2009 Halloween Costume Debut: A Fall Fairy and a Scuba Diver!

Whew! It is a good thing the kids had the day off of school yesterday or I wouldn't have had time to do pics of them in their costumes! Introducing our little Fall Fairy and Scuba Diver! Cady and I have had her costume planned for quite a while now. I made the tutu and then embellished the wings and tights with orange and green glitter glue, added a glitter pumpkin and a bow to a plain white turtleneck, added some sunflowers to a cheap pair of fairy shoes, and then, thanks to a good college friend who made the beanie for me, I added a fall leaf and large sunflower to top it off! I also made her a pumpkin wand using a pumpkin pick, a dowel, gold paint and ribbons. She loved it!

Here she is modeling her trick-or-treat bag she decorated:
Cady was absolutely thrilled by it and cannot wait to wear it tonight at our church's 4th Annual Trunk or Treat!

Colton's costume ideas changed about 4 times and he finally decided on a scuba diver over an astronaut, knight or crocodile hunter, which surprised us. As long as I can make it, though (without sewing), I am happy. It isn't my favorite costume he's ever worn, but I am happy with it and more importantly, so is he. It is unique - that's for sure!! Here is a full-body shot of him (and his decorated loot bag as well):

The oxygen tank is a 2-liter Coke bottle painted silver - super simple!
Then, a hooded sweatshirt, black gloves, black pants, an old pair of daddy's goggles and foam/felt flippers, and he was good to go!

Trunk or Treat 2009 - here we come!! Hope you all have a fun and safe Halloween!

Jack-o-lanterns and Loot Bags

Last year, the kids and I began the tradition of making trick-or-treat bags rather than buying the generic already made ones available in the stores. We did it again this year, and for less than $5, they made some really cute ones! Here are pictures of them working on them Tuesday evening (while we watched "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown"). Pictures of the completed bags will be posted with their costume pictures.

Last night, we carved our pumpkins! For the past 13 years, since Colin and I had our first Halloween together, we have each been carving our own pumpkin. The kids each have their own, too. Colton got the biggest one and he, like his Daddy, prefers scary faces whereas Cady and I like sweet, cute and funny ones! From left to right in the picture below, it is Colton's, Cady's, mine, and Colins (which looks more grumpy than scary!):
This was the first year that Cady did most of her own scooping! For the past few years, Colton has done his entire pumpkin by himself. He likes to use the stencil maker on Better Homes and Gardens website where you can pick your own eyes, mouth and nose and put them together to form your own jack-o-lantern face. Then, you print the pattern out, tape it to your pumpkin, poke holes to show the pattern and cut. He does all this by himself and this year's jack-o-lantern is his best yet!
Here are my boys showing off their scary pumpkins:
Cady and I with are sweet ones:Just another family tradition that we love doing! Can't wait to show them off at our church's 4th Annual Trunk or Treat on Saturday!!

Fall Family Fun!

Even though it was a super busy weekend, we made some time to go do one of our favorite fall family activities - the Mesilla Valley Maze and Pumpkin Patch. Our friends, the Hamricks, joined us on what turned out to be a nice day, although a little breezy. First stop, the mountain of orange tires and then some climbing on the old tractor:
The maze mascot, a scarecrow, came out as we were headed to the tricycle course and was glad to take a picture with the kids:The slides were the next stop and they are always the highlight for the kids. This year, the Lyle's family added 2 brand new slides, for a total of 5 to choose from! The maze this year was shaped like a honeybee and flower and full of fun facts about bees and honey. We wandered around for awhile, but wound up leaving through the entrance instead of finding the exit!

Colton's wondering which way to go: The giant tires sticking out of the ground are always a fun picture stop. Cady and I really liked the new zebra-print tire this year:We always get a shot of Colton and Mckaela:

and Cady and Kynze on the tires:
It was then time for my favorite part - the hay ride to the pumpkin patch to pick out our pumpkins!

Michael and Sherri looked cute (and festive) in their orange:
I snapped this shot of our beautiful Organ Mountains as a huge group of birds was flying above the corn field:Once at the pumpkin patch, it was time to search for the perfect pumpkin. Our rule is always that the kids have to be able to carry their pumpkin. This one was a little too heavy for Cady:

So was this one, but it did make a good chair:

Colton could just barely carry his pumpkin:

Daddy helped Cady find one just her size:It was a great couple of hours and the fun didn't end there! After exploring the maze and pumpkin patch, the Hamricks came to our house for some yummy taco soup, corn bread and apple crisp. A fun-filled day celebrating a beautiful season and friendship!

Just a Few Random Pics

Hello! Here are a few random snapshots of the kids just to let everyone know we are ok. I know it has been a while, and most of you probably heard that all 4 of us have been sick off and on the past couple of weeks. It started with Cady, the weekend Colton and I went to Ruidoso. Periods of lethargy and a fever that hit 104.7 - she scared us half to death! Other than those symptoms, she was fine and missed Tuesday of that next week, but was back on Friday - while Colton and I were home sick! He came home from school on Thursday and asked to lay down and just generally didn't look good. By the next day, he was running a low-grade temp and we kept him home. He was forced to miss a soccer game on Saturday morning, and what would have been his first sleepover for a classmate's birthday. Although he seemed to be feeling better that morning, by Saturday evening his fever was higher and he couldn't keep anything down. Poor kiddo! He stayed home through Monday and was back to school on Tuesday. My worst day was Friday, but I was feeling better by Saturday and Colin had a strange fever on Monday and stayed home, but was feeling fine by that afternoon. Now, he is sick with what he describes as cold symptoms. Not sure if all this was the dreaded H1N1 or not, but we are glad things are getting back to normal. Thank you for all the prayers and we hope all of you are staying well!

These pictures of Cady were taken Tuesday morning of this week before school. She was wearing her new Levi jacket and jeans with her first pair of cowgirl boots that she got before the fair this year. She loves wearing her "Tubbies" (that is what they are called) and has worn them to school 3 times already, which makes Colin and I feel better about splurging on them in the first place! She also loves this jacket and calls it her "diamond jacket" because of the huge rhinestones on the front.

I snapped this picture of Colton this morning before school, showing off his new Halloween shirt. I bought the shirt on a shopping trip with my friend, Sherri, in El Paso in September. The main reason I got it, was because with his teeth missing, Colton actually reminded us of a vampire and I wanted to get a picture of him wearing the shirt with his missing teeth. Well, due to how hectic it has been, and the fact that today was really the first day even close to cool enough to wear long sleeves all day, I hadn't been able to take a picture and I am sure you can tell from the one below that he is no longer toothless - one of them is FINALLY coming in! It took almost a year, but he is at least getting one of them. So, the shirt idea was a good one, but it didn't really work out the way I wanted it to. Oh well! I hope you enjoy the picture anyway!!