Halloween 2014

I edited some but not all of these pics because that’s how I roll.

One of our favorite fall traditions is to spend Halloween evening at Mamma and Pop’s house.  This year, Matt’s niece and her husband were in town visiting, so that was an extra bonus! (Sadly, I have no photographic evidence of this at all.  Bad mommy blogger.)

After dinner we got the kiddos all dressed and outside for a little photo op.

Here you can see James is worried about Thomas eating acorns.

Here you can see Matt fishing acorns out of Michael’s mouth.  Ha!

The money shot of the evening:

I decided at the last minute to accompany the kiddos as the wicked witch.

Michael as the Tin Man:

James as The Scarecrow:

Thomas as The Cowardly Lion:

Natalie as Glinda the Good Witch:

And Joanna as Dorothy.  Excuse the hat.  :)

Natalie and I had a little fun.

Are you a good witch or a bad witch?

We just couldn’t quite pull together a costume for Matt (but next year…), so here we are minus the Wizard.  :)

James cracks me up.  He’s sitting on Mamma and Pop’s hedges, waiting for the action.

We traipsed up and down the street, then the babies and I went inside for a snack while the big kids hit one more cul-du-sac.

It was pretty fun to see people’s faces as they put it together who we were.  So fun!

I’m loving the family themed costume – we’ll see how long they let us do it to them.  :)  I’ve already got some ideas brewing for next year!

Trunk or Treat and Fiesta on the Foundation

The Sunday before Halloween was Trunk or Treat at the church, followed by dinner on the foundation of our new building!

The big three:

The whole brood --

It was kinda hot.  Poor warm lion.

Without his hat, I thought Michael looked like a knight.

The girls:

The boys:

Look at those red cheeks!

After this picture, we stripped the babies down a bit, and Natalie and James took off their headwear.

We discovered there were games inside – A/C!!

I sat down and nursed the babes.

James discovered there was chocolate (and lots of it!) in his bag.

He’s saying “chocolate!!!”

After the games and finding friends to visit with, we went back to the car to change the kiddos out of their costumes.  Or as someone said, “Go back to Kansas.”  I thought that was pretty clever.  :)

By the time we got to the foundation, the tables were absolutely full.

It really worked out well though, because it would have been overwhelming to try and sit with our crew in that crowd.  There was a ton of empty space, and we just sat down to picnic with a couple of our favorite families.

Thomas reeeeeeally wanted down to play, and he ended up covered in cement dust.

Here’s his hand print on my jeans – ha!

I thought it was a pretty cool idea to fellowship on the foundation of our new building.  We also got to use silver sharpies to sign the beams.  I like that those prayers, words, and signatures will always be a part of the building.  And somebody let me know that my butt was sitting in the prayer chapel.  How nice.  :)

The Fourth of July!

First and foremost, I got everyone dressed in their red, white, and blue duds.  :)  The babies had these cute matching outfits, but they’re size 3-6 months.  I had to tuck the onesie flaps into the shorts without snapping them.  :)  It’s okay though, because they’re adorable.  I made everyone pose for me.

Then Gran and Grandpa David grabbed the big three and took them to watch the local parade.  I stayed home with a couple of napping babies.

I don’t think they missed me.  :)

Matt made it home from work by about 3:00, and we got ready to go to Grandma’s house.

I had to take a picture of Joanna in her blue and white while holding a red chicken.  Very patriotic!

First up the bigs had to help Uncle Steve crank the homemade ice cream!

And of course we had to have a cousins’ first Independence Day shot.  That’s Michael, Thomas, and Drew from left to right.

Joanna and Drew must have called each other – they were matching!

Aunt Gail made a red, white, and blue cake.  James is still talking about it.  :)

At some point the babies were grouchy, so I let Gran put the “easy” one to sleep.  Then she joined Mr. Michael for a little snooze.

I put Thomas in the Ergo and commenced a lot of bouncing and swaying.  Eventually he crashed!

After they woke up and had some dinner, we headed home to put everyone to bed.  The big three were going to watch fireworks with Gran and Grandpa David, so they got to keep their clothes on.  I made them go “rest” in their beds though.  I was pretty sure this would happen:

(Side note: I opened the window blinds, but it wasn’t quite enough light, so I shined my iPod on them as well.)

This kid was HARD to wake up. I gathered him in my arms and sat him up in my lap.  Then he grabbed the bottom of my shirt and tried to use it as a blanket.  Ha! 

Finally, I woke him up and got everyone loaded in the van. 

Mom sent me a couple of pictures of their firework watching.

She said Natalie wouldn’t get out of her lap.  :)

I love this one of Joanna with the fireworks in the background.

Maybe next year I’ll beg/borrow/steal a nice long lens and take some firework pictures.

I may have said that last year too.  :)

The kiddos had a wonderful time and seem to have recovered okay from staying up so late!!