A Very Happy Halloween (in 2013)

Halloween was nearly a week long celebration this year (actually it was more like a month long celebration)! On Saturday, Oct. 26th, we went to our church's Trunk-Or-Treat festival. It was a little cold, but the girls had a lot of fun getting candy, seeing everyone's costumes, and playing with their friends. We even got to go on a little hayride!

The next week, the girls had a Halloween party at school. I barely got any pictures of the girls, but they had a blast...and got even more candy. The best part was when they each got to show me their art galleries. It's fun to see what they create at school!

Mom, we don't have time for pictures! :-)

Finally, it was actually Halloween night! First, Papa stopped by to deliver candy and check out their costumes. Next, we headed to Grammy and Grandad's house for our first trick-or-treat. Then, it was time to trick-or-treat around our neighborhood. Instead of saying "trick-or-treat" they kept saying "Happy Halloween," it's cute either way! When we got back home, we had a few trick-or-treaters at our house. Uncle James and Tess stopped by, too (dressed as Belle and Mr. Gold).

TWIN WITCHES!!

Overall, it was a pretty amazing Halloween for my two little witches!!

Pumpkin Palooza 2013

It's no secret that we love Fall in this family, but it became a little over-the-top when I realized that the girls each had FOUR pumpkins...It's Pumpkin Palooza 2013!

Of course, we got the first pumpkins at the Pumpkin Patch a few weeks ago. After that, we went to Earl May to grab some big, carving pumpkins (which were cheaper there than at the patch).  We found our favorite salesman (Uncle Caleb), and the girls each got to pick out a big pumpkin.

I also found some really cute white pumpkins when I went to the grocery store. I knew that they'd be perfect to paint, so I bought them as well (only $.50/each). The girls love to paint, so they had a bawl decorating them!

I had a 5k on October 26th (also Nana's birthday). While I was running, Nate and the girls hung out at the race HQ. They had pumpkins and face painting, which was something fun and little different for them...and, you guessed it, they each got to pick another mini-pumpkin!

Uncle Caleb and I after the race (which he won)

Lily opted for a painted hand ;-)

Madi with full-on face paint and pumpkin!

The girls are also very blessed to have a dad willing to carve pumpkins with them. It is certainly not an activity I like (gross), but watching Nate interact with them while he was carving was priceless. They were really mesmerized by the whole thing!

Seriously excited!

 

Watching VERY closely!

She did NOT like the goo inside!

Being a good sport!

Madi liked cleaning out the inside!

Telling Daddy what she wanted it to look like

All our pumpkins in a row!

Madi's

Lily's

First Visit to Ceramic Cafe

I was looking for something fun for the ladies and I to do, and I found the PERFECT spot, Ceramic Café!

First, we got to listen to a story, “I know I’m a Witch” (which is completely appropriate since the girls love witches and are going to be little witches for Halloween!). Then, it was time for the REAL fun…painting! They each got to paint a plate, put their hand print on it, and then turn that print into a witch (with a little help from me).

It was SO much fun! The girls were so well behaved, which made the trip even better. Sometimes our little excursions don’t go quite how I plan, but this was a blast! We had to wait a week to pick up the plates, but it was well worth it (they had to get put in the kiln to be glazed)!

Finished product!

After painting, we went to the local Homecoming Parade. It was pretty small, but the girls like getting candy and seeing all the floats. The best part was seeing my cousin's kids, who are also twins. I love a double dose of twins!

Had to throw these in, too ....major attitude! :-)

My favorite!

The girls probably have two favorite things right now....painting (see above!) and going to the library. We try to go every Thursday, and it's a lot of fun for them to pick out books. I took a couple of secret pics without them realizing it...I love that they are surrounded by books (mostly Fancy Nancy and Pinkalicious).

Potty Training Hell...Part 2

As I wrote in my earlier post about potty training, it has certainly been a tough time in our family. As of the end of August, we were still struggling with getting Madison completely potty-trained. We left our preschool (which was actually a blessing in disguise because it wasn’t the right place for us) because they weren’t willing to work with us on the potty-training front. I have to admit, I was feeling pretty discouraged…then, it happened. Madi finally got potty-trained! I don’t really know what changed, other than the fact that I started taking things away when she had an accident, and told her we couldn’t do certain fun things if she didn’t go to the bathroom. For some reason, that seemed to finally work.

Over the last six weeks, she’s only had two accidents during the day. Since she was having 1-2 accidents per day previously, so it’s been quite a change for us! Both girls are now doing great! They both occasionally have accidents at night or naptime, but are dry half of the time. It’s SO nice to be nearly done with diapers. They have no problem going to the restroom when we’re out in public, and also go while they’re in school. It seemed like it would never happen, but we have TWO BIG GIRLS, and couldn’t be happier!

First Day at the new Pre-School!