Happy Halloween!



Halloween isn't just a one night party with kids in the house. A couple of trips to the pumpkin patch, some pumpkin muffins made, and several opportunities for the girls to dress up in their costumes -- that was our October.

 

Marin and Silje had a field trip to The Farm to pick out their pumpkins earlier in the month. We went back later in the month with Ailey and Andy too and ended up having a beautiful, if cold, day to walk through the pumpkins.

Ailey helped me make our first batch of pumpkin muffins. Yummm....

Our first Halloween party was at our church this past weekend - it's a huge Harvest Bash with trunk-or-treating in the parking lot, carnival games, food, and lots of fun for the girls. Here we have Jessie the Cowgirl (from Toy Story), Dorothy after her trip to Oz, and Izzy the pirate (from Jake and the Neverland Pirates).

Andy was in Portland for this party (and the one the next morning). But gone are the days when I couldn't imagine taking all three girls to a party like this by myself. We did well and had a great time. We even met up with my sister and her boys (Luke and Sam, the train conductors) for a photo op.

I enjoy carving the pumpkins, and the girls are slowly getting more into it. They each chose their own carving designs again this year, and Marin and Silje decided it was OK to get their hands slimy and helped pick the seeds out for later baking. One of these days I'm figuring they will lose their girly squeamishness and actually dig into a pumpkin! (Marin DID help dig out some pulp. There's hope for her.)

Silje drew her hearts, Ailey drew the face. Marin wanted a Husky on hers, but I talked her into a W for Washington Huskies instead since I couldn't draw the Husky on such a small pumpkin. We then flipped the W on the back of her pumpkin to also make an M for Marin. (Here you just see the M, of course.)

 

We had our Halloween night fun with Parker and Levi. Papa Murphy's pizza for dinner followed by costumes and trick-or treating around the neighborhood. Here are Dorothy, a tarantula, Darth Vader, Izzy and Jessie. Lots of fun!



 



Happy Halloween!

Fund Run

Ailey's school Fund Run was this morning. It's her school's PTA fundraiser, in place of magazine or wrapping paper sales. They collect pledges and then run for 15 minutes on the big day.

 

This is the first time Marin and Silje and I have gone to watch (mostly because the last two years I've balked at the idea of herding two potential trouble-makers in a large crowd of kids). It was a lot of fun to watch the 2nd graders speed around the field. And it was very dusty thanks to western Washington's no rain policy of the last several months.

 

Here is Ailey on one of her laps. The girl likes to run!

Ailey's class with Freddie Fund Run.

So excited! It's a half-day of school today, the sun is shining, so Ailey has lots to be happy about. :)

First Day ... No Biggie

Marin and Silje had their first day of preschool today. Their second year of preschool, with the same teacher, same classroom, and some of the same classmates.

 

Apparently three months away from school didn't mean much, because drop-off went as usual. They remembered to give me a hug and a kiss then walked straight into class without a glance back.

 

My own post-drop-off behavior went as usual as well, walking away from the classroom with maybe just a slight hesitation in my steps as I wondered "Did that really just go that smoothly?" It did. Pick-up: as usual, with the additional time added to introduce me to their new friends and say a million good-byes.

 

Silje and Marin excited about their first day!

Ailey gets in on the excitement before we take her to the bus.

Silje and her preschool backpack.

Marin and her backpack ready to go.

 

Next year will be a new kind of usual to get used to. But honestly, they will have watched Ailey get on the bus for three years by then so I probably shouldn't expect any emotional outbursts ... from them at least. :)



Ailey's First Day of 2nd Grade



Today is Ailey's first day of 2nd grade. Despite some nerves leading up to today, she got on the bus excited for school. We went to her classroom and met her teacher yesterday, got all her school supplies put away in her new desk. She even gets to sit next to someone she knows from last year. (With five 2nd grade classrooms to split the kids into there were surprisingly few familiar names on her class list!)

 

The school-morning routine was surprisingly familiar to all of us despite 2 1/2 months away from it. The girls all got up and ready and out the door cheerily. While I know that is mostly novelty causing the smooth morning, and the more difficult mornings are yet to come, I appreciate it nonetheless.

 

Marin and Silje start preschool next week. They go back to the same teacher and classroom three days a week and are looking forward to it. (Me too!)

 

Official first day of school picture

Waiting at the bus stop

Hopping on

Happy unofficial beginning of fall!

Summer Daze....

I say Summer Daze because our summer has almost been that - a daze. We've had no defining moments, vacations, or even weather. It's just been a really nice relaxing summer. The rain has mostly stayed away, Andy and I got away for a couple of overnighters, and our big backyard continues to fulfill it's purpose of keeping the girls well entertained.

And now we're getting ready to head back to school. Ailey starts 2nd grade next Wednesday and Marin and Silje go back to preschool the following week. Surprisingly, I'm not one of those moms who is desperate for summer to be over. Perhaps I can thank the "daze" for that, that summer didn't tire us all out but actually let us sit back and enjoy life for a couple months.

So now ... I'm going to inundate you with pictures of our lazy summer. The only kind of order they are in is chronological. Be ready. (And remember, I DID spare you hundreds of photos!)

The girls and I took to a hiking trail in Mukilteo one day...

They all got a camera and put them to good use. (I've spared you those images, but really they were all quite good.) Here they are photographing the greenery.

And here eachother.

Silje can never quite get away from her Collecting. She really IS quite good at picking out some interesting things.

We checked out this banana slug on the way in and on the way out. The girls were so surprised with how far he had actually moved!

Resting by the library after our hike.

At the zoo, and the hippos were actually on their feet! We couldn't remember ever seeing them anywhere other than in the water or rolled out on the dirt. Those legs were definitely worth a picture.

We walked on the ferry one day with friends and went over to the beach. It was a warm day and nice to get in the water! (Silje went in a little too far at one point - she just can't seem to keep her feet under her even when she's running toward the ocean - but we dried her shirt out on a log before heading home.)

On the way back, with Corban and Caeley.

Ailey took a couple of horseback riding lessons. She loved every part of it!

Ailey also got to go to Girl Scout day camp. She LOVED IT from day one and is still asking to go back next summer.

We went to see the new Pixar movie "Brave" with cousin Luke. We snuck in their ice cream dessert and they all loved the movie. (Me too. And it was kind of refreshing to see a Disney Princess not fall in love with the Prince in the end. :))

We had a camp-out evening one night, with bonfire and s'mores. And the tent went up for Ailey to sleep in for a few warm nights. Andy and I each took turns staying out there with her. Ailey loved it. I was strongly reminded of why I don't like sleeping on the ground.

Mmm ... s'mores.

Silje with her handful of marshmallow.

The girls had a sleepover at Gma Linda and Gpa Mark's while cousins Luke and Sam were staying there too. It's a good thing the house and yard are both big, because that had to have been a crazy household!

The girls made their own bonfire out of sticks one day and enjoyed lunch in front of it. Very creative, I thought.

We went to the zoo one day with my sister's family and my parents. I stayed home sick (darn cough is still holding on) but I understand they had a great time!

Friend Heidi and her husband and daughter came for dinner one night. Kjirsten is absolutely adorable - and it was kind of nice to see how far from age 2 we are now!

We went to pick blueberries one day. The girls did great and didn't even eat them all. The berries are still in our freezer waiting for an opportunity to make a crisp!

Little Amy ... oh, who am I kidding. 21-year-old Amy came for dinner while she was visiting from Oregon. It was fun to see how the girls still treated her like it hasn't been almost two years since seeing her!

My friends Debbie, Jen and I became Holly's Cheerleaders for a couple of months. Holly is the 3 1/2 year old daughter of some friends - she was born with a severe form of skeletal dysplasia, was not supposed to survive her birth, and continues to educate doctors and her community on just what the will to survive can look like. We raised enough money to sponsor two holes at the 3rd annual Go Holly Golf tournament last weekend - collecting from people at her church, preschool and the elementary school where her older siblings go.

We were very proud. :) If you want to know more about Holly feel free to check out the website: http://www.gohollygolf.com/

 

Andy and his golf "fivesome".

We took our last zoo trip of the summer a couple of days ago. It's always a fun one - since the girls know they get to go on the carousel, eat cotton candy, and buy a souvenir from the store on this day I never have to listen to those questions the rest of the year. :)

Now we're heading back into school, getting to the bus on time, homework, Girl Scouts ... and hopefully a little more summer weather. Happy End of Summer everyone!