Happy Halloween!

Before Trick or Treating

It was too hot tonight for sheep.

Thomas was so surprised when people gave him candy just for knocking on their door.

After

We all had fun.  Hope you had a great Halloween too!

A Little Trick

What will the kiddos do when they find these giant spider webs when they wake up?

Pumpkin Carving

Check in Sunday or Monday for the faces!

Halloween Party

Halloween Parties tire Thomas out!

Little Bo Peep is looking for her dozing sheep!

I forgot to take more picture of the costumes from this party, I'll have to get some before they go out trick or treating tomorrow.

At the park

We've finally had a cooler day today and we headed to a park after school so we could all enjoy it.

Gregory is wearing his helmet and shield for his St. George costume.   Got to love the Dollar Store. 

Code Breaker

Thank you to Paul and Maria at Ordinary Time for a great letter and a fun feat.   Much better than a little orphan Annie decoder ring.

Hopefully I can get her to write a letter back so Paul can join the fun.

Playdough Cookies Revisited

One of my kids' favorite cookie recipes is for playdough cookies which we usually make into colored swirls.  This is fun but somewhat time consuming and my children get bored with the process.

Looking around online, I discovered that you can use the same recipe and actually mold the dough into other shapes.

Today Clare had a friend come over for a playdate and we played with and baked these cookies.

(Thomas has real playdough because he didn't get the idea at all.)

 Clare's sampling someof her dough.

Our first batch - aren't they fun?

 Clare's creations

 Gregory's creations.

The best part about the recipe is that the cookies can be as plain or creative as one desires.  By the end the girls had swirled a bunch of the colors together and they still looked awesome. 

Even Gregory's 1 color texture works were fun.  He had a name for each design.  I think the purple cookie on his plate is a gate, and the orange is fire.

Another project I'd like to make with the dough is an edible solar system.  If I do, I'll post pictures.  The swirls on the dough would be really pretty.

My Toddler Photographer

Thomas loves to get a hold of my camera and take pictures. Here is his latest work

Very artistic, no?

New Do

It's amazing what vacuuming one's hair will do (using the hose, not the roller part)

Clare goes to the Arboretum

 The pictures below are of my silly pumpkins

Sunrise and Sunset

Clare this morning

 Clare this evening

Big changes in 24 hours, our little girl is growing up.

He got away without one.

Going to Mass with Gregory is alway an adventure.  You never know exactly what he's going to do.

Today he brought a plastic dagger, which I insisted on holding in my purse.  Thomas then found it and tried to stab the pew to death.

Last week Gregory insisted on wearing a cowboy hat to Mass and not really at any other time.

You especially don't know what he's going to do when the priest/Eucharistic minister tries to give him a blessing.  For some reason he doesn't want one.  I think it's because he doesn't want a stranger touching him.

There was the time where he leaped up and slapped the priest's hand - luckily the priest thought he was playing.

Recently he acts like a spy in the Communion line.  He sneaks behind me, stealing glances at the front of the line. 

When we reach the front of the first pew he does one of two things.  He stands in the front pew until I'm done receiving and runs after me, or he sneaks up, flattens himself against the front of the pew and creeps along it until he considers it safe to run back to our pew.

One day, the minister reached out for him, and Gregory ducked and ran.  He took 4 steps, turned around and said loudly, "He missed me!!"

Fruits of her Labor

Clare got her report card today.  It was all A's.

She got to pick a Nothing Bundt Cake as her reward today, and we all shared.

Clare's Thoughts

Clare and Thomas were playing in our back yard with the gate closed to the driveway, while I was putting groceries away..

Me:  Clare when Daddy gets home, you need to move and keep Thomas somewhere so he can't run while Daddy pulls in.

Clare:  Yeah, it's important because Thomas' life has really only just begun.

More Arboretum Fun

 Carrying pumpkins from one pile to another.

I want a sheep, this one is nice and soft. 

 It's my very own pumpkin house.

 Working hard in the kitchen

 So happy together!

Rock Soup! Bon Appetit!

Can't wait to see what this new week brings!

Pink Panthers

 Clare's friends from school who are also on her team

 All of the girls in their pink cuteness.  If games were determined by sweetness, these girls would win hands down.