Halloween Weekend

Our Snow Storm

I totally forgot to post these pictures I took of Ben digging us out last week. Kai wanted to help Ben so I got him bundled up and off he went.

"Once There Was a Snowman, Tall. Tall. Tall."
So happy to be outside. We were practically snowed in for two days. When the sun came out on Halloween it was SO refreshing.

Kai and Benny had a ball throwing snow at each other.

LOVE THIS SHOT!!!

Throwing snow at Mommy...

Whenever I do stuff like this with Ben, I am always amazed at how strong he is. (On the other hand, he is probably amazed at how weak I really am.) We rolled the mid-section and the head of the snowman and had to lift them into place. (Snow sure is heavy!) Ben pretty much had to lift it by himself b/c I wasn't very much help. (I did try though).

Kai helping Daddy pack the snow.

Our finished product...
(I know that snowman doesn't have a face, but we didn't have any objects on hand that we thought would do justice to our "work of art" so we just had a faceless snowman.)

Pumpkin Carving
Kai thought it was so cool that he got to wear a glove just like Daddy.
Love this face.


While Kai and Daddy carved pumpkins together, Cici ate her sweet potatoes. She is quite the eater now. Pretty much anything I stick on a spoon she will swallow. She even had a little nibble of a chocolate chip cookie the other day and gummed it till she was able to swallow it. She loves food!

Trick or Treating
"Come on everybody, just one more picture before we go trick or treating. SMILE!"

All our "kiddos". I know the dogs hate getting dressed up, but it is so funny to see them in their costumes.



I love this picture of Cici. "Dear in the Headlights" look. It totally reminds me of Kai when he was a baby...exact same look he used to give me.

WAAAYYYY too much candy for one kid to eat.

Our neighbors across the street gave Kai these caramel eyeballs and he is obsessed with them.


Our next-door neighbors gave Kai this HUGE Hershey's bar. Ben got this shot of Kai holding it. This looks like an advertisement for Hershey's doesn't it?

Thanks Deedee, George and Omar!

This is the pumpkin we carved this year. (I know, we weren't very creative). It was fun though and didn't take very long at all to do.

Me and my little lion. Ben and I thought he looked just like a lion until someone asked if he was a character from the movie, Where the Wild Things Are. Now, we think he looks just like that character from the movie.
It is so funny to me the things that Kai gets excited about. He loved this bat ring that he got while trick or treating. He wears it all the time, and constantly shows it to us.
So happy to be out of that costume and into comfy pajamas! Kai was such a happy boy when we got back. He loved helping us pass out candy to other "trick-or-treaters" who came to our door.

Lazy Sunday

We went to a baby blessing today for some of my favorite people in the WHOLE WORLD, the Buckmelters and the Smiths. I just love them to death. Whenever we hang out with them, I just never want to leave. After the blessing we took the kids home so they could crash their schedule is so off due to Daylight Savings Time).
Luckily when they woke up everything in the world was right again.

Yup, both of my kids are hard core thumb suckers...
Not sure how to break this habit really.

Cici gives free smiles out all day long to ANYONE that will look her way. She loves attention.


She is getting pretty good at sitting up on her own, I don't like her to do it on the ground though b/c she takes some pretty hard hits when she falls backwards.

Kai is totally into dressing himself lately...
Can you see what's wrong with this picture?
Cici and Daddy

Galimoto

I saw this toy in Parents Magazine recently and thought it looked so cute. It is right up Kai's alley. He would love this toy!


It is only $6 and I am always looking for fun inexpensive toys for Kai for Christmas.
The only draw back was that the shipping cost $5.50 (almost as much as the toy itself.) Either way, it is an inexpensive gift that I am so excited to see in person. I just ordered Kai's today!
This push-toy is made in Kenya and the money purchased goes to help the people who make them. What a bonus! It's a win-win.
Just thought I would share this cute gift idea for those of you in need of something different.
Below is the link you find the Galimoto toy~
Ten Thousand Villages

Our Winter Wonderland

We got about a foot of snow today and it was beautiful! It is definitely starting to feel like winter now. I just wish that the snow could have waited till after Halloween on Saturday. Now, trick or treating will be kinda tricky.

Ben came home from work early because of the snow, so when Cic went down for a nap Kai and I took full advantage of the snow and played till we were chilled to the bone. I even got his little sled out and decided to pull him to the mailbox and get our mail. I thought it was such a good idea until I tried to pull Kai. Wow, wet snow is not fun/easy to pull someone in. I felt really out of shape because on the way back from the mailbox (uphill) I was SUCKING WIND. I felt like my lungs were going to explode. Kai enjoyed it though, so that's all that matters. Enjoy some of the pictures we took of Kai playing around this afternoon.

"Why so serious?" I think of that movie quote every time I look at pictures of Kai. He often has such a serious look on his face. I wish he could communicate what he is thinking.

Just look at that crocodile tear...
Kai likes the snow. He just doesn't like laying/falling in it. Poor kid had so many layers on he couldn't move very well. I love this picture of Kai.

He has been doing everything left-handed lately. That's my boy!!!


Yummy! I told Kai to taste the snow and he loved it.
I love this little grin...

We ended the cold, chilly day with a warm bath and some homemade pumpkin cookies. Doesn't get any better than this! Cic loves taking baths with Kai.

The Beginning of Our Holidays...

Trunk or Treating at the Church

We took the kids to the church Halloween party last week. It was fun to get them dressed up in their costumes. It was kinda like a "practice round" for Kai. Maybe he will better understand what to do this weekend b/c he has already gone "trick or treating" this year.

Our first attempt at getting a family shot with the kids in their costumes. Come on kids, look at the camera!

Our second attempt...yup, they hate the camera!

I found this picture of Kai from his first Halloween and it brought back so many memories.

Kai in his monkey costume when he was about a month old...
We decided to recycle the costume this year and let Cici wear it. It fits a bit better on her than it did on him. They were both cute monkeys though.
Cic in her monkey costume at 5 months old...
What a cute shot. Kai didn't really know what all the fuss was about, but when we got home we let him have some of the candy he had received and he was excited.


Had to get one of these shots. This year Kai was a lion...


...and last year Kai was a dinosaur. He sure has grown a lot since last Halloween.

The Pumpkin Patch

We came. We saw. We...LEFT

Yup, that is the story of the pumpkin patch this year. Except, I did leave out that I took pictures. Here's what happened. I decided that we needed to start making some fun memories for the kids around the holidays and talked Ben into going to the pumpkin patch. There is a huge one about 20 minutes away but the weather has been chilly so we decided to go to one down the street at a local church. What a great idea! Support our local churches...

It would have been a great idea had they had pumpkins that weren't rotten.

It was so gross! Kai was so excited to go pick out his very own pumpkin and went running out to check out the stock. When he found one he liked he put his hand down on the pumpkin to touch it and nearly fell over b/c his hand went right through the pumpkin. CLASSIC! I didn't take a picture of this b/c I was so worried about cleaning Kai off, but now wish I would have.

Ben and I decided that we could take some pictures of the kids quick and then just go to the grocery store and buy one there.

So much for our pumpkin patch experience. Kai didn't mind though. He had the time of his life!

Kai was so excited to go to the pumpkin patch to pick out his very own pumpkin. I love this picture of Kai. He isn't doing the whole "fake smile" thing in this picture. This is the smile I see everyday that totally melts my heart.

I am so glad that I put gloves on Kai. These pumpkins were so rotten that he put his hand on this pumpkin and his fist went through the top. It was so gross.
If you look closely in this picture, you can see some of the soft spots on the pumpkins where there are rotting... AWESOME!






We have to bribe Kai to let Cic sit on his lap.


Cicilee was so interested in this scarecrow. I couldn't get her to look away from it...hmmm, she must get her stubbornness from her father. :)
Needless to say, next year we will make the 20 minute drive to see pumpkins that aren't rotten.

HO! HO! HO!

Kai has started to want to do things all by himself lately. Today he wanted to feed himself pudding. I left the room and changed Cici's diaper and could hear Kai laughing up a storm. This is what I found when I came back. My very own Santa Claus!

This is Kai's fake smile.

I Need My Very Own "Mom Translator"

I loved this skit on Saturday Night Live a while back. It totally reminded me of my Mom...
Sorry Mom, but it is so true.
I wish they really made these.


Just today I was talking to my Mom and when I asked what she was doing she told me she was getting money out of the "ATV". (Some of us refer to this as the "ATM".)

SoLiDs

Cic will be five months old this week so we decided to start her on rice cereal. Last night was her first taste of anything other than breast milk. She isn't a huge fan of rice cereal...but then who is? She was really excited to put the spoon in her mouth and kept trying to hold the spoon. I didn't get any shots of her actually eating b/c I didn't have enough hands and Ben was using the video camera. It got EVERYWHERE though. It was in between her toes and in her ears...yuck!
I can't believe that it is already time to start introducing her to solids! Time really flies by.

Here are some pictures of our little girl with rice cereal all over her face.

Krista, I love this bow that you made for her! She wore the entire outfit you bought her to church yesterday. Thanks! Can't wait to see you in December!


We did manage to remember to take some short videos on our small camera to post on the blog. These were taken after she had decided she was done eating...but still cute none the less.

I had forgotten how patient you have to be when feeding an infant. Kai eats so fast now. Guess I will be learning patience again.

(That's Kai in the background saying "buh, bye.")

"Celebrate Good Times..."

Kai peed in the potty for the first time tonight!
(It wasn't quite like the picture below but this picture did make me laugh).

Yay for Kai! I dropped what I was doing and became the biggest cheerleader ever. (I am sure Ben thought I was crazy.)
Kai got the hang of my enthusiasm and started running around the house cheering. He was so happy, I wished I had a video camera handy to record it.

I am afraid this potty training thing is a long road ahead still, but we took a baby step today and what more can you ask for really?

I am so proud of you Kai. I love you so much!

PoTTY TRaiNiNG!!!

Today is "D-Day"

I am locking us in the house for a few days, wish me luck!
Here is Kai in his new "big boy underwear". He was really excited about them, but gave me a fake smile when I pulled the camera out.

Seeing Kai in underwear made me realize that he is kinda skinny. I just couldn't see it with his diaper on. Not sure how to make him gain weight...

What a cutie...even in underwear. Boy is he growing up fast.

Got Heat?

Ben likes to sleep with the window open b/c he gets so hot at night. I end up FREEZING TO DEATH and dread getting out of the covers in the morning b/c I swear I can see my breath in our bedroom.
When I woke up this morning the thermostat read 66 degrees! COME ON...
So, I flipped the heat on so that maybe I could feel my toes again. The heat kicked on and when I walked around the corner in the kitchen this is what I found.
Poor kid, he must have been cold too. He was just laying on the vent getting warm. Our dogs were doing the same thing.

If I weren't so paranoid that Kai would burn himself on our fireplace then I would have had that going as well.