Let the Holidays Commence

Mom stayed with our kids for a few hours while we went to dinner with our Sunday  School class.  While we were gone the kids made turkeys.  They were so excited to show them to us when we got home!  Jed decided that his turkey's snood was a mustache and placed it accordingly.  He was extra proud to point it out to us.  Ever since Halloween this kid has been obsessed with mustaches and his costume.  He can't let it go.  He asks for both each night while I am rocking him to sleep. 

This little guy tries so hard to be good at his sister's basketball games....it's hard sometimes.

"Cute face"....

This girl scored her first ever point at her first game of the season!  We were so proud!  The crowd went wild too! 

Evangeline helped me put up the Christmas tree little by little this past week.  We did it after Jed was in bed.  We had fun watching Jed's reaction when we brought him down stairs each morning to discover something new had been done.  

For the second year Evangeline got to help me with my first grade spinning wheel demonstration.  This year was extra special because my principal made arrangements for Evangeline to leave her school to come to help me.  We gave our demo to 4 groups of kids, 20 minutes each.  By the end we had little jokes we were cracking right on queue.  We were having lots of fun with it.  We referenced the Tin Man from the Wizard of Oz each time and kept getting laughs about this little bit we did about his oil can.  After 4 times through we really had a routine. 

Escape From Elf Prison

 

Mom bought us these adorable family PJ's and gave them to all of us the weekend before Thanksgiving.  Mom and Zach's family came over that evening and we all put our jammies on, ate dinner and hung out.  It was so much fun.  Lots of laughing going on....

We attempted a Christmas card picture for mom.  I bribed the "big" kids with M&M's.  They would smile a for a few pictures and then I would give them one each.  Jed was obsessed with the candy and almost couldn't focus on anything else.  It was a pretty hilarious night.

 

Kyle (a.k.a. Ebenezer Scrooge) did not want to be in the picture so he was the photographer for our big family picture.

Out On The Town

We attended a black tie gala in honor of Wayne winning the Baur award giving by the Union Health Foundation.  It was a very special evening.  We are so proud of Wayne.  He's a pretty special guy and has had a very impressive career as Union's CFO for the past 40 years. 

Mes Enfants Sur Halloween

We bought this Eifel Tower costume on clearance way back in July.  I told Evangeline that we were going to put it in her closet and forget about it.  She was so excited to finally get to wear it!  She looked so pretty.  Jed was a little French painter and adored his outfit.  I couldn't believe he wore his hat and carried his pallet and paint brush all night.  He was most excited about his mustache.  He absolutely loved going "ick-er-seating".  He loved everything about Halloween night.  Jed was also awarded $10 for winning 3rd place in the costume contest for his age group.  It was a very fun night.  I took a million pictures, but I mean, come on...

 

Evangeline and her friend Harper. 



 

For the past week Jed has asked to "ick-er-seat" almost every day.  He begs for his outfit and mustache.  He's having a hard time accepting that Halloween only happens one day a year.  Evangeline is now gearing up for Christmas.  

 

 

Around the House

Since I haven't been very good about regularly updating my photos this month, I decided to just dump the rest of my random October photographs here....

 

Sometimes you play with Play Dough with your sister and she puts a blue glob on your head and you just go with it....

 

Jed's "house"....

 

Jed is quite a talker these days.  He is stringing together so many words and I am amazed each day.  He is saying things like, "Daddy go court house",  "Mama made that, Ammie",  "Don't like that", "EB made mess", "love you too, Mama". 

Did I mention this?  Surly I did, but just in case... Jed says, "love you too" when he tells us he loves us.  He says, "love you too, Mama", "love you too, Daddy",  "Love you too, EB" .  It's precious.

He still calls Kyle "Kyle" much of the time, which is hilarious.  He is also changing from constantly calling Pickles "Meowy" and is now calling him "Ickles".  

3rd Grade Field Trip

On the Friday before Halloween I took a personal day to accompany Evangeline on her class trip to Arthur, IL to the Great Pumpkin Patch.  It was a chilly, but beautiful day.  Evangeline was very happy I was there, but she spent most of her time running around with her friends.  I enjoyed watching her and her classmates having so much fun together.  She sure is growing up.