8/12

I've got to sneak this photo in before November,

so I can keep up my "one-a-month" streak.

John thought the bowl of trick-or-treat candy

would make the picture look festive. Or something. :)

photo by Liz, who was here to celebrate

her BIRTHDAY! we love you liz!

btw - she made the cake and it was delicious!

Pumpkins, Treats, Tricks, and Taxes

The kids started carving their pumpkins outside yesterday,

but were soon chased in the house by the rain.

Luckily, the rain let up long enough for us to

take the kids out for a little trick-or-treating.

Elizabeth and Mikey watched the house and handed out

candy so that both John and I could go with the kids.

As payment, Liz collected a candy tax.

She's kind of a softy (for a pirate) because she

gave about half of her booty back to the kids.

Specifically to Bentley because he was still awake.

(fyi - He thinks he looks cool with his eyes half closed.

This is also how his school picture looks this year.)

Don't forget to vote for Thing 1 or Pirate Liz!!!

Costume Contest

We had seven awesome costumes at our house tonight.

Here are the five costumes in the 8 and under category.

The real contest, though, is between

"Thing 1" and "Pirate Liz."

Who gets your vote?

Mikey or Liz?

(They really want to know - this is serious business folks.)

Halloween Parties and Parades 2010

Today was a whirlwind day.

Between 10 and 3 we had

2 Halloween Costume Parades,

1 Halloween Program,

and 3 Halloween Parties.

(I missed Maxwell's party because it was

at the same time as our Little People Party.)

Ruby and Jonah got to be the "hosts"

of the Little People Halloween Party this year.

(Milo as Cosmo, and Ruby as Giselle)

It was our 7th year and we are still using

the same games that I made the first couple

of years. Thrifty or lame?

Previous Halloween Parties

2006

2007

2008

2009

Jonah got to walk in his first Halloween

Parade this morning, and then sang (with gusto)

a few Halloween songs with his class.

(Jonah as War Machine - minus the mask)

This was Maxwell's 3rd parade, so he's a pro.

(Maxwell as a fire dragon ninja - I think)

Bentley had a great time in the parade,

he's laughing here because he was bugging

the kids in front of him. argh.

(Bentley as Prince Dastian)

I'm looking forward to a lazy day tomorrow.

Hopefully just carving pumpkins and trick-or-treating.

(And laundry catch up and meal prep and homework

and piano practice and cleaning and . . .)

Under Fire

The other day Maxwell was outside,

watching for small planes flying overhead.

He said that a few days earlier,

he had pretended to shoot a small plane,

and that he thought that the people on the plane

thought that he was really shooting at them.

He was sure they were looking for him.

After a while, he came running in the house,

and had me look out the window to see a small plane.

"That's it! What are those flashing lights?"

I told him that I wasn't sure, but I thought maybe

the lights made it easier for other planes to see it.

A little deflated, he said,

"Oh, I thought they were shooting back at me."

I would have imagined that not being shot at

was a good thing, but I guess it IS less exciting.

Ruby's Day in Pictures (we got our camera back!)

Putting shoes on with Jonah.

(who later realized he was still in his pajama pants,

but did manage to get fully dressed before church)

Showing off her new church clothes.

Ready for her talk in Primary.

She showed this photo of Uncle Greg.

Playing after church with goggles,

shoes, books, and dolls. (???)

Asleep; with a bracelet on her wrists.

A damsel in distress, or just pious?

Pumpkinland 2010

Today we made our annual visit to

Vineyard's Pumpkinland.

Our camera has been sent away with the

hope that it will return to us in working order,

so today's two photos are from my phone.

Better than nothing, right?

The gang - ready to conquer the corn maze.

Not everyone was as ready to have their picture taken.

Ruby running around in the maze.

It was a beautiful day to visit Pumpkinland.

One of the best parts was running into good

friends who now live in Arizona.

They were here for a quick trip this weekend,

and we happened to exit the maze at the same time!

Here is our record of past Pumpkinland visits:

2006

2007

2008

2009

Speech

At church on Sunday, Milo said his first "sentence."

He pointed to the doors at the back

of the chapel and said,

"Go out!"

(A Little of) Our Week in Review

Bentley got his wolf; it rained a lot,

Pa and Grandma H came to visit.

Our motley crew ready to walk to school;

playing with Mindy's ipod touch;

and Ruby after church today.

It was a crazy, busy week.

We are ready for fall break!

Only three more days . . .

"I think I can, I think I can . . . "

Breaking News:

Our camera is broken. boo.

But Mindy took lots of pictures

at the Homecoming Parade on Saturday.

You can see the photos and

read all about it HERE.

Safety First

One night Jonah wore a bike helmet to bed.

Maybe it wasn't such a bad idea.