Really, It's All About The Candy

Mya making a scary face. I know you're afraid.
First off, I was more than happy to change over my calender tonight to November. I don't know why, but October was seriously dragging on and on and on. I would look and be like, "We still have another week??" It just felt really long. Anyways, let's wrap up this long old month with the end of all our Halloween festivities. Monday we had a little cookie party at Nicole's where we played some games, had a snack, and decorated some fancy sugar cookies. Always fun to get together with friends and pass away the afternoons.

Straying from Halloween just a bit here... is it sad that I look forward to this on Monday nights? Monday is always and forever laundry day. I pile up the clean laundry on my bed throughout the day and then Monday night I tackle the pile. It's somewhat relaxing to sit, watch a little TLC, and fold some laundry. Maybe it's because I like clothes. I don't know. Whatever the reason, I really don't mind this chore.

Mya also started her other preschool for the year. She is in the same program Elle was in the previous two years at the high school. She had a great first two days, and I'm so happy! With Elle being in school, I wasn't really counting down the days for preschool to start. Life has become a lot easier. I was more just excited for Mya to get to be involved in such a fun thing. (And I do enjoy life with just one kid for awhile. Makes outings a bit easier.) Here she is in her beautiful butterfly dress bought by aunt Kellie specifically for her first day of school.

She is lucky enough to have two boys in her class that she knows- Charlie and Russell (seen below).

And here we will begin our little costume journey with Mya. They dressed up for preschool on Wednesday, and she opted to go for last year's mermaid costume. Surprisingly, the 2T still fit.

And here is Boo getting in on the costume fun...

Thursday was costume/horrible hair day for Mya's home preschool. Here she chose the witch costume Elle wore last year. Her hair was awesome! I didn't even have to do much to get it to look like that. She had slept with two scrunchy ponytails from the day before and so poof was easy to achieve.

Thursday afternoon we made some fun Halloween masks. Mya went a little heavy on the glue and more than once I found Jada sticking her finger in the glue mess and trying to eat it. Let's hope there's truth in the "non-toxic" claim.

Thursday night we finally got around to carving our pumpkins. This week we were pretty busy at night which really was okay because carved pumpkins don't last long in Texas. I, of course, had to sport my awesome Halloween pj pants and cat shirt.

Jake and I carved, the girls helped a little, and played with the guts.

We tried to get fancy this year and actually use real carving tools and patterns. I think they turned out really cute, but I still don't know if I'm cut out for the whole carving thing. I like the finished product, but getting there is kind of a pain. The old triangle eyes are definitely the easier option, but much less showy. Jake's the face, mine the witch.

Jake's mom was nice and sent the girlies some fun Halloween attire which was good because I was just going to have them wear stuff from past years.

Another side note... Elle had Red Ribbon week this week and was supposed to wear red today (no fun that they can't wear costumes) so she wore her Halloween outfit yesterday. And isn't it ironic that the kids were celebrating being drug free and during pick up time today at the school I saw two people smoking. Nice example.

My's and I made pumpkin chocolate chip bread today to eat and give away. I love my recipe- so good, yet so easy. Yum.

I had Mya take a pic of me to show off my fun Halloween attire for the day. A great orange $5 find at Target for my shirt (that I didn't realize would be perfect for Halloween until I got home with it) and my favorite Halloween accessory: glow-in-the-dark skeleton earrings. (Don't mind the sort of Dumbo-like pic- this was even like our third try. Must not be as photogenic as I'd like.)

Onto the costumes tonight... Elle doing an awesome dance pose...

Mya making some sort of face...

And Boo just being cute...

We met up with friends for some Trick-or-Treating fun.

And between these four boys below, I don't see any of the 11 children we, as parents, were in charge of. Good thing the moms have things under control. (And I do think that there is one kid in the wagon. Still, one kid for four dads? At least they enjoyed themselves!)

An unlikely group... skunk, ballerina, Tink, Cowgirl Jessie, and hula dancer. Together, they are unstoppable!

This pic represents the time when we were nearing the end of the candy collecting fun. The kids were tired, Mya had shed all of her costume, and we have more candy then we know what to do with.

We ended the night at Ashley's for some fun caramel apples (although we had to leave early and didn't get to eat the yummy apples- sad!)

Great night, great Halloween month, but I'm ready for November. Fun things will happen and it's about time it's here, and then December is right around the corner. I even already have my Christmas cards. How's that for being prepared! ( Jake thinks I'm crazy.) I had grand plans of scrapbooking tonight as Jake is away at a YM sleepover, but seeing that it is after 11 and I am just finishing the blog and we have an 8 am soccer game, I think I need to go to bed!

Blue and White and Orange and Black

Mya finally had the all clear from her parents (meaning she wasn't limping around anymore so we thought it would be okay) to play soccer. She had her first practice Friday night. We were so excited for her to start because the poor girl has spent so much of her life watching Elle do stuff that it's about time it is her turn.

She tried hard at practice. It's so funny to see the effort and concentration it takes just for her to dribble the ball. It's so cute when they are so little that the ball comes almost all the way up to their knees.

Saturday was her first game. She, once again, tried very hard and ran around with the pack but seemed to not really have a "fire" for the ball. It would be right by her and she wouldn't even try to get it. She liked to run with the group more than she liked to get the ball. Oh well. She had fun and it will click, all in good time.

She's on the team with two of her little friends, Russell and Spencer.

And, not to be shown up by her sisters...

After the back-to-back games (Mya's and then Elle's) we headed out to meet up with some friends at Red Robin.

This is a complete side note little tangent here- below is Jada watching TV. I wanted to post this because I enjoy it when my kids will watch TV. I fully understand that it's probably not the best for them, blah blah blah, but for me it definitely has its place. Jada is not fully converted to the idea yet, but it is coming in short spells. I have a picture of Mya, around six months old, just barely able to sit up, watching Dora. My point is that TV can be a good babysitter for young moms. I am in no way opposed to it, as long as it is done in moderation. The end.

And here is Jada's dress for the wedding. I love it. She looks so cute in it! The big girls dress is pretty much the same, just with a scalloped bottom. Picture that with cream tights and gold Gymboree shoes. So cute.

And of course I had to take advantage of the Halloween sales and buy Jada her costume for next year. This is my third year in a row doing this. It really is the best way for the little ones. $5. You can't beat that.

Friday might have been one of our busiest days yet. I spent a good amount of time just packing for the afternoon/evening's events. I walked Elle to school in the morning, met up with some friends for lunch, picked Elle up from school, took Elle to gymnastics, then both girls straight to soccer, and then all of us went to the ward Halloween party. You following this??

I love Mya's costume- she is the perfect skunk. The heart says "lil stinker". So great for her.

The good news was that the weather was nice so they weren't sweating to death in the fuzzy hot costumes. It may be a Houston first.

I love Jada looking in her bucket, like "Where's the candy?" She loves those buckets and carries them around the house at times, and sometimes, when we're really lucky, she likes to take it with us in the car.

Don't those two below just look so happy to be there...

I also thought it would be fun to post some pics from over the years. So here you go...

2007- a mermaid, a leopard, a witch, and a dad who looks half asleep.

2006: A black cat and Cinderella

2005: Belle and Snow White

2004: An LSU cheerleader

2003: A cute little pink fairy on an awesome old school scrapbook page

And lastly, just because I can now, another fun video. And no one was hurt in the filming of this.