Pre-Halloween festivities

We went to a couple of pre-halloween festivites this past weekend. The kids really enjoyed dressing up in their costumes.

On Saturday night we went to the state park in town with some friends. They had some games, face painting and then a story telling trail. The kids had fun, and it was nice to start out the Halloween fun w/ something that wasn't all about the candy. Here's the kids all lined up ready to go:

Here are Issac and Jenna feeding the baby bear puppet their glow sticks:

The next day after Andrew went to his friend Elijah's birthday party we went to the Y to meet up with Brady and Aiden for the Y Halloween party. The kids loved the bounce house, and the various gymanastics mats that they could climb on. Both of them were sporting red checks from all the running and bouncing shortly after we got there.

Sunday evening we carved our pumpkins....Andrew loved helping take the insides out, while Jenna just wanted to draw all over the pumpkins w/ her marker.

Today (Tuesday) they had their Halloween party at daycare. They were able to wear their costumes to daycare, and were the only ones that didn't take them off after their morning party....Jenna took hers off at nap time (becuase she had too), and Andrew didn't take his off until the end of the day.

One last picture (sorry there are a lot of them)....here's a picture of Jenna that I snapped from inside on Friday. After waiting all afternoon to go out in the snow to play, the 1st thing she did was go up on the deck and throw snow at the patio door....little stinker :)

Giggle Girl

Miss Jenna found a new way to entertain herself, and make her big brother laugh.

(you might want to turn your volume down, then slowly turn it up).

This took place on Friday (10/16) while she was supposed to be using the potty.

Football

I thought I'd post a few pictures from football this week....Andrew seems to enjoy it, and it's fun watching him figure things out. Even though it's supposed to be non-contact flag football, there is typically at least 1 tackle session every week that results in a big pile of boys. They've been working on their offense and defense lately, and learning how to run 'plays', which they use during the last 15-20 minutes while playing another team.

Snow!

Although Bruce and I weren't too excited to see the snow Monday morning, the kids were ecstatic. Both insisted on wearing their boots, and of course we had to go out and play in it after supper! So what did we do with the 4 inches of snow? Built a snow man, had a snowball fight, knocked the snowman over and then used it as a slide...lots of fun. Here are a few pictures:

Videos

Here's a video of Andrew from Septmember when we were at a cabin. He really enjoyed being the kyak and even firgured out how to paddle.

One of Jenna's favorite things to do right now is to use a siscors to cut things (she's a fabuolous little paper shredder). Here's some video of her cutting....be sure to watch her mouth - it cracks Bruce and I up every time we see her do it!

Our 'big' girl

Last Thursday (9/26) after supper Jenna told us she had to use the potty, we humored her an put her on the potty and she surprised us by actually going to the bathroom! Since then she's been doing her best, and staying dry most days. She still wakes up wet from naps & in the morning after a good night sleep, but she seems to be on her way to wearing big girl underwear. We are very proud of her, and she seems to be very proud of herself too! We aren't positive, but we think the new baby at daycare is what kicked her potty training into high gear. The baby (Bella) started at Melissa's on Thursday, so it could just be a coincidence she decided to start using the potty on the same day, but we're not complaining. We've been letting her lead the way (besides she's so 'independent' it wouldn't work any other way). As part of her potty training I bought her Elmo socks, and told her if she went #2 in the potty she could have them....it worked. Here she is showing off her socks:

Update (10/8) I've been having her wear her 'big girl underwear' on Friday when I'm home with her and she's doing great. She loves being a big girl. She getting pretty good at pulling her pants up now too, since now of them stay up anymore :) With shorts it was easy since the 18 month stuff still fit pretty well, but with pants she needs the length of a 24 month (at times 2T) so they all fall down, even the ones with the adjustable waists!