Trick-or-Treat!

The kids had a blast trick-or-treating this year! They both lasted much longer than we thought and were pros at it. Noah missed his cue a few times and yelled trick-or-treat before the door opened, but he got the hang of it very quickly! All in all, it was a fantastic night with a ton of kids running around the neighborhood!

In costume and almost ready to go!

Hurry up Mommy, let's go!

And the night was successful.......

Happy Halloween!

We finally carved our pumpkins after having them for over a month! The kids were so excited to participate this year. Sophie and Noah created their pieces of art and Tim and I did our best to carve them out without losing a finger. Every year we say we are going to go all out and buy proper pumpkin carving tools, stencils, etc. and this year we are saying it all over again.....maybe we'll be better prepared next year!

The kids are patiently waiting while Daddy gets his hands slimy and gooey!

Here's Sophie carefully creating her masterpiece.

Daddy's trying to figure out Noah's silly face!

Sophie's princess creation and Noah's happy face.

Happy jack-o-lanterns!

Halloween Parade

Sophie had her Halloween Parade yesterday and as you can see, she is going as Minnie Mouse this year! She was so adorable and it was so fun to be at her school yesterday. It reminded me how much fun Halloween is at this age! All the kids were so giddy with excitement and the whole school showed off their fun costumes as they paraded around the school.

Here is Sophie's class all together. This is actually a combined class of both the early and late start classes.....all of them are so stinkin' cute!

Noah insisted on wearing his Lightning McQueen racing outfit as well! He hasn't taken it off since.

Here's Sophie as her class is making their way around the school!

She's a Jeans Girl

Well, maybe she isn't really a jeans girl, but we are desperately trying! Sophie is one who would wear a dress every single day of her life if she could. It is also apparent that I enable this behavior, but Auntie Michelle was able to convince her to try some jeans out! Here she is giving her best sassy pose while wearing her adorable jeans. I had to document this because we may not know when we will ever see this again.

Lift pianos much?

Pianos are heavy. Just thought I'd make that fact known in case people out there had any doubts. Tim and I had the pleasure of moving one this afternoon and thankfully I survived to tell the story. I practically got this piano for free (thank you craigslist), so there was no way I was going to pay $300 to have someone move it. Apparently, I'd rather suffer physically than pay the dough for someone to move it.

Anyway, Tim was secretly worried about this move, so he went to the store and purchased these. Let me just say this experience looked nothing like the happy people in the pictures. Tim kept telling me I was doing it wrong, holding it wrong, lifting it wrong.....everything I did was wrong, wrong, wrong. Perhaps he forgot to consider the fact that I am NOT the Incredible Hulk. Numerous times I had to remind him that "pianos are heavy" and not meant to be lifted. Even the "Forearm Forklifts" are not going to do the job. Tim thought they were helpful and even threw out the word "easy." Mind you while he was lifting the piano up the stairs with relative ease, I was on the other end imagining what it's going to be like with two broken arms for the next two months. I was also thinking of at least 10 of Tim's friends who would have happily helped him move this thing. Seriously though, the commentary between the two of us during any moving experience is worthy of a live studio audience. Needless to say (or maybe it isn't), the piano made it into the house in one piece and the kids were excited to try it out!

Sophie and Noah trying it out......Noah's multi-tasking and talking to Grammy at the same time.

Here it is.....no, it's not a grand piano......but YOU try lifting it!

This one's for Goppie

Sophie wanted to make sure Goppie saw this picture of her in a tractor. She wants everyone to know that girls can ride tractors too! That's right, Sophie....girls can do anything!

Brand New Woman

It is absolutely amazing what one extra hour of sleep in the morning can do to a person. Tim, being the most incredible, wonderful, thoughtful husband on earth (a little positive reinforcement is always good, right?) woke up with the kids this morning, got them dressed, and took them to the park so I could sleep in just a little longer. I can't remember the last time I was able to do that and I actually allowed myself to sleep without feeling guilty (although the cold/flu meds I took the night before could have contributed to that effect). I woke up feeling refreshed, calm, and even...dare I say it...energized. I was able to have a nice hot cup of coffee without even having to re-heat it, read the sales ads in the Sunday paper, and am now ready to have a fantastic day with the kids! Why can't every morning start like this?

While you were sleeping

Noah was quite the sneaky one this morning. He went to wake up Auntie Michelle and he came upon her iphone in the room as it was being charged. Being the good auntie she is, she let him tinker around with it so she could squeeze in 10 more minutes of shut-eye. Little did she know he snapped a nice picture of her! I told her to be careful because next time he'll be making prank calls to all her friends!

Wake up Auntie Michelle!

Why is it?

Why is it when I come home and tell Tim I am feeling tired, it is NEVER quite as tired as HE is feeling. Even if I only had a couple of hours of sleep the night before and was on my feet all day at work, there just is no possible way I could come close to how tired Tim is....EVER.

Why is it when Tim is sick, no one else's illness can compare? He is SO sick and in SO much pain that no one could possibly understand how horrible he feels.

I'm just wondering......really, apparently I can't imagine how tired and sick Tim actually is. Someone help me understand.

Camera Happy

What can I say, Sophie loves the camera. I know where she gets it. I'm reliving moments of my own childhood when I see stuff like this......

I'm sweet, look at me face.

My favorite....she smiles like this often.

I don't claim this one......this is Tim's daughter.

Time to bring in some props.

Her surprised look.

Fashion Show

Auntie Michelle made a trip to the Disney store and bought some new pajamas for the kids. We also purchased slippers for them, so for once they were excited to get ready for bed and change into their pajamas! Here they are showing off the goods.

Cheesy pose with the both of them.

Sophie trying to do some weird, funky robot pose.

Noah showing off his slippers (despite crying about them earlier in the afternoon).

Back to their cheesy smiles....which I LOVE.

We still hate USC

Tim, my sister Michelle, and I decided to attend the USC vs. Cal game this past weekend. We were, of course, rooting for Cal and even wore appropriate attire to support the Bears. The second USC took the field and I heard the band, my stomach sunk and took me back to a wound that is apparently still very raw. My hatred for them is so deep it physically hurts. Anyway, I noticed the group of guys above us shared the same sentiment, conversing about how much they desperately want Cal to beat the $%^ out of USC. At kickoff, we hear the guys behind us do the O-H-I-O thing....Tim and I look at each other and then turn around. Of the 72,000 fans, we had the privilege of sitting with some good 'ol fellow Buckeyes. They are living in the bay area and decided to catch a game, also wearing Cal gear, rooting AGAINST the Trojans. It was too funny and we had a good time, despite the fact that Cal sucks and USC still thinks their $#^& doesn't stink. Here's the view from our seats...not a bad seat in the house and a good time was had by all.

Alleluia!!!

Finally! I have been afraid to post about this out of fear of jinxing myself, but I truly believe we may be in the clear.....NOAH IS POTTY TRAINED! Yay! He has been doing so well for the past few weeks that he no longer needs a diaper at nap time. Plus, the past two weeks he has been completely dry when he wakes up in the morning! The other night, he woke up and called for me telling me he needed to go potty. I think he'd be fine without a diaper at night, but I'm being selfish and am worried about having to get up and change him and the sheets in case he has an accident. So, he's been wearing a pull-up to bed for Mommy's sake......yes, apparently I'm holding him back. Anyway, we are so happy to be done with this stage and yet we're also sad because we're done with this stage....figure that one out.