Halloween Weekend

****WARNING****

I foolishly tried to fit the whole weekend into one post, so prepare for some picture overload.

The girls got a lot of mileage out of their costumes this weekend. We went Trick-or-Treating twice on Saturday (Downtown Edwardsville during the day and our neighborhood at night), then to the Edwardsville Halloween Parade Sunday night. The were good sports and wore them without complaining.

Harper is a butterfly and Delaney is Cinderella.

Tyler, Delaney, Lucas and Harper at one of the first stops downtown.

Delaney plays in some leaves.

This picture doesn't do it justice, but the Busch's did a GREAT job with their kids' costumes. Landon was a pirate, Brody was a parrot, and they decorated the wagon to look like a pirate ship. Erin is so creative and crafty!

Brody the Parrot. Erin made the costume!

Harper, Lucas, Landon, and Delaney take a break from walking. Tyler wasn't interested in being in the picture.

The kids playing by the doors to the Courthouse. You can see Harper's wings nicely here.

I love this picture of Landon. You can see the tattoo Erin painted on his arm.

The Jones's came over to our neighborhood to Trick or Treat with us after church. Doesn't Claire look adorable in her Dorothy costume? For some reason, Delaney couldn't get a picture taken without posing like a ballerina.

Luke the Lion

Claire and Delaney held hands to every house. So cute!

Harper was fearless.

Delaney and Landon eagerly awaiting the start of the Halloween Parade.

Look at the look Lucas is giving Harper.

The gang shouting, "Parade! Parade! Parade !"

Three buds

It's not the Halloween Parade without a picture of Daddy holding the girls on his shoulders.

Delaney didn't like the loud noises of sirens and marching bands.

Mommy and the girls on the walk back to the car.

Allan put his hat on Delaney and we thought she looked like a little French girl in a beret.

Messy Girl

This is a pretty typical end-of-a-meal look for Harper. Notice the spaghetti on the table, on her chair, on her pants, and all over her face. Don't forget the tipped over smoothie drink and feet up on the table! This girl eats like she lives the rest of her life - fast and furious!

Harper and Brody

Erin, Landon, and Brody came over to play for a while this morning while the Daddy's were camping at Pere Marquette. Brody and Harper looked so cute in their color-coordinated striped outfits, I couldn't resist snapping a few pictures.

Brody is cracking Harper up!

He's gonna get her!

What a handsome dude.

Ta Dah!

BOO!

Two nights ago we got "Boo"ed by one of our neighbors. If you've never heard of it, here's the low-down. Near the beginning of October, someone in the neighborhood starts by "Boo"ing two other people in the neighborhood. They put together a basket full of goodies (stickers, candy, McD's coupons, etc) along with a letter explaining the process and a BOO sign to hang on your door to let others know you've already been hit. They place it on the doorstep after dark, ring the doorbell, and run! Each recipient is supposed to then "Boo" two other people in the neighborhood within the next two days. It keeps going until Halloween at which point the whole neighborhood has gotten in on the fun.

Delaney thought that her Grandpa Boo was the one who gave us the treats and was having a hard time understanding why he didn't come inside to see us! Then she thought that maybe another guy named Boo lived in the neighborhood and she wanted to meet him. She wanted to know if the other Boo bought our candy and if the other Boo ran so fast after he rang our doorbell.

Today, we made a special trip to Target to buy the goodies for our "Boo" baskets. Delaney couldn't wait until dark so we could go on our special secret mission. Allan had to work until 8 tonight, so we put Harper to sleep at 7, I hooked the monitor to my pocket, and we were ready! We had already decided which two houses we were going to get. (They had to both be on our street because we couldn't leave Harper alone for too long!) I gave Delaney another lecture about being super quiet and staying by Mommy. She really wanted to hang around until the neighbors opened their doors so she could shout "BOO!" at them.

We snuck out our back door and around to the front at which point Delaney remembered that we had forgotten the glo sticks we were going to use to light our way. I ran back inside to get them, leaving her alone in the dark on the side of our house! I was breaking all the rules tonight! We were able to successfully "Boo" both houses without being detected. I'm sure that anyone looking out their window got a good laugh at me sprinting down the street carrying my 40 lb kid. I was so out of breath by the time we got back inside our house! Delaney will be talking about this for days...

The Secret Agent with her two Boo baskets - ready for her mission!

When Harper is Left Alone...

... you never know what you'll find. You may walk in to find her laying on top of the kitchen table kicking her legs and eating Cheez-its:

Or you may walk in to find that she has taken four pairs of shoes out of their boxes and lined them up side-by-side:

I think she gets her "wild" side from Daddy and her "neat freak" side from Mommy :)

Halloween Town

Tonight our YMCA had it's annual Halloween Town party. The Rudds asked us to go with them before they came back to our house for a bonfire and campout. Craig and Ness had a wedding to go to, so we offered to take Claire with us. It was a little too crowded for my taste, but the kids had a good time. They bounced in the bounce house, got their faces painted, and played some games for prizes. It didn't even seem to bother the girls that I had missed the memo on wearing costumes.

After several tries, this is the best pic I got of the three girls :)

They got along so well tonight!

Stephen's Visit

Allan's oldest brother (from his Dad's first marriage) came to visit from California this week. It was the first time I had ever met him and the first time in over 20 years that Allan had seen him. We had a good time getting to know him better.

Stephen (55), Paul (80), Allan (35)

ENT Update

Harper had her appointment with the ENT today. He said that her tonsils are just a little bit enlarged and her ears are slightly red but have no fluid in them. He said that even if he saw a problem now he would not operate on her as he feels she is too young.

When I mentioned about her snoring and the fact that it seems that she stops breathing every once in a while, he said that he wants to see her again in 6 months. During the week before her next appointment, we are to watch her sleep again to see if she is a restless sleeper and if the other symptoms are still there. He'll decide then if it's truly sleep apnea and if she would need to have her tonsils and/or adniods removed. We're hoping for the best!

Here is the healthy girl being read to by Papa Paul:

Minnesota Trip Days 3 and 4

On Sunday morning we slept in and had cinnamon rolls for breakfast. Julie and Allan went on a run with Corinne on her bike. When they got home, Allan, Harper and I made a trip to Target. You can't go to Minneapolis and not go to a Target - it's where it all began! After lunch, we headed to Ross's double-header which was about 45 minutes away. The girls played at the playground and dug in the dirt. Ross got to pitch a couple of innings.

Instead of sticking around for the second game, Julie, Allan, the girls and I went to a local apple farm. We didn't pick any apples, but the girls had fun doing a corn maze and riding the Honey Crisp Express. We took a break with some yummy apple treats and apple cider. Right as we were getting ready to leave we saw three huge hot air balloons being blown up, so we stayed around to watch them take off. Pretty cool!

Everyone was starting to zone out here.

Honey Crisp Express

This shows you how big the hot air balloons were!

We stayed in for a lazy evening and ordered pizza Sunday night. Monday morning, Iain went to work, Ross went to school, and Julie went to her Boot Camp class. Allan and I played with the girls in the backyard. When Julie got home, we all went to eat at Panera. Then she graciously offered to stay home with the girls while Allan and I went shopping at the Mall of America. Gap was having a sale of 40% off the entire store - jackpot!! We almost needed to buy an extra suitcase to pack all of the things we bought :)

Delaney did not want to go home - she wanted to stay and play with her cousins for just one more day! We asked Harper if she was excited to get home to see Mama and Papa (who were picking us up from the airport) she said, "No, school". She just wanted to get home so she could go back to school!

When we got to the airport, we were informed that our flight was going to be delayed about 45 minutes. Thank goodness there was this really cool playroom for the girls to get out all of their energy!

Pilot and co-pilot

Vikings

Baseball and hockey players

The flight home was packed, so we all squeezed in to a row of three seats at the very back of the plane. Surprisingly, the girls were even better behaved on this flight! Harper was content to sit on my lap, eat her snacks, and play with her magna doodle. Delaney loved looking out the window at the beautiful sunset and pretty lights.

I am thrilled that we had an excellent trip and that the girls proved to be good travelers. I feel like the world is open to us and am excited to go, go, go!