Halloween

Good Grief. THE CANDY!!!!

There are currently three gallon-sized zip-locked bags sitting on our counter at this very minute holding the boys’ Halloween candy. And that’s not even counting all the crappy candy I just threw away because I knew none of us would ever eat it.

So needless to say, the boys got a great haul this year.

Trunk-or-Treat was really fun this year. We combined with South Shore and Kemah wards, so it was HUGE! There were tons of cars for the kids to visit, and some of them were really creative! I manned our “JAWS” trunk while Steven took the boys around from car to car. One of the guys from our ward even brought his juggling equipment, and was JUGGLING FIRE right in front of our car! It was amazing. Here’s a picture of the cuties—(and I was almost tempted to cut myself RIGHT OUT of this picture, because I look like death warmed over--that belt doesn't look so great under preggie-belly).


We took the boys trick-or-treating around the neighborhood on Halloween as well, and it was so much fun.


We just went door to door, circling a few blocks. We had to explain to the boys that we only went to houses where the front porch light was on. Lots of people in our neighborhood were waiting on their front porch, sitting in lawn chairs and handing out candy. It was just really nice, for some reason—it felt old-school. It was dark outside---you talked with the neighbors who you hardly ever see otherwise. It was great.

Afterwards, we headed back to the house to examine the haul. It was quite appalling, but the boys were pleased.



We let them stay up WAY too late as we all watched dumb Disney Halloween movies together. What a great night.

Busy Day

Yesterday was Stevie's last day of preschool. He had such a good experience and really enjoyed learning new things and being with his friends. I really wish there was some kind of equivalent in League City.

It was a particularly fun day because they had a Halloween party AND it was Pet Day. Afterwards, we got a picture of the kids in their costumes out on the playground.
(Starting from the left is Natalie, Stevie, James and Dallas).
Afterwards Shannon and I took our broods to McDonald's and had a lovely time. I just love Shannon, and it was so much fun to be able to talk and laugh while our kids went haywire on the play equipment.

Right afterwards it was off to Jan's house for another playdate. Jared and Stevie are such good friends. Whenver they get together, dressing up in costumes is an unwritten rule. They ended up dressing up in each other's Halloween costumes and, of course, gratuitous muscle-flexing immediately followed.
I just love Jan. Nothing is more cathartic than having a nice long talk with her about anything and everything under the sun. The best thing about her is that I always feel edified by the things she says and does. I feel like she really listens and appreciates me, and I always leave inspired to be a better person. I can't think of higher praise than that. *Sigh*...I tend to get just a little weepy now that it's time to leave all my wonderful friends.

Jumpin' on the Pumpkin Patch Train

Yesterday, Sarah and I headed out to the Flower Mound Pumpkin Patch with the kiddos. It was such a cool place, and completely free! I must admit that part of my motivation was getting some great fall pictures and alas, I was, for the most part, unsuccessful. You can find cuter ones on Sarah's post. HOWEVER, we still had a lovely (though exhausting) time.

This is us on the hayride. Can someone please tell me while I insist on making this insane face every time someone takes my picture lately? I either look hopped up on meth or like a mom about to lose her marbles. (It's usually the latter).
They had the coolest little mazes made out of hay that the kids really loved. At the end of the maze was a little castle slide (a big hit).
This faux tractor caused quite a bit of controversy in that both parties insisted they were the true tractor-driver.
This was pretty much David's mood the entire time. Always happens when he falls asleep in the car.
He was, however, delighted by the tiny pumpkins. I'm pretty sure he intended on taking them all home.
This picture was intended to be a cute little hugging picture of Stevie and Bella. It ended up looking like Stevie was assaulting her. Sorry, Sarah, I just thought it was too funny!
Be still my beating heart. This child is too precious.
Doesn't it look like Stevie's sort of hoping it will hatch?
David was mainly concerned with rearranging the pumpkins

This picture sums up Stevie's opinion of all my picture-taking by the end of the day. Not impressed.
Totally unrelated picture. I watched the kids last night while Sarah and James went to dinner and snapped this one in the midst of all the hub-bub. Two suckers and a cowboy hat. Priceless.

Fun, Fun, Fun!

Yesterday we had oodles of fun. After our obligatory breakfast at IHOP (Steven insists on either a Waffle House or IHOP breakfast most Saturdays), we went to a birthday party for Stacie's little Jack. We had such a good time. Once again, Stacie's cute ideas blew me away! Instead of just having little Jack blow out the candles, she made cupcakes and put a candle on every one. Then when we sang to baby Jack, ALL the kids got to blow out their candle at the end. AS IF that wasn't cool enough, afterwards they got to decorate their own cupcakes. It was so cute and I thoroughly plan on shamelessly stealing all her ideas for our future birthday parties.

Afterwards we rushed to the store to buy some last minute supplies for our trunk and for Steven and my costumes for the Trunk-or-Treat. However, Stevie had a huge meltdown after seeing my costume, and firmly decided he no longer wanted to be a knight, but instead wanted to be the same thing as me. In the end, we came to a compromise, and he was a little bit of both. Here's what we all came up with:

If you're wondering what the heck I'm suppose to be, I'm a BLACK-EYED "P"! Get it? Don't feel bad, nobody else got it either. They all thought I was making a statement about spousal abuse or something. At any rate, my black eye make-up was of course what caused all the hub-bub with Stevie, and so I ended up blacking his eye anyways.

And if you're wondering what STEVEN is supposed to be...well, so are we. We just bought an cheap Elvis wig off the clearance rack at Target and that was it. The wig turned out to be kind of wonky and would not cooperate at all. I think Steven's attempting the lip curl in this one...I'm really not sure...

Our trunk decoration was (as was last year) a monster car who tried to bite your arm when you reached in the trunk for candy. It was a big hit (especially since Steven was running the show, complete with sound effects). At the end, the kids decided they needed to defeat the beast, seeing as how they were Knights and all.
All in all, a very fun night. But I was glad when it was over. I collapsed into bed at the earliest opportunity.

Halloween Costumes

There are, mind you, a limited store of Halloween costumes left at Walmart. Which is why I'm lucky that Stevie just HAPPENED to go crazy over these cute little Knight costumes. Granted, I think it was because there was a sword on the box (not included with costume) that did the trick. So of course we had to buy some totally righteous swords to go with them. (They make noise...oh why did I buy swords that made noise??) David was happy to go along with whatever Stevie wanted, considering he's been perfecting his Stevie Imitation ever since he turned 2.

Without further ado...

I told the boys to strike a pose....this is what they came up with.
Sir Steve-a-lot
Why does the costume barely fit when the "helmet" is impossibly oversized?

So there you are...our little Knights of the Grundberg Table.