Buh Bye, Halloween

I don't want to hate on Halloween - because we do enjoy it. But holy cow - this year - I feel like it lasted FOREVER. It was a LONG month. Last week alone - we had 3 different Halloween celebrations...all leading up to Halloween Night. Phew.

 Wonder Woman had a party on Thursday. She was rocking her costume like a true super hero.

Friday - Nolan, Josie, and I went to Jack's school to watch him walk in the school parade. He walked with his teacher, who dressed like a hotdog. Classic.

 Jack walked the whole way saluting people. It was hilarious.

 Then - finally - Saturday night it was GO time. It was also rainy and cold...which basically has come to mean HALLOWEEN in Michigan. (3/3 for COLD & WET.) As you can see - Charlie Brown was bundled WAY up. And please excuse the placement of Snoopy. Typical dog. Nolan was also the keeper of the Bud Lights. He got a pack of M&Ms from the first house we stopped at and ate them in the wagon for the rest of the trip. Easiest trick or treating participant ever.

Here is the Trick or Treating crew before we left. As you can see - Wonder Woman was upset. "Wonder Woman DOESN'T WEAR A COAT!!!" It's true, but I'm 99% sure she WOULD wear one IF she lived in Michigan.

And, finally, the loot. It was a fun night! But I don't hesitate when I say, "BRING ON THE PUMPKIN PIE!"

Friday Flashback: Halloween

Throwing it back to Halloween 1988 or 1989?!? I was a Warsaw cheerleader, Joe was a robot, and Jon was a pumpkin. Good times.

Halloween Christmas in Indiana

Last weekend we headed south to Indiana for some family time. My grandparents are heading to Florida soon and we got together for a Halloween Christmas gathering at their house. My kids get SO excited for these get togethers...for a lot of reasons: 1) there are always so many kids to play with 2) Gigi always has plenty of sweets

We did some family pumpkin carving. Uncle Jon helped Josie gut her pumpkin...but somehow I ended up carving 3 pumpkins (one for each kid).

Josie had a blast with her cousins Amelia & Emma. And they all LOVED playing with my cousin Justin's daughter, Ada. Josie had her first "unofficial" sleepover with Millie & Emma. We went over after she was asleep to hang out with Joe & Gina...and then brought her home with us at 11pm. But she has made it very clear that she would like to move to Warsaw to live with them.

Nolan pretty much ate the entire time we were home. Here he was eyeing my pumpkin roll. He may have had a bite...or three.

 Hanging with Connor - Justin's oldest - and, yes, still eating...

Walking it off, playing some soccer with the big kids....exercising.

 Oh, wait, nope - never mind ...more eating. Grass anyone?!?

My three, plus Ada's twin - Owen. He and Jack did some wrestling in the yard. Jack was in heaven.

Of course, having Uncle Jon home from Florida was a highlight. He brought Cassie, too...so he was even more popular than usual.

Welcome Fall.

The skeletons have arrived in Downtown Northville. We haven't walked around to say HI to them yet - that will come...but we did snap a quick picture by Edgar Allan Poe for Uncle Devin.

Fall also means it's soccer season and we spend a few hours every weekend OUTSIDE watching kids kick a ball into a goal. Good thing they are both good at scoring goals. Nolan doesn't care. A few weekends ago - he weighed in on his attendance requirements: Nope. At least we haven't had to break out the snow pants. Yet.

Happy Halloween!

Last night was Trick or Treating in Northville. We had two ninjas and a last minute costume change, Josie decided to go with her Princess costume 100%. She was a pirate for school, but by 4pm her costume was trashed. Good thing we had some backup options.

 Nolan's FIRST Halloween. HI -YA!

 The red ninja is ready for candy.

It was cold. VERY cold. And windy, and rainy, and awful.

Tyson and I needed adult beverages to help warm us up! Our drinks got colder the longer we were out with the kids.

Success! Lots of delicious candy to rot our teeth!

Don't worry - Nolan didn't participate in trick or treating. He passed out candy with grandma & grandpa at home.

Pre-Halloween

On Wednesday we had a Halloween Party for Mom's Club (our playgroup). Josie didn't want to wear her REAL Halloween costume - so she wore her Princess Dress. She had strict rules though: NO tiara, add some boots, Nolan had to be her Prince. Well, Nolan didn't have a Prince costume on hand - so he was the next best thing: a frog.

The other day Jack came home from school with a book he made in his writing center. One of the pictures caught my attention...can you guess what it is??

Pumpkin Carving

Remember those pumpkins we bought a couple weeks ago? Well we finally got around to carving them. First we had to clean out the pumpkin guts. Tyson didn't enjoy this part, so he wore gloves. I can't talk about it. It's not his fault. He did not attend the "Jerry Clevenger School of Pumpkin Carving" from 1982-2004... Regardless. The pumpkins got cleaned out.

Then the kids each chose a pumpkin face. Thank you, Google, for all of the great "image" choices!

Showing Jack my best Pumpkin Carving face

And then I started carving. There is something slightly therapeutic about carving a pumpkin. (I might be weird)

Then THIS happened. Josie's dang pumpkin was so hard to carve - it literally broke my knife.

 TA DA! Each kiddo with his/her pumpkin. Jack's pumpkin is "scary/mean," Josie wanted a "happy" pumpkin (of course), and Nolan got an "alien" pumpkin.

(Reviewing my camera after our photo shoot: two shots of Jack w/ pumpkin, two shots of Nolan w/ pumpkin, 15 shots of Josie in 15 different poses)

Here they are - all lit up and ready for Friday night!

A Rainy Halloween

We had a fun Halloween night...despite the rain. Jack was REALLY into trick or treating, as you can imagine. And Josie caught on after a couple houses...then she was a seasoned pro. "Chee Chee {Trick or Treat}" then a big smile and "Tank you!" Our rain boots proved - yet again - that they are worth every penny. Luckily it was just wet...not wet and cold (which would have been HORRIBLE). We came home and enjoyed a few pieces of candy...followed by a sugar rush.

Happy Halloween!

{Also - if you're keeping track - yes, Jack was a fireman last year, too.}

Skeleton Encounters

Fireman Jack was in awe of Calvin Johnson (the skeleton). He is a fine specimen (in live form and in skeletal form).

Downtown Northville goes ALL OUT for Halloween! Each business dresses up a skeleton and they stand around outside for weeks. They're amazing! We were downtown for a Halloween party today and we got a chance to see the skeletons up close. We saw Megatron (Calvin Johnson) and Superman. There was also a skeleton in a yoga pose, a UPS skeleton, a Dentist & her patient, a dancer, and a bank robber! If you live in Metro Detroit - come walk around our little town!

Clevenger Halloween/Christmas

We were back in Indiana for the weekend and we got a chance to catch up with some friends & family. Saturday morning we stopped by the Maile's - to see Katie (Beehler) and Max. Their little guy, Benjamin, was so sweet about sharing with Jack & Josie. We had fun!

Then, after naps, it was off to Plymouth for Clevenger Halloween/Christmas.

 Josie and I teamed up for a girlie pumpkin - complete with eyelashes and a kiss-face. (see it below)

Jack was SO excited about playing with Elliott and Owen - I barely got any pictures of him. Meanwhile, Josie was chumming with everyone and, therefore, is in A LOT of pictures.

She managed to eat bubbles. Not sure what that was about. And she became BFFs with Ada. My grandma made a traditional "Christmas dinner" and it was DELICIOUS! Jack and Josie chowed down...{and so did Kady & Tyson.}

Jack & his "boys" took a break from wrestling/football/being boys - to pose for a picture. I can't tell you how refreshing it is to be around my cousin's kids...a welcome reminder that Jack is ALL boy and perfectly normal.

Josie tried on Grandpa Gigi's glasses and I think they looked great on her! What do you think?

Last week was Fire Safety week! Make sure you hop over to Mumbling Mommy to see my post on how to talk to your kids about Fire Safety!! {See! I still have some Insurance Agent in me.}

Pumpkin - Part 2

We have a busy Halloween weekend ahead of us, so I decided tonight would be the best night to carve Jack's pumpkin.  Honestly, seeing the Friday Flashback picture made me feel guilty that my Dad had carved a pumpkin for me when I was 10 months old...yet I still hadn't carved one for my almost 2 year old. 

Checking out the insides of the pumpkin.  I should note that after watching me with a butcher knife - Tyson has a whole new image of me in his head. I wield a mean knife!

Jack liked scooping through the pumpkin "guts" - but his interest (and Tyson's interest) only lasted about 5 minutes.  I soon found myself carving the pumpkin alone...(maybe our little girl will like "crafty" things like her mommy).

Jack's finished Jack-o-latern...with Baby Sister's pumpkin next to it.

 Daddy and Jack

 Mommy and Jack

We emptied the pumpkin guts outside and Jack left a note.  We hope taking a peaceful (non-threatening) approach will work better this year.  Although Coop & Tuck are on "stand-by" just in case...