These are the Days!

How does one choose?  I think I've got my favorites picked out...I think... (I mean pictures, not which children are my favorites.  Although...)

Luke's portrait should remain a slideshow instead of a still shot.  What a character.  He is definitely two.  He also thought the whole photo shoot was fun because he wanted to copy what the other kids were doing.

My kindergartener informed me today that she was the smartest kid in her class. Oh no, I thought, is it already time for this conversation? (She probably is the smartest. ) I explained about not bragging and encouraged her to help the other kids if they didn't understand. Then she told me how she knows that she's the smartest. Apparently she and her teacher are the only ones in the class that can say "Who put the bop in the bop-she-bop-she-bop" fast. Well. That's something.

Here are some pictures of our fun Halloween.

We spent a fun night at Hee Haws, courtesy of Leslie's orthodontist.  Way fun and just our speed.  The kids loved the super tall silo slide.  I didn't go down but peeked inside.  Reminded me of Rapunzel's tower or something with the stairs climbing up to the top.

Boston likes to play with my camera, unbeknownst to me.  Sometimes I keep the ones he's taken.

I think Luke was astonished that we let him use a marker.  Usually they are strictly forbidden because he either bites the ends off or colors on the floor or wall.

It was a super busy week but I decided to make a Halloween treat to go with our dinner that night last minute.  The breadsticks were "Zombie Fingers".  I told the kids that the parmesan cheese was dandruff and the red pepper flakes (you're gonna love this...) were scabs.  Macy loves breadsticks but utterly refused to eat these.  By the way, do you LOVE her new haircut?  You can kind of see it in this picture.

This was her own idea.

Luke and I came home a little early from trick or treating with the fam because He was getting bored of it and I was feeling guilty for not passing out any of the candy we had bought.  He loved busting into it--there were a whole lot of partially licked on suckers or one-bite-gone candy bars for the next few days.  Ah well.  After five kids I've learned that age two is the year that the food we throw away could probably feed a village.

I guess these are a little out of order, but here come the proud little ghouls after receiving their treats.  Luke had quite the swagger.  He even walked right in to a couple of the houses when they opened the door.  Super cute and funny.

With such a busy week we hadn't had time to carve the pumpkins until Halloween itself.  The kids are still partially dressed from wearing their costumes to school.

Hey guys, wait up!  Leslie was Luke's assistant, helping him not get knocked down the stairs when there were flocks of kids at the door, etc.

I've been wanting to get Mark a phantom costume for years.  Somehow it reflects our life a little more accurately, though, in this picture, where the Phantom is holding a tiger in diapers.  Leslie had a great Medusa costume for this party, I wish the picture showed her Duct Tape criss-cross belt and sandals.  You'll notice Cooper is a basketball player.  He kept changing his mind and ended up being a bat again on actual Halloween.  Macy is a butterfly.  She's had her costume picked out all year.  Boston is a vampire for the third year in a row.  I think he just likes the suit, personally.

Nothing like the suspense of a yet-unopened door.