Halloween. Such a treat, don’t you think? The ability to dress up, disguise oneself, and prance around in a jovial state all in the name of...candy. Glorious candy. Gobs and gobs of candy. We had 9 adults and 13 kids gather at our house to celebrate together. Boy, I really love getting together with people I LIKE. Funny people. Carefree people. Supportive people. It was a good time.

Sophie was a chicken (*BAWK BAWK*)

Emma was a princess butterfly

Ethan was Ben 10.

We had a shark, a fish, a Nemo, a transformer, a cheerleader, double trouble, Captain Feathersword, and even Harry Potter, himself, join in the fun of trick-or-treating that night.

These girls love each other. They will be friends for life.

Aidan. cutest shark ever. or dolphin, depending on your prescription.

Our neighborhood doesn’t have sidewalks or street lights. We don’t have speed bumps or anything to help with child safety on this crazy holiday. BUT, we did have yours truly that was more than happy and vocal about yelling at the speeding cars traveling through our neighborhood to dodge traffic on the busier surrounding major roads. If only there were more me’s on every street. What neighborhood doesn’t have sidewalks and street lights? Man. First time buyers learn a lot of lessons through that big purchase. I know I have.

Saturday we had a bit more of a relaxing day. The girls played out in the leaves. College football was on the big screen. Grandpa was over for a visit. And the coffee was enjoyed all morning long. After the girls’ naps it was time to pack up the kids to a trip to Grandma’s so Mom and Dad could have a date night. First date night in months. Wow. I missed date night. In fact, I didn’t realize how MUCH I had missed it. I will always be a mom first in life. But it is so nice to be a wife sometimes too. (Separately from Mommy time, of course.)

Sunday Chris and I slept in, watched a movie (Leatherheads) in bed (uninterrupted!), and enjoyed our coffee before picking up the kids. After retrieving our bloodline we went to a park downtown and then to Carl’s ice cream (because they close for the winter in exactly 20 days from today)… heaven on earth.

Daylight savings time made for an early night last night…which I welcomed with open arms. It felt soooo good. Of course, it led itself to an early morning today, but that was ok. I had coffee with my 4 year old. Of course, she only drank Sunny D, but it was awfully nice to have that moment with her first thing this morning. After all, only 23 more days until she turns 5. These are days I will never get back. That’s why it’s important to live ‘em up while you can, which is what I fully intend on doing.

sophie. at the park. in the sunshine.

emma. after her hike up the big hill.

ethan. making his mom happy by smiling for the camera.

sophie. wanting to get on the merry-go-round with the big kids. not. going. to. happen.

carl's. before the 2008 season ends.

my boy.

quite the pair.

loving life.

not loving life. daddy's clean-up duty cleaned up too much.

emma definitely has learned that it's best to learn how to do clean-up duty on your own.

more for you.

all is right in the world again.

sophie's lil chucks. her favorite possession of late. can you blame her?

happy day

this is emma.

she is four and a half.

it's not often i get to spend one on one time with my chillens. i don't really count scrubbing their lil bodies in the tub or their teeth at the sink as real quality time. so when i get an opportunity...a R-E-A-L opportunity, i take it.

fall festival.

emma paige. isn't she a doll?

man, if only we weren't strapped on time, it would've been picture perfect. as a middle child i KNOW what it's like to be forgotten. or i know what it feels like to seem forgotten. i'm trying so hard not to let that happen with my 4 year old. it doesn't help that she naturally was born with a middle child's personality, even though when she was born, she was obviously not the middle child. boy do i love her. and boy do we butt heads. do you know she is more like me than we'll ever fully realize? that scares me. because when two people are so alike in very strong and independent ways, it can be awful frightening at times. but i digress, because this is about our happy day. and it was happy.

we went with her friend noah. noah is awfully handsome. he just doesn't know it yet. he's a bit of a shy guy, of sorts.

noah. awfully cute, right?

whatever she wanted to do, she didn't have to ask for. if she wanted to play on the hay for the entire time, that was A-ok by me. if she didn't want to go to the haunted house, fine. more time to watch her laugh. if she wanted cotton candy, cookies, and candy corn...have at it. it was her day and BOY did she feel it. that made for happiness all around.

oh happy day. i love a happy ending.