Halloween

Talking with Scott, we both decided that growing up Halloween was never a favorite holiday of ours, but since having kids we both are liking the holiday a little more. I really enjoy making costumes for my kids and having the chance to get a little creative. And Claire's getting to that age that she really likes dressing up and so she was thrilled to be able to put on a pretty dress and wings. :) Everett loved being outside and both kids loved seeing their buckets filling up with treats. And Scott and I both love memorable moments like these. :)

For Everett's Peter Pan costume I used this tutorial for the hat and the belt and I made his leggings using this other tutorial, the shirt I made without anything, and there are definitely some things I would change, but it worked out good enough for a toddler costume. :)

For Claire's Tinkerbell costume I used two different tutorials, the top I got from here and the skirt part I got from here. It turned out to be a little too tight for her, but it actually worked out pretty well because the top stayed up on it's own instead of needing a strap around the neck. Just like Tinkerbell's dress. :) She loved it. :)


I don't know how long we'll be able to all dress up using the same theme, but we want to try for as long as they'll let us! :) Here's all of us - Mr. Smee, Tinkerbell, Peter Pan, and Captain Hook.

After taking a few pictures for mommy's sake we set off to do some trick-or-treating. Claire was very anxious and excited to go to different houses. Before going we practiced saying "trick or treat" and then "thank you", but then at the door she would suddenly be shy and forget to say anything. They got tired quickly and we only ended up going about half-way around our block but they seemed to still have a lot of fun. :)

After trick-or-treating, the fun wasn't over though. We went to our friends' Halloween party and Claire was able to play with her other Disney friends Cinderella and Aurora. :)









Happy Halloween!

Painting Pumpkins

For Family Home Evening before Halloween we decided to paint some pumpkins. It's a lot easier than carving and maybe less messy. This year Claire was a pro and went at her pumpkin telling us exactly what color she wanted to use next. Everett was a little unsure what to do and kept wanting to put the paintbrush in his mouth. He got a little sad when we kept stopping him and taking the paint brush away, but after giving him a banana to eat instead and after some comforting he got more into it. :)

memory made

so i love to golf. i'm not any good at it, but i just love getting out into some beautiful scenery and hitting some balls around (plus driving around in a golf cart is a blast - it's like a go-kart with no track). it's just too expensive of a game for me to ever get any real practice in, plus i've never been good at anything that requires consistency and muscle-memory. so a good day of golf for me is a day where i end the day with the same golf ball i started with (that's why you'll notice the orange ball in picture -  helps me not lose it). occasionally (very rarely) i hit a shot worth bragging about. so the other day i'm golfing with my brother and sister at the eastbay golf course. i tee up on a par 3 and hit one of those very rare shots for me that went straight down the middle. it was a thing of beauty. landed less than two feet away. a short tap in and i walk away with my first birdie ever. i know... i'm awesome. :)

Cornbelly's

We decided to go check out Cornbelly's this year and it was pretty cool...

we played on the toy trains and walked through the mini corn maze,

rode in the cow barrels,

played in the corn seeds,

bounced on the giant trampoline... (Everett got sooo mad at me when I wouldn't let go of him, but he had no fear and the trampoline really scared me),

played pumpkin tetherball,

and had an enjoyable time with all the fun toys and things to see. Claire was especially happy to meet the pumpkin princess. :)

We had such a fun time! :)

memory made (and our 200th post!)

our kids have never been ones to fall asleep in random places. i always see other parents posting funny pictures or videos of their kids asleep at the high chair or curled up in a ball in a random spot or something like that. it's not been our kids' style though. the bed or the car seat. that was it. nowhere else. once, and i repeat, once claire fell asleep by the door after crying herself out because mommy had left for work. it was so funny that i had to get a picture.

well everett has always been the same, with the exception of the other day. we were just wrapping up lunch. amber and i were putting some stuff away when we hear claire say, "uh oh! everett!" we turn to look to see everett doing the head bob as he was falling asleep. so adorable. :)

zoo day

normally i can be a little wordy, but today i'll leave it at this: we went to the zoo. :)

Family Pictures 2013

My family will have to get used to family pictures every year because I love to see how we all have changed and how much our kids have grown each year. Having family pictures on our walls is a must for me. :) This year we have so many favorites, it was hard to decide which ones to print, but I posted most of them here on the blog. :) These were taken by Sherry again and edited by myself. Thank you, thank you, thank you Sherry! :)