Monday, November 5, 2012

Halloween

The kids decided on a Harry Potter theme this year.  Carter was Harry, Gavin was Ron and Jemma was Hermione.  Cute little Hogwarts students, huh.  :)
Here they are before the ward Trunk-or-Treat

And here they are at the Trunk-or-Treat.  Gavin kept putting his bag on his head...I kinda looks like Frankenstein. ;)

We carved pumpkins for Family Home Evening the Monday before Halloween.  Brandon informed me that no one looks very good in this photo, and he's right, but this is the ONLY picture I have been in since we moved to Georgia.  I just wanted you all to know that I am still a member of this family.  

We had a spiderweb dip with chips for dinner before Trick-or-Treating on Halloween.  I know it doesn't sound like much of a dinner, but my kids LOVE 7 layer dip and I wanted them FULL before they went off to collect MORE candy.

Ready to Trick-or-Treat.  
(Gavin would not cooperate with me, so I didn't get a picture of him alone.)  Another side note, we are quite aware that Harry's glasses were not taped together on the side, nor did they use duck tape.  Those glasses really were broken...five minutes after we got them they were broken and I was not going to try to find another pair.  

Some friends from church came over and joined Brandon and the kids trick-or-treating in our neighborhood.  They were gone for a little over an hour and I sat in utter silence at home (aside from the occasional trick-or-treater) and it was complete bliss.  I think we could make that a Halloween tradition.  :)
Left to right, back to front: Brad and Brandon in their awesome bird hats, Aubrey, Jemma, Courtney, Carter and Gavin.

When they got back, I met everyone at the door, but quickly noticed Gavin was missing.  After a brief look around, we found him in the dining room, sitting on the floor surrounded by his loot.  He wasted NO time digging into his treats.
These kids got more candy than we will probably EVER eat.  They're wittlin' away at it...(And I am not opposed to sneaking a piece of chocolate or two from their bags daily.)  :)

Speed Entry #2

I am ready to get up-to-date.  So, here goes:
the seasons are finally changing and the lawn mowing is tapering off...I still had to throw this picture in cuz Gavin LOVES when Brandon mows the lawn.

The boys ventured out in the sprinklers one morning after Jem had already gone to school.  It was still relatively humid then and the water felt REALLY GOOD.  I was even in it.  :) 

Gavin has been attempting to potty train himself.  No, I didn't phrase that wrong.  I have been doing very little to encourage him to use the toilet.  I am just not ready for all the wet/poopy underwear/pants/floors/etc. He, however thinks he's just as big as Jemma and Carter and wants to use the potty AND wipe himself.  Very. Messy.  I'm sure I should be encouraging him and just goin' for it full-throttle.  I just can't seem to get motivated...maybe next week.  ;)

And, the boys continue to use our bed as bouncy house.  Who cares if there's a trampoline in the backyard...

Bad parenting moment...Gavin took a razor to his head in the shower.  Luckily, he did not draw blood; he just ended up with a SUPER SHORT hair cut afterwards.  (Don't worry, we have since remembered to remove the razor if he decides he wants a shower instead of a bath.)

Brandon was gone to Ohio for a week for some training.  We all missed him, and this pictures pretty much sums up how we all felt when he got back!  :)


The kids were off of school for a week for Fall Break and we stayed BUSY.  One of our outings was to a cute little nature preserve.  I don't know why I didn't take pictures of animals, but here is the best I got of the three together...WHY WON'T JEMMA LOOK AT THE CAMERA!!!
l

 Jemma's school did a book character parade last month.  Very cute.  

We visited the Georgia State Fair...very impressive.  We only went on two rides (cuz they are CRAZY EXPENSIVE), but thoroughly enjoyed the exotic animal petting zoo, complete with a giraffe named Melman, and the racing pigs.  SOOOO cute!
The base also hosted a family fun day of sorts so we hit that up and the kids played on bouncy houses, ate icees and went home exhausted.  

 Carter's school had a fall festival the week before Halloween.  They went on a hayride, shucked corn, had their faces painted, tasted pumpkin muffins and picked out a pumpkin to take home.  
This is Carter with his sweet friend, Kylie.
I'm sure I'm leaving something out...I'll put it in the next post if I come across anything.  :)