A Knight, An Angel, a Masquerade Ball & a Monkey?

We had quite an assortment of Halloween costumes this year. Each child (except Henry) got to pick their own and we ended up with Sir Cooper the Noble Knight. He was wearing the Armour of God.

He picked it out himself months ago and has been talking about it ever since.

Miss Grace picked an Angel costume out of our dress-up clothes.

I made this for Emma when she was in 1st grade in the Christmas pageant.

Emma and her friends decided to be guests as a masquerade ball.

She borrowed the dress from Grammie and made her own mask.

Henry was adorable as a Monkey, complete with banana in his back pocket.

Jason did a great job picking this one out!

GIANT Halloween!

I'm not sure what was the best part of Halloween, seeing the kids dressed up having a great time trick-or-treating, or having the Giants win 4-0! Cooper combined the two by sporadically throwing in a "Go Giants" when he should have been saying "Trick-or-Treat" or "Thank you". I don't think anyone minded that he got confused:).

This year was the first year that we let Emma Jo trick-or-treat with friends and no mom or dad.

She was a Green M&M.

Cooper decided on Saturday night that he wanted to be Batman and "save the day". Unfortunately we had already gotten his dinosaur costume over a month ago and there is nowhere to get Batman at the last minute in Healdsburg anyway.

Grace thankfully agreed to wear the Snow White costume that Emma wore at her age. She had just wanted to be a princess so she was happy.

Henry made it through about half of the houses the little kids hit up and then he needed a break for an after-dinner snack. I didn't mind because it meant I got to listen to the World Series on the radio.

Our littlest Dinosaur. All of the other kids were pumpkins their first Halloween, so Henry wore a pumpkin suit under his dinosaur suit.

Halloween 2009

Carving Pumpkins & Vince Gill

Last night, Grammie and Grampa came over for pumpkin carving for Halloween. Each of the girls drew their jack-o-lantern faces all by themselves. This year was only the first or second time that Emma Jo was willing to get her hands dirty and reach inside the pumpkin to scoop out the guts. Grace wasn't up for that adventure and requested gloves. We didn't have any gloves so she recruited Daddy and Grampa to help her.

Cooper was more interested in trying to eat his pumpkin.

After pumpkin carving was over, Jason and I went to see Vince Gill perform an acoustical concert. Although it was a long, late night, we had a great time. He gave a great performance with lots of stories about his family and his songs. Many thanks to Grammie and Grampa who came and watched the kids while we had a night out.

Another Great Weekend

We just finished another great weekend. Emma Jo had three soccer games, 1 on Saturday and 2 on Sunday. Gracie and I missed the game on Saturday since we had a memorial service to go to, but Jason reported that the Cool Cats played very well. They came together and really played like a cohesive team. Sunday morning we played really well but it was obvious it was the end of a long weekend of soccer and our girls were tuckered out. Next weekend is our last game of the season and the end-of-season party.

Cooper worked this weekend to perfect his cheesy grin. I'll post a picture when I get a good one. He flashes smile with all eight teeth showing then tilts his chin back and almost laughs. He usually breaks it out when he knows he is doing something wrong as if he is saying "can you really be mad at a face like this?"

This week we are gearing up for Halloween. Grace is going to be Minnie Mouse, Cooper is a lion and Emma Jo is going to be a gumball machine. The girls are having special parties at school to celebrate the occasion. Grace's preschool is having a Pajama party for "P" week and Emma Jo's school is having a Harvest Party where the kids can dress up has farmers.

Mountain Lion Spotting

"Hey Mom, I can't see anything"

"Do lions live in caves?"
" Mountain Lion spotted in our family room."


I decided that Cooper should be a lion for Halloween. Jason said he had to be a "tough" lion, nothing too cute. This was the toughest lion I could find, but I still think he looks pretty cute.