Elmer Pumpkin Pal

Reagan's teacher assigned a family project for this week.  Reagan had to pick a favorite book and turn a pumpkin into the main character.  She chose Elmer by David McKee.

To make the pumpkin pal, we painted glue on the pumpkin and then stuck squares of tissue paper all over the pumpkin.  The stem became the trunk, googly eyes were attached, and cereal box cardboard was cut into ear shapes.

Last year, Reagan made a Rapunzel pumpkin pal.

The project was a little different this year because she had to decorate her pumpkin to look like the main character in a book and she also had to answer a few questions about the book.

Sleeping

If you know me, then you know that it bothered me that I had no pictures of Kate this week.  Bothered me so much that I took a chance (a crazy chance!) and took a picture of her (flash and everything) sleeping in her crib.  Don't worry, she slept right through it.

She is wearing mismatched pajamas!  I wish I could say that I don't care!  That owl blanket was given to Katelyn right after she was born.  My friend Sharon bought it on Etsy (love love love Etsy).  Every time I check on Kate, she has the blanket under her like that.  Doesn't she look so sweet?  I love the way her hair looks in this picture, all messy and cute.  And those little lips.  I just love this baby girl.  I love those Quick Zip sheets too - my favorite baby product ever!  They are from Clouds and Stars and I first discovered them when Collin was a baby.  

Reagan and Collin love to camp out in the living room.  They both look uncomfortable in these pictures, but I tried to reposition (reposition isn't a word?) them without any luck.  They are both completely zonked from a hard day of play.

Kelly doesn't usually sleep by the front door, but that is where I found her when I decided to take these pictures.  She likes to sleep at the foot of our bed, all ninety pounds of her.  It's nice in the winter when my feet are cold.

No sleeping picture of Tyler; he's still awake!

Another Week in Pictures

Collin and Reagan's school pictures came in this week.  

Third Grade

First Grade

They also got midterm reports this week and they both received glowing reports.  We are so proud of them.  

We had parent-teacher conferences for Tyler this week.  All of his teachers seem very nice and they all said he is very bright and they expect great things from him.  

Reagan made casts out of paper grocery bags earlier this week.  I was quite impressed with the cast she made for her foot.  I think she was inspired by her friend, Allison, who currently has a cast on her hand.

Collin and Reagan used glow in the dark paint to paint some Halloween decorations.  I am somewhat disappointed with the paint.  They have applied three coats and the paint still doesn't glow that well.

I made Avalanche Bars for the first time and they were a total fail in our house.

I threw most of them away.  I had to make up for it by making classic Rice Krispies treats; as usual they disappeared quickly.

Last night, we watched Gremlins.  Collin loves movies that are just scary enough without being too scary, and this was perfect.  He watched it again today.

Today, Collin and Reagan each got to go to a friend's house.  They both had a great time.  Reagan went to Newport with her friend and they texted me this super cute picture.

It was warm enough for them to splash in the water a bit.  Reagan said the water was hot!  Um, sure.  I bet it was ice cold!

Katelyn has been doing so well in her crib.  She has been sleeping twelve to thirteen hours each night.  I couldn't be happier!  She always wakes up smiling and she seems so well rested now.  Somehow, I went an entire week without taking any pictures of Kate!  GASP!  I will make up for it over the next few days.

I am feeling especially grateful lately.  Grateful that I can be home with my children and watch them grow.  Grateful that we are healthy.  Grateful that my children have good friends.  Grateful for a beautiful home, the best husband a woman could ask for, four amazing children, family that loves us and does so much for us, enough money to provide for our family, and so much more.  The mother of a child in Collin's grade passed away this week and whenever I hear about children losing a parent, I can't help but hold my own children a little tighter and thank God that Tom and I are here with them.  I have so much to be grateful for.

Pictures from our Week

Kate had her first play date this week.  Mason is about six months younger than Kate, but he certainly doesn't look younger.  Kate seemed to enjoy his company, as well as the company of his big sister, Madison.  There was one incident when Kate either threw a block at him or pushed him over, and he was a little upset about the whole thing, but for the most part they seemed very interested in each other.

Reagan is about five or six weeks into gymnastics and still enjoys it a lot.  I was able to get some pictures of her on bars today.

I made fall pretzel bites earlier this week (Butter Snaps, Hershey Kisses, and candy corn), but I used dark chocolate kisses and the kids didn't like them.  Tom and I thought they were delicious.

I made up for their lack of a sweet treat (ha ha ha, as if they are ever lacking sweet treats around here) today by enlisting the help of Reagan and Collin to make cookies and cream muddy buddies.

 We used the Halloween Oreo cookies to make the snack.

Just a sweet picture of my girls one morning this week right after Kate woke up.

Pumpkins, Art and GAK

Collin and Reagan painted pumpkins after school yesterday.

Collin used a drip technique by just squeezing the paint onto the top of the pumpkin and letting it drip down the sides.

That is chocolate across his cheek!

Reagan painted Halloween pictures on her pumpkin.

While they worked on their pumpkins, Kate made some of her own art.  For the first time, I gave her a piece of paper and some markers.  She sat for the longest time, almost an hour, drawing happily.

I left the room for a minute and Collin decided to use his GAK to make a headband for Kate.  The next thing I knew, Kate was crying and Reagan was saying, "You are pulling her hair!".

Luckily, all of the GAK came out with water and gentle combing.  Oh, and I wasn't fond of GAK to begin with so we no longer have any in the house.

Sleep

This is Kate waking up this morning.  She doesn't look happy in this picture, but I promise she was smiling. 

Kate is officially sleeping in her crib.  On Sunday night, I realized it was time to move her out of my bed and into her own sleeping space.  The biggest reason is that once I decided to wean her from nursing in the middle of the night, sleep became a battle for us.  She was waking up every couple hours and the only way I could get her back to sleep was to get up and walk back and forth (sometimes for an hour) until she was sleeping again.  Obviously, this was not fun for either of us.

She did cry a little on Sunday night, and I have to admit that I cried too, but she really didn't cry that long and last night she only cried for a few minutes.  Now, she is sleeping better than she ever has before and I think it was the best decision.

Our nighttime routine starts around 6:30 PM when I nurse (she is now only nursing this one time each day) and rock Kate, read her a few books, and sing "Sweet Dreams and Jellybeans" (our family good night song) to her.  Then I place her in her crib and push the button on her soother.  She shares a room with Reagan and there is a night light and white noise machine on the whole night.  Reagan has been sleeping with white noise since she was a baby.

This morning, Kate slept until 8:00 and woke up happy as can be.  She is so much happier in the morning.

Graham Cracker Haunted Houses

Last night, Collin and Reagan made haunted houses using graham crackers, frosting, ghost marshmallows, and Halloween sprinkles.

Writing "BOO" with frosting was Reagan's idea.

This is Collin's haunted house.

Do you see Kate in the background?  She is begging for a taste! 

I will be posting this on my Snacks and Stories blog with a fun book too.