Happy Halloween!!

The Velvet Princess

What a fun Halloween we are having! First, Abby had "pajama day" at school, so she got to wear her favorite pjs to school. She didn't even have to get dressed this morning and we were still running late!

Then this afternoon a nice man delivered a yummy halloween cookie bouquet for the kiddies. So cute and so yummy!! Thanks, Auntie Trish and Uncle Tim - good stuff! (and yesterday we got yummy pumkin shaped cookies from G&G Newman. We LOVE cookies!)

After an afternoon snack of too many cookies, Uncle Don and Aunt Nancy came by with MORE goodies!

Abby then went over to the neighbors for pizza before a big night of trick or treating with Dad and the neighbors. They looked really cute when they all came to the door; unfortunately, I didn't get a picture of everyone together. You could tell they were all having a blast, collecting as much candy as they could!!

Pajama Day

Halloween Twins

Cookie Bouquet - YUM

Gimme More Cookie!!!

Cutie Griff!

Sinus Infection

Griff has a sinus infection :-( We have antibiotics for him. The doctor said the antibiotics should kick in within 48 hours. Then I have permission to go back to letting him cry his little eyes out when he wakes in the middle of the night :-) For now, however, I'm trying to comfort him as best I can with lots of rocking when he wakes. Not much sleep the past few nights, but what can you do?

Mike and I are getting ready to watch, "It's the Great Pumkin, Charlie Brown" with Abby tonight. She's very excited for tomorrow and trick or treating!

Misc. Stuff

Nothing really going on here. Abby had a great day at school. She was prayer leader, which means she lead the prayer before snack time. She likes it when she has jobs - line leader, prayer leader, etc. She has met a few friends - Jessica, Lucy and Kate - although I'm not sure how much she really plays with them. When I ask her, she usually says she likes to, "hang with the teachers", which I guess is fine with me. I'm not sure how the teachers feel about it!

She's also doing quite well in gymnastics. We signed up for the next session, which begins in 2 weeks. I like watching her try new things - and then succeed. She is trying handstands, cartwheels, flips over the bars, and walking on the balance beam.

Hannah and Griff are fine. Both are a little crabby, maybe teething? I don't remember teething ever bothering Abby, but perhaps I have repressed that memory!

Mike put up the kitchen valance over the weekend. I LOVE IT (um, ok - it needs to be ironed!!). He hasn't hung the family room panels yet - still waiting for my curtains rods to arrive. Hopefully they will be here soon and we can get those up, too.

Thats all for now. Attached are a couple of pics of H&G - Hannah hides from Griff under the island counter and/or in the stools (he tends to chase her with anything pushable - she absolutely hates it, as her cries will tell you :-) . Granted, she looks like she is quite happy in these pictures, but she put herself there to get away from Griff!

Corny the Jack O'Lantern

Mike and Abby were busy, busy, busy this afternoon carving Corny the Jack O'lantern. I think they did an awesome job! They scoured the internet for the perfect jack o'lantern face, and once Abby saw Corny, she was sold.

Abby was a great supervisor, but absolutely would not touch the inside of the pumkin, or the pumkin seeds. Seems it kinda grossed her out.

Hannah and Griff are good. Griff has been having some hard nights...up most of the night, crying on and off. We think he must be teething,

because we can't figure out what else it might be. Hopefully he'll start to feel better soon. That's all for now. We'll be sure to post Halloween pictures!

Taking a Walk

Another nice day here, so we got everyone out for a walk. Hannah and Griff rode in the wagon, while Abby wanted to ride in the stroller.....

Abby is anxiously awaiting Halloween. She can't wait to wear her "velvet princess costume". It's suppose to be pretty cold on Halloween - we'll have to bundle her up under the dress to keep her warm.

Crisp Fall Day

The kids are finally staring to feel better, so I took them outside for some fresh air this morning. It was a bit chilly, and Hannah's nose immediately started to run! Tried to get some pics of all three together, but that is easier said than done. I think this may be the last of the "warm" days - the extended forcast is showing 40 degrees. I think it's going to be another chilly Halloween! Enjoy the pics.

Crisp Fall Day

Wowie Maui

Wowie Maui

Wowie Maui

We're back. Felt like we were gone a long time. And given the response Hannah and Griffin gave us, it must have been, because they were a bit dazed and confused as to who Mike and I were when we walked in the door! Abby, on the other hand, welcomed us with open arms and told us that us coming home was her favorite part of our vacation :-)

Mike and I had a wonderful and relaxing time in Maui. We did a lot of lying by the pool, swimming in the ocean, eating good fish, and playing cards. You can't beat the Maui weather, sunny and mid 80s the entire trip. We took a fun sunset boat cruise one evening, but other than that, we didn't do any other activies....which was fine by us. Our goal was to relax, and we did just that. We went with our good friends the Seastands, and are already planning our trip in 2009!

Maui has some wonderful restaurants, and one of our favorites is Mama's Fishhouse in Paia. On our visit there, the owner of the restaurant told us that they would be filming a tv segment while were dined, and apologized for the intrusion. We said no problem, and went about enjoying our evening. We did see the film crew setting up near us, and we assumed they were going to be filming for a locat network. We were surprised to find out it was actually The Food Network and Giada DeLaurentiis would be filming. All you foodies out there know she is the host of the program Everyday Itailian. Jami and I were thrilled to see and meet her, and even more thrilled when she agreed to get a picture with us! Little does she know that she helped me survive last fall and winter while I was just about house-bound with H&G! Her biggest 4 year old fan - Miss Abby - was just about as excited as I was when I told her the story.

A big thanks to Mike's parents who held down the fort while we relaxed in the sun and surf. Abby had lots of fun G&G time, and Hannah and Griff obviously loved having them here, as they are still looking at me funny when they wake in the morning, like they are expecting Grandma to get them instead of me!

Anyway, we had a lovely time, and now it's back to the day to day. Enjoy the pics!