Let the Holiday Season Begin!

I use to be a firm believer in not decorating for Halloween until the first weekend of October. Well, I must admit I have succumbed to the commercial peer pressure that has been heaped upon me since the last week of August. My new tradition is that we will decorate the last Monday of September. We'll see how it goes in coming years.

My traditional "decorating hat".

John's main duty - putting up Harry the Spider and his web. We all love it and I'm so glad he's willing to do it year after year after year.

Maddie's favorite is getting out the costume box.

She is posed this way so I could capture the wings on film.

The witch hair is always a big hit. Jacee now is thinking about being a witch this year, or Cleopatra, or a bat fairy, or Galinda the Good Witch...the list goes on and on.

This is what I am hoping (trying to manipulate) Maddie into wearing this year. This is what Jacee wore when she was this age and I think it's so cute. Maddie has said she would be a witch if she gets to wear the long black witch wig. We'll see....

Two Wheeler

Maddie - always game for a picture.

I have been asking John, forever, to take off Jack's training wheels. Well, right before school started - the kids came running in shouting that Jack was riding a two-wheeler. The little neighbor girls had teeny tiny bikes without training wheels - and there was Jack on one of them zooming around the street. Well, that's all it took - John went to work and that afternoon Jack was riding his own two-wheeler - without any coaching from us.

He has never liked to ride this bike - but now that he has freedom - he loves it and boy is he FAST! He's a little crazy and it worries me and sometimes I think I might want the training wheels back on for no other reason than to slow him down.

But he's happy and he loves it and as he says, "Now I really am a big boy!"

The "Cabin"

Jackson and Maddie decided to make a Cabin out of the couch cushions. They soon discovered that it was only big enough for one of them to play in at a time-so we had to build the deluxe cabin...

...so they could both fit in it comfortably...

and have it complete with a home theater and chocolate milk....

they could even fit suitcases, sleeping bags, and Maddie's baby doll. They were very happy and comfy in their cabin.

Jack's 1st Lost Tooth

Jack has had a wiggly tooth for a while so on Thursday night - John yanked it out!

He didn't cry but he was none too thrilled. Jack, like his mom, is not a fan of blood - especially his own. It's to the point that I might need to buy stock in a band aid company because anytime he finds a speck of blood anywhere on his body - out comes the band aid box! I think he would have put one on his gum if he could have figured out how.

Here he is checking it out. The Tooth Fairy brought him two dollars and he was pretty excited about that - now he wants to go buy a toy! I guess this officially makes him a big boy.

Jack's Bday

The Traditional Birthday Breakfast - donuts and chocolate milk.

Wow - is he really six?

1st Lego set put together - the Castle and Catapult.

2nd Lego Set - Firetruck and Trailer.

Sitting with his toys and decorations. Dad and I can't let go and admit he is growing up - we did get him a Woody and a Buzz Light Year - both welcomed with a lukewarm smile. He is starting to outgrow the "little kid" toys. Sigh...

I thought we would be having a "Thomas" party this year - nope. He went for a Robin Hood Theme. Here is the mean Sherriff sleeping with the bags of gold under his chair. The kids had to try to sneak up on him and steal the gold.

And our version of "Don't Eat Pete" was "Don't Eat Robin Hood". Always a crowd pleaser.

Present Time - always the favorite!

John made each one a bow and arrow so we had some target practice. I must say that I don't know of cooler party favors than a Robin Hood hat and a bow and arrow to take home.

Way to go honey - you're the man!

Happy Birthday my son. I sure do love you.

You bring balance to a house full of crazy girls! Enjoy being six!

Randomness

Here is Jack at the bus stop with the other kindergarten kids. Yes, Jack is heads above them and Maddie is the same size - even though she won't go for two more years! I still look around for him when he's at school - so not use to it yet.

Just another day with Maddie. Why do we bother even putting regular clothes in her closet. She wears some version of this everyday.

Jacee has a twin. Her cousin Ashley is older but they are about as similar as you can get - physically and in attitude. Unfortunately, Ashley lives in Rexburg so we don't get to see her as much as we would like. Jacee is convinced we need to move to Idaho so these twin cousins can be together more often.

Down with Window Wells

I'm grateful to have a basement. It means we have a place to put all of our "stuff" and all of the kids toys. But we have been having some "stuff" show up in our window wells and I think I am now officially freaked out. First, I found a snake in one of them. I was cleaning out leaves and reached down to pick up this funny looking leaf - and it was a coiled up snake! Then we have had two mice - who couldn't get out and now their little corpses are decaying in there as we speak. We've also had this HUGE frog, or toad , or whatever. The kids caught it and we put it in our old fish tank for a while. He did NOT like that. He was jumping so hard he about knocked the lid off the tank. I finally had John take him to the marina and let him out in the wild to fend for himself. What in the world will we find next?

My Very Own Robin Hood

Jack has decided he loves the movie Robin Hood and all that goes with it - so of course his dad made him a pretty awesome bow-and-arrow.

At times I have to remind John that he made it for Jack...

Even Maddie got in on the action. She could almost shoot the arrow to the road. Jack can make it to the road and John shoot it across the road and usually over the neighbor's house.

He sure loves it - and just in time for his birthday. The theme was easy for him to pick this year- Robin Hood! If all goes well, each little boy will get his own bow-and-arrow. I'm not sure we want to unleash that on our neighborhood.