The Biker and the Sheriff

This evening my friend, Laura, came over to help me take the kids out to Trick or Treat.  This was the first Halloween that the kids (or I) have ever been out Trick or Treating.  It was definitely a strange experience for me.  I don't like asking people for things.  Going door to door to ring the doorbell and ask for candy is really out of my comfort zone. 

Ryan's parents sent Aric the appropriate gear to turn him into a biker dude.  I originally debated between turning Aric into a pirate or a sheriff and was finally settled on sheriff when the biker gear arrived.  Aric fell in love with the biker gear until he saw the Buzz Lightyear costume at Target and told everyone he was going to be Buzz for Halloween.

We were undecided on whether Kellyn would go and figured we would turn her into a princess or have her wear her tutu if she accompanied us.  This evening Ryan suggested we turn her into a sheriff since I had purchased a sheriff's badge for Aric.  I scrounged around the house and came up with an appropriate cowgirl outfit for her.

At the first house, after ringing the doorbell, Kellyn thought she was supposed to go inside.  Some houses and costumed revelers were just too scary for the kids, but all in all they had a good time once they got the hang of it.  I was glad for Laura's company while walking about the neighborhood.

Now if I can just figure out how to take them on walks without having them think we need to stop at every one's house for candy.

And the best part of Ryan's night, besides getting to stay home and watch the Chiefs game, was having a little girl squeal and yell "Winnie the Pooh, Winnie the Pooh" to her mother as she pointed at Aric's Backson pumpkin.

Pumpkin Carving

Ryan was gone last weekend when the kids and I carved three of our pumpkins.  This morning he and the kids carved the remaining two pumpkins that we had saved. 

Ryan and Aric decided to turn Aric's pumpkin into a Backson complete with horns, red hair and a nose ring:

Kellyn's pumpkin was turned into a face with a big toothy grin:

The kids were not cooperating with the camera today:

Our pumpkins to include our two shriveled up, no longer smiling pumpkins from last weekend:

The real Backson:

Things Heard Around Here

Heard as Aric and Kellyn run around the house: Tick Tock, Tick Tock, Tick Tock

Me: Aric, are you pretending to be a clock?

Aric: No, I'm a crocodile.

Translation:
Too much Jake and the Neverland Pirates.

Aric's Artwork

Lately Aric's drawings have become more recognizable.  Yesterday he drew this on our chalkboard wall:

When I asked him what it was he told me it was the "Backson" from Winnie the Pooh.  He and Kellyn watched the new Winnie the Pooh movie the other night.  Too bad it was on the chalkboard wall and it was only captured on my camera phone.

Pumpkins

This past weekend I took the kids to a harvest party.  We spent the evening carving pumpkins, roasting hot dogs, singing, going on a hay rack ride, conversing with friends, running around chasing other kids, playing with glow sticks (or glue sticks as Aric calls them) and roasting marshmallows.  The kids were up past their bedtime and had a wonderful time.  I am thankful to have friends who are thoughtful enough to include us in their activities.

One of the most exciting parts of the night was the pumpkin carving.  Aric and Kellyn were able to pick out their own pumpkins and request the type of face they wanted carved into it.  They aren't pumpkins that will win any kind of contests, but the kids were pleased to have their very own pumpkin.  We brought our pumpkins home and set them on our doorstep.

Since the party it has been unseasonably warm (in the 80's) and the pumpkins have shriveled up in the heat. Aric is quite upset every time he sees his pumpkin. He specifically requested his pumpkin have a smiley face and the newly shriveled up face looks scary not happy.  There is no way to explain to a three year old about pumpkins, heat, and rotting.

Thankfully we have two more pumpkins left to carve.  We're leaving them for this weekend.  Hopefully they will take his mind off the little, shriveled up, scary pumpkin sitting on our doorstep.

Things Heard Around Here

Mommy, can we play the goose game?

Translation:
Can we play duck, duck, goose?

Aric learned how to play "the goose game" this past week at church.  At the time that he asked this, Daddy was at work and Kellyn was sleeping.  I explained to Aric that we would need to wait until after Daddy came home to play.  After dinner we all went downstairs to play "the goose game", which is more running around in circles and squealing than actually trying to make it to the recently vacated spot.

The Help

This past weekend Ryan ran a marathon in the big city as part of a relay team.  His team came in first in the team division.  On his way home from the race, Ryan stopped at a furniture store to check out their selection of fireplaces.  (We've discussed installing one downstairs, because it gets so cold down there during the winter time.)  He didn't find a fireplace, but he found a TV on a too-good-to-pass-on-it-sale.  It was everything he had been looking for, since we realized we were going to have to eventually replace our TV upstairs.

Ryan spent the rest of the weekend moving TVs around, installing TV mounts, and rewiring the electronics.  He had a helper while he worked upstairs:

When he asked for a screw, she brought him every screw she could find.  Ran off with all of his tools and had a marvelous time helping Daddy. Seeing them like that reminded me of this picture:

I guess when you have little kids, you always have a helper at the ready.