Trick or Treat!!!

Happy Halloween! We had a busy couple of weeks leading up to the "big night."

We asked Luke and Olivia a few months ago what they wanted to be and Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse was the resounding answer! I usually try to make their costumes, but this year it was going to be easier to buy them. I found a Minnie Mouse dress through the CMOM's club and a Mickey costume online. Done!

A few weekends before Halloween, we went to a pumpkin patch with the CMOM's group. We got 2 little pumpkins for Luke and Olivia to decorate and a larger pumpkin for Dan to carve. They had a great time painting and putting stickers on their creations, while Dan got really creative and made the big pumpkin into a Mickey and Minnie. Here are the results:

Then we went with some friends to a local pumpkin patch for even more fun. We went on a hayride and got to pick out 2 more pumpkins. They had tons of fun playing with their friends and running around.

Their class had a little party at school and I got to go to it. It's so cute to see them sitting around the small tables with their friends. They look so grown up and just another reminder of how quickly it's all going by.

It was finally time to go trick or treating! Now that they are older, we talked to them about the evening so they wouldn't be scared. They learned to say "trick or treat" and "thank you for the treat." We explained to them that we were going to a costume parade at the clubhouse, going to see a fire truck, have a pizza party dinner and then trick or treat with our friends. We loaded them into the wagon and started our adventure. We thought we would only make it to a few houses, but they were troopers and kept going and going. Must have been the sugar rush as we were out until almost 8pm! After we were all done trick or treating, we briefly got to go to Aunt B, Uncle Marc's and Milo's house so we could say hello.

Here are a few pics from the evening. Happy Halloween!

Can you handle all of this cuteness???

Kids say the darndest things

Sometimes Luke and Olivia say things that just make us laugh. Here's a sampling:

Luke:
"My do it" instead of "I do it"
Hold you me
Turn your face around (when I was riding in the car)
My don't want that
Hair Plane (instead of airplane)
That was a big booger
Hi, how you doing?

Olivia:
I have a brother. His name is Lukester
I have to go poop. See you soon.
I ate my cracker all
Just a couple one more sip
O-L-I-V-I-A spells me
Let's do it for three couple minutes
I'm thinking I'm going to like it
What will this book be about today?

Fun at the Pumpkin Patch

This morning we went to the pumpkin patch with our good friends Meredith/Lilah/Baby Cooper and Deanna/Lily Claire. It was a beautiful day, even if it was a little on the warm side for the end of October. There were a lot of school groups there, but we were still able to ride on the hayride, play in the maze, pick out a pumpkin and have a picnic lunch. Luke and Olivia has SO much fun playing in the hay and looking at the pumpkins. They kept saying "I want this one. No wait, I want this one. This one's my favorite." It was so cute. We hope to decorate/carve our pumpkins tonight when daddy gets home from work.

First overnight away-without Luke and Olivia!

It was only a matter of time until Luke and Olivia would have an overnight "adventure" with someone other than mommy and daddy. The time was this weekend, and it went great! Whew!!!

Dan and I were invited to our friends/neighbors wedding in Aiken, SC. The ceremony was at 1pm and the reception at 5pm, which meant we would need to spend the night. It was going to be a kid friendly wedding, but we thought it would be the perfect time for an overnight get-away. Now we're glad we did because there were only a couple of kids there, and it was very, very loud because there was a live band.

We took Luke and Olivia to Oma and Opa's house Saturday morning around 8:15am. We needed to be in Aiken by noon in order to get dressed and to the church on time, which meant Oma and Opa were in for 1 1/2 full days! We starting talking with Luke and Olivia on Thursday and mostly Friday about how we had to go out of town and they got to spend the night with Oma and Opa and play with new toys. We told them it would be a fun adventure and they would have such a great time. They did awesome when we left on Saturday and there were no tears shed (except a couple from me once I got in the car). I tried not to call very often, but I did check in before the ceremony, before dinner and right before bed. Each time Opa said they were doing fine (aside from not really napping) and didn't seem sad we weren't there. I was so relieved and so very proud of how adaptable they can be. We got back around 10:45 Sunday morning and they came running excitedly to us. Awwwww!!!

Dan and I had a nice time at the wedding and were really able to enjoy the reception. We had full conversations with people and met lots of Heidi and Frank's friends. It was surreal not to have them with us and we missed them like crazy, but it was also very nice to relax and recharge for a change. I think they'll definitely spend the night out again, but not anytime soon :)

A few updates and pics

I have been quite the slacker when it comes to updating our blog lately. My photography business has really picked up (yay!), but that leaves me with less time for things I enjoy doing-like updating our blog. So here goes...

Luke and Olivia love preschool and they are learning a lot. Luke still gets a little sad when I drop him off, but he never cries and is very brave after I leave. Olivia absolutely loves it, and goes straight to the bin containing 3 little pigs-they have become her favorite thing in the classroom! I love hearing about their time at school when I pick them up. What colors they used, who they ate lunch with, what they did at the playground...I get an earful! Luke recently found an acorn outside and his teacher, Miss Shannon, said he put it in his bin when he came inside and said it was for mommy. Melt. My. Heart. They have already had a visit from a fire truck, learned to "stop, drop, and roll", a petting zoo complete with a baby goat, chickens, and bunnies, and are looking forward to their pumpkin patch. In a fun way, they are also learning to follow directions, take turns, share and interact with other children. Their teachers say they are really good and don't cause any problems at all. We are so proud of them!

Some mornings after they wake up, we love to sit in one of their rooms and read books. Often they will clear off their entire bookcase. Here are some pics of us one recent Sunday morning doing one of the things they love:

It seems as if the birthday party season is kicking off in full force! Several of our friends kids will turn 3 between now and January, including Luke and Olivia. Here are some pics of them at Tyler's birthday party, which was truck themed. Luke spent over an hour a the sand table, and his attention spanned impressed everyone. Olivia was happy bouncing around to different activities, including painting a birdhouse and working at the tool bench.

Another thing they LOVE to do is help me cook. They quickly figured out that if the mixer is out, there is usually something sweet in the bowl. Do you think Olivia likes it?

Now that the weather is getting cooler, I have been working on going through their closets. It's always kinda sad to go through their clothes from last year and discover that most don't fit. So many reminders everyday of how quickly they are growing up! We turned trying on clothes into a fashion show of sorts and they so enjoyed layering up with shirts, jackets, hats, scarves, etc. Unfortunately I forgot to take a picture, but I'm sure they'll be lots more "fashion shows" in our future!

They are talking, talking, talking and moreso with each other than ever before. I love to just sit back and listen to their conversations as they negotiate for toys, etc. They also "debate" one another. Recently we were talking about their friends in class and I asked Olivia if Jack was handsome or pretty. Olivia said pretty and Luke said "no, Jack's a boy so he's handsome." Olivia said "no, he's pretty" (moreso just to aggravate Luke because she knows the difference). They discussed this at length until they both agreed Jack was handsome. It was hilarious! Olivia has taken to calling Luke "Lukester" and Luke still calls Olivia "YeeYee". I think these will be their nicknames that stick.

We are preparing for Halloween and this year they will be Mickey and Minnie. This might be the last year we'll be able to get away with dressing them as complimentary characters. Dan and I are going to wear Mickey and Minnie t-shirts as well. We are also going to have a Mickey and Minnie birthday party complete with a clubhouse adventure (if I'm able to pull it off in time!). They are SO into Mickey Mouse clubhouse right now so we thought this would be a good year to do all things Mickey and Minnie (except for Disney...we're saving that for when they are a little older).

I'll post about our trip to the pumpkin patch soon. I hope to take them to another one this week, so I'll probably just do one post for both trips. Otherwise, we are staying busy and enjoying the perfect fall weather.