Batman & Robin

Our Halloween morning started out with Gavin's kindergarten "Book Character Day" parade.  He was the cutest Robin with matching red shoes!  Thankful Brian got to join in the fun.

 

The two sidekicks!

Sorting and counting their bucket-full candy.

Annual Pumpkin Carving

 

Pizza & Football

 

Followed by pumpkin carving

The boys drew up their design on paper - Ethan's (left) and Gavin's (right) and I made it happen.

Brian and I swaped jobs this year - he baked the seeds & I carved.  It works out better that way!

Max & Spidey

The Halloween celebration started earlier this morning at Gavin's preschool with a costume parade, a sing-a-long, and party.

Halloween fruit kabobs I made for the kiddos

 

 

Then tonight:

  

 I decided to join in the festivities this year

With Emma, our neighbor

They both came home with a bucket load of candy and with two candy + hot chocolate & whipped cream in their system, it took a while to wind down.  But now they're off to sleep happy!  And tomorrow, let the candy war begin. =0/

p.s. We bumped into Ethan's substitute teacher tonight while trick or treating and she said, "Ethan's one of my favorite students and he has always been a model student."  

"Instragram" on Blog

Candy arrangement the day after: By Ethan

Transformer & Spidey

Ethan wanted to be Jake the Pirate, but that costume doesn't come in his size.  Strike 1.  Then he decided he wanted to be Mickey Mouse.  That doesn't come in his size either.  Strike 2.  Out of frustration and not wanting to be anything else, he decided, the day of, that he was going to be Transformer - from two years ago.

 

  

A little too short and a little too tight, but it works!    

Pumpkin Carving

Once again, we didn't carve pumpkins last year let alone buy one and Ethan was pretty upset about it.  So, this year we MUST carve pumpkins and bake the seeds.  Apparently, my husband isn't art-sy and found this whole thing somewhat stressful so I decided to pitch in.  The boys got to clean out the inside (Gavin wasn't a fan of the slime), I free handed the design while he carved.  It worked out great!  Good team work family!

 

 

 

Looks pretty awesome!

"Instagram" on Blog

Look at what Gavin made at preschool today!

Olaf & His Matey

I had a conference with Ethan's teacher this past Wednesday and it went well.  She said that in her nine years of teaching, Ethan is the first kid she met that has a good balance of being disciplined and staying on task instead of distracted (often by his friends) but at the same time being social (in the right setting).  And it shows at home too as he's getting so much better at staying on tasks, especially in the morning and at bedtime.  So thankful for his teacher, Ms. Plaza and her passion for the kids and her numerous ways to help them think outside the box.

Today was Ethan's kindergarten "Book Character Day" aka a fun way to celebrate Halloween but with an academic focus.  They got to march down the hallway in a parade with their costumes and books.  It was so cute!

Then later tonight, we went around our new neighborhood Trick or Treating and meeting some neighbors.  The boys just had a blast!     

 Ethan & Emma (neighbor girl across the street)

Everyone LOVED Ethan's costume

 

Ethan as a pirate two years ago

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I ran into a friend at the parade and she mentioned that she saw Ethan sitting and eating his lunch at the peanut free table one day (while visiting her daughter).  Ethan doesn't have any allergies but apparently wanted to sit with his lonesome friend who does.  What a sweetheart!  Of course every parent would want their child to do well academically in school.  However, his compassionate & kindness towards others far outweigh that.  His little life definitely reflects Jesus in it!  This is the kind of parenting stuff I live for!

"Twittering" on Blog

I left Kaika out while grocery shopping and about had a panic attack when I came home.  Apparently, Kaika had gotten into half of Ethan's candy bucket while we were gone.  Opps, Déjà_vu.

RoboCow

Sometimes I feel like such a "conditional" parent but who doesn't like having a great week, right?  The boys played together really well which meant less crying, whining and fighting.  It also meant that I was able to stay home and get stuff done around the house.  With the warmer weather, they got to go play in the yard and Ethan got to practice on his bike.  Brian came home to a peaceful house and we both put them to bed without feeling completely drained.  We're all on our way to feeling almost 100% better.  Thank you Lord for the needed encouragement!

Now here are some Halloween fun to share:

Pumpkin carving became an annual tradition
 

Ethan's preschool sing-a-long & party

His Lamb classmates

 Gavin figured out the process fast

Oh, and can I just say trick or treating in 70 degrees was amazing!  No winter coats required.  It did sprinkled on us a little but luckily it didn't last very long as we carried on.

Ethan as a cow in '10

Walking the Plank with Mr. Long Neck

Convo this morning on the way to the library:

Ethan: Mamma, when is Halloween? I don't want to miss it.  (We don't offer the info unless asked in order to avoid the candy convo)
Me: Um, today.
Ethan: Two days or today?
Me: Like today, today.
Ethan: Is it Halloween right now.
Me: Yup.
Ethan (with a surprise look on his face): Oh, I'm excited!  I can wear my costume.  I'll get lots of candy.  I'll have to tell Daddy it's Halloween.
Me (smile)
Ethan: Mamma, did you want some candy?  I know you don't like them.
Me: Maybe just one or two.
Ethan: Okay, I'll give you one.  I'll give Daddy one and Nana too.
Me: Alright thanks.
Ethan came home and started singing songs about being a pirate to Kaika.  And how he can't go trick or treating or have any candy because he's a dog.  Then proceeded to tell him that we couldn't do any of that until after dinner.

 Zonked out baby at the end of the night

Ethan as the giraffe from '09

Jack O' Lantern

Normally, I'm not into the whole seasonal knick knack decoration thing - too much clutter for me.  But this year we decided to step it up and get into the Fall/Halloween spirit a little bit more since Ethan's older. 

For a boy who likes to get dirty, he didn't care so much for the slimy-ness

We even baked the seeds (with sugar and cinnamon) - that was a hit!

 

Final product - not too shabby!

Batman - to the Rescue

Around our neighborhood
@ Brian's office
Love seeing Ethan get all excited about the costume and candy. Not so much the actual begging for candy every 5 second.