Dress-up and Turkeys

I am sure I have mentioned before how much I love shopping all of Target's after holiday sales.  I have discovered that I can make it to Target when it opens, do my post Halloween shopping and still get Noah to school on time (I realize that this sounds a bit crazy, but the kids are pretty subdued that early in the morning and it drives me crazy to think I may be missing a deal;)).  This is why we have halloween napkins, paper towels, soap, etc. year round! Anyhow, this year the kids have been really interested in dress-up and we have accumulated quite a few costumes from yard sales, but with 90% off costumes after Halloween we hit the jackpot this year.  We had some pretty happy super heroes and a shocked mom once I found out how much these cheaply made costumes actually cost before Halloween;)  James did enjoy himself as well, but by the time I pulled out the camera he had already had a breakdown and was done with pretending.

Things have been a bit crazy with Gabe's job search and some other things, so we have been doing projects bit by bit. We did get to make our salt dough turkeys this year again.  Noah took it upon himself to make almost everyone's turkeys this year and James insisted on having an all green (his very favorite color) turkey.  

Halloween 2012

Halloween went off without a hitch, the storm didn't affect trick or treating, so we had some very happy kids!  Both Noah and James insisted on doing a Halloween party again this year and I was happy to oblige since it passed the time from after school until dark. The "pin the nose on the pumpkin" and the donut eating were so funny this year.  I have some video of James going around and around the donut with his mouth open and Noah almost peeing his pants laughing so hard. This year the kids really got into trick or treating with the other kids in the neighborhood.  In past years we have just taken them to the houses on our street before they want to go home, eat the candy and hand out candy to others. This year we had to do the entire neighborhood and everyone was happy but exhausted when they arrived home.  We were able to get away with making the candy "disappear" the next morning for another year, so we were happy parents to not deal with the candy for more than one night:)

Sandy

Well we had a small miracle here in that Sandy did not knock out the power on our street.  It is still a bit baffling since we lose power at the slightest breeze on this street and for many days at a time... maybe good old CMP has made some improvements to this street because Noah's school didn't have power and that is literally a block a way.  Noah had another unexpected day off from school while the rest of Portland public schools were in session.... seriously this is day 7 he has had school cancelled, but everyone else in the school system has gone, so he hasn't yet had to make up any of these days... I am not sure how I feel about those lost days, but at the same time we were so happy to have him home for another day.  This was technically the day after Sandy, so we were pleasantly surprised at the lack of rain, bright sunshine and weather in the mid 60s.

We spent the morning with our workbooks and this cool baking soda and vinegar "experiment" that kept everyone entertained for far longer than I would have thought.  I am buying baking soda in bulk these days because it is cheap and there are so many activities to do with it.  In the afternoon we played outside, took a walk around the neighborhood and explored the "storm damage".  The highlights were all of the earthworms around and the huge sticks/trees that had blown down... luckily not in our yard! 

Pumpkin Festival 2012

The first two pictures were from Saturday morning when the kids got to spend some great time with Nanny and Grammy while Gabe and I did some much needed yard work.  They made some masks and I finally finished Ben's costume. Both kids thought that he would really like to be a dog this year and insisted that he match his stuffed dog.  He was pretty cute and did way better than I could have imagined keeping the hood on.  

We continued our pre-Halloween/pre-Sandy festivities at the Camp Sunshine Pumpkin Festival in Freeport on Saturday evening. The kids participated in the costume parade, face painting, lots of games and were able to see some of their favorite characters from around town. They probably had the most fun running around and dancing at the concert at the end of the day:)

MAG Halloween Party

Noah's gymnastic center holds a Halloween party each year on the Friday before Halloween.  We weren't initially planning to take the kids as we knew it would be a zoo, but given that "Frankenstorm Sandy" may cancel our Halloween we thought we would get as much use out of our costumes as possible this weekend:)

This year (since last Halloween really) Noah insisted on being a ghost...... they don't really make ghost patterns... I eventually found this one for adults and adjusted it down (easier said than done... I am not sure I would go that route again). To be honest I made it out of some old curtains I had hanging around,  in total it cost almost nothing, so I think it was worth the effort.  He wore black underneath so "you won't see my legs".  James very much wanted to be a pumpkin this year.  I was really surprised at how much he insisted on being a pumpkin from the moment I asked him without hesitation, prompting or wavering.  I waited a few weeks to make sure he was serious and when he was I pulled out the costume that Noah wore at this same age, he was beyond thrilled and has been asking for Halloween for months now.

We didn't initially plan to bring Ben to the open gym since he is too small, so I didn't finish his costume in time..... he was still pretty cute playing on the trampoline.  He kids really enjoyed themselves and were completely exhausted at the end of the night! Both Noah and James tried (and loved) the zip line most.

MA and PA visit:)

Well here it is, my one picture from the night.... I don't know what it is about getting lots of kids together, but I always forget to take pictures... maybe making sure everyone is safe and getting along is more important and in this pic everyone is contained to the same spot;)  We had such a blast Carlile and Carroll Families!! We area so happy you were able to stop in for a visit!! 

Last night a two of Gabe's classmates from medical school and their families came to visit for the evening.  It always amazes me how well the kids all play together despite not seeing each other for many months at a time. The kids enjoyed themselves playing with "new" toys, watching "Charlie Brown and the Great Pumpkin" and having S'mores for desert. Noah and James have been talking about their friends nonstop and couldn't understand why they couldn't play the next day... guess we need to make an effort to travel south before baby #4 arrives;) 

I think it is so neat and refreshing to be able to reconnect with everyone every once in a while to see the different paths in medicine everyone has taken, all the while sharing the common "struggles" of making it through the training process... we will continue to be jealous of you Gerry until our residency is over!