Happy Halloweeny!

Weather tonight was mid 60's for trick or treating. We couldn't have asked for a better night for the girls to go  get their fill of candy. Corinne was a ladybug, Audie was a tiger, and Selah was a mermaid. I was afraid the older girls would change their minds about what they wanted to dress up as, but they picked out what they wanted and stuck with it. They were pretty cute.

  I made Corinne and Selah's costumes, and we ordered Audie's from ebay.

And of course, we had to go trick or treating at CD!!

 Corinne was excited that her and Paree were both ladybugs. 

Artists at large

The girls had fun tonight in the tub. A little shaving cream mixed with food coloring makes a good medium for bath time painting.

Family Pics

We have been long overdue for some family pics. The last picture we took of all 5 of us was when I was in a hospital bed hours after delivering Selah. It's crazy how the kids change so much, and it seems like even after a few months the picture is "outdated" due to changes in the kids appearances.

I think this was the fastest photo shoot I have ever been a part of. It was really like 5 minutes, max. It does drive me bonkers that I can't be the photographer of my own pictures, but what can ya do?
The photo below fits the bill of what we set out to do.

 Sometimes I feel like I will look back and not be in any pics with my kids, since I am usually the one taking all of the pictures. So handing the camera off to a friend is nice.
Especially to be included in some of the candid photos below.

Over the weekend

We have had a great last 4 days. Matt had some vacation time to use up, so he was off work Monday and Tuesday. We had thoughts about "getting away", but were not able to find plane tickets cheap enough, and we weren't able to find someone to keep Corinne and Audra.

I'm glad we actually ended up staying home though, because we made some great memories as a family and got a lot accomplished around the house.

I decided to carry my camera around with us, and all of our excursions-

Here's what we did the last 4 days!

Our fence has been a horrid mess the last few months. The crazy wind has taken it's toll and we had to replace it. Matt rebuilt the fence door, with the help of Audie.

We have a new pet.
This pet is temporary, and unnamed- but we (okay, I guess only Matt and I) have been fascinated with it.

 Our friend Brenda had found two caterpillars in her garden, and passed them along to Corinne and Audie. Audie's didn't make it, but Corinne's thrived, and made himself into a little cocoon! I remember watching this process in elementary school, but I guess as an adult I appreciate it a lot more.
Matt got a little bit of the cocoon making process on video, which I'll post later.

The little guy ate and ate and ate and ate...

and ate some more.

and this is him in his little cocoon!

I have really been into capturing "life's moments" on camera, instead of posed photography. You'll probably start to see a lot more pictures like this one:

Yesterday, we went bowling.
Yours truly:

more "life" pictures

I married him because of his nice butt.

 I love the expressions Audie gives.

Little Selah took a nap, and then hung out in her carseat.

Among some of the other things we did, were some visits to some friends, some baking in the kitchen and carved a pumpkin.
Selah watched from her throne...

the final product!

The girls got matching PJ's.
Cutest little girls if I ever saw any.

Over the weekend

Every year, Matt's work provides discount tickets for the fun park here in town. We left Selah at grandma's and took the girls to ride the rides. Audie was only tall enough for two rides and a big slide. Below is the bee ride that she was able to ride by herself.

Audie's favorite was the carousel.

The big slide below was my favorite. It was really fast!



I like Corinne's smile in the picture below.

First Day of School!

After the rough start to the morning, our first day of school was a success. Corinne was a diligent student, and anxious for more work. I hope that attitude continues! I'm definitely looking forward to seeing her accomplish a lot of things, and I am happy we are giving this a try. I'll keep you updated on our year as time passes!

Picture Outtakes: first day of school

It was a rough start to our first day of school.
Pictured below was Corinne's attitude.
Audie was behind me crying because she wanted to be in the picture.
Selah was inside crying because she was hungry.
I really wanted to start a tradition of taking the kids' pictures on their first day of school every year. I wasn't going to let this one slip through the cracks just because of a little mayhem.

A few forced smiles and bribes later, we were successful. Enjoy the outtakes.

Yesterday

I asked Corinne what she wanted to do on her birthday. She gave ma a laundry list of things to do, and we did them. She had 6 people call her and wish her a happy birthday- for which she was very proud of.

Matt came home from work a tad early, and we let her open her gifts. She got perler beads and peg boards, and "Hungry Hippos" game.

Matt and I took her out to eat, leaving Audie and Selah at home with none other than beautiful Ali (thanks Al!). Corinne felt pretty special that she was able to go out with just us.

Look hard below...that piece of shrimp she was supposed to catch in her mouth bonked her right on the head.

Matt was the only one at our table that caught the shrimp...what a champ.

We had small group last night, so we celebrated the rest of her day with our friends. Corinne requested an ice cream cake, and of course, none other than a princess cake.
We sang happy birthday to her, and she did all she could to act "mature" and not smile, but it cracked.  She liked the attention.

Next stop, first day of school!!!