Happy Halloween!!!

The big day has finally arrived. Now that is over, I am so happy.  Whew, this whirlwind weekend has been nuts.  We’ve been busy.  Even busier than usual. It did not help planning a Halloween party for about 35 families this weekend.  Then another birthday party today and squeezing in naps and trick-or-treating in, too.  We had a great afternoon grilling out with our neighbors/friends and their little boys.  Nonnie was here to help out and lead on the crew during the trick-or-treating.  The dads held down the fort at the houses while we searched for booty.  The boys were pirates for Halloween.  We really have been playing it by ear for the final day, depending mostly on weather. It was hot, so Spidey and Batman were out – the masks were too much – and the “po po” and fireman were worn the night before at the block party, so pirates seemed best.  Plus, our friends were all being pirates, so it worked out perfectly.  Four little scallywags running the ‘hood searching for loot…precious!

The block party the night before was cool for the boys.  They had a bouncy house to rock in (princess theme no less) and lots of older women to harass.  We were exhausted, so we were ready to have an early night. Rals, on the other hand, did not feel that same vibe.  He fell asleep around 9:30!  Tonight, they were out just after 8pm. Tomorrow is a low key, chill out day for sure!  Our birthday party for the princesses was great.  The boys were actually pretty low key themselves, so they were easy to watch and I was able to try to relax myself.  We got a really good compliment that the boys seemed much older because of their social skills and sharing abilities.  Yup, they are social – no doubt about it!  Friendly and always wanting attention from whoever throws it their way.  Rals and Gus tonight had no problem knocking on doors and asking for candy  At one point, I thought Raleigh was going to hug a lady as she opened the door.  He started singing “candy, candy, candy” in a real sing-song voice and was hilarious to watch and listen to.  He even started kissing his candy before he put it in his bucket.  What  a trip!

 

Here the boys are trying out their broomsticks.  The found a hat left over from the party.  I said I was a good witch while I tried it on, and Rals was quick to point out that I was a “sassy witch.”  Hmm…not sure what to think of that! 

Check out Rals’ expressions in the next two – SHEER JOY!!!

The night before pics!

Daddy actually smiling!  Wow!! We were on a hay ride…aka, hay thrown in a trailer attached to an SUV.  The boys had fun, the pre-teen girls on the ride were singing Taylor Swift, and it reminded me of my youth singing Debbie Gibson, then they started singing “California Girls” by Katy Perry, and Matt and I both looked at each other and thanked our lucky stars we had boys at that very moment!!!

this morning, Skyping with Nannie
& Poppy!

Happy Halloween!

Today we’ve hit the multiples club Halloween party and we are about to go to our own block party.  Tomorrow it is a princesses 3rd birthday party and then of course, the piece de resistance, trick-or-treating!  Here are a few cute pictures of our week.  I was able to borrow a cool camera today, but I don’t have the SD card yet, so I am anxiously awaiting those on Monday night!  So much fun, but so much work.  Of course it was well worth it, particularly because we had great turnout for the Club today.  Lots of fun and lots of cuteness!

 

no smiles here!  hopefully on the other camera!

Seriously, how cute is Gus holding Miss A’s little hand??

Pumpkin Patch and First Time for Carving

Well, this year we finally did it.  We carved pumpkins.  I struggled with this because in Florida, well, pumpkin carving feels a little wrong.  Is it just me? It is still so darn hot, and setting out a pumpkin to basically rot just seems wrong.  Well, it is, but the boys love them, so why not!?!?!  We hit a little pumpkin patch down the street for just the right pumpkin and of course some more posing in front of hay bales and pumpkins.  Then we headed to dinner with our friends and neighbors.  Our fave Greek/belly dancing spot.  Yummy!
We had fun, stopped for more libations on our walk home, the boys tried to milk and feed the plaster cow outside the liquor store, and then we headed to start the carving fun.  Raleigh was all about helping scoop out the seeds, or “poop” them out as it sounds from his mouth…but I digress.  Gus was not really interested.  Our friend, Little C, not so much either, but it was funny to see him get scared as we lit the pumpkins.  His Daddy made a scary one!  And a Mickey one too that I am going to confess, blew our Daddy’s pumpkins away! 



Gus, he went for the different colored pumpkins, and Rals was all about the bumpy ones! I love that they like the “different” ones!

Of course, Gus had to shake his maracas for us!

Look closely, you’ll see the leaves stuck to the cow’s mouth

Favorite Fall Crafts – Blog Roll Question of the Week

We have done a lot of crafting lately.  The question of the week on the Multiples and More blog is all about crafts, so I decided to take a few minutes to write about ours.  Some are more fall-like than others, but all have been fun!  Most of them have been with our moms of multiples group; and what could be more fun that crafting with your own multiples?  Well, of course, crafting with lots of multiple friends and their mommies!

First, we did a Grandparent’s Day craft. We hosted it in a park where I knew we would have easy clean up and plenty of space to do our masterpieces.  I got this idea from this web site http://www.activityvillage.co.uk.  I just stumbled upon them looking for crafty ideas for grandparents, because, what grandparent doesn’t want something handmade by their grandkids?  We used sponge paint brushes to paint the kids’ hands and then helped the kids make a circle to form a flower, and then later drew in the stem and attached a little poem for each grandparent.  The web site had lots of poems to choose from. They have a few autumn art projects I think we’ll try this week, too!
The foam brushes can be picked up at your local hardware store for pennies and clean up for reuse.  Much easier for getting on all the nooks and crannies of hands and feet.


For a quick and easy crafty/fun activity, why not take a moment to paint some masks or leaves, pumpkins, or ghosts on your kiddos faces?  We had fun doing just that at an “entertaining” play date.  Just note, that even if a face paint says it is washable, it does not mean it easily washes off…I finally had to use rubbing alcohol to remove the blue ring around the boys eyes.  If anyone out there has a brand they love, or any other removal remedies, I would love to hear about them!  We’ll be doing this again when one of the moms in our group hosts a “superhero” play date next month.  Great way to have fun, be creative, and reuse some of those Halloween costumes and props before they outgrow them!

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More fun, again, not really crafty, but along the same lines, how about a Halloween cookie decorating party?  That is what we did with about 20 little ones.  We all just met up at one of our houses, brought our own premade uncooked dough, rolling pins, and some even brought our own tables, and then we helped the kids cut, bake, and decorate their very own cookies.  Most of us have two year olds.  For sanity purposes, I would recommend having the cookies already baked and cut out into Halloween shapes, and then just do the decorating with the littlies, but live and learn, or be like us and have something to laugh about in retrospect!

My own art project while still involving the twinkies was to half-fill a vase with acorns and a pumpkin scented candle, and voila, instant fall decor!  Smells and looks good!  Now, every time we go for a walk, the boys are continually collecting acorns.  Maybe we’ll have enough for a second display before Thanksgiving!  Of course, it would be helpful if I would remember to check their pockets for acorns before I wash their shorts…we have some really clean acorns in this jar!
We worked on one last art project last week, making cheetah masks, inspired by a craft from our monthly magazine, Wild Animal Baby. Here is a link to the mask template – although, our printer is broken, so I just drew ours freehand. http://www.nwf.org/Kids/Wild-Animal-Baby/Fun/Crafts-and-Activities/Mammals/Leopard-Mask.aspx

Here is what the final product should look like…ours is not yet finished.  The boys really liked sponging on the paint, we just have not added the nose/mouth/whiskers…yet!  Great tip is to use sponges with a clothespin attached, or rather, pinned to the sponge, so they don’t even have to dip their fingers near the paint.  It should cut down on mess, although, I personally think that is half the fun, right?

Afterward, we tried some leaf printing and fall artwork for the fridge using fall-ish colors of red and brown.  This one, well, it was messy, very messy!  Looks great on our refrigerator.
 


Have fun, I hope to read about more ideas from other moms, too!