with the character...although, she is a teenager.

Face decoration courtesy Bonnie's school

Hope you all have a safe and happy Halloween!!!

Silly Sophie!

Little Sophie is now officially a "preschooler", having reached the ripe old age of three.

Woot! 

She has given up binkies and her crib, and is starting to use a big bed, a toilet (we're still working on that one) and big-girl toys. She does, however, still refer to herself as "baby" and doesn't necessarily like to be called anything else. A little progress here, a little less there...'tis life. So here's a look back at her as she has grown:

Her first Halloween, five days old:

A sweet little six-month-old, starting to try and crawl:

A happy one-year-old, standing up and crawling everywhere she could:

Her second Halloween:

18 months old, already interested in animals...especially our cat, Tae-Bo. Funnily enough, this cat hates children...but doesn't mind Sophie so much.

Her third Halloween, a rambunctious 2-year old:

At 2-1/2, she's getting into everything...and occasionally hurting herself. What a cute little face!

And now, at three...dressed for her fourth Halloween as Queen Sophia. She's okay with this look...

But likes the Witch Queen Sophia much better (hat taken from Bonnie):

She had a fun birthday - all her birthday stuff was done at lunch, because we had a Halloween party to go to that night. So she had a Really Big Party for her birthday. Sometimes, it's good to be the birthday girl around a holiday - especially one like Halloween! 

And yes, she did eat candy the entire day following her birthday. Boo-yah.

What's Blooming and "Gourd" to See Ya!

Cheesy title, I know, but I just couldn't resist.

It's amazing what you see when you haven't been outdoors in a while - this week my yellow chrysanthemums decided to join the mum party...

And a malva zebrina decided to pop up. This one's probably been there for a bit, since it's starting to die off (I know, it's been a few weeks since I've been able to walk over unstable ground!). This must have reseeded from the original malva that I planted when we first moved in - in 2011. There weren't any last year, so I'm not sure how this one survived. But hooray!

The catnip has also exploded into bloom. Is this its second bloom this year? I seem to remember it in bloom when I planted it, but I'm not complaining.

We also are harvesting Doug's gourds from his pumpkin/ornamental garden behind the shop. I don't know where he finds these seeds, but the results are pretty spectacular, if you're into gourds (and I am)...

The kids call that last one "the octopus". Seriously cute little things, aren't they? If you live in the area, you're welcome to come get some...we have buckets of them.

Have a good week!