Misc. Pictures

Me, about to eat my last Hostess chocolate cupcake.  Sad times.

Luke working on his Lego creations.  He also has a Lego book which he wants to show me every day.  Then, he tells me what he wants for Christmas from the book.

This week was the official opening of the Lego Museum at our house.  More pictures to follow.

Amelia helping with baking!

This is their "snuggly" pose while watching a movie :)

Our Thanksgiving table set with the dishes/crystal the McKnights gave to us.  It was fun being fancy for a day!

Haircuts

I'm not sure what inspired everyone to want their hair cut this afternoon.  Luke definitely needed it.  The girls both said they wanted shorter hair, which is amazing because usually they want it very long.  I was very tired though of the detangler spray and morning fights over hair brushing!  Here are some before pictures:

Now, first I cut Luke's hair.  With the clippers.  That I really do not know how to  use!  Here is a front picture:

And for the after shots:

I obviously do not understand the concept of "fading" here.  I started out with the #1 clipper and it was too late!  I'm hoping Joel can fix it a little bit...

Still cute, from the side.  Before Joel had mentioned me cutting his hair, I don't think he will want that now.

Here is Amelia's haircut!  She looks so cute.

Amelia from the back, I'm hoping this will result in less tangles.

And here is Emma.  I think she looks SO different.  More grown-up.  Older.  I'm not ready for that.

Love this picture.

Decorating for Christmas

We normally decorate for Christmas on November 1st.  We used to wait until the Sunday after Thanksgiving, but we usually go to PA and things were so rushed that it wasn't fun to decorate!  Plus the decorations weren't up for long enough, I want to enjoy them for many weeks.  This year we waited until Nov. 11th to decorate.  Since the girls are in school now, we can't really do it on a weekday and I wanted to make sure that the whole family was involved.  I'm not sure I accomplished that goal this year, as I had a cold and was laying on the couch for  part of the time, Joel doesn't like decorating early so he brought in the stuff and then went to the store with Luke.  The girls had a great time though putting on the ornaments and setting up their small tree in their room.  And when Luke returned home, he decorated his small white tree.  I think we are ready!  I want to make sure I am very sick of the decor when the time comes to put it away :)

Candy Party

A friend gave me this wonderful idea a few years ago to have a "Candy Party" after Halloween.  The kids get 10 minutes to eat as much candy as they possibly can, and then the rest goes to the trash.  Usually we do the party the day after Halloween.  This year, we waited an entire week!  After 7 days of "can I have some candy?  How many pieces?  Can I have 2 small ones as one piece?" I was ready for the sugar feast to be over.  Here are some fun pics:

How many lollipops can Luke eat at the same time?

Amelia might have gotten a weird combination of candy.

Emma is very serious about her candy parties.  She has her candy spread out and allocated in order of priority.

Pictures from normal days

This is a great example of Luke's schoolwork.  This week he is creating an "Animal Tales" book, each day he copies a sentence and draws a picture to match it.

Luke's lego collection on his windowsill.  There are a lot  more below the window!

The latest addition to his dog collection - Tricksy.  Luke got her at "Light the Night" after earning tickets while playing games.  She only cost 10 tickets!  And the name?  He chose it because he was trick or treating and she liked tricks :)

Getting ready for the Iditarod.  Luke and Amelia with his 9 huskies, all attached to their dog "sled" made out of a rocking chair and plastic lid.

The drivers of the dog sled.

Halloween

Belle, Superman, and Gabby Douglas

All ready for trick or treating in the FREEZING cold.

Amelia lost another tooth!

Amelia doing the "cake walk" at "Light the Night".  We always play this game first and stay until one of our kids wins a cake.  It only took 4 tries this year.  

The cake Amelia picked out - chocolate cake with homemade buttercream icing.  Yummy.

Emma's VT face paint.

Amelia with a pumpkin.

And of course Luke chose the puppy

Amelia climbing the rock wall

Emma's turn

Emma and her good friend Abbey.  They love to play "Jake and the Neverland Pirates" during recess at school.

Another picture of the cake.  There were about 40 to choose from, and beforehand I asked Amelia to choose something chocolate.

Everyday Stuff...

This is a picture of my new mug for tea!  I love the shape and the handle.  

Luke doing his math work in the kitchen.  Some mornings we both have hot tea/muffins while he works, or we sit on the couch under my electric blanket.

Luke took this picture of his favorite meal - peanut butter and jelly, cut into 4 squares, sloppy.  Sloppy means that he wants TONS of jelly so that it is dripping out the sides.  I've tried and tried, but apparently only Joel can make it truly sloppy.  Luke eats this at least 2, sometimes 3, times a day.

Here is Luke with his soccer trophy - he had so much fun playing soccer this fall and loves his reward.

A closer look at his trophy.