Halloween 2015

 Papa surprises us every year with a different costume.  This year he came looking for a brain.  The zombie bride probably had it.

Most of our trick or treating crew:

They all had so much fun trick or treating this year.

I wasn't able to get pictures of Kate with the triplets, but they stuck together and it was really nice for Kate to trick or treat with kids her age.  They tired out at the same time too, perfect!

I think the whip and nae nae song is the most memorable tune of the year for our household.  Here is a video of our trick or treating crew doing their own rendition, complete with a little dancing:

Once again Halloween fell on the weekend, and we had a lot of people at our house after trick or treating.  Those that dared to bob for apples got a little wet, but they had a lot of fun.  Reagan did very well; check her out in this video:

Around here in October

The months just fly by, don't they?  Here is a peek into the month of October.

Tyler started working at the Venus deMilo and was quickly promoted from bus boy to waiter.

Reagan ran her first 5k.  Tom pushed Kate in the stroller for some of the race, but she ran quite a bit too!  Both girls did an awesome job!

Story hour and Starbucks is how we spend most Thursday mornings.

Collin went to his first middle school dance.  It was right after school and very informal, and he said it was lots of fun.

Reagan, Kate and I went to Boo at the Zoo.

Kate's face in that picture sums up how she felt about the whole thing.  I love experiencing the world through her eyes.

Reagan had her first gymnastics meet at the Xcel Silver level.  She did very well earning second place on bars and third place on floor.

Here is the video of her bars routine:

Video of the floor routine:

Beam routine (every girl at every level seemed to struggle on beam at this meet; you can tell they are all working on new skills; Reagan's new skill this year is a cartwheel on the beam!!!!!):

Kate and I went to a puppet show at the library.  She got to be a helper and that was very exciting!

We went to the Halloween dance at North.  Collin didn't want to go at first, but he was asked to help run one of the games and he thought that would be fun.  After the fact, he said it wasn't fun, but I'm still happy he helped out.  This is the game he ran:

For costumes this year we had a lumberjack,

Cinderella,

and a Zombie Bride!!!

 Reagan had a fabulous time at the dance.

I prepared a caramel apple bar one day.

How cute are these two kiddos?  They were waiting for the Musictown Parade.

While Tom was at the parade with Kate, I was at Reagan's last field hockey game of the season.  I didn't get any good pictures.  I'm kicking myself for not thinking to take a picture of all of the girls together that day.

I have a few more October pictures, but I'll save them for another post!

Lava Lamps

One of the Valentine's for our 14 Days of Love was "I lava you a lot" with directions for making lava lamps.  I thought this was a lot of fun, and all four kids enjoyed it.  

We followed the directions from Steve Spangler's website:

- fill a bottle 3/4 with vegetable oil

- top of the bottle with water

(I did the above two steps and wrote directions for the kids to complete the lava lamps)

- add ten drops of food coloring

- break the tablet (alka seltzer) into eight pieces and add them to the bottle one at a time

 That's the best bedhead, is it not?

Here is a short video of Kate's reaction (priceless):

The lava lamp effect only lasts until the alka seltzer stops fizzing.  We did try adding more alka seltzer later on, but the effect was not the same.  The lava lamps are still cool though because you can see how the oil and water remain separate in the bottle and observe what happens when you try to mix them together.

Here Comes Jack Frost

Here Comes Jack Frost by Kazuno Kohara has been a winter favorite since Collin and Reagan were little.  All of the illustrations are blue and white; it is very appealing visually and almost demands some kind of art project to follow the reading.  A few years ago, I did this same art project with Collin and Reagan.

I used pieces of masking tape on watercolor paper to create trees and then let Kate paint over the tape with blue watercolor paint.

After the paint dried, she tapped a paintbrush dipped in white paint to create snow in the air of  her tree scene.  There was paint everywhere, but Kate loved doing this.  Here is a tiny video (you can also see this video on my Vine page).

 Once all of the paint was dry, Kate peeled off the masking tape to reveal her finished winter scene.

Reagan Skis!

Tom took Reagan skiing for the first time on Wachusett Mountain today.  She was over the moon excited to go, and her enthusiasm remained strong throughout the day.  It was a great day for the two of them.

Tom said she did really well and she had a great time!  She didn't want to leave.

Collin's Concerts

On December 17th, Collin had four strings concerts in one day!  All of the fifth grade strings members traveled to the three elementary schools in town and played a concert at each school.  We attended the concert at North where the fourth grade musicians also played.

Later that evening, there was a fourth concert at the Silver City Galleria.  The concert at the mall featured fifth and sixth grade strings members.  It was very nice.

Here is a short video clip from the mall concert:

Santa Claus is Coming to Town

I took this little video of Kate singing Santa Claus is Coming to Town on December 4th.

She is just adorable; I love her little singing voice.

Frozen Flip Fest 2014

Reagan competed at the Xcel Bronze level in the Frozen Flip Fest meet in Rhode Island over the weekend.  She had her best meet ever!  Her routines all looked great, she had confidence, and she performed beautifully!  I was SO very proud of her.

For some reason, this gym had Reagan competing at the senior level.  When I first realized this, I was upset.  Courtney (another Bronze level gymnast and Reagan's friend) is the same age as Reagan, but she was competing in the junior level.  I was upset because this meant it would be harder for Reagan to place.  (Not that competing is just about winning, but I do think the competition should be as fair as possible).  Well, I had nothing to fear because she outdid herself winning three second place ribbons, one first place ribbon, and a first place trophy in the all around!!!!  

 Reagan has coveted a first place ribbon since she started competing, and she was over the moon excited when her name was called for first place.  She didn't even realize it was for her bars routine; when she found out, she was shocked.  It is NOT easy to throw yourself around on those bars, and as hard as she works, she struggles a bit.  Her warmup on the bars before the meet was a little rough, but she pulled it together and had a great, FIRST place ribbon worthy routine!!!

 Gyms are dark, and my phone didn't take the best pictures, but when Reagan won first in the all around, she had the BIGGEST smile I have ever seen on her face!!!!!!!!  I was on the edge of my seat, literally shaking with pride.  It was awesome!

Courtney and Reagan with all of their ribbons and trophies! 

These three girls - Courtney, Sascha, and Reagan - were the only girls competing for Strive that day, and all three of them placed first in the all around!  

I messed up recording an amazing beam routine by Reagan, and I was sad that I didn't capture it, but then I realized that the routine I missed was just her warmup!  This only made me nervous because I was afraid she wouldn't be able to repeat the amazing performance she just finished.  I don't know why I would doubt her; she went ahead and did it even better when it counted!  She came running over to me when she received her score (9.05); she was screaming with excitement!!!  I love her and all of her greatness!  That's right, my girl is great!

Here are the videos of Reagan's events:

We had to celebrate, so we went to Fiesta for dinner after the meet!  Dinner was extra fun because the girls were SO happy!