Thursday, October 31, 2013

Happy First Pre-School Halloween!

Lauren and Olivia experienced their first pre-school Halloween today...and loved it! Today they were ballerinas; matching/same thing only because they insisted on it. 
They allowed the parents to come in today and see all the different outfits in their "Costume Parade".  It was wonderfully done, complete with spooky songs for us parents to watch.  Great job BHDS--Ms. Palmer, Ms. Lockard and Ms. Kim!  The girls have never had more fun on Halloween. ;0P


My favorite song that Lauren's class did was "Witches Brew".  I recorded most of it, but with the camera turned lengthwise--which doesn't translate well for me onto the blog. :/ (90* off).  But it's very entertaining; totally worth the crick in your neck.
The girls then wanted to get their picture taken by Ms. Motley, the director of BHDS. So we went out to the playground to cheese it up!  And then we continued to play for a bit, because they were sugared up and needed to burn off some energy...and you can see by their extreme picture faces!



Olivia with her teacher, Ms. Kim.

It was such a fun day at school, that I had unhappy ballerinas when I forced them to go home.  Who knew two and three year old ballerinas could be so animated!
 

Trunk-or-Treat & Costume Prizes

We went to our church/ward trunk-or-treat last night, and it was a blast!  The girls were excited to be outside after the sun went down...so was Nate...and I was just excited to have some built in night entertainment for us all.  And we were not disappointed!  Costumes galore, car trunks decked out to the nines, and delicious treats for all.  Lauren went as Rapunzel, Olivia was Minnie Mouse, Nate was a Hipster, and I went as a Chik-Fil-A Cow (the one with the "Eat Mor Chikin" signs).
I wasn't on the ball enough to get a picture of our "trunk", but we and the Holmes' family strung up paper lanterns between our cars.  The lanterns were filled with glow sticks, but because we parked under one of the few street lights in our parking lot, the glow effect was lost. :( Poor planning on my part; but there's always next year ;0)
Lauren was infatuated with giving herself a glow stick mustache

Olivia has a blue frosting mustache from the Minion she ate earlier.
I included this picture because I love Olivia's smile in it.  She looks like her cousin Amelia!
Lauren with her bestie, Reagan Bateman (dressed as a flamingo!)
Oh, and guess who won a ward costume prize this year???  I did!  I took home the Funniest Costume prize for my Chik-Fil-A cow--sweet! Hopefully no one will feel ripped off when I wear it for Chik-Fil-A's Cow Appreciation Day (i.e. wear a cow costume and get a free meal day).
Funniest Costume "trophy"!

Sunday, October 27, 2013

"Riding Around in My Automobile"

Olivia has been loving the fall weather we've been having, as well as her one-on-one time she has with me when Nate and Lauren go off riding their "big-kid" bikes!  Olivia is great at scooting along with her feet (and stopping!), as her legs don't quite reach the pedals yet.  Good, nail-biting times had by all...but particularly Olivia and I on our fall walks...
 

Thursday, October 24, 2013

Auntie Mimi's Care Package!

So anytime we get goodies or packages in the mail, the girls automatically assume it's their birthdays - "Mom! It's my birdaaayyy!"  I then have to go through the process of explaining that it's not their special day quite yet, nor will they be getting a cake, and no, no friends coming over to party today...BUT, it's all worth the explanation when we get these sweet packages from my mom/sisters that make the little girls smile from ear to ear...and acting all sorts of ecstatic and crazy.  The package that came last week was from my oldest sister Mimi, and the little girls chanted her name for hours afterwards, exclaiming "Mom. This from my Annie [Auntie] Mimi".
Olivia guarding her goodies!
Lauren counting off all her new presents
"Look at my pretty princess bracelets Moooooom!"
Looks like my sisters may have earned new names in Lauren and Olivia's books - Annie Mimi and Annie Lizi! ;0P

Monday, October 21, 2013

Nalls Produce Pumpkin Patch

We ran out of time to go to a pick-your-own farm/pumpkin patch this year, so the girls and I went one afternoon with a bunch of friends from church.  Nalls had a children's area that was a version of a playground meets pumpkin patch. Corrugated tubes for hide-n-seek..a stage for clowning around...petting zoo with roaming roosters--all included! It was a great play date location for a Monday afternoon, while staying within the city limits.


Thursday, October 17, 2013

School Picture Time

It's that time of year...school picture time!  At Bush Hill Day School, they even make sure siblings get their photos together.  Cute stuff. No really!
The only things cuter (in my book), are their individual photos, and that's still undecided.  What is decided though, is that Olivia is giving a mischievous look to the photographer.  Especially with her hand clasp.  Definitely looks like she's plotting.  Plotting to do what though?! My money is on throat punching someone, or she's cooking something in her diaper. Either one...she wins and we lose! ;0P


Monday, October 14, 2013

Holmes Run Escapades

Is it okay to wear cowboy boots when hiking?! Three out of six kids polled say "yes!" (see picture)

We went and hiked the Holmes Run loop this Monday afternoon.  It's about a mile walk in all, across various types of terrain and various changes in elevation.  Lauren hiked like a champ! Never stopping or wanting to be carried once.  Though this is probably due to trying to keep up with the "big girls" (ie the Holmes girls).

It was a beautiful afternoon to be outside though, so Nate and I didn't mind carrying Olivia every now and then.  The highlight of the hike was at the very beginning, when we were hiking parallel to the stream.  Nate ran across a dead eel while the kids were throwing/skipping rocks in the stream.  Not five feet away, he finds a dead fish...and another...dead tadpoles...more dead fish.  It was a river creature graveyard, of which all kids were completely enamored with. "Ooooooooweeeeeee mom", Olivia kept saying while staring in awe. We were finally able to pry the kids from the stream and back on the hiking path when Reagan and I both realized they did have some stream/water bacteria advisories on the website when we were looking up the Holmes Run website.  Duh!  We said as much to Nate, and the fact that they recommended not coming in contact with the water if possible.  Nate was REAL appreciative that we remembered this tidbit of information after the kids were romping through the semi-dry riverbed, and he grabbed a wet stick to prod the dead eel.  Heehehe...sorry Babe!

Saturday, October 12, 2013

Fire Safety Month

This weekend, here in Fairfax County, all fire stations were open to the public ISO fire safety month!  The kids love to go because they get to do, wear, and use all things fire fighter.  The girls got to wear various uniform items that fire fighters use when on call, they got to play on the fire truck, and most importantly, they were able to spray the fire hoses!  They were in heaven!
 "Hurry hurry drive the fire truck, hurry hurry drive the fire truck, hurry hurry drive the fire truck, ding ding ding ding ding!"

Thursday, October 10, 2013

Car Trunk: It's the Rainy Day Playground

The girls just had to be outside today; BUT, it was raining too hard (and sideways) for me to just allow them to go and romp around for the hour that they wanted to be outside.  Compromise? The Tahoe's trunk!  They were so happy to be able to play "store" through the back window.  "What you want buy mom?!"  Their imaginations, and ability to meld to the situation(s), never cease to amaze me.  Even when it comes to simple rainy day play.
 


Wednesday, October 9, 2013

Fundraiser Photos - Genius!

We have a sister in our church ward that is an amazing photographer.  Danelle Empey (www.mpphotographyonline.com).  And when I say amazing, I mean amazing in many different ways.  One, she takes wonderful photos; hence the photography. Two, she set up and took wonderful photos as a fundraiser for a sister in our ward who is currently having to deal with costly cancer treatments.  Pretty amazing and selfless right?!  Makes me wish I had a marketable trade to be able to do the same for this sister!!!  But instead, to show my support, I had Lauren and Olivia's pictures taken.  Another take on the back-to-school photo.  And I love them!  What say you???

I'm not sure what's with Olivia and her "looks" in photos lately, but as long as she's pseudo smiling--I'll take 'em!