Couples Halloween Party

For the past few years, there's been an annual couples' Halloween party hosted by four awesome couples. We've loved getting to dress up, eat food, and visit with our friends without interruptions by our lovely children. 

Sadly, all four couples moved away in the past year. Being the Halloween lover I am, I couldn't let such a great tradition die. And so, with the help of two other couples, we took over the couples' party. I could not have done it without Melissa--she had the vision! 

The morning of the party, everyone was hard at work. Elise was on paper plate sanitation duty. She took her job very, very seriously:

Aaron & Luke were in charge of un-decorating everything Melissa and I put up. Notice the sheets on the floor? Those had been covering the couches moments earlier:

Despite Luke and Aaron's best attempts, the house looked AMAZING for the party that night. I owe Melissa so much, but credit for the amazing window silhouettes goes to Anna and Alicia. When I asked for their help, I was not expecting that level of detail. That's what you get for asking artists for help!

Hosting a huge party is always crazy, but it was extra fun because Jon was out of town for two weeks and arrived home just an hour or two before the party started. And, us being us, our costumes were not simple. Which is how we ended up being 30 minutes late to our own party at our own house. Many thanks to Melissa and Craig for entertaining our guests until we showed up:

My costume dry run

A black and white photograph couple

A better shot

We have the best friends. I love that so many people here love Halloween like we do!

Matt & Emily took home the coveted trophy.

There's no competing with that He-Man wig!

Looking forward to lots of Halloween fun in years to come!

The Carving of the Pumpkins

Everyone was super excited to carve pumpkins this year:

Fine. At least Seth was excited.

Maybe a little too excited:

Elise didn't get a pumpkin.

But she did get to eat, which is what she really wants.

Four babies, four pumpkins:

Aaron's lion (lions are very scary right now):

Catherine's bat:

Seth's Frankenstein:

 

My Joker:

Four pumpkins at night:

Eight Months

This jacket is my favorite thing ever

Apparently eight months is when your opinions decided to kick in, little miss! You have opinions on eating (always food), opinions on being left alone (never), opinions on who can hold you (just Mom & Dad when you're tired), and opinions on what you need to be putting in your mouth at that moment (usually something you'll choke on). But overall you're still a pretty relaxed baby girl. At church today I handed you off to a friend that you'd never met for two hours, and was a bit afraid of how you'd do. When she returned you, she was gushing about how you were the perfect baby!

Here's what else you're up to at eight months old:

*You're a professional sitter! I always have to strap you in, but you do a great job sitting up in the cart while we go grocery shopping. I am so happy to not have to haul your giant car seat around anymore!

*You'll occasionally get up on hands and knees, but no real rocking yet. No army crawling, either. Rolling is still your method of transport, but you use it quite effectively.

*You're down to just two feedings at night, which is still kind of ridiculous, but better than every 2 hours! Usually between 11:00-12:00, and again between 3:00-5:00. You're almost always up for the day between 7-7:30.

*You LOVE swinging. When we're done swinging out back and I start unbuckling you, you yell at me.

*Two teeth on the bottom, one on the top. I didn't even notice the top one coming through!

*You're a two nap girl now. You're not super consistent with times or lengths, but you give me at least one good nap a day.

*First taste of dirt (ice cream) from Broom's Bloom. You were, of course, a fan:

*You can put your pacifier back in your mouth. This is possibly the explanation for the longer sleep at night.

*You love, love, love your siblings and will break out in shrieks and wiggles when you see them, especially in the morning.  Aaron especially can make you laugh (when he's not making you cry).

Seth & Catherine made you a ball pit

*Your favorite trick right now is to grab your siblings' hair whenever you get the chance. You're very fast. Aaron is not a fan.

*You're fitting perfectly in 9 month clothing. Possibly a little too tight on the onesies.

*You love to eat paper. Sometimes munching on a receipt is the only thing that keeps you happy during shopping trips.

*You're working on the pincer grasp. I am counting down the days until you can feed yourself snacks while I cook! But you have graduated to the high chair, which is AWESOME.

*You're our first baby to prefer a normal sippy cup over a straw sippy cup. We removed the valve for the first couple of weeks so it would be easier to suck. But sometimes you would let go too fast and end up getting water all over your face:

*You and Aaron take baths together now. We have three little plastic cars in our bath toys. Aaron loves these cars and spends most of his time in the bath trying to keep them away from you. You also love them and spend your time trying to take them away and yelling at him if he touches your cars.

*I keep forgetting to write this down: Our good friends the Knoxes have a little boy named Paul who is three. Ever since you were born he's called you "My-lise." So adorable.

Oh, we love you so, baby girl. Thank you for being the sweetest little thing!

Corn Maze

Our schools had lots of random holidays in October, and we took full advantage. Some friends arranged a trip to a local corn maze and invited us. I wasn't sure that my kids would enjoy a corn maze, but with the right group of people, anything is fun!

Some of my favorite kids and favorite families

Aaron was in heaven. He had three of his adoring fan club members there to follow him around and cater to his every whim. I thought he would hate the corn maze, but with Bekah, Lydia & Abi around he was very happy. 

The corn maze was also the perfect spot to find our favorite woolly bear caterpillars. Catherine has eagle eyes when it comes to caterpillars and managed to spot quite a few. Many were dead or almost dead, but she found a couple that she lovingly crammed into our stroller to take home. 

Caterpillar investigating

Aaron is getting much better about not crushing the caterpillars out of love.

We may have cheated a tiny bit, but we finally made it out! 

Eli, Abi, Emma & Catherine at the overlook

Aaron & Lydia made it out, too

Elise napped through the maze and woke up very happy

Seth is now part of the big(ger) kids crew and went off on his own with some friends (and a mom, because we didn't trust them to make it out alive):  

Maddie, Tessa & Gabe follow Seth into the maze.

Not sure this is a good idea.

Made it to the bridge

Trying to figure out where they are

Besides a corn maze, they also had several other fun activities for the kids. My little Catherine gymnast loved this huge playground made out of old tires that she could climb all over: 

Aaron loved having Abi & Lydia chase after him: 

Catherine's favorite part: the giant slide: 

This was a serious slide--definitely not your boring "safe" playground slide. It was steep enough to give me some stomach butterflies when going down. And I went down several times because Aaron, who is usually kind of a wimp, LOVED it! It was too big for him to go down alone, but he begged for me & Lydia to take him over and over again.

Aaron may have his fan club, but Elise is working on winning them over to her team: 

Elise & Lydia

Laughing at Lydia

Tessa, Elise & Catherine

Elise & Abi

One of the activities at the maze was a little train ride. We thought it was included with admission, but it ended up being $4 a rider (which I was unwilling to pay for a five minute ride). My kids were disappointed, but soon went back to the other activities. 

As we were getting ready to go, someone came up to us and offered us two tickets to ride the train. Aaron was happy to accept. I asked him who he wanted to go with him: me, or Lydia. "Didia".  And so Lydia and Aaron had a nice little train ride date together. 

Riding the train

Coming back from their date

The corn maze ended up being tons of fun. We'll be coming back next year for sure!