This is Halloween

Well this first picture is the day before. I love having a little boy. Who else would put monster trucks in my ice dispenser?

I also love having a little girl but she is a tornado. I told her to clean up this mess she made while I was sewing. Can you see her cleaning?

That's because she laid down and went to sleep to avoid cleaning. Little pill.

We started Halloween morning off by driving to Mapleton Elementary to see my nephew in the costume parade. I sang "This is Halloween" all the way there. My kids don't know the song and frankly, I only know that line but I sang it because it's the only Halloween song I know.

Here are my kiddos avoiding getting into the car.  "To infinity, and beyond!" yells Henry.

My super hero also picked me a bouquet of leaves. He loves his mama. And Mapleton Elementary smells the same as it did 20 years ago, just in case you were wondering.

After lunch, Sarah painted her pumpkin.

Henry threw his around the kitchen then climbed on her chair to see what she was up to then he took a nap.

After some skilled negotiation (I swear I could sweet talk a man off a ledge using the skills I have developed as a mom) I got my kids into their costumes. Henry was a piece of cake after he got his shorts on over his pants. Sarah boo-hooed about everything not being right.  Fortunately by the time we got outside, armed with their candy buckets, she forgot about how her skirt was too puffy, and her tights were too tight, and her hat wouldn't stay on when she ran, and her hair wasn't in two braids and on and on. Waa waa waa.

 Henry didn't get what we were doing at first but he caught on fast.  

We hit up nearly every house in our neighborhood. When the kids couldn't carry their own buckets because they were too heavy, we called it a night.

The kids watched Charlie Brown when we got home and ate a ridiculous amount of candy.You'd think those purple tights would be the first thing to come off considering she was near tears putting them on, but no, that would make sense.

Halloween done. It's not my favorite holiday so I'm kind of relieved. All four decorations I put up were put away the next morning.

Sarah Turns 5

Five is a big deal. It's a whole hand, says Sarah.  So we started celebrating early.

The week before her birthday, I took the kiddos (Justin was hunting) to visit my brother and his family in Logan. His kids are my kids' favorite cousins. I think it has something to do with them doing whatever my kids want to do.

We went to Ryan's Place Park in River Heights, right next to the elementary school I went to for kindergarten and first grade. This park is very unique and kept the kids busy forever.

Then on Saturday we went to the same restaurant Jaana had her 16th birthday party last year.  My SIL Lisa had cupcakes and balloons waiting for us just like she did for Jaana last year.  Sarah was so excited. She pretty much wants to do everything Jaana does.

This has nothing to do with Sarah's birthday but Lisa got these Easter decorations from a neighbor and the kids were trying out ideas to make them scary Halloween decorations, thus the red light.

And then this past Saturday (the day before Sarah's birthday) we went with my sister's family to the Central Utah Garden pumpkin walk. I had never been there before.  They had lots of fun games and activities for the kids to play. If you dress up, you get a free doughnut but of course, my kids didn't want to dress up.

This is a leaf raking game. It's Henry's favorite kind of game: work.

Note to self: Take pictures of kids when they're not holding candy.

Don't my kids make the cutest pirates?

Here's little Mason. The binky really completes the costume.

Every game scored a piece of candy. Did I mention it was all free?

After the kids were loaded up, we went across the street and got doughnuts at Krispie Kreme. Then Justin came home that evening (woohoo) and we went to Sarah's favorite restaurant, Chuck-a-Rama, and loaded up on scones, chocolate milk and other good stuff.

Setting cup Sarah's birthday the night before feels a little like Christmas and I like that. Here's what she woke up to Sunday morning.

This pinata may or may not be a wedding cake but that's okay because this closely resembles the cake Sarah wanted for her birthday.

Some other decorations.....There wasn't really a theme this year, just pink and girly, I guess.

I'm a bad mom and didn't take any pictures of Sarah opening her presents because I was being a good mom and enjoying the moment. She got a doll that she can do her hair, the Sneaky Snacky Squirrel Game, a new dress, some clothes, books, Little Mermaid DVD, a necklace (pictured below) and some birthday treats. Then we had pink waffles for breakfast and got ready for church.

Our primary program was that day plus Sarah gave a talk in Primary so it was a full day for her.

Sarah practicing her cake decorating skills.

The cake. 

The party. A card with 8 quarters for ice cream cones.

Funny socks from Rachel, as requested.

More games! This girl loves games. She also got some hair stuff, nail polish, and more money.

Henry tried out the mask from pin the crown on the princess game.

 Here's my girl, all grown up.  Her primary teacher passed out these hats in class that afternoon.

Can you see the excitement?

She handles the attention way better than I do. That's why I have her sit by me on my birthday. Happy Birthday sweet girl!

This was Henry yesterday. Apparently he's not he only one who likes silly socks. He's wearing 5 pairs at once.

Wish me luck this Halloween. Let's hope Henry is in a good mood and wears some sort of costume and that Sarah changes her mind back and decides to be a witch (it's a witch or nothing, I told her).

You should probably know

We are having a baby girl!

Now I don't feel so guilty about all the money I've spent on Sarah's dresses over the years.  They will live to see another day!  But that hasn't stopped me from buying more stuff. (Baby girl clothes are hard not to buy.)

As you can imagine, Sarah is the most excited.  Henry gets excited when we talk to him about it but I don't think he really gets it.  I don't think he's even noticed my ever-increasing belly.  Sarah on the other hand liked to say, "Wow, Mom, your stomach is getting really big," until Justin explained to her that's not something anyone likes to hear.  Sarah has already said the baby can sleep in her room, she'll change her diapers and if she cries, she'll take care of her.  I will hold her to it.  She will actually try and that's why she's the best first child ever.

Henry continues to be my dual-personality child. I guess that's what the terrible two's really mean; two-sided. Just yesterday he cried and whined and threw fits about everything for three hours.  Then while I was doing the dishes he gave me a big hug around my leg with an emphatic "mmph" and then walked back to what he was doing.  It brought tears to my eyes, the little stinker. I think God knew I needed that so I didn't ship him off next time he freaks out about putting on shoes and then freaks out after he pulls them off.

Soccer ended last week. Hooray! It was fun sometimes but I don't think I'm cut-out to be a sports mom. I don't like hauling my kids all around and eating dinner late.  And I don't really like competition unless I'm playing cards against Justin. Sarah had lots of fun and so that was worth it but I can't help but think there are ways for her to have fun and grow in a family, not on a team.  It's given me a lot to ponder about.

Anyway, the kids rioted the beginning of their first game by tearing down the goal.

 Last team huddle before the game. "We always win because we always have fun" her coach said.

 Henry sees his dad made it.

Below is the kid no one likes.  He steals the ball from his own teammates and quickly makes a goal. And then steals from the other team and makes a goal. Repeat and so on and so forth. It wasn't fun to watch. I was getting irritated. By some neglect on his part, his teammate scored a goal and he pouted about it.  Only the kids slightly oblivious to what was going on were having any fun. A couple of his teammates didn't even go in because, hey, what's the point. He's talented and that's great but his coach and dad need to sit him down and have a little talk about how this is a team sport.

Somehow Sarah scored two goals, one with Pele right there. I love how excited she gets.

There's a word for when they kick it in after it was kicked out of bounds from the other team. That's what Sarah is doing here.

At the end, they all get trophies of course. Sarah's was a girl with short hair (don't tell her they are all boys.)

Team Incredibles.  They were equally excited for their doughnuts as their trophies.  

**Any costume ideas for a two-year-old boy who only likes to wear 3 of his shirts, one pair of his pants and must have his blue basketball shorts on over most every outfit?