Halloween At Stay and Play

Juliet was so excited to go to her school's "party" today. She's been hearing Leah talk about her party for weeks now, and gets so annoyed everytime Leah starts talking. "MY PARTY?! WHEN MY PARTY?!" I never really knew what to say, because technically, Stay and Play doesn't have a party or really anything close to it, but I was able to convince Juliet that they did. They did have some costumes out and we went trick or treating through the hallways, so Juliet was pretty thrilled. Her favorite costume was this Superman one. 

Halloween Eve

Juliet and Leah in the same Halloween Costume at 2. Where does the time go!? I remember that day with Leah like it was yesterday. I went to school, even though I didn't have to, to organize my room. Leah went in her costume and we watched the big kids have their Halloween Parade. We went out to lunch. Leah devoured suckers all day long. 

 Leah was dressed up for her school's parade and party. I really wanted to go, but the times didn't work out with my own classroom. Now that I don't have a para, I can't  pop out for a minute as needed like I used to. I am sad that I didn't get to see her first party, but I did get to watch her LEAD the Halloween parade (she was the Happy Helper). Both girls went to the babysitter in the PM so I could go to professional development. It seems like both girls had a lot of fun, but Juliet must not have gotten a lot of sleep or just been super OVER it, because she was like a ticking time bomb at the Summit's Halloween Parade. I'm not used to working a full day, either, so I was a little grumpy myself. ;) 

 I love this picture of the girls showing off their tickets. They were so happy to go to the Summit's Halloween Parade!

 Anna and Elsa were there. Leah couldn't decide whether or not they were the "real" ones. She is trying SO HARD to not be so freaked out by people dresses as characters. It's so adorable to watch. When you talk to her about it, she'll say she doesn't know why it makes her so shy, but she is trying not to be. I seriously get a lump in my throat every time she sees a character. She tries so hard. It sucks that usually when there is a whole character thing, you have to be really quick. I think she would love it so much more if she was able to have a few minutes with them to build up some confidence. Juliet, on the other hand, runs right over to them and tries to sit in their laps. 

 Princess Rapunzel!

More Obligitory Halloween Fun

 We made jack-o-lanterns on Sunday night. Leah drew her own design which Chris carved. Juliet insisted on wanting a "MoMo" (Elmo) pumpkin. I made the pumpkin eating anther pumpkin and Chris made the one that looks good. 

 The girls took a bath and were pretty beat by the time it was done. I love Leah's signature dead eyes in the above picture. She kept telling me, "I'm really tired!" We went to bed early. 

 I always try to make some themed treats with the kids around holidays. Leah and I perused Pinterest and came up with these Mummy cupcakes. They were kind of a PITA to make, but they turned out cute and the girls LOVED them. 

Fall Photo Session, Round 2

 I tried again. I got some OK shots. My favorite is the one below. It was a nice day and all the neighborhood kids were out. In fact, our neighbor came out 2 minutes into my session to take pictures 5 feet away from us of his daughter. Then, the neighbors 2 houses down came out, too. Both girls were pretty distracted and I felt like a little bit of a loser trying to take their pictures when all they really wanted to do was see what the other kids were doing, and play, too. 

 Oh well. I told myself I only needed 1 good picture, and I think I got it. And, as a bonus a couple of OK ones, too. 

 After taking pictures we explored in the woods a little bit, made a giant leaf pile for the kids to jump in, and went inside for naps. Not a bad day. 

Juliet's First Field Trip

 Last week we went on Juliet's first field trip to the orchard. She was a little unsure at first, but warmed up quickly. I made Juliet pose in the same place as Leah did when she was the same age. 

 We weren't able to pick apples, but we could pick pumpkins from a totally staged pumpkin patch. 

 Juliet's favorite part was cider and donuts (of course). I didn't get any pictures of that (besides a picture on my phone for Chris) because we were both pretty over it by that point. 

My failed try at Fall pictures...

 Last week I tried to take my own Fall pictures. Our professional session was in the summer, and I really like Fall pictures, too, so I tried to do my own. #fail. I got fake smiles and a whole lot of complaining in my 10 minute session. I keep waiting for another nice day, but I'm beginning to think it might never happen. Today might be good but Chris and I are going on our first date in like 6 months, and our teenage sitter does a fantastic job of tiring the girls out, so probably not. Oh well. 

Playing in the Leaves

 Last week had a few nice fall days. On Wednesday, Leah REALLY wanted to play outside after school, but we couldn't because of dance. It's getting dark earlier now, so we weren't able to go out after either. Thursday was another nice day. We were set to play outside, but the girls were ornery and not happy. They wanted to fill up the pool, play with the hose, all things that aren't exactly appropriate for 60 degree weather. I said we should make a leaf pile, but we didn't have any leaves. Our lawn service had just cut our grass. So, we started raking leaves from the street. Then, I started importing them from the median. Leah and Juliet had fun making sure that the pile was "just right". while I made the trip to the median and back. 

 We called Daddy home, because who knows how many more days like this we are going to have?!

After Daddy got home, Leah spent some time perfecting the pile (she seriously was moving the leaves one by one and finding the perfect spot in the pile for them).

 Then both girls had fun jumping and playing in the pile 

 Juliet wasn't so sure at first, but them she started having a lot of fun!

 I bribed the girls with a Kit Kat to pose for a few pictures. I got my new favorite fall picture below out of the deal. :)

My New Favorite Dress (for the girls)

Love this dress and these girls (duh). 

Pumpkin-Palozza

Leah has been counting down the days to Halloween since September. She constantly laments that Halloween is too far away. She was ecstatic to finally get to dress up and Trick or Treat. 

 We met up with Lukey and Anna. All the kids were in Frozen themed costumes (along with about half the kids at the event). We took a few pictures. I really like the weirdly creepy scarecrows of Anna and Elsa. 

 We saw Anna and Elsa. Leah wasn't sure.....

 More cute pictures. 

On our way out, we decided that we were too hungry to go home. So we went to Jimmy Johns. And took a picture of Leah on the fire truck. 

First Field Trip of Young 5's Kindergarten

 Leah in my room before the trip. She was SO EXCITED to ride the bus. 

 Chris officially chaperoned. He had his own little pair of girls to watch. I wanted him to go, because if I kept Leah with me, it would just be her and me and my class. I wanted her to be able to stay with her own friends. I also asked Chris to check out a few boys who I've had reports of her holding hands with and hugging. :) 

 It was a really cool morning. It was hazy and just really cool looking. We had fun on the trip. The "play time" at the end was a little long for all of us, but Leah had fun. She really liked jumping on the hay bales at the end. It took her a few tries to build up some courage, but she got it! 

 Leah wanted some action shots of her jumping. 

Annual Skeleton Jammie Pics

Need I say anymore?! I love when the season of the jammies starts....Skeleton then Christmas!

Messy Me Art Class

 We had our first Messy Me art class this week. The girls both really liked it, too. I have positive things to day, too, but I am pretty sure this class is designed for 1 parent and 1 kid, not 1 parent and 2 kids. Leah was on her own most of the class, which was okay because she was *really* into making a tee shirt. Juliet liked the class, too, but was a more typical 2 year old who wanted to wander from station to station. 

 Leah was thrilled that I let her work with a permanent marker. She always asks at home. I say no and she gets so upset and reminds me that I let her use them one time when we were prepping favors for her birthday party. 

They wanted to war their shirts, of course, so I obliged on Saturday. They were pretty thrilled with wearing their art.