Mmmmmm spaghetti

But the monsters...

Jaden is getting really creative at trying to get others to go with HIS agenda rather than their own.

The other night I told him he could play trains for a few minutes while we finished cleaning up. He walked into the playroom and then turned around and said, "but there are monsters in my playroom."

Humoring him, I went into the playroom and looked around making comments like...

"Hmmm...I don't see any monsters under the train table."

"are there any behind the rocking chair? .... No."

"What about under the desk? Nope."

I concluded my investigation with, "It looks like the coast is clear, no monsters here!"

Jaden looked at me and, without skipping a beat, said,
"No. The monsters are really smart. They hear me talking to you and they know to stay away. But, when you leave and I'm not talking to you anymore, they come out."

Now, maybe I should be worried that my 3 year old is overly afraid of monsters and their sneakiness.

However, considering he said these things while working really hard to try to hide his smile, instead I just think he's hilariously creative!

In and Out

Easy, simple, fun!
Pom Pom balls and a grape tomato container.

Working side by side

This was Alivia's first time with dot markers. FUN!

Enough of a mess that I think we'll wait to introduce regular paint until it's diaper only weather on the patio!

This is what happens

When you say...
"No hitting! Kisses!"

What a difference a year makes....

It is hard to believe that this little girl...

Has already grown into this walking, babbling, giggling, playful, melt-your-heart-with-a-smile BIG girl!

Happy 1st Birthday!

A rainbow cake experiment...

YUM!"Hey, this cake eating business is messy stuff!"

Trying to decide which is more fun - the tissue paper in the package or what might be lying beneath in the bag!

The rocking horse is a HUGE hit!

(of course, within 5 minutes she has already learned to climb on forwards, backwards, and ride standing up! eeek!!!)

I think I might be going through a "my baby is growing up" crisis! I know, she's only ONE....but...how did she stop being a BABY so fast?!!?!??!?!

Halloween Fun

Here are my Halloween cuties!

TRICK or TREAT!!!

After 2 weeks of insisting that he wanted to be a frog based on the fact that he had seen a frog mask we had while we were putting up Halloween decorations, Jaden would NOT wear the frog mask! But, a friend had given us a frog eyes headband and he did consent to that although I had to almost tackle him to paint his hair green! Alivia didn't really like getting dressed in her dalmation costume but, once it was on, seemed oblivious!

With a couple of big Jack-o-lanterns as parents!

It was Jaden's "job" to ring the doorbell and once Alivia heard it go off she would walk quickly up the walk towards the door. Even at 10 months she TOTALLY understood what this was about and when someone would say "Trick or Treat" she'd hold the bucket up.
Stephen's parent's neighborhood is like trick-or-treat central. I don't know HOW many hundreds of people show up. They had 4 giant bags of candy and we had brought 4 more and it ALL disappeared! Once the trick-or-treaters started showing up Jaden was so excited about giving candy to his "customers."

Every time there would be a break between trick or treaters (sometimes they were lined up the walk all the way to the street) he would see some coming down the street and do a little dance yelling "Yay...there are MORE trick or treaters coming!"

He also would comment on the costumes of the people he gave candy to and say things like "You'll like this one" as he carefully placed the candy in their bags. It was SOOOO funny! It was clear he had more fun giving the candy away than he did going door to door!

Of course, Alivia had to help!

She really wanted to EAT all the candy! Every time we'd turn around she'd be trying to knaw her way through another wrapper!

It was a SUPER fun night! And I just so happen to think that I have the most FUN kiddos ever!

Here were the decorations outside our house! I saw this cute idea in Pinterest but here's the direct link. Super easy and cute. After seeing one other house with these in our neighborhood I think next year I'll try white milk jugs instead of clear (although that would require buying a different brand of milk). Also, orange lights look really cool. Maybe next year we'll have pumpkins AND ghosts!
We also tried Ghost Jello Treats from here. I would say these take a bit of work to make really cute - but if you don't care about perfection and are okay with the below they are quite easy. Of course, Jaden wouldn't eat it! He just wanted plain jello!