Happy Halloween!

As most of you know I am a sucker for holiday's. Mostly because it gives me another reason to celebrate and do fun things with my kiddos, host traditions, cook, eat and make crafts! Being that it was Halloween today that is exactly what we did! The kids woke up this morning to bags of "Ghost Poop" small marshmallows in bags that were later used in our afternoon hot coco!

The Ghost Poop!

Have you ever seen a more beautiful face in the morning?! So bright eyed and bushy tailed!

Good morning Pia sunshine why did you wake so soon you chased the little stars away and shined away the moon!

We then began preparing for the day! I started making tortilla soup on Halloween in the crock-pot when Khloe was about 2, it just kinda stuck so when things stick from year to year you know what that means...in the voice of Teveah from Fiddler on the Roof...TRADITION! I gathered all the fixins and tossed them in with a little help from my little helpers.

Mommy's Tortilla Soup, the secrets in the hugs and kisses that get tossed into everything we make! For what good is food prepared without the LOVE!

We then made a quick or not so quick Target run. We love to cruise the isle when we are the only ones in there and this morning bright and early we were the only ones. So we weaved in and out ran wild through the isles and did what we wanted! This included a Starbucks stop, a walk down the slipper isle that ended empty handed, a stop off at the bakery to chat with our friend Kim that works there and the CANDY ISLE...Oh and Daddy needed coffee creamer!

Our candy booty a healthy mix of chocolate!

Then it was on to some serious stuff, yes on some "holiday's" work still needs done!

She did however get to do her times test wearing her Native American Headdress!

Work hard to play hard!

Next the Amigo's decided they wanted fresh biscuits with honey and hot coco with ghost poop, sooooo that is exactly what they got! While the soup cooked Khloe and I made the dough, did the kneading, spanked it (that's her favorite part) rolled it and she cut the biscuits. Caleb poured the honey in a bowl and heated to a perfect temp in the microwave! Lickety-split lunch was ready...

Fresh biscuits

Hot honey for my honeys

Hot coco serviced at 120 degrees (BTW our math lesson today just happened to be reading temperature on a thermometer...worked out perfect!) I love that!

...add the coco to the milk

Smiling, curious, thankful, grateful faces always makes it worth the effort! Caleb was most pleased to learn he could stuck the mini ghost poop (marshmallows) up through the straw...isn't he amazing?!

Now for the moment they'd all been waiting for! COSTUME time and Trick or TREAT!

Before Daddy got home I got everyone dinner, dressed and ready to go and snapped a few(1000) pics. My obsessive need to have pictures of EVERYTHING gets a little much for my hubby sometimes so I tried to get a lot of it out of the way before he got home :) Mission success!

Sweet Pia was Red Ridinghood, handmade Dress and Wool red cape by Momma. I had a time making this! I think I smiled the entire time I cut, ironed and sewed. If not on the outside for sure on the inside. Think it tuned out quite cute.

Next a Ninja Turtle, Michael Angelo to be exact. He LOVES this costume! It took everything in me to keep him from wearing it after everyday we bought it!

Ninja climb!

My Native American Princess. Now this was a REALLY fun costume to make! I made it out of Hobby Lobby feathers, hot glue, scrap fabric and fringe. I have to tell you EVERYONE commented on it and just loved it and were shocked that I made it. I felt very proud it wasn't a "homemade" costume it was "handmade" and we were both proud! Khloe most of all, she kept telling everyone, "Thank you, my Mom made it. Thank you, my mom made it." :)

Just to cute! I wish we all still wore capes!

Look at those muscles!!!

Then the horn honked the black car was in view, it was DADDY let the WILD RUMPUS BEGIN!!!

Even Little Red Ridinghood wanted in on the action!

The headdress we are so proud of.

My pretty little Indian

The amigo's ready to roll!! Yes Caleb is still wearing the vampire teeth from the night before!

Me plus three.

Daddy and the kiddos, ready, set, trick or treat!

They went and had a great time. Kyan stayed back and passed out the candy. I took the kids around the neighborhood and they got a stash! Took turns carrying the flashlight listened and stayed close to the curb. Caleb was so cute he went to house said Trick or Treat, Happy Halloween, thank you and have a great day to EVERYONE! Khloe politely said Trick or Treat and thank you. Pia was more than happy to wear her cute costume and stay in the stroller back away from strangers with Momma! Great night with great kids, I swear they make everything more funner! (as Caleb say's)

Carve em' Up!

The 3 Pumpkins (notice Caleb's bruised, battered but not BROKEN!)

Tiny Pia's pumpkin, hehehe I have to laugh at this one!

Carving Station

Baby Vamp

The kids and I just did a study on Piranha's this is exactly what their teeth look like when their mouths are open! I'm not kidding it's crazy!

Another Crazy mouth full of teeth! Who doesn't LOVE funny teeth?!

Eeeeekk!! NOW this is SCARY!!!!

Picking music for the next spooky dance!

Pia's punkin' just to cute!

Daddy and lil pea

Cheese, I love the ooey, gooey sticky stuff!

Khloe de-gunking her pumpkin



THE MONSTER MASH!

We waited until the day before Halloween this year to carve our pumpkins. I am not sure why other than the kids picked tiny pumpkins this year and I thought maybe they wouldn't last if we carved them to early. Pia's was the smallest it is TINY, Khloe and Caleb about the same with one MAJOR difference. Khloe has babied her pumpkin. She has cleaned it, cared for it as if it were a baby. Caleb on the other hand has done everything but break his open. He has dropped it 1000 times, kicked it, colored it and things I am sure I don't want to know I am just glad it is Oct. 30th and he still has it!

Kyan had practice so we waited for him to get home turned on some scary, spooky, cooky tunes and danced the night away carving pumpkins, wearing vampire teeth and enjoying the fun of carving our pumpkins! I bought the fix-ins for tortilla soup and pumpkin bread for after TorT and all costumes handmade or otherwise are finished and ready to go! Tomorrow will be fun!

Here is a fun video of the Monster Mash and some pictures to share of our tiny little pumpkins!

ENJOY FRIENDS AND FAMILY!!

For the kid in all of us..."Trick or treat smell my feet give me something good to eat if you don't I don't care I'll pull down your underwear!" :)

Boys vs Girls

Caleb is my budding artist! It is so interesting to me how similar my babies were for the first 2 to 3 years of life. They both ate the same, slept the same, sat the same, crawled the same, walked the same, threw fits the same. Babies are pretty much just babies. They eat, sleep, poop repeat and cry a little in between! Then little by little their personalities start taking over and gender starts becoming more and more obvious, like now with art!

Caleb is now 4 and it is absolutely hilarious to me that I am now looking at pictures of monsters with sharp teeth. Spiders with thousands of legs (his words). Everything has scary eyes, or something weird on it, like a hairy body. Nothing is flowery or fairy like. There are no clouds or smiley faces, no hearts, no birds, no butterflies or music notes coming from their mouth... nope that's what every picture Khloe colors looks like. These are boy pictures from a boy brain, and I must say I LOVE it!

Here are a few of Caleb's latest masterpieces!

Pumpkin and Spider by Caleb Brown age 4

Pumpkin

Spider

If I Knew recited by Khloe Brown

Part of school this year along with memorizing, memorizing and more memorizing is reciting, reciting and more reciting! Khloe is learning in her english reciting, dictation, copying and memorizing along with the regular grammar stuff :) It is interesting to me that this year she has gone from reading like a robot(which she still does on occasion) to really reading and reciting with feeling and emotion. This is her first go at reciting a poem to an audience... her family! She is told when reciting, to look your best present yourself in a "proper" way. Not in your pj's which happens when you homeschool! Comb your hair, stand straight, make eye contact when you can. Be confident with your words, voice and body language. I think she did great for her first go!

If I Knew a poem by Maud Wyman

A picture's worth a thousand words

Mommy ironing. (I do a lot of this with sewing, cooking soup and baking pumpkin bread in the oven.)

Her attention to detail. There are ALWAYS 2 loafs of bread the recipe I follow that they love makes 2 loafs. Notice the camera right by Mommy on top of the pantry mine is never to far. I iron in the room right by our TV where my husband always sits and watches and where I can watch baby playing on the floor. AMAZING!!

Brother and sister in their beds reading. Detail teddy bears, blankets, open books, purse hanging off the bed.

Daddy watching TV, baby was on the floor playing.

Khloe loves pretend play. Most kids do but this girl could spend hours if I let her setting up a doll house, horse barn, pet shop, playhouse, tent you get it. For her 7th birthday she got a Calico Critter coup and camper. Fully stocked with all the camping fixings and a family of dogs just like ours. A Daddy, Mommy, Sister, brother and baby. It was/is the perfect toy for her. She spends hours setting up scenario's of what they are doing where they are going, who's doing what etc. Much to my surprise this is what I found one day set up in her room.

A pictures worth a thousand words. I loved that this was her take on our everyday life and more importantly she was right ;) This little dog family was US!

Young Writer

In her own words.

"Mustangs are wild horses. Cowboys trained mustangs to herd cattle. Another name for mustangs is Bronco."

She read she wrote. 2nd grade 2011

Of course we had some sentence restructuring to do on the last bit but all in all a great book report on Mustangs from her all about horses book.

A short report on Mustang horses by Khloe Brown

Hard at work...

You learn to read by reading things you love, right? So you must learn to love writing by writing about things you love, right? Well heres to hoping that that is true. And here's to hoping I teach grammar better than I use it in this blog ;) YIKES! Please don't judge or edit I don't have the time. (This blog is quick thoughts to remember) I often misuse everything and don't think I don't notice ;) I just don't care...

Pumpkin Patch 2011

Sophie at the patch

Beautiful Cinderella Pumpkins

Surrounded by pumpkins

Time to go someone is ready...someone is NOT

Caleb's face when he was told it was time to go, "Why?"

Caleb in the pile of pumpkins

Pia picking her pumpkin

Digging with the gang at the gravel pit, all kinds of fun :)

The crew outside of my favorite playhouse

Sweet Pia

Khloe selecting a pumpkin they love the tiny ones

fire escape

Can I have this house please????

Going to the patch!

Yay for fall, fall weather and Pumpkin Town! My favorite time of the year when holiday season starts, cold weather begins and basketball is right around the corner. Daddy had the day off from practice so to the pumpkin patch we went, to pick our pumpkins and have a lil fall fun! Here are a few of my favorite snap shots!