Happy Halloween!

My Aunt D did it again!  Aunt D has been making my kids' Halloween costumes since Mr. R was born.  She even made most of mine when I was little!  She does an amazing job but Mr. R has been really testing her abilities lately.  Last year he wanted to be a specific dragon from the movie How to Train Your Dragon.  They don't make a pattern for that!  This year he wanted to be a Skylander (character from a popular video game).  He asked to be Stump Smash, who is basically a large tree stump.  Again, they don't make a pattern for that.  When the costumes arrived the kids were ecstatic!  They all loved their costumes!  Well, maybe not all.  Hiccup was a little terrified of her tutu at first, but she got over it.

Hiccup went as a girly giraffe in honor of her BFF.  I needed something that would pack well since she would be trick-or-treating in Texas this year.  I ordered a giraffe print onesie and giraffe print leg warmers from Amazon.  Aunt D made her giraffe ears and my cousin E made her tutu.  She looked adorable!

My girly giraffe

Mr. R was thrilled with his Stump Smash costume.  Aunt D left the eyes, nose and mouth off because she was afraid of putting the eyes in the wrong place.  I had the fun job of attaching those.  In order to get his head to stay up we used a collapsible mesh bag over Mr. R's head.  To keep it from collapsing I put a small pillow inside.  To keep the pillow in place I pinned it to a baseball cap.  So inside his "head", Mr. R was wearing a baseball cap with a pillow pinned on top, with a mesh bag pinned to the pillow.  It was a very involved costume.  He loved it so that's all that counts.

The Skylander Stump Smash

Boo decided to be Merida from the movie Brave.  If you haven't seen the movie go out and buy it this week!  It's great!  Merida is a fiery, red-headed Scottish princess whose passion is archery.  For two weeks I've been struggling to keep the kids from breaking Boo's bow and arrows.  I don't care what happens to them after Halloween but before then they were off limits.  When I first put on Boo's wig she told me to fix it because it was "crazy".  After explaining that was how curly hair was she loved it.

Merida from Brave

Ready to trick-or-treat

Hiccup went to Texas with me so we took her to a local trunk-or-treat sponsored by a church.  There's not many opportunities to trick-or-treat out in the country!  Hiccup was mesmerized by all the kids in costumes.  She wasn't quite sure what to do once we started trick-or-treating but by the fourth car she had it figured out.  I had to carry her pumpkin bag but she would walk up the the person and peer into their candy bowl.  Her favorite candy are suckers so if someone gave her one she would immediately try to unwrap it so she could eat it.  At each car she would scope out the candy bowl looking for suckers.  Towards the end of the parking lot she got braver and actually handed back one man's bag of goldfish that he'd given her and tried to take a sucker instead.  Half way through the line she started telling people "thank you" to their face rather than turning her back and muttering it while hunched over her candy.  

It's an Aggie Halloween!

Enjoying her loot after a tough night of trick-or-treating

Halloween was great once again!  Mostly due to the kids' awesome costumes courtesy of Aunt D and cousin E.  Looking forward to next year!

Vacation Time!

It's that time of the year again!  It's time for the International Quilt Festival in Houston, Texas!  My mom and I started attending this annual event the first year I was married, so almost ten years ago!  We've been every year but two, once while I was in Japan and last year because we had just moved and I wasn't sure if Hubby would be home to stay with the kids.  A few years ago we invited my Aunt D to join us and now the three of us look forward to this trip all year.

This year I knew that Hubby would be gone but made arrangements ahead of time.  Last November (you have to make hotel reservations a year in advance) I asked my in-laws if they could come stay with the kids while I went to quilt festival.  They agreed, so this year they flew in the day before I flew out.  My in-laws will have their work cut out for them!  The kids are very busy with school and extracurricular activities, and on top of that they have Halloween to deal with!  I made them a daily checklist of the kids' schedules so they wouldn't forget anything and hung them in the kitchen.

Hiccup and I flew out first thing the morning of Halloween and arrived in Texas before lunch ready to begin a much needed vacation!

Having a Haunting Good Time

Mr. R's school hosted a Fall Festival, so we invited our neighbors to go with us.  The kids were looking forward to wearing costumes, playing games and visiting the Haunted Stage.  I had a super cute outfit picked out for Hiccup to wear (see below) but she had other ideas.  Notice the container of yogurt in her hand in the photo.  About 30 minutes after the photo was taken it was smeared all over her shirt and skirt.  She absolutely refused to sit in her highchair to eat it and wanted to sit at the kids' table.  I agreed, and she was doing fine until I look over and see that she had followed the kids into the kitchen.  Problem was she brought the yogurt with her and was continuing to eat it while walking aimlessly around the house.  I tried to get her to wear Boo's old cat costume, but she quickly figured out how to take it off and wouldn't leave it on for more than a few seconds.  So Hiccup went to the festival dressed as a hard-headed, stubborn toddler.  Nothing new there… Mr. R and Boo wore their costumes from last Halloween.  Mr. R wasn't allowed to wear a face mask so he couldn't wear his new costume.  I didn't trust Boo to not mess up her new costume so she was Rapunzel once again.

Being silly 

Obligatory picture before the fall festival

The festival was a ton of fun!  There were lots of easy little games set up in the gym for the kids to play.  Each kid got a prize from every game.  I was pretty surprised at the prizes they were giving out.  I thought it'd be a piece of cheap candy or a cheap toy that you question the lead content of, but they got some good prizes.  It was pretty crowded but we didn't have to wait very long in line for the games.  The longest wait was for the Haunted Stage.  I took all the kids through while my neighbor took Hiccup and bought some snacks for everyone.  I was very impressed with the Haunted Stage.  They really went all out for it.  Hiccup and my neighbor's younger son were a little nervous about going in it but we had nothing to worry about.  Some middle school kids were acting as our guide through the stage and before they took us in they asked if we wanted to be be scared or not.  I said no because the last thing I need is for the kids to be waking up with nightmares.  Our guide walked in front of us and let the actors know not to scare us.  Even with the actors not moving I practically had to drag the younger two through the stage.  Of course the older two kids thought it wasn't scary at all, cool, but not scary.

Playing the pumpkin number game

Coloring Boo's hair pink

Coloring Mr. R's hair green

Showing off their awesome hair

Once in the cafeteria the kids enjoyed popcorn and snow cones.  Then the kids participated in the cupcake walk.  After all the kids had finished eating their cupcakes, we headed back to the gym for a few more games.  By that time the crowd had died down and we were able to hit quite a few with no wait.  We left just as they were getting ready to do the costume contest.  It was past the kids' bedtime and we were all ready to call it a night.  We all agreed we can't wait to go back again next year!

Obligatory family photo

It's Time for a Field Trip!

Boo's preschool has a field trip in the fall and this year they went to a local farm just down the road that has a pumpkin patch.  Boo was really excited to go, especially since we drive past the farm every day on our way home from her preschool.  When everyone arrived, the kids had the opportunity to play on the farm's playground which had a pirate ship, a playhouse, an old tractor, and bounce houses.  Every child's dream come true!  After some play time we loaded up for a hay ride to the pumpkin patch.

Enjoying the hay ride

At the pumpkin patch

Me and the girls

Trying to decide on a pumpkin

At the pumpkin patch area there was a bounce house, teepees, hay bale slides, and of course pumpkins.  The kids had a little bit of time to play before picking out their pumpkins and the returning hay ride.  I paid extra for Hiccup to pick a pumpkin.  She had orders from Mr. R to bring him back a good one.  I had Hiccup in the Ergo carrier on my back the entire time except when we were picking out pumpkins. I wanted a few pictures of her while we were there.  After a few photos it was back in the carrier.  Mean mommy, I know!  Once we were back at the main farm area the kids had a picnic lunch and more bounce house time.  When it was time to go I loaded up four kids (they just multiple don't they!) and drove back to the preschool.  There was science class that day after school so I had to take Boo, and two of her friends, back for class.  Everyone had such a great time at the farm and it was such a nice day to be outside.

Catch Up and Other Randomness

October is our crazy month around here and I haven't had a lot of time for blogging. Our calendar looks like a crazy rainbow (everyone is assigned a different color) and is jammed packed.  So that means it's time for a bit of random catch up.  Mostly with photos and videos.

Hiccup and I have started taking Stroller Strides classes and on Friday's they are held on the boardwalk here.  Hiccup seems to tolerate the classes as long as she can get out and run at the end.

We've been having cooler weather off and on and Boo has been dying to wear her Princess sweatsuit.  Even though the day she wanted to wear it was a warm one, she found a way to keep cool, in our neighbor's sprinkler.  I didn't notice her until it was to late.  She saw nothing wrong with the situation.  After all, we let her run through the sprinkler in the summer.

Shortly after school started Boo came home with this feelings activity.  Notice what makes her mad in the bottom left corner.

Nice.  That's me, mean Mommy.  Mr. R came home with this heartbreaking assignment.

It's a little hard to read because his handwriting skills need a lot of work.  The assignment is to write about a time that you were sad.  Mr. R wrote (yes, I am completely correctly his spelling here), "I was sad when my Daddy left." Wipe tear from eye and give lots of hugs.

I got the chance to eat lunch at school with Mr. R one day this week and he thought I was absolutely awesome!  I wish I could say the same about the food.

Hiccup has been busy as well, mostly making mischief but helping out as well. In this video she snuck upstairs while we were getting everyone's shoes on so we could leave for school.  She has an addiction with the kids' toothpaste bottle and ran upstairs to get in.  She then displayed her newest talent of coming back down the stairs.

Here she's the helping out with Mr. R's chores.  She loves to help unload the dishwasher.

A Milk Explosion

My kids will never be allowed to get milk from McDonald's again.  I will always have the bitter memory of chocolate milk exploding in my van and a smell worse than death (trust me, I know) as a result.  For those of you like me who don't keep your vehicles spotless and let your kids eat on the road, let this be a cautionary tale.  

On the way home from the Children's Festival I drove through the McDonald's drive-through.  The kids always get chocolate milk with their Happy Meals but I forgot to open Boo's before passing it back to her.  She's not able to open it on her own so she left it in her cup holder in the back of the van.  When we got home the kids brought their trash inside but Boo forgot her milk.  The next morning when we went to church Boo brought the milk to my attention.  I told her to give it to me and I'd throw it away when we got home.  I placed it in the cup holder in the front and proceeded to forget about it.  Big mistake!  I parked in the garage because it was raining when we got home and never threw away the milk.  

Monday morning rolls around and Mr. R went to get the stroller out of the back of the van on our way to the bus stop.  There was a HORRIBLE smell emitting from van.  I seriously thought an animal had somehow got inside and died.  I looked everywhere in the back and didn't see anything.  When I walked to the front I found this: 

The unopened container of chocolate milk had exploded sometime during the night.  It wasn't even hot.   I attempted to clean the milk off of the seats and dashboard but failed miserably.  As I was attempting to clean the steering wheel I noticed that the direction of the milk spatter didn't look right.  It was in the wrong direction for where the container was sitting.  That caused me to look up and I (unfortunately) found the point of impact.

I called a mobile detailing company who said that they could come out the same day.  Unfortunately they had to reschedule twice because of rain.  On Wednesday they arrived a little after 3pm and stayed until 6:45pm.  I felt bad for them.  The van didn't smell near as bad as it did on Monday or Tuesday but it was still bad.  Plus they had to actually clean the light fixture because I didn't even attempt to clean it.

Light fixture just before cleaning

After

No more milk!

Spotless and shiny again!

They did an incredible job!  Completely worth the money especially since I didn't have to drive anywhere and wait with the kids.  They even got rid of the smell.  The kids have all been told now that they are not allowed any food except in certain instances and they must pick up all trash every time they  get out. And the next time we go to McDonald's they can get Sprites.

Because it was apparently the unluckiest week of my life so far, I woke up Thursday morning to find the van wouldn't start.  All the lights would come on but the battery wouldn't turn over.  I had a check engine light and some other light that I had no idea what it meant come on.  When I called Hubby to tell him what was going on I got the warm and fuzzy response of "Oh, that sucks."  Yes, Captain Obvious it does suck.  After a brief "why me?" moment where I controlled my desire to scream and pull my hair out I called AAA.  They sent a truck out to try and jump start the van.  Half an hour later the van was running and diagnostics were being run.  Apparently the battery had a bad cell in it.  The nice man from AAA said that it was more than likely the combo of it being the original battery, the cooler weather, and the doors being open for so long while it was being detailed the day before.  He kindly offered to replace my battery for me and I gladly accepted.  The van was soon as good as new.  Me, not so much. I spent the rest of the week waiting for something else to go wrong.  Thankfully nothing else did.  However, I should have known to expect vehicle trouble.  Every time Hubby leaves something happens to our van.  Fingers crossed the worst is over!

Children's Festival

Last year we went to the local Children's Festival and had a ton of fun.  When I saw this year's festival advertised, I just knew we'd have to go again.  You pay an entrance fee of $6 and all the activities are free.  This year there was even more to do and we made sure to get there early so we could fit in all the activities before the booths ran out of supplies.  The kids had their faces painted, painted ceramic pumpkin ornaments, built toolboxes with Home Depot, enjoyed watching science experiments, dug for fossils, received display cell phones from AT&T (HUGE hit with the kids), played an Angry Bird game, tried out various string instruments, and countless other activities.  

Painting their pumpkin ornaments

Hard at work on his toolbox

Concentrating on her hammering skills

"Talking" to Daddy on their new phones

Even Hiccup received her own phone

The local symphony had a tent set up and were letting the kids try out the various instruments.  Mr. R really wanted to give the violin a try and the woman there helped the kids play "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star."  After trying out several instruments Mr. R wanted to know how old he has to be to take violin lessons.    I was kind of surprised to hear that.  Maybe after he's done with karate we'll put him in some lessons.

Trying out the bass

Trying out the cello

We left around lunchtime just as the festival was starting to get crowded.  The kids are already talking about going back next year.  Hopefully Hubby will be able to go with us for once.  Then maybe Hiccup can explore the large toddler-only area they have instead of sitting patiently in the stroller the whole time.

Posing on the anchor

Story Time

Our local library offers story time once a week like most libraries.  However, you must preregister for the sessions.  Each session is six weeks long and is age specific.  The day registration opens is pure chaos.  You either stand in line at the library waiting for them to open or you sit at home and hit redial over and over again until you get through.  It's very competitive and stressful.  This is my third time registering for story time.  The first two sessions were for Boo so we did the 3 year-old story time.  Now that Boo is in school everyday it was Hiccup's turn for her age group.  For the one year-olds they bring out a basket of board books for the kids to pick from and the parents read, or attempt to read, to their own kid.  Hiccup decided to read on her own.

We sang songs, read books, learned baby sign language, and danced.  However, the highlight of the story hour was the bubbles. The kids went crazy for them.  Hiccup had a much more lady-like approach to them.  While all the other kids ran and jumped or screamed, she would calmly stand there and watch the bubbles float lazily in the air.  If a bubble happened to make it's way to her location she would gently reach a hand out and try to touch it.  After bubble time was over, Hiccup happily clapped her hands and patiently waited in line to receive a sticker from the librarian.  Story time was a success this week!  Hopefully the rest of the session goes as well.

The Black Eye

Do you ever have those times when you'll pretty much pretend that you aren't aware of your kids doing something you wouldn't normally let them do, just so you can get something done, like the dishes?  Well it seems like I have those moments more and more the longer Hubby is gone.  Last weekend was one of those moments.  I had a sink full of dirty dishes that all needed to be hand washed, so while Hiccup napped and the other two supposedly watched TV in my room, I washed dishes.  I say supposedly because I knew perfectly well that what they were really doing was jumping on my bed.  I know I should have stopped them but in my defense they were playing quietly and most importantly together.  I even told them to be careful.  Two minutes later blood curdling screaming erupted from my room.  Mr. R ran out of the room holding his eye screaming about how his eye was poked out.  Boo ran out screaming holding her head.  No one wanted to tell me what happened.  I finally pried it out  of them that they bumped heads, while watching TV of course.  When Mr. R finally let me look at his eye it appeared like he'd have a little bruising under the eye but that the majority of the damage had been done to his cheekbone.  Ice was applied and pictures to send to Hubby were taken.  Pictures did not do his injury justice.  He developed a black eye after all.  The bruise to his cheekbone was nothing compared to his poor eye.  Monday morning I had to send my child to school with a nasty looking black eye and his face swollen.  Seriously, the pictures make it look good.  He was quite excited to get to go to school and tell everyone he had a black eye.  I expected a phone call from the school it looked so bad.  Thankfully I didn't get one.  For the rest of the week Mr. R had everyone who saw him react with first a gasp and then an inquiry into what happened.

Day of the accident

The next morning

Day 3

Now that it's been over a week his eye has only the faintest yellow bruising.  Thank goodness it wasn't picture week at school.  Who knew "watching TV" could be so dangerous?  Lesson learned.

When the Cat's Away…Hiccup Will Play

Hiccup likes to take advantage of the time when her big brother and sister are at school.  She adores playing outside, but I think when she's alone is when she enjoys it the most.  She has free pick of the toys and I don't mind as much if she throws the ball into the street (we live on a court so there's not constant traffic).  When her siblings are home and outside, there are bikes whizzing by and more times than not the neighbor's boys are out playing too.  That's a lot of "big" kids for her to dodge and have to share with.  And I do mean Hiccup having to share.  She takes what she wants from whoever she wants, my kids or the neighbor's boys.  Sometimes I think she barely tolerates watching them play with her push car.  But when everyone's at school it's a whole different story.  Hiccups get a huge grin on her face, asks for the garage door to be opened, wants me to put on her big sister's sunglasses, and heads outside to play to her heart's content.