The Cute-a-Saurus

We have been really lucky and have been given lots of hand-me-downs from friends. The latest batch included some footie pajamas for Seth (which he loves). He immediately put them on and was running around the house happily.

Until he noticed the embroidered dinosaur on the chest.

"Cute-a-saurus? Ugh."

The pajamas were quickly removed and placed in the donation pile.

Trick or Treat!

As has become tradition, we spent our Halloween at the Knox home enjoying delicious food and some great trick-or-treating. 

Elsa was just not going to give me a decent smile while looking at the camera:

And this, my friends, is how you bribe your son to dress up as Prince Hans:

You make him a Minecraft Zombie costume for "real" Halloween

Costumes made this year:

Han Solo in Carbonite

Leia

Anna

Olaf

Hans

Marshmallow

Minecraft Zombie

 Total: 7 costumes (Elsa was made by a friend)

I am officially insane.

NEVER AGAIN.

Ready to head out

Bekah makes a great Marshmallow

("This is really heavy!")

Jon was a good sport and wore his costume around while the kids went trick-or-treating. People generally thought he was the Abominable Snowman (or a squid), but were very impressed nonetheless. 

I got the privilege of taking Aaron & Catherine around, as Jon's arms were unavailable. As Catherine is incredibly slow and Aaron getting rather heavy, this was a bit of an ordeal. But we all survived and had plenty of candy to show for it.

Tired Olaf is ready to go home

Trying to get an Anna/Elsa picture is a joke.

My daughter is so darn cooperative...

Co-op Halloween

I meant to get a group picture, but by the end of co-op my baby is always screaming, so this is all I got:

Eliora & Catherine waiting for cookies

Icing for the mouth, not the cookie.

I volunteered to host a "spooky science" center, and it was AWESOME! We dissolved candy pumpkins, lit tea bag ghosts on fire, played with dry ice, and made goop. It was also my last time teaching science for the school year. Glad to be done with the prep and dealing with a needy baby, but sad not to teach anymore. 

Grease Is the Word

I thought Jon was kidding when he said he put gel in Aaron's hair.

Not-so-subtle hint that his son needs a haircut?

Let It Go

Yes, I know it was the totally trendy thing to do this year. Yes, I knew there would be about five billion Elsas running around. But it just worked so nicely! And, to be honest, I really enjoy the movie. I could watch the first half over and over again (second half, meh). Plus, Jon was supposed to be out of town, so I needed something that I could do with or without him. And so Frozen it was!

Prince Hans loves Olaf

Not sure about that face in the top one.

He was doing it all night. Cracked me up.

Elsa, on the other hand, refused to smile.

She loved her costume, loved her sparkles and makeup.

But you wouldn't know it from the pictures...

This was before she rubbed off all the mascara and looked like a sparkly raccoon.

Olaf likes to eat rocks.

Who knew?

The only way Jon was willing to cooperate was because of this costume: 

Coolest Marshmallow ever.

Check out the glowing eyes: 

He managed to thrill the older Elsas at the party and 

terrify the youngest ones.

My Anna dress.

Possibly the first time I've put more work into my own costume

than I put into Jon's. The details on the skirt were killer...

Frozen Bloods

The only way to keep Olaf happy was to feed him suckers while Anna passed out candy.

He ate an entire Tootsie Pop (full-sized!) and started on another.

He and I were a disgusting, sticky mess by the end of the night.

Lohr's Orchard

My favorite fall field trip and my favorite apple cider both come from Lohr's. 

We love our annual tractor ride field trip!

Seth loves carrying Aaron around.

Aaron tolerates it in very small doses.

Jon took off a half-day of work to come with us.

That's how awesome this place is.

Sometimes it's a good idea to listen when Mom mentions that you 

might want your hair put in a ponytail. 

Aaron doesn't care about tractors: he cares about his ball.

I couldn't find his pumpkin shirt, so he wore Seth's old X-files shirt. 

The Seth's pumpkin

The Aaron pumpkin

The "No, I don't have to go potty" pumpkin 

Picking pumpkins

Pumpkins are great.

They're like giant orange balls that make a great sound when you whack them!

Pensive Seth

Aaron is alternately adorably cute, 

or he has 15 chins.

Enjoying a delicious apple

October Means:

Making Halloween cookies:

The end of soccer season:

Seth & his buddy, Gabe

This was Seth's first year playing soccer and he had a great time. He loved playing goalie and was pretty good at it. He wasn't the most aggressive player, but he was a good listener and did whatever he was asked. 

Also, we should probably buy the kid some soccer shorts instead of basketball shorts.

Pumpkin Carving

We were disappointed this year to find that Catherine's pumpkin was rotten inside. It was still carve-able, but I deeply regretted the loss of pumpkin seeds. 

Neither of them wanted to pick out the seeds.

I told them no carving until the seeds were picked.

Catherine with her pumpkin and Catherine with matches.

Yep.

Seth actually carved a decent chunk of his pumpkin.

Next year he's on his own.

Elsa

Minecraft Jack-o-Lantern

Two beautiful pumpkins

Not Kidding

During costume-making season, I sometimes tell people my house is a total wreck. These people will smile and say, "Oh, my house is always a wreck!" So here is the proof that when I say "total wreck", I mean that every surface and most of the floor is covered in either costume-stuff or food from the kids scavenging. A TOTAL wreck.

Bounce

Sometimes, Mom neglects to read the extremely fine print on a Groupon and ends up with a pass to the bouncy place that expires three months after purchase. So, instead of enjoying it during the winter as planned, we hit it up mid-October. The big ones were thrilled--even Catherine played independently this time!

Aaron was not so thrilled with the sliding stuff, though: