Happy Halloween!

Buzz Lightyear and the Little Lamb

We took the cool sound piece from another Buzz Lightyear costume we had and added it to Brady's already super cool one so he had audio effects. Brett made him press the button at the houses and it was comical. His quiet, "Thank you" and "Happy Halloween" were followed by the press of the button and a bellowing "I am Buzz Lightyear!" or "To Infinity and Beyond!" Sylvie's costume was a hand-me-down from a neighbor and it was perfect. She was toasty warm and sat happily in her stroller swinging her legs and people-watching. She did not collect candy, but kept her brother company and visited some neighborhood friends to say Happy Halloween!

Brady's buddy next door, Riley, was also Buzz! SO fun!

The boys (Buzz, Daddy, and Papa) continued trick-or-treating while we girls came home so the little lamb could count sheep (sleep) :) and Grandma could hand out candy. Just 10 minutes after we got home, I heard the boys return. Papa reported that they were back b/c Brady said, "That's enough candy. I'm ready to go home now." When they asked him again if he wanted to get MORE candy, he replied, "No, I have enough." oh my, is this really my kid? Given that response to getting more free chocolate, I'm questioning it! lol! But I'm darn proud of his gratefulness and envious of his self control! :p

He had a Blast handing out candy. The picture on the right was taken before I got outside and he's handing out lollipops sparingly (maybe to keep them for himself? see below). When I got outside, I instructed Brady to grab giant handfuls of candy and dump in to the kids' bags. This was super fun for him and got rid of the piles of sugar we had. Papa noticed that at one point a few teenagers sent their friends over after spreading the word that there was an enthusiastic toddler shoveling candy at that house. :p

We discovered Brady's love for lollipops this evening. There was debate among us about how many he actually had- it ranged from 2.5 to 4. Seeing as he's double-fisted in the picture to the right, I'm thinking it's probably more like 4...or more. There were two things we all agreed upon: 1, Brady had a sugar high and 2, watching him enjoy the holiday made it the best Halloween we've had thus far!

I thought my stomach was going to split open I was laughing so hard when Brett declared that Brady had too much sugar. Grandma defended him and said, "I don't think he really had that much." 30 seconds later after watching the silly boy singing, wiggling, and playing with the candy bowl, Grandma looks at us and says, "Oh, okay. He is a little bit high, isn't he?" It was Hilarious the way she said it and the fact that there was this almost 3 year old jumping up and down next to her.

Mommy Had a Little Lamb...

...her fleece was white as snow (with a cute little tail in the back, teehee!) The floppy ears sort of made her look like a bunny- and that was fine too, since that's what I call her. :)

...and every where that Mommy went, the lamb was sure to go!

"The pre-game show"

Happy Halloween! It's Sylvie's first, so of course she has a cute shirt advertising this. She's rockin' her kitty-cat hat again...and just rockin' in general. She loves the Learn 'n Groove tables...when she can get to them b/c her big bro isn't in the way having his own good time on them! :)

Here she is doing her latest thing- standing alone. Again, I find it remarkable. She'll do this for a crazy amount of time. She does Really well when she's distracted and holding something in her hands. Today it was our other camera. I find it hysterical to see this little 2' person just standing there looking around. I often ask her if she's waiting for the bus or something. ;p

No tricks here...she's standing alone. What a treat! :)

It's always followed by a plop! as she sits down, straight-kneed...

Say cheese pretty girl!

Cheese?! Yummy! :)

The boys, or rather Daddy, carved a pumpkin this morning. Brady colored one of his little pumpkins and then ran off to play. Much like Daddy's winter fun, this activity was mostly entertaining for Brett. ha! But we all did enjoy the roasted pumpkin seeds and the awesome decoration he made!

For dinner I made individual pumpkin versions of Grandma's hamburger pie. Like pumpkin-carving with Daddy, this sentiment was lost on the kids, but it was Halloween-love nonetheless. :)

Go WILD!

Firstly, let's address Sylvie's Halloween festivity. :) Even though it is big (18 months size...and she's 9 months old), I had to get her picture in this adorable outfit handed down by one of her daycare gfs.

Here's what the hat (which is not part of the outfit, but I keep putting it on Sylvie b/c I love it!) actually looks like as she's crawling toward me. so cute!

We went to our neighbor Tim's hockey game today. We'd been to one of his games once before, and I've been wanting to take Brady again b/c now he really likes watching hockey. It was awesome- perfect game time (4:50), perfect length (less than an hour), perfect distance (the rink is 5 minutes from our house) and perfect game (Tim's team, the Ashburn Wild, beat the Ashburn Extreme 8-1!). Even Sylvie had fun- she snuggled with Miss Veronica, played with Meghan, and cheered for Tim ("Yay!" clap, clap, clap).

My Treats

These two are not only my Halloween treats, but my daily year-round treats. Love them and SO happy they love each other! Today Sylvie is wearing another of her brother's hand-me-downs. To girl it up a little bit, I added her cute kitty-cat hat. :)

Brady pat her on her head and said, "She's so cuuuuute!" I agree pal, I agree.

It cracks me up when it looks like they are making the same face! Here maybe it's the monster, "grrr!"

Brady has his Halloween, well "Harvest" Party (is what they call it) at daycare today. The instructions for their class were to wear orange or dress like a farmer. He's sort of doing both. :) I attempted these ghostie brownies. They did not turn out nearly as cute as the recipe photo, but Brady still got excited about them. Thanks bud. :)

Pebbles

I picked Sylvie up from daycare today and found Miss Flori had somehow gotten one of those baby rubber bands in to Sylvie's hair and made a fountain on top of her head. So cute! I tried to duplicate it, but had no luck with the mini band and the squirmy little girl who kept looking up at me to see what I was doing. You'll just have to go to daycare to get your hair did, Syl!

I tried to get a good head shot, but this girl is hysterical. I found myself saying, "Stop smiling so much happy bunny!" :p

"Mommy I love you because you're my best friend"

This is what Brady said to me as he looked straight in to my eyes this morning. I just stopped and squeezed him almost as tightly as my heart was being squeezed and kissed him all over.

On the one hand, I don't think he actually gets the meaning of this sentence. On the other hand, I know it's not something he's parroting. Oh sweet boy, I love love love you.

Cuties

I was trying to capture the cuteness this morning. These pictures do not do them justice.

I was taking a few pictures of Sylvie with the walker (above) and saw this through the viewfinder. After taking the picture, I just watched Sylvie, who stood balancing herself for almost one minute's time. I don't think she realized she was doing it, but I think it's remarkable!

Webslinger

Brady played with his Spiderman costume today, but just for a little bit. I believe Buzz is the Halloween 2010 costume winner. That's cool though b/c the Spidey one is a little big, but will be fun to play with over the next year or so.

Check out those muscles!

Papa's Birthday

Papa's birthday was on Thursday, but we celebrated it tonight with some QT with the grandparents and birthday dinner and cake. The little unknowing comedian provided entertainment from the moment he stepped out of the car. We gave him Papa's birthday present and told him to give it to Papa. He holds out the wrapped bag and whispers, "Here Papa! It's a special surprise for you. It's a IPOD!" We all roared with laughter! Happy Birthday Papa from your almost 3 year old grandson! :)

Before dinner we went for a walk/ride (at his request, we brought Brady's bike along) to feed the fish.

Even Sylvie got in on the action. She looked so cute peering over the edge of the "Z-boat!" as Brady calls the gazebo. :)

Then Brady played Detective with some fun things Grandma had around the house, including her magnifying glass, the pumpkin lantern she got for him, and a hat Brett used when he was Freddy Krueger for Halloween I don't know how many years ago. (!) Brady said he was going to look for clues. For Brady this means pawprints (from Blues Clues). He has a pair of socks with pawprints on them and when I first put them on him he said, "Mommy! There's clues on my socks!" lol!

Even though it was Papa's birthday, the kids got presents. They got Super fun retro gifts that they both L-O-V-E-D! Brady got a Slinky and Sylvie got her first CPK (Cabbage Patch Kid). Her "official adoption paper name" is Alta Zella (crazy, but my CPK, who I still have, is Delinda Adora, so it didn't surprise me). But we call her Baby Dollie and Sylvie is in.love.with.her. From the moment we took her out of the package, Sylvie instinctively hugged her tight and patted her on the back...and then she munched on Baby Dollie's appendages. :)