HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

This years' theme:

OLD WEST FAMILY

Otherwise know as a Pioneer Family,
but Old West sounds so much more interesting!

IZABELLA

Izabella did not want to wear a dress, so we made her the
Cowgirl Outlaw!

MONIQUE

Monique, of course, wanted to be pretty, so I made this Old West fancy dress, complete with pantaloons.
(Those are the cutest part!)

OLIVIA

Olivia is our little Pocahontas.
She had a beaded belt, but she doesn't have any hips to hold it up,
and it fell around her ankles and broke.

MOM & POP

This pioneer wife hasn't missed any meals! Those pioneer dresses are not the most flattering things in the world. Kirk is Mr. Serious. I think he might still be in Vulcan mode. I never, never, never want to sew a ruffle that big on a dress again. What a pain! Thanks to Louise for the use of her patterns.



What a cute group! I love these girls.
This picture really shows their personalities!



Daddy, Daughter....yup, still in Vulcan mode.
Monique loves to get her picture taken.



Oh, not so serious now, are we Mr. Serious Pants.
You get 'em Bella!



Cute baby Poops-a-Lot in Forest.


TRICK - OR - TREAT!!


After every house, Olivia wanted to open her candy and eat it. After about 10 houses, Monique was ready to go home. So, Grandma and I took Bella out and she came back with too, too much candy!

I LOVE HALLOWEEN!

Playing with Knives

This takes a lot of concentration!

Ahhhh..pumpkin carving day. All the guts, all the stringy mess, and oh the knives! Kirk always grabs some crazy big knife, and this time he let Izabella use it. (of course, after he opened the wrong end of the pumpkin. For some reason, he can't tell the top from the bottom) I usually have the girls draw a face on the pumpkin, and then I carve it for them. While I was carving Izabella's for her, I looked over, and Kirk had given her the big, really sharp knife, and she was going at his pumpkin for him. Monique was really proud of her pumpkin. You can't see it, but we put an "M" for Monique on the back of her jacko. Olivia liked sticking her hand inside. She just kept sticking her hand in, and then laughing. It was great entertainment for her. My pumpkin had become a little mushy, so it started to fall apart, so I had to do some surgery to keep it together. Thanks to Grandma for carving Olivia's pumpkin.

The finished products

Picking Pumpkins

We have an amazing Pumpkin Patch not too far from our house. They have a hay bale maze with creepy creatures at the end, a big jumpie castle, and all kinds of fun activities...and it's all FREE! (except the pumpkins of course.) Jean, Kirk and I were so excited to take the kids and have a great time, but apparently, we forgot to tell them they were supposed to have a great time. The kids were so tired and cranky, they couldn't even have fun. Seth and Olivia kept fighting over wagons, Monique wanted to get her pumpkin and go, and Bella just couldn't seem to find a suitable pumpkin within the budget given her. She must have looked at 30 pumpkins. Finally, I told her to just grab one so we could get the crying children away from the sea of orange baubles.




This is not the one she chose,
but she kept picking them up hoping if they were small enough,
they would be free.




Monique picked her pumpkin right away...no problem.




Olivia didn't want any stinkin' pumpkins.
Stop trying to make her smile for a picture.
She doesn't want to take any pictures!

Oh well, maybe next year the kids will get in on the fun.

GOVERNMENT HALLOWEEN!

For those of you who might think the government does not want any type of Holiday celebration, you would be wrong. Here Kirk works at the Federal Building (the FBI is on the top floor) and he is on the committee for the Halloween Lunch today! So guess what guys...what you hear on TV isn't true. Only the politicians want to outlaw Holiday's.
The people working for them want to party all night long!

Hmmmmm...I'm getting into character.
(This must be how Vulcan's stand. I have no idea.
I said "Stand like a Vulcan" and this is what he gave me.)



See what a serious face I can make?
I'm Totally going to win the costume contest.
Just look at what I can do with my hand. I'm awesome!



Um...I'm not sure what this look is,
but it's making me uncomfortable.

PARTY ON DUDES!

Fun in a "Box"

I just found this cute little bench at a thrift store for $12.00! I'm going to re-finish it, and it will look really cute in my family room. The bonus...the seat opens for storage. Now, I can put Olivia's few little toys I let her have in the main family room INSIDE the bench, (where no one can see them. What a great hiding place for junk when unannounced visitors come over.) plus blankets or what not. The options are endless. Anyway, as you can see, the first thing the kids did was climb in. It's like having their own personal box to play in all the time. The only problem is...this "box" has a much heavier lid. Watch your heads girls!

YOU BETTER LET ME GO POTTY!

YOU WOULDN'T LIKE ME WHEN
I HAVE TO GO POTTY!

Please Be Quiet!

While on our long, cursed drive to find a camping spot,
Monique had one of her
"I NEED TO GO POTTY!!!!!!!"
tantrums.
When Kirk turned to talk to Monique, this is what Olivia was doing, only without the pacifier smile. (As soon as Kirk pulled out the camera, she smiled for him, but still kept her ears plugged.) She was apparently very tired of the noise. I didn't even know she knew how to plug her ears. If you look in the top left corner of this picture you can just barely see Monique and her freak out.
Oh the joys of traveling with children.
The problem is, now if she doesn't want to listen to what I'm saying to her, she will plug her ears and walk away.
That's not quite as cute for some reason.