This girlie decided that she wanted to be the same pumpkin that she was last year. Of course it still fits! 

Ben kept hugging the minion instead of smiling for photos. The guy playing Gru had more of a mafia accent and he kept saying Nathan was David Beckham, hee.

Noah chose his costume and thought it was hilarious at home, but then started to doubt himself when he noticed everyone was staring at him at the zoo. We told him they were all laughing and smiling because they liked it, but he wasn't enjoying all of the attention...to the point that he started saying he wanted to leave. When we got over to these Toy Story characters they called his horse Bullseye and had fun talking with him. As we walked away he said, "I changed my mind, mom. My costume is awesome".

You can see who was out in the front running to every candy booth. That little pumpkin had some crazy fast legs that night!

This one is extra blurry, but it cracked me up...especially Iron Man Will.

Most of the characters weren't super enticing to the kids, but the princesses especially looked so lonely standing there waving as we walked past. We convinced Kate to take pictures with a few of them just because we felt bad for the girls! She did question this one pretty relentlessly though, "Where da Beast? Why he not here?!".

They zipped through the hay bale maze in 4 seconds. Remember when they were teeny and we'd have to go in and find them? Oh, Little Monkey is breaking my heart!

Hee hee hee!

The boys had to have this picture. Will has been asking for an Iron Man suit since we met him, so he was thrilled to finally have it.

Kate was so funny with that big ol' hook.

It was about 80 degrees that night and it was humid because storms were on their way. Some of the kids were super hot in their costumes and I busted out laughing when I pulled off Kate's pumpkin hat and saw her hair completely slicked down with sweat.

And poor Will! He was so determined to stay in character, but he was drenched by the time we took his suit off.

We don't normally strip out of the costumes right there at the zoo exit, but they were more than ready to get out of them on that night. I kept telling them that Halloween night will be cooler, though this week's temperatures have me unsure. Come on, Fall weather! We're depending on you to show up!

I'll leave you with this one just because it's hilarious.  ;)

This was a good weekend - not too busy and not too lazy. The little boys had a soccer game bright and early on Saturday morning and for the first time this season there was a chill in the air. I loved it but the kids were a little cold at first because of the breeze. Luckily Noah shared his blanket with Mei Mei.

And when she got tired of him she was happy to crawl into my cardigan. Her face here cracked us both up when we saw it in the photo. My little papoose.

That evening we went to a little backyard Fall party at our friends' house. Everything was so cute.

The kids had fun eating snacks and soup, jumping on the trampoline, riding scooters, and just running around all night.

And of course s'mores are always a hit.

Little Piper went after her first s'more with gusto.

Sunday was laid back, but we did a lot of cleaning around the house and I spent hours (and hours) organizing school books and papers from the last two years. I've learned to save everything from Anna, so if Noah forgets his math book - no worries! I have the 5th grade math book in my closet! It's a lot to store and organize but it pays off over and over again.

Unrelated photo of Ben's water bead creation. He insisted that I not only take a picture but then "post it somewhere". So here ya go.  ;)

I maybe finished the final episode of Gilmore Girls while folding laundry yesterday. And maybe I cried a little because it was ending. I loved it all and like all of the other fans I want to move to their fictional town ASAP. Even though I read a big fat spoiler accidentally (boo!), I still haven't watched the reboot thing they did this past year. Since there are only 4 episodes I feel like I have to ration it out, although I hear Netflix is in talks to do another round. Middle aged women rejoice! Well. middle aged women and these guys, who I just discovered this weekend too. (insert all the Nathan eye rolls right here, hee hee)

This week has some big events. Will is having a minor surgery on his nose this Thursday so prayers appreciated for that! They have to spend the night in a hotel though because the next morning is his appointment with the cleft/ craniofacial team. Luckily the Thursday surgery is a super quick outpatient procedure and he should be good as gold in time to celebrate his very first birthday at home on Saturday. Can you believe that little strong man is going to be 9 years old?! An Iron Man explosion is in the works. He's been asking for an Iron Man birthday party since before we even left China, so we're happy to do it for him!

Next we crossed the street to Hobby Lobby. I had mentioned to Kate that since it was almost October maybe we could put out all of our Fall decorations as a surprise for her siblings when they all came home. She loved this idea and wanted to buy it all! 

Side note- see these tacky little light up ceramic Christmas trees? My grandma had one just like this when I was growing up and I always loved it so much. My siblings have the same memories and my sister and I have decided we might need to buy one this year for our own families (sorry, Nathan). I resisted buying it on this trip, but it's probably happening soon.

Kate was feeling the Christmas spirit right away too.

She insisted on photos with all of the foxes.

In this picture she was pumping that fist and saying, "Yes! Christmas!".

Yeah, she was an excited blur over this star. We didn't buy it. ;)

After we left there we ran into the pet store for some gerbil food. She had to visit the cats. #nothanks

And eeeeeeeek it was Pug Rescue Day!!! Who knew there was even such a thing as Pug Rescue?! They were so cute and fat and squishy, but the poor little things didn't have much chance of being chosen. Two of them were very old and kind of feeble looking, and the younger one barked nonstop. Still cute, but we have our own very old doggie at home thankyouverymuch.

This man was holding another type of little dog, who was apparently BFFs with one of the pugs. They were a package deal.

Ran through the grocery and then a car wash, and I cracked up when Kate jerked her head back and gave a stern look at that soap!

That night we got some dinner together and she watched Fall themed Hallmark movies with me. What could be better than that?!

The next morning it was time to go get Anna. Yahoo! 

The time apart was good for them, but they really did miss each other. That's Sharpie on Anna's arm from some game they played the night before. She's had multiple showers since then and it's still there!

She loved this weekend retreat with her small group. It was a much smaller number of kids than summer camp, so I think it was better for them to connect to each other and their leaders.

2. Parent Teacher Conferences

This past week Kate was out of school Monday and Tuesday and her school held parent teacher conferences on those days. I wasn't expecting to hear anything negative really but it's always nice to hear how she's doing. I was shocked but totally thrilled when they told me that they can now understand 85-90% of what she says to them! This is a huge jump from last year when they said they could only understand about 25%. One of her teachers has known her for 2 years and time with her means a ton when you're learning to understand her "language". But her main teacher is new this year and has only known her for about 2 months, so I was ecstatic that she could understand Kate so well. She told me that she's not super talkative, but when she does ask a question or share an idea, they're understanding her. Last year I would feel so sad thinking that she was talking and no one was getting it, so this news almost made me cry happy tears. While we are out and about I'd say 95% of strangers still can't understand a lot of what she says but I'm glad that at least at school she is being heard. Nathan and I have also noticed a big jump in her speech lately. She's using more complete sentences and all of those connecting words are making their way into her daily speech. So proud of this little chicken!

3. Anna's New Glasses

Last week Anna's teacher emailed me on Friday and asked if I was aware that she was struggling with vision. He said her desk is in the second row but she was asking him to read to board to her each day. When I questioned her she said, "Oh yeah, that's why I sit on the floor to watch TV now instead of sitting back on the couch". Like it was no big deal. You have to share these things with your mother! So since there's no school on Monday we were able to get her in to the eye doctor and get some glasses before she had to be back in school again. Sure enough, she needed glasses! She just had her eyes checked less than a year ago so the doctor was a little surprised, but said it's common as kids are heading into puberty (gulp). It's a pretty low prescription, but she was amazed at how much better she could see. She said she wanted navy to match her school uniform so when we found these with navy and light blue zebra print sides, it was a perfect match for our little wildlife loving girl. She doesn't need them all of the time at home, which is nice, but she does wear them to school every day. I think they're adorable.

4.  All the Fall things

Today Ben is out of Enrichment because his building is being used for an event. I took the big kids to school, took Kate to preschool, and was planning to go to the grocery before we had to go back for her. But I didn't have a list ready and being home with just one child means a rare quiet house, so we headed back. Thanks to my cute sister-in-law (Hi, Rachel!) we ran in and spent our gift card on some yummy coffee for me and a muffin and milk for Ben. First caramel brulee latte of the season, soooo yummy. I haven't been stopping in Starbucks much at all lately, but the holiday flavors always lure me back. Unrelated favorites - an old snoring doggie and one of my favorite nail polishes (cracks me up that this link calls it "perky"). Also it's finally cool enough to wear my granny cardigans every day.  ;)

The weather has been so nice for November so even though today is chilly Ben and I took a little walk around the back yard looking at the changes to all of our trees. The insane orange and yellow glow from this tree can never be captured by a phone camera, but trust me, it's gorgeous.

This weekend we have a violin recital, a basketball game, and our ongoing house to-do list. And as much as I'm enjoying Fall, I've GOT to start Christmas shopping - only 43 days away, yikes! We're scaling waaay back on the kids this year and I'm happy to report that they totally agree and are happy with our plan. :)

Hope you all have a relaxing weekend too!

On Saturday Noah had another basketball game and that night we went to a little Halloween celebration in our neighborhood on their cute little town square. The kids were happier than they appear in this photo. It was in the mid-80s so there was no way we were going to ask them to put on their super warm costumes. We assured them that they would still get candy, and they did. There were bounce houses, free food, and a giant screen for a movie night, but we decided not to stay for that. 

A fellow adoptive mom said the other day that suckers were her daughter's love language and that is certainly the case for this little chicken. Last night and today I had them choose their 10 favorite candies to put in a small bag because we always give all the rest to our violin teacher for his students. Kate chose almost all suckers and was thrilled with her choices.

Sunday night Anna went to the second annual girls' only Halloween party with all of her fellow 6th grade girls. They took some really cute group photos that I'm not sure all of their moms want on the internet, so just imagine a lot of happy and squealing girls singing karaoke and bouncing all over the place. Nathan and I were able to snag a long overdue date night where we talked about everything that's been going on and everything that's about to go on - namely, China. We ate food, we drank coffee, we lounged....it was lovely. And we're determined to sneak in a couple more before we bring home kiddo number five! We decided not to purchase this book we found while perusing the bookstore. 

On Monday it was her turn to wear her costume to school and to say she was excited would be an understatement. She had a little party in her class and came home with 7000 words to share with me in a 10 minute span.  

Halloween night my sister and her family came over, along with Mommaw and Pop, to trick or treat with us around the neighborhood. Amy is a first grade teacher who just happened to have a 1950s day at school a couple of weeks ago. She surprised her daughter with this matching costume on Halloween and as you can imagine, she was thrilled. Anna screamed, "Amy is dressed up! With the hair tie and everything!!".

They're so big...and not just because one of them in inflatable.

Again, Noah's costume.... you just do you, man. His main priority was getting candy and tossing on that hat did the job.

The weather was perfect so the neighborhood was full of kids, which just made it even more fun.

This house makes our kids ask every year why we don't decorate more. They had music and synchronized lights and the whole deal. Luckily they only put these things out the day of trick or treating, so neighbors don't have to "enjoy" them for weeks on end.  ;)

Even though October was crazy on several fronts, I was glad we were able to do all of our usual fun activities. I think we're all ready for at least a few slower weeks. The kids are counting the days until Thanksgiving break, and Christmas is already starting to pop up in conversations. Speaking of...

Adoption update, yahoo!

This past Monday we got the hard copy of our LOA and signed it and sent it right back to our agency so they can send it on to China. We got a text at 12:22 a.m. (why?!) the other morning that the US side has received our immigration forms so those should be approved in the next 2 weeks or less. We also got word that his care package was delivered though we probably won't know for sure that he got it until we meet him. This week we're applying for some fundraising help, so hopefully we will have word on that soon too. It's getting so close! At this point we don't know if we will leave before Christmas, right after, or even at the New Year, so it's hard to even think about planning for the holidays. But Noah's passport is in the works and the paperwork side is picking up again, so we have plenty to keep us busy! Keep praying for that sweet boy's heart, especially since he received huge news this week! :)