Halloween started off with Haley’s preschool festival party. She got to wear her costume to school for the party. (Back up. She also got to wear her costume to ballet Thursday night!) JT and I went to Costco while school was going on, and then joined Haley for her party toward the end of school. Haley’s class sang “Five Little Pumpkins” with hand motions for all the parents. It was a lot of fun. When we got home, she was so full from the party snacks and so tired that she decided to go straight to bed to get a good nap before the evening festivities. Smart girl.

So here we are getting ready to head out the door at 3:30 PM, with Ironman and Wonder Woman. (I love Frozen too, but I am so proud of Haley for choosing something different!)

We went to Trick or Trunk, an event at our community center. There were lots of different huge trucks there. Maybe 15 or so! The kids got candy at each one, and got to climb up on them. JT said this one was his favorite. He got to honk the horn too! Jim met us there straight from work, so that was great timing. Our friends the Bonnells met us there as well.

Then we went to the Halloween House. It’s in a neighborhood just a few minutes from us, and WOW. The owners block off the entire street with a police officer on Halloween because they get so much traffic down their dead-end road. They put up what looks like a scene from Pirates of the Caribbean in front of their house – ship and arch and firing cannons and pirate skeletons and more. It is quite elaborate! They take donations for our elementary PTSA and the local food bank from visitors. Very cool.

From there, we came back to our house for some hot dinner, apple cider, and warm toes. Then we headed out for traditional trick-or-treating on our street.

The kids had a great time handing out candy from our house as well. In fact, the kids decided (all four of them, on their own) to take candy out of their own buckets and hand that out as well so we wouldn’t have so much left over to eat. By the time this was done, we were all pretty tired. Good night!

Our annual tradition of carving a pumpkin (one) together as a family continued this week. I told JT and Haley that, if they wanted a carved pumpkin, they needed to get goopy. They didn’t want to, but they made a decision to be cheerful about it. Three minutes later, they were done and Jim took over scooping.

Haley digs in

JT’s first seed

Scraping with spoons

When Jim took over scooping, the kids helped make our treat: pumpkin oatmeal chocolate chip cookies.

Next: design. Jim gives the kids lots of options about how to make the face of the pumpkin. Here Haley is describing her vision. The boys don’t look impressed.

Meanwhile, cookies!

When all was finished, the jack-o-lantern had “upside down triangle” eyes, a triangle nose, and a smile with three teeth. And a battery operated candle. 🙂

My three favorite pumpkins!

We were excited to go up to UW and visit our nephew/cousin, Preston, and see his house. He is living in the 17th Avenue House, where Jim lived in college, but there have been some major improvements. It was fun to see the house, meet some of the guys who live there, and visit his room. Then we went to lunch at the Ram in the U Village. The kids were so happy to see Preston (as were we).

Haley’s ballet class does not allow parents to watch, except for five times per year and the recital. I was really looking forward to the first time “Observation Week” came, and last week was it. Haley enjoyed having JT and I for an audience. The ballet handbook states that only one or two people can watch during observation week, as space is limited. Sure enough, all of the chairs were taken and every child had just one parent in attendance. Extended family, mark your calendar for the June recital, the last weekend in June (Friday or Saturday, TBD).

Haley, Ms. Diadra, and her friend Harper

Practicing fifth position arms

Stretches with toes pointed correctly, rounded out

Seriously.

Playing log and bridge – Haley is a bridge!

Haley the line leader, blowing me a kiss

Hand stamp at the end of class

We spent a wonderful weekend away with dear friends this past few days. It was filled with laughter, food, memories, and a lot of driving. We are thankful for the grandparents (all three sets) who watched all of our children and for my aunt and uncle, who let us crash at their lake cabin all weekend long.

Loading up to leave

Hitting the road

Katie needed some air.

Hacker boy very excited to have taken over the Bluetooth stereo connection!

Arrived!

Poker marathon – four hours later… Jim and I were the winners!

Cracking me up.

Saturday morning, Jim and I went for a run.

Not a bad view for football or reading.

Jim watching the ladies leave in his truck to go shopping in Coeur d’Alene.

Antique shopping: Katie was in heaven.

Elisa’s first Greek gyro – worth documenting.

We decided to go to Silverwood Theme Park’s Halloween night!

After waiting for TWO HOURS to ride Tremors, at least it was awesome.

We spent the two hours talking, cold, and playing this fun app game.

Trying to get Elisa to guess something…

Elisa finally couldn’t wait any longer and made it back from the bathrooms just in time, hopping the fence next to this sign.

Waiting for the Corkscrew

This was fun forwards… backwards was another story.

Sunday morning, we had to pack up for home.

Group photo on the deck with the timer on my cell phone camera.

I just love these two ladies!

The ride home 🙂

Last week I spent more time on one of my day jobs than the other. I have a few different hats I wear, and last week I got an amazing opportunity to work with the Microsoft Worldwide Education team in downtown Seattle.

That meant the Grandmas came twice each last week, and once they were both here at the same time!

By Friday, I was able to go back to my favorite job: playing stay-at-home mom. I helped in Haley’s class and walked and picked up JT from school.

Then we went to Grandpa Cole’s birthday party and celebrated him turning 71!

It was a weekend full of walking! First, we had our annual Leah’s Legacy walk in honor of Leah Tomlin, our cousin’s baby girl, and GBS Awareness. Since we can’t join the walk in Tuscaloosa, we do our own walk here.

Then we came back to our house and watched Alabama football. We were very sad to see the Tide lose to Ole Miss in the final minutes.

Haley doesn’t look adequately sad in this photo…

On Sunday, we did our first Buddy Walk, an event put on by the National Down Syndrome Society, in honor of our five-month-old nephew, Russell.

First: lunch at the International Fountain

Group photo!

Russell’s first Buddy Walk

The new continues. We have new going on all over the place! First, JT started martial arts. We had talked to him about doing that this fall, until he can do basketball or something in the winter. It’s nice for each child to have an activity. So Haley and I watched from the balcony while he did all sorts of fun things on the mats in the DoJo room.

The kids got new umbrellas last week and they were thrilled to have a rainy day to use them for their walk to school. 🙂

Last Thursday, JT was at school and I was at work… and Jim and Haley had to wait for the truck to be ready to pick up, so they had a hot chocolate and strawberry pancakes date!

We also had a chance for a cousin to stay home with the kids all day. All the grandparents had prior things going on, and Preston hadn’t started school at UW yet. So we asked if he would be willing to come babysit. When I got home from work, Preston and Haley were paying Rummy and listening to worship music. She had already won one hand. 🙂

Haley had “bring a friend” day at ballet, and she picked her friend Ashley. Ashley is only a year older than Haley, but her family is tall and our family is… not. They had such a great time together!

That same day, Jim and I were both home in the evening (!). We dropped the kids off at Awana and then went to the PTSA meeting at JT’s school. We also managed to run one errand before we picked up the kids. I know that seems like a lame date, but going together made the meeting more fun and we just enjoyed being together. First PTSA meeting, check!

I worked in Haley’s class for the first of many times last week. It was so fun to see her enjoy her day at school. Her teacher is awesome at integrating learning into every little thing. Her teacher this year does a little more Jesus, and you just can’t have enough Jesus. 🙂

Haley’s verse of the month writing

Haley got to feed Brock his bottle at workout the other day. She just loves that!

Speaking of being responsible, I had a quick turn around after workout on Saturday. I asked the kids to make their own lunches (we were packing them to go). I got in the shower, and these two packed PBJs, pear slices, and baby carrots in their bento boxes. Then they filled up their water bottles, packed it all in the lunch sack I usually use, and put the bag by the front door. Then they used the bathroom and put their shoes on… all without being asked. By the time I was ready, JT offered to load their little chairs in the car! These two showed what being responsible looks like, for sure.

We were blessed to have one day this month we could possibly attend the State Fair in Puyallup, and it all worked out. The weather was beautiful! We took JT out of school because that was the only possible day for everyone else’s schedules. We met our friends, the Bonnell family, at the Fair again this year. We were sad to miss our tradition of going with the Schmalz family. Next year!

The kids rode several rides each, we watched a draft horse show, we went through the Hobby Hall, and we ate a yummy (albeit overpriced) barbecue lunch.

Haley demonstrating she is tall enough to ride most children’s rides!

They both LOVED the Dragon Wagon. Arms up and smiles!

Treats at the fair we love: scones, Darigold ice cream, and elephant ears!

We love our annual trip to the Fair. In fact, I was looking back at old pictures… you can too. 🙂 Click the year below to view previous blog posts from our adventures at the Fair.

After waiting a whole year, Haley got to start ballet! She has been looking forward to turning four for many reasons, and this was one of them. Her program is highly recommended and about five minutes from home. We don’t get to watch class until October, but we’re looking forward to seeing her practice at home… even more than she did before! She will have a recital June 26 or 27, so mark your calendars. 🙂