A Lot of Halloween Pics!

Halloween 2011's guests of honor from the Brown family were The Little Mermaid (in her wedding gown, sigh) and Super Mario.  As soon as 5:00 rolled around, we rolled out the door.

As soon as a couple traditional Halloween shots were snapped, Noah had had enough of his sticky mustache and opted for a Mommy-made marker one instead.

So Daddy gave new life to the 'stache and we all found that very amusing.

Then, Noah was off to the races with a screeching Anna hot on his tail, "Wait for me!!"

Love this shot. :)

Getting more treats.

Then Anna fell down one of those treacherous first steps that the houses in our neighborhood are notorious for. 

Monitoring candy progress.

This shot makes me grin, grin, grin.  Look at Mario go!  Look at the eagerness in those eyes!  Conversely, Anna was very distractable from house to house, stopping to pick a flower, look at leaves, worry that her gown was touching the grass, etc. 

This picture says it all.  That little red and blue blur is my NoahMario blazing a trail!  Time's a'wastin'!

As the sun set, so did Anna's oomph.  Her highness required an escort from house to house.

Me from my trusty spot by the side of the road, manning the wagon like I do every year. :)

Anna, brokenhearted, after her orange balloon flew away.  She was not pleased with Noah's black balloon in its place.

By this time of the night, both kids were worn out and took to the drive-thru version of trick or treating as we made our way back home.

My fumblingly lovely shot of our tree as we got back home for the night.  No flash!  Just really cool effect from the street light.

Taking inventory and weeding out the peanut candies. 

Noah was so excited to answer the door for all 5 of the trick-or-treaters we got.  The only thing more amusing to him that that, was watching Daddy doctor himself with one of his own (Noah's) breathing treatments.

Every year gets more and more fun.  We walked farther and longer than ever before - about 2 hours.  And we've got candy to last til Easter to prove it!  Hoping your Halloween was happy, too!

Halloweens Past

Halloween 2006

(Our first ever with our precious baby - age 6 mos.  We hung out at Mimmie and Papa's that night.)

Halloween 2007

(Noah had a fever this night so we had to cancel on Trunk or Treat. Age - 18 mos.)

Halloween 2008

(Anna was a newborn and we'd just moved to TN so we were still gathering our wits. This was Noah's first time trick or treating - age 2 1/2.)

Halloween 2009

(Anna's first time trick or treating - age 1.  She was a bit of a party pooper. :) Noah - age 3 1/2)

Halloween 2010

(BIG improvement all around.  Anna, age 2.  Noah, age 4 1/2.)

Looking forward to tonight's 2011 trick or treating with a Princess and Super Mario. :)

Browns on Quarantine

This character kept me from church this morning after a particularly rough afternoon/evening/night yesterday.  A cold is not just a cold on Noah.  Cold germs go right for the jugular with him every time and he coughs and coughs and wheezes and coughs and he just can't get any relief.  Praise the Lord that our pediatrician's office is open on the weekends because we were there second in line before the doors even opened this morning.  I was just hoping to find a stronger breathing treatment than the ones we were using, but it turns out he also needed a steroid to kick-start his poor lungs (bronchitis, at this point) and an antibiotic for the sinus and ear infection he also had going on.  Poor thing. 

So no sooner do I make him sit still all day and rest, rest, rest in between breathing treatments and drugs, than this little pink character starts claiming her whole body hurts.  We hear this a lot actually, so we pretty much ignored it for several hours.  And of course, just after Josh left for a bible study tonight, she started throwing up and up and up.  Yuck.  Poor thing.  Several changes of clothes and floor coverings later, she is feeling much better and claiming she is fit as a fiddle and ready to trick or treat tomorrow.  Hmmmm.

So I had to cancel on our MOPS steering team meeting for the morning, cancel on a Halloween play date for Anna, and it's still undecided if Noah will make it to school tomorrow (thought my vote is yes).  And when Josh got home from his bible study tonight he let me know he'll likely take a sick day tomorrow, as well.  He's apparently not feeling so great himself.  There's just no rest for the weary, is there?

As for me, I'm just glad we got in our family photo session yesterday morning before all this started!

Yellow and Yarn

On this bright and gorgeous Saturday in late October, the leaves on the trees outside...

are as vividly yellow as my second attempt at knitting last night...

which  is a vast improvement already from my first completed knitting endeavor the night before.

A Little Leaf Love

Y'all.  Seriously.  I ♥ fall.

I am in hog heaven when fall comes.  And topping the list of the many things I love about fall are all the GORGEOUS colors that the trees turn.  I just dig fall leaves.  So you'll have to pardon me while I indulge in a little leaf love for this post. :)

The finished product from a leaf project the kids did at a play date we hosted last week.

My lovely tree by night.

The next day.

And the day after that.

Yesterday, Noah, Anna and I collected leaves that we liked.  Then we laminated them to be able to admire them longer.  I'm thinking I might introduce the kids to doing some impression coloring with these as well.

And all this leaf gathering and laminating reminds me of some special leaves that hang on the wall in our living room.  Only months after Josh and I got married, we picked these leaves while walking with our beast of a dog, Jasmine, on a gravel road in front of our very first home up on a hill by Lake Lanier in Georgia.  We laminated them at work on the school's laminater (don't tell) and they are near and dear to my heart.  They've been on the wall in all our living rooms since. :)

Kimmie? KNITTING?!

About 10 of us from MOPS got together yesterday for a 2 hour intro-to-knitting class at a local knit shop.  Knitting is something productive that could be so right up my alley because it'll keep my hands busy while I listen to something, watch tv, wait for people/appts., and chat it up with friends.  I was hoping I could get it, but wasn't real confident that my fingers would cooperate. :S

Kimmie meets the needles. 
Here I am learning to "cast on" and I caught on really quickly and thought I was a natural or something.  THAT'S when I learned we weren't even really knitting yet.  :P

Hard at work still.

Wait a cotton-pickin' minute here.  What did I just do?  Oh help.

Vivian catching on quicker than me.

I started over several several times yesterday and last night, too, when I finally started to see progress.

And this morning I was back at it again, REALLY getting it. 

I don't know how to fix it when I mess up, but I am chugging right along anyway ... and loving it!

Noah's First Report Card

Noah came home with his first ever report card this week.
Such a fun milestone!  

Since Noah was a baby, I have looked forward to his school days finally arriving.  And now we are far enough into those to have finished a full 9 weeks. I'm so proud of my kindergartner.  I'm loving this stage of our family's life.

I'm sure the teachers say things like this to many students, but I couldn't help but note that this is the second year in a row a teacher has remarked that he is a joy. 

So proud of you and hard work, Noah.  Keep it up!

Anna this Week

This week a toy catalog came in the mail.  Anna LOVED the idea of getting to circle things for a wish list.  She circled everything of course.  I think using a pen in a book was the real gift. :)

This week, Anna also got her crafty and creative on, too!

This little project started on the potty when she used the last of the toilet paper.  Daddy was not available to change the roll so she figured out how to remove it ALL BY HERSELF.  She played binoculars with said toilet paper roll til she realized she could unroll it and still keep it entirely intact.  Oh glorious revelation!  She saw a blank canvas of course and hightailed it to the playroom where the markers are kept.  She then proceeded to trace her own hand for the first time ever ALL BY HERSELF.  I was so impressed with her initiative and the fact that it is a recognizable hand tracing that I could only chuckle at the other fact that there was more ink on her hands than on the paper.  We oohed and aaahed over her artwork and she went on her merry way.  Later that night we found this fixed to the side of the fridge as well as a number of magnets strewn around the kitchen floor.  What was impressive to us about THIS development was the fact that Anna went all the way upstairs to her room to retrieve her stepstool, carried it all the way downstairs, and situated it in front of the fridge ALL BY HERSELF in order to proudly display her goods ALL BY HERSELF.  We had no idea all this was going on.  It was truly endearing to discover long after she went to bed and to figure out what all she had done without our knowing or our assistance.  That is a lot of orchestrating for one little girl. 

And that is a lot of activity and travel for a toilet paper roll, too. :) 

Taa Daa: Wall Decor

Masking tape + Spray Paint + Canvas Panel (or shoebox lid) = Super easy craft! We are making these at MOPS tomorrow and this was my test run. Not bad!

This is headed to Noah's room in some way, shape, or form. :)

♥ Anna (pre) Reading ♥

My Latest New Words

• jejune
• warren
• execrable
• megrim
• cambric
• ingots
• styli
• tetchy
• gainsay
• jackanape
• purl
• rapscallion
• posthaste (I really already knew this word, but I loved it anew after reading it again)

Jackson's Orchard

Jackson's Orchard in KY was the main reason we planned our little trip to Bowling Green.  We are so glad we did, too, because it is now our favorite fall farm outing to date.  This'll be the one we start doing every year, I am sure. 

Highlights included:

The Cider Slider I posted about yesterday.

Cutie pie kids and photo ops.

Feeding the animals.

Anna accidentally folded her fingers in and got bitten by the pony.  It was a very dramatic encounter!

I have no idea what you call this, but it was certainly a fun challenge for Noah.  Anna wouldn't try it as she was still grieving her unpleasant pony-feeding experience.

Hayride out to the pumpkin patch.  Anna, as luck would have it, walked smack dab into the back end of this trailer prior to getting on and it knocked her flat on the ground.  She sprouted a giant goose egg out the side of her head.  Lots and lots of tears ensued.  It appeared the farm was kicking her butt.

Pumpkin patch and corn maze beyond.

We got three more pumpkins there.  Anna was not interested in anything but her giant ice pack.

Air-brush face painting - best face painting experience yet!  So quick and precise and, most importantly, easy to clean off at the end of the day.

Horseback riding.

Pony riding.

Petting zoo.

Tractor-tire playground.

Add in the perfect sunny and cool breezy fall weather and you have a best of days!  I do so love fall.