Before She Turns Four

In case you are wondering where I've been since Halloween night...no, I'm not in a candy induced coma {we left all that for the Switch Witch-love her!}.  Actually, I'm up to my eyeballs with my last minute to do list for Maggie's birthday celebration.

My sweet, precious, and first born baby girl is turning four.  How could this be happening?  What's left to do, but celebrate?...and get to work.

I imagine I'll be back sometime post party.  Prepare for some colorful fun.

Halloween Evening

I have to be honest here, I was a little worried about how this evening was going to pan out.  Between Maggie's party pouting and Lucy's nonstop clinging I wasn't expecting the best.  

But, somehow it turned out amazing.  I think quite possibly one of my favorite Halloween nights to date.  

For starters, post nap Maggie shed her grumpella attitude and was all smiles and then some.  And little Lu finally got a proper diagnosis from Mommy.  After bouts of Vick's vapor rub, a humidifier, and nose suctioning, I realized it was actually just a new tooth troubling my littlest.  Yes, I swear she is my third child, and I swear I know what I am doing.  Geez, that was a pretty bad Mommy foe pa.  At least I wasn't drugging her up with cold meds...just yet anyway.  So once we worked through that {i.e Motrin and teething tablets}, Lu was ready to celebrate.

I'd like to consider this her 1st Real Halloween.  A Halloween tee and stroller last year don't really count.  I would assume you agree.  

So I present to you Lulu in a Tutu...

And yes, that is my baby girl walking...solo.  She's been up to it for about a month now, but she is taking it nice and slow on the progress.  I'm not sure when I should make the big "Lucy is walking" announcement.  {In case you are wondering, this isn't it...that's a whole other post in itself}

And although the Motrin hadn't quite kicked in to it's fullest, Lucy was enjoying some lessons on how to be a proper Mermaid from her big sister, Maggie.

All the while, Batman was up to that whole protecting the Gotham Cottage again.  This time in full garb.  Fierce isn't he?...if you don't count the Crocs that he insisted on.

Like I said, the Motrin hadn't taken its full effect yet.  But, also like said, duh teeth, not a cold.  And this is why we take very imperfect family pictures and post them.  Because, I have learned there is no such thing as a perfect day, but I still want to remember every last minute of them.

After neighborhood party hopping, we hit the streets for treats!  This is the view I had for Trick or Treating.  Just try to tell me you are not jealous?

And because every first Trick or Treating experience must be documented...here is Lovely Lu's.  And let me just tell you this...she LOVED it.  I know because every house we passed, she "mmmm"ed, "uh uh uh"ed, and excitedly pointed.  She threw in a couple "more" baby sign language moves in there too.

The other fabulous part was Mermaid Maggie waiting in the wings with Lucy's bag.  Maggie talked her little sister through the whole process and had her bag waiting for her.  Melt my heart you sweet little mermaids.  I think these two are going to be great gal pals.

And then we were off.  I took Lucy to a handful more houses and then returned home.  Daddy stayed with the bigs.

And now it gets even better.  Just when I thought the cutest part of the night had happened {Lu trick or treating}, my girls surprised me again.  Lucy and I made it home first to pass out candy.  Never did I imagine how much she would adore this task.

If you came to our house, Lulu greeted you with a "hiiiiiiii".  Then she put candy in your bag {what she hadn't thrown all over the porch}, and if you were really lucky, you got a wave "bye" and kisses blown to you.

Yes, I told you, it got even better.

And then Maggie showed up.  Oh, and believe it or not, at that moment better turned into the BEST.

This is the first year Maggie has helped pass out candy.  And to be honest, I think she may never Trick or Treat again...she loved it that much.  I'm pretty sure it had something to do with everyone oohing and ahhhing over her undeniable preciousness.  My Maggie, who has never turned down a compliment, batted her eyes, gave her sweet grin, and said, "tank you", at least 493 times Halloween night.

And then she put 4 {which she counted very carefully} pieces of candy into each bag.

And look at this handsome hero who showed up at our door, but not for long.  He and Daddy were off again for another block of saving the city one piece of candy at a time.

As the crowds slowed down, Maggie sat very patiently waiting for more costumed kiddos.  It was finally 8:00 when I had her turn in for the evening.  And what an evening it was.

My best moments of Halloween night were spent right there on that porch with my girls.  Thankfully they aren't big enough {yet} to run off and leave me like big brother.  That day will come, I'm sure.  But until then, this was definitely one of my happiest Halloweens ever.

Happy Halloween!  Hope yours was full of sweet memories and treats, just like mine.

Halloween Morn

For the first time ever {I think}, October 31st is coming in a two part post.  I started my day party {which also means school} hopping for spooky day celebrations.  It made for a hauntingly long Halloween.  My, how I will enjoy two years down the road when Halloween falls on a Saturday.  

But, until then, this year I lucked out with Jack and Maggie's parties not overlapping.  As a matter of fact, they were perfectly spaced with a 30 minute gap in between for travel time.  That was a huge score for me.

My first stop was Jack's Kindergarten room.  Ms.S had fabulously educational themed centers for the kids.  Their pumpkin passports were in hand and they were busy little ghouls.  Instead of manning a center, I got the honor of being party photographer.  Hmmm...where did Ms.S get that idea?  Guess I've shown up one too many times with a lens shoved in Jack's precious little face.  I think I'm becoming known as "Jack's Mom with the camera" among the K kids.

Jack was all smiles.  Thank goodness. {and I note that for a reason to come}.

I especially loved watching him intently concentrating on his scary story.  It starts with a boy entering a spooky house.  Then he hears a loud noise...I'm on the edge of my seat, how about you?

Next up was Mermaid Maggie's  party.  I was really looking forward to joining her.  And thought she was too.  Apparently not...

And that is about all I can show you from that pout fest celebration.  Don't ask me.  I'm still trying to figure it out myself.  All I can tell you is, I walked in the classroom door and it was all over.  The rest of the party, Maggie sat on the carpet with her head hung low, not participating, and not speaking...only pouting. And when it turned into crying, we packed up and left.

She can't explain it and I surely can't either.  So, I gave her a big hug, told her we would try to have fun next time and sent her little mermaid tail up to her room for a nice nap.

And then it was Halloween night...

Carving Pumpkins and Time

We finally carved our pumpkins this afternoon.

When did our lives become so busy that I actually had to "carve" out time on the calendar for this staple Halloween activity?  Between soccer practice, tennis, homework, school projects {for both bigs!}, and everything else that seems to consume our days, I actually had to schedule this in.  Geez.  Time to reevaluate.  Nothing like a Jack-O-Lantern to make you realize that.

But, I can proudly say our front porch is Halloween ready.

This year we took a different approach. While at CVS this week, picking up a humidifier for our still sick Lucy {yes, bummer, I know}, Maggie and I spotted a pumpkin carving kit book.  I was up for something new and Mags was really up for the cat design.

So on this beautifully sunny afternoon, we hit the lawn with our nifty CVS book, two pumpkins, and a few other needed supplies.

As always, the kids promise they are going to help me out with all of the pumpkin gunk.  And in their own ways they did.  Maggie did one scoop before declaring that she didn't, "want to get dirty".  From then on she suggested I scoop it out, transfer it to her spoon and she would sling it in the trash.  So we did.

Lucy tried her hardest to get right in the middle of it all, utensils and all.  Unfortunately, she had a lot of effort, but little success.  It sure was cute to watch though.

And Jack did his fair share of scooping and...get ready for this...taste testing.  Yes, that is raw pumpkin pulp on his chin. And wouldn't you think that after trying it once and realizing you didn't care for it, you would stop.  No, instead he tried the wall of the pumpkin, then the seeds, and then part of the stem.  {I promise he's not as odd as I'm making him sound...I like to call it curious}

After pulp scooping, it was time to carve.  Our book came with these crafty stencils, a wax crayon, and a kid friendly carving tool {that actually worked}.  Maggie chose the cat, as we all knew she would.

And Jack, of course, chose the most complex creepy looking creature of all, just as I knew he would.  It took fooooreevvver and it was impossible to cut, chop and carve all those details.  But, I let him try...and that he intently did.

While Jack sorted out the details of his pumpkin, Maggie branded hers.  My Magpie is very obsessed with writing her name at this stage in her precious 3 year old life.  You can bank on finding it written on every piece of paper in our home.  And now happily, it's on our pumpkins too.

With a bit of carved out time and pumpkins, I had a very special afternoon with my kiddos and I know they did too {they even told me so}.  So, with that being said,  this is what we have to show for it {the smiles are my favorite part}...

{I'm not so sure if that is exactly what that thing is supposed to look like, but it's close. And more importantly, Jack is happy.}

Happy Halloween Eve!