Family Pictures 2012

In October we finally took the plunge and got our family pictures done.  We have been meaning to do this for quite some time.  I am so glad to have them and they turned out great!

Our Eternal Family

Cute Kiddos

Handsome Payton

Sweet little Brielle

So innocent

Looks like I'll have to do this post in a few sections, but I wanted all these photos on our blog.

Trick-OR-Treat

Happy Halloween!

We were pretty busy the last half of Halloween day as we headed to the school for McKenzie's and Payton's class parties.

Mini Mouse and a little Princess at craft time.

This picture won't turn but I couldn't leave out Batman with Mini Mouse.

Brielle and me.

Brielle had fun exploring the classroom and watching the kids.

Robin and Batman making a Halloween craft.

Decorating sugar cookies!  Yummy!!

After school the kids played a little while and then it was time for dinner and getting all dressed up in their costumes to go Trick-or-Treating!

Can you tell she is a tad bit excited?

We love Halloween!

Waiting for Dad to get home soon.

Meet "The Good Batman", Mini Mouse, a little chicken, and Robin.

I will miss these years when they are little.

Brielle made such a cute little chicken at night and a pretty Princess during the day at school.

I love that this costume was nice and warm for her.

McKenzie picked out this costume at Kidz Again and fell in love with it, it helped that spun really well!  She was sure a cute Mini!!

Brielle was perfectly content being pulled around in the wagon this year and has reaped the benefits of the other kids' hard work Trick-or-Treating!

Eating Smarties and various snacks along the way.

Maci (Pop Star), Paige (Princess), Payton (Robin), Kenzie (Mini Mouse), and Taylor (Batman).
These cuties went from house to house for the longest time.  There were a few tired legs on occasion that took a break in the wagon, but for the most part these kids had a blast and got quite a loot!

Batman and Robin (real buddies).

Examining their treasures from the night.

Now the challange of limiting their intake of sugar begins!!

One of the houses gave the kids the huge size candy bars and the kids thought they were in heaven!

Kids sure make our Holidays so much fun!  I love watching their reactions and seeing them have a good time!  We love them all so much!

Pumpkin Carving Contest

Last week we had a fun family night when we carved our Pumpkins.  The kids have really been looking forward to this, but lets be honest it can be a lot of work for parents.  It was well worth it though and this year we had a great time carving Pumpkins...it was probably my most memorable time with the kids carving thus far.  It was a pleasant and low key experience, it helps that the kids are becoming more helpful at carving.  Other years have been a little hectic with kids needing something every moment, but this year everyone really enjoyed themselves.  We put on a little Halloween music and looked through pictures of the types of Jack-O-Lantern each child wanted.  Then I tried my best to copy them freehand, while everyone else tried their best to cut it out (Mckay was there to assist and help with this process).  Payton and McKenzie were way more helpful and tried hard to do most of their own Jack-O-Lanterns with minimal assistance.  We gave the kids little tools for the task and they were entertained for a long time.   

Hard at work digging out those seeds to roast later (we love to eat Pumpkin seeds).

For the longest time Brielle was just observing the whole process.  Payton was not afraid to get a little messy.

McKenzie loves to help in the kitchen so she was right at home.  She didn't want to get too messy though!

Scooping out the guts.

Brielle was unsure but seemed to enjoy herself.

Taylor made me laugh.  He was so funny when he got even one small touch of mess on him he would take off to the bathroom to clean up without a word.  He did this several times throughout the night.  When Mckay would pretend to accidentally get him messy he would just climb off the stool and head back to the sink.  Taylor was pretty patient with his dad and eventually asked him nicely if he could please not put that stuff on him.  I thought he would dig right in but he must have thought it was pretty gross!  Once Mckay started cutting the face of Taylor's pumpkin, Taylor would try to put the eyes and pieces back in the pumpkin.  I think after he saw that the face was drawn on he didn't understand why we were cutting it out.  Then later when we lighted them up he understood and was fine with them being out again.

The kids with the Jack-O-Lanterns. 

The finished Jack-O-Lanterns. 

It was such a fun family night getting ready for Halloween!

We tried to make it a contest and have a vote on what Jack-O-Lantern we liked best.  All in all the kids liked all of the Pumpkins the same and for different reasons.  So we were ALL WINNERS!

After the pumpkins were finished we took them outside and Brielle just loved them.  She wanted to touch them and thought they were pretty cool.  She notices new decorations around the house and pays attention to detail.  I have a feeling she is just going to LOVE Christmas with all the lights and fun decorations!!

After that hard work it was time to celebrate with root beer floats!

It was a huge hit with the kids and a fun way to top off the evening.

Have a Spooky Smooky Halloween! 

(That is how our kids have been pronouncing it and Mckay likes it too much to correct them so it has stuck with the family.)