happy halloween

It is the understatement of the year to say the kids were excited about Halloween.  The Mayor has actually been counting down the days for the past week.  From the second The Mayor got off the bus, Love Bug and The Mayor were asking if it was time to get into their costumes.  Luckily the afternoon went by quickly and before I knew it, it was time to get the kids dressed.

The Mayor was easy...he was Spider-Man and after slipping on his costume and mask, he was done.  Love Bug was Cinderella.  She was a little more complex.  After getting her tights, dress, necklace, gloves, purse and silver shoes on we had to do the hair.  Sweet Love Bug has gorgeous hair, but it isn't really conducive to putting up in a bun.  After two hair ties, a dozen bobby pins and enough hair spray to choke a horse, I got her hair in a cute bun and her crown put into place.

We took the kids to our friend Sue and Jay's house so they could see the kids and then we went to PopPop's house.  Bennett, Walker, Meega and J were there and the cousins had a blast together.  Running laps, being loud, getting candy...all the things that make Halloween great for kids...and a nightmare for parents!  :)

After PopPop's house, we all went back to our neighborhood for our annual trick-or-treating with the cousins.  Walker was adorable just hanging in the wagon while Bennett, Love Bug and The Mayor walked from house to house.  The Mayor was VERY excited so we spent the beginning of the night trying to reel him in...but the 3 of them were adorable going from house to house getting candy.  They lasted longer than we have ever lasted...I was quite impressed.  At one time Love Bug did tell me "mom, this is taking too long".  Ha!  Yes my love...you have to work for your candy.  She ended up catching a ride in the double stroller and would hop out about every 3 houses but our boy was a trooper, he walked the entire way.  There was even one house set up as a haunted house and he wanted to go...and there was one creepy teenager dressed as this disgusting, scary clown dragging a shovel up and down the streets.  It totally creeped me out but The Mayor looked at him and said "hey man, pick up your shovel".  Oh, I so love that boy.

We came home to pass out candy but apparently we missed the crowds; we only had two sets of kids show up.  Oh well...all this candy I bought to pass out will be going to work with D tomorrow.  It is bad enough having the kids' candy in the house so I do not need any extra candy lying around.  The kids went to bed late; Love Bug had to have a bath to get the hairspray out of her hair and The Mayor opted to bathe in the morning.  I am going to let him sleep in and drive him to school.  There is no way we would be up and at the bus stop by 6:45.  We need all the extra sleep we can get!

Another Halloween in the books...and it was a success!

my spider-man and cinderella

my sweet girl

we were super safe...we had two spider-mans!  I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this picture...

Bennett's face is priceless

flexing muscles

sweet Walker dressed as Elmo

cuties

me and the princess

me and my superhero

love these boys

D got into the spirit...dressed as a baseball player

trick-or-treating

this face...I want to squeeze those cheeks.  And he looks EXACTLY like Meega did at this age...

running to the next house

pumpkin carving

We actually did this over a week ago, but with The Mayor's birthday keeping us busy I am just getting around to getting the pictures downloaded.  Believe it or not, this is actually the first year we carved pumpkins.  We always buy pumpkins at the pumpkin farm but just never get around to carving them.  I love the ones we got from the farm but I didn't want to cut those, so I headed to Publix to grab two pumpkins perfect for carving.  We helped the kids draw the faces on the pumpkins and then we let them carve them.  Love Bug needed help with the carving knife (it is a knife made for kids) so I did the cutting and she did the cleaning.  They both got a kick out of what the inside of a pumpkin felt like.

The Mayor did the cutting almost solely on his own.  D needed to help him with the mouth since The Mayor wanted a lot of teeth on his pumpkin.  The kids were so proud of their creations and couldn't wait to get them on the porch for display.

Apparently we carved way too early because the pumpkins are rotting and molded now.  They get significantly worse with each passing day so I think we are going to trash the pumpkins tonight and carve two new ones.  They are seriously getting so bad I am not sure our current ones will make it two more days.

Happy Halloween!

seeing the inside of the pumpkin for the first time

sweet girl waiting for the top of her pumpkin to be cut

checking out the inside

silly girl, using the pumpkins smile as her own

drawing the face on his pumpkin

starting to carve

using this tool to make "hair" for her pumpkin...it just poked small holes into the pumpkin

showing off their creations

silly faces

the mayor turns 6

On Friday we celebrated the big day...The Mayor's 6th birthday!  I can not believe my baby is 6.

All week we had a countdown to the birthday...and the day started out great.  D and I decorated the breakfast nook with a banner and crepe paper so when The Mayor woke up, he had a decorated seat to sit in.  He requested donuts for his birthday breakfast and then it was off to school.  While at school, he was on the morning news where he got to say his name, his teacher and how old he was turning.  I hate we weren't able to see it.

D and I surprised him and showed up to eat lunch with him.  It was a fun break in the day where D and I were able to spend some quality time with The Mayor.  After lunch, I went home to finish up the last details before his birthday party that afternoon.  Luckily we were having it at our favorite indoor bouncy house place and it was just for his friends so it was actually pretty low-key and easy in regards to the planning.

Shortly after we got The Mayor off the bus, we got him dressed, loaded up and headed to his birthday party.  It was a great turn out filled with his friends who have been a part of his life for years.  He loved playing and celebrating with them all.  They played hard, enjoyed pizza and cupcakes and before we knew it, the party was over and it was time to come home.  D and I loaded up two very tired kids into the car and brought them home.  Of course, as soon as we walked into the house, The Mayor perked up and was ready to open all his presents.  Once again, he racked up and loved all of his new toys.  We let them play for a bit before it was time for baths and bed.  About 30 minutes after they were asleep, MeMe and Big Daddy arrived.

    

the birthday breakfast nook

The Mayor and his buddies

jumping and sliding

one happy, one sweaty birthday boy

The Mayor and his buddy Nicholas

so excited

blowing out his candle

we love this boy

Meega and her birthday buddy...love they share a birthday...makes it extra special

loves his new toys

Saturday morning The Mayor and Love Bug woke up to grandparents in the house.  Nothing better than that!  After a quick breakfast, we went out shopping for winter clothes for the kids.  They are growing like weeds and unfortunately when kids are this young, they grow so quickly that last year's winter clothes do not carry over to the following year.  An unexpected cold snap forced us to get some shopping done.

After shopping and lunch, we came home to get ready for party #2.  Saturday night was the family party and The Mayor could not wait to celebrate again.  It was nice being at home, ordering pizza and just playing and hanging out with our cousins and family.  The kids had a blast playing with the new toys and we let the kids make ice cream sundaes instead of doing another cake.  No one was disappointed!

blowing out his candle on his ice cream sundae

so excited to open more gifts

sweet Bennett overseeing the opening of gifts

best moment of the night: with unbelievable enthusiasm, he opened this gift.  He said (very loudly and excitedly) "oooh mmmyyyy goooooodness!" We asked "what is it?" and he said "I have no idea".  I love his sweet heart...had no idea what the gift was but was still so appreciative and excited

Meega being silly with her Love Bug

my dear friend Sue with The Mayor

PopPop and Love Bug

my hearts...I love, love, love these sweets

Sunday was a day to relax.  After a whirlwind weekend filled with celebrating, we needed a day just to kick back and relax.  We are still trying to catch up (or at least I am...it is exhausting having birthday parties...even if they are low-key), toys are everywhere and I have about 30 loads of laundry to get to.  But it was completely worth it...and I can't believe the weekend has already come and gone.  We have Halloween to look forward to this week and then November and Thanksgiving plans will be right around the corner.  I can't believe my boy is 6.  I can't wait to see what this year has in store for him.

fun run success

Today was The Mayor's Fun Run at school and as expected he ran the maximum 36 laps.  He did great!  He walked a little and took advantage of the water station, but he ran his heart out!  And I was proud of his sportsmanship...a little boy fell on the track and The Mayor stopped to help him up.

The energy for the run was amazing.  They had great music playing and the Fun Run coaches ran with the kids and motivated them over the speakers while they ran.  After each lap, the kids knew to get their sticker marked so they could keep track of their laps.  30 laps was the goal with 36 being the max.  Probably two dozen of the kindergartners did the 36 laps with most doing 30 laps (or close to) and some kids doing whatever they could.  I will say this...I love Fun Run day because the first thing out of The Mayor's mouth when he got off the bus was "can I go home and rest?"

Thankfully today was an early release day as is tomorrow.  And Friday is no school!  Going to be a great rest of the week!

before the run...dancing and jumping to music

so determined

running hard

cheering him on

love this boy

tiny tiger green belt

He did it!  The Mayor is now a Tiny Tiger green belt!  And starting next week, he will have a new weapon and full sparring gear.  Yep, that's right...now that he is a green belt, he will start sparring.  It's about to get real!

going into his splits

demonstrating his punches

demonstrating his blocks

standing focused...like a black belt

double knife hand strike

going into round house kick

coming out of front kick

seeing his new green belt for the first time

our Tiny Tiger green belt

This weekend and week have been awesome.  The weather could not be more perfect and we had all of the cul-de-sac kids playing "duck, duck, goose" in our front yard last night for almost an hour.  The older were kids were so great with the younger kids by running slowly and allowing the younger kids to "catch" them.  I love our neighborhood.

Tomorrow is The Mayor's fun run at school.  D and I will be going in the morning to cheer him on...the goal is to run 30 laps (2 miles) and our awesome friends and family have pledged money for our little runner.  He comes home almost everyday with a new prize from the pledges that are rolling in for him.  I can't wait to see him run!

Tomorrow and Thursday are early release days for The Mayor and Friday he is out of school.  It is rare that he is out of school when Love Bug has school so I am looking forward to a day with just my boy.  This week is flying by and next week is the big 6th birthday!  It has been such a busy month!

me and my sweet girl at lunch

Love Bug and her buddy Andrew

The Mayor wearing his mustache...one of the fun prizes he won for raising money for the Fun Run

playing hide-and-go-seek...she is tip-toeing while she looks for her friends

Love Bug went to a birthday party this weekend; Love Bug, Paige and Natalie

running in a relay race at the birthday party

lassoing the horse

petting the horse

riding the horse...mommy was a little nervous for this one

our family went for a run...I ran my fastest 5K that morning

duck, duck, goose