Happy Halloween!

What a great Halloween! True, we only had ten trick or treaters, but that's ten more than we've had the last two years at our old house. Hopefully we'll build up some momentum over the years.
We decided to have people over for chili and snacks this year, the kids are getting too young to want to drive around town all night, and they're old enough to appreciate candy. Jayden went as Buzz Lightyear, his first costume where he really gets to be something he absolutely loves. He flew through the house all evening with his arms up and making the appropriate sound effects (usually with a sucker in his mouth all night).
Here are few pictures of the kiddos:

Jayden as Buzz Lightyear

Ethan as part of the marching band

Taylor as a princess

Jacob as a jumping frog

Their first Trick or Treat house! As you can probably tell, Jayden was a little leery of walking up to strangers houses.

Taylor had to make sure Jayden was holding her hand all night.
The kiddos!

Very spooky.

The especially had fun crunching in all of the leaves!

Overall, success! The kids loved trick or treating, and all of us grown ups had a blast! I honestly don't remember the last time I had such a fun Halloween!

Halloween Decor

When you've got a house that looks like ours, less is more when it comes to decorating the exterior.
The real "Monster House"

What's missing from this picture?

The crib! Yes, we have officially moved on to the "big boy bed."

After having both beds in the rooms since we moved into the house, we're loving the extra floor space!

Some of you may be thinking "Hey Chelsea, what about the babies room, you ARE halfway through your pregnancy now, right?" Well, here it is, isn't it cute?
All that's left is the floor, walls, ceiling, woodwork, closet, plate covers, and light fixture. Plus decorating.
We did move out the bathtub. So technically, there has been progress to some degree.

Hooray for Fall!

So, it's finally officially Fall, and I'm so excited! Fall is definitely my season, especially since we have Jayden to enjoy it with now. This weekend we'll be doing our annual trip to Oktoberfest in the Amana Colonies, something Josh and I started on our second anniversary, this will be our sixth visit! We look forward to it every year.
We're also looking forward to the pumpkin patch this year, Jayden enjoyed it last year, and I know he'll enjoy it even more this year. Plus, it makes for some great photo ops!
Watch our for our house this Halloween, we're really going to spook it up! Not that it takes much, what with the peeling paint and everything, but I think we'll be able to add a few nice touches.
Over the weekend we bought Jayden his first pumpkin. I know, it's a bit early, and it will probably start to rot before Halloween even gets here, but you really should see how much his face lights up whenever he sees the pumpkins at stores. I thought it would be really cute to let him finger paint the pumpkin, actually let himself make a mess in a controlled environment. And although my intentions were good, the whole "weekend craft" didn't turn out quite as cute as I thought it would. Jayden actually didn't like getting his hands all messy, truly a huge surprise there, apparently he only likes to make a mess when he's causing trouble and we're not watching. Plus, the paint was all gooey and blended together and didn't turn out to be the colorfully painted pumpkin I'd imagined. But, it was still pretty fun, and Jayden gets really excited every time we walk out the door and he sees his pumpkin.

Jayden giving a big "Cheeeeese!" with his very own pumpkin!

After I squished his hands into the paint to get the ball rolling, I know it's finger paint, but really, what fun is it painting with just one finger?

The finished product!

ps. Heritage Days in downtown Burlington is also this weekend, as is the Heritage Trust Tour of Homes. Look for me working at the Morrison's home, I chose the "work in progress" house for obvious reasons (those nicely finished houses just don't feel right).

You learn many lessons as a parent...

For instance, this morning, I learned that Dawn dish soap takes permanent marker off of skin (in addition to lipstick and paint).
But really, how could a person get too mad at this face?