To come up with a game that entertains everyone and involves nothing but his own brute strength. Perfect Saturday afternoon fun. (Although he was so worn out afterward he needed a nap…)
What my Dad wanted to do for his birthday was to take everyone out for Kong Cones at Macey's. He is hilarious. Also, he is pretty stinkin' awesome. Love you, Dad!
PS, I ate the WHOLE thing. So did Zach. Emma gave up. Carter is still working on his. :)
Honestly, it is nearly impossible to get everyone to look at the same time! In light of that, I asked each of them to "pose like _____" of whatever they were… and I loved their interpretations of them.
Mike Trout (Angels Baseball Player) USA Gymnast
Firefighter "Baby Bumblebee"
(For the record, Meg was an alligator all afternoon until she got too hot and took her costume off; Nate came home and asked her what she was going to be, and interpreted her 18 month "alligator" as "bumblebee". She has a picnic basket that sings the "baby bumblebee" song… well, you see how that ended up.)
The Negotiations. (Zach, our chocolate lover, really cleans up at this part – he is getting the other kids to trade him smarties for Reeses!)
Meg and I both thoroughly enjoyed being able to comfortably wear our sandals trick or treating on this beautiful 60* night!
With a capital "P". Having never been to one before, I had no idea what I was in for.
– More cars at the school (and parked on the streets in all the adjoining neighborhoods for blocks and blocks) than I could have possibly imagined.
– People showing up to get seats before they dropped their kids off at school (half an hour before the thing started… and yes, showing up a mere 5 minutes early landed us a spot in the hallway!)
– The parade finally coming to the places where the people were watching more than 45 minutes after the designated start time. Yes, thank goodness for Grandma Adams' phone, and the fact that Meg loved tearing up and down the ramp in the hallway. (we would have never survived a seat.)
It was all worth it, however – so fun to see Emma loving being a part of the parade, and Zach walking through with characteristic 4th grade half-embarrasment at being part of such a thing (especially since apparently noone else was "carrying things" and so he didn't want to carry his mitt… but then didn't know quite what to do with his hands, so walked the entire time with his arms folded. :) On top of all of it – Nate was able to sneak away from work and come. The kids were absolutely thrilled to see him!
AND, Grandma took the littles home while I helped at Emma's class party reading Halloween books. So fun!
Yeah, I know, they are usually blurry but they are memories!
"Hey mom! Look how straight I combed my hair!"
She still sometimes sleeps just like she did when she was a tiny baby, with her arms up above her head.
I had a lemon out while I was cooking and Meg kept sucking on the leftover half… she made some funny faces, but wouldn't let me take it away, funny girl!
And, Emma at her fall open house at school – it was fun to see her "Hogle Zoo" in the class's "Tiny Town" and see all the work she'd done so far this year!
Zach was extra brave this year about gutting the pumpkin:
Emma enjoyed giving the Godfrey's Halloween FHE lesson, but made some pretty funny faces cleaning out her pumpkin:
Everyone (especially Carter) was really excited I had found the pumpkin carving kit we have owned for 3 years and have never been able to locate the night of the carving, so that he could saw away at his own!
And Meg didn't end up being upset that the stem broke off her pumpkin, since it meant she could sit on it all during FHE… most reverent she's ever been!
Halloween – we're ready for you!
Trying to self-evaluate, I asked Carter over lunch that if someone asked him if his mom was doing a good job, what would he say? Choices: A really good job, a pretty good job, a kind of good job, a kind of bad job, or a really bad job.
He quickly answered, "A really bad job."
Me: (surprised, because although I wasn't expecting 'really good job' I wasn't expecting 'really bad job') "Why? What do I do that makes it so I am doing a really bad job?"
Carter: "Do you want to get a bulldog?"
Me: "no…" (still waiting for him to answer my question)
Carter: "Well, that's why."
In MN, the schools didn't do ANYTHING for Halloween. So it has been a huge change here to have programs and parties and wear costumes to school!
Carter's school wore costumes for their program the week before Halloween. He decided at the last minute to be an astronaut instead of a builder, wearing a 3T costume without any of the accessories (boots, gloves, helmet…) – just the slightly-too-short suit.
He was awesome to watch… he was really reserved in his singing and his dancing (while Meg was crazily imitating all the kids who were really into it) but every once in a while you'd see a little of the monster mash… and I couldn't stop smiling. That kid is one in a million, I tell ya.
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