Halloween 2015

Halloween is over and November is here!  The countdown is even more exciting to Christmas than usual this year because baby Owen's arrival should be shortly after the holidays.  

The last couple weeks of October were full of trips to the pool.  I love the beach ten times more than the pool but I do love the quick clean up factor and my big belly is starting to make me lazy about beach afternoons.

Kate thinks that sticking her tongue to the side in pics is the funniest thing that she does.  She's been singing--a lot--and loves to march around the house with my phone, singing along with Pandora or a couple of the music apps.  She asks for playdates every single day and gets one a few days a week.  I thought 5 days of co-op would satisfy the playdate need, but nope.  She was super patient with a little boy that has played here a few times after his mom had a baby.  I love that she followed him around, got toys out and generally did what he wanted to do "so he could have a good time."

 Zachary is excited that he can actually cross his eyes now and he's been training to run a 5K in a couple weeks.  It's so fun to jog and chat with him.

 Zac's been reading Harry Potter and is now halfway through #3.  He wants to talk about it constantly.  Kate talks about it, too, but her knowledge is limited to the first two movies.  She has all kinds of questions about Dobby and likes to pretend she reads Harry Potter, too.

 Last week, our family was on the schedule to clean the church with another family that has since moved to the mainland.  On top of that, Brady had to work, so it was me and the kids.  Heidi figured it out and showed up to help.  She cleaned all the bathrooms and her kids pitched in with mine.  It was one of the sweetest gestures I've ever received.

 The kiddos got donuts afterwards while she did a haircut, and then we took off for a beautiful beach day.

 We split the day up with lunch at Duke's, where we waited and waited for a table and waited and waited for food along with a bunch of cruise ship passengers.  They are about to start building their house and I'm so excited that we shouldn't lose them to the mainland anytime soon!!  

 Zac's science project this month--to make a functional object out of things strictly found in nature.  He made a broom and called it the Nimbus 2000.

 I taught preschool this week.  It's my last scheduled week to teach for the year, which shocks me a bit.  This year has flown by.  I love teaching preschool and this group is easy--they get along well, they comprehend and contribute to discussions, and they sing, dance and play hard together.

 I posted this on Instagram.  This is me at 30.5 weeks.  On the left, my belly straight out of bed and on the right, my belly just before bed.  I can't believe the difference from morning to night.  I suddenly feel really big, but I know there's a lot more growing coming up these next few weeks.

Another preschool day for the Halloween party.   Kate loved her red hair but wished it was a wig like Penelope's, because "it wouldn't drip blood on my back."  (Red hair spray and hot temps=bloody back.)

 2 little mermaids.

 Walls dressed as Ryan Gosling, knocked on my door and said, "Hey, Girl, we can cuddle later."  Cutest moment ever.

 Ghost faces:

 Witch face:

 Freeze dance party:

 Zachary's school hosted a pumpkin carving event.  Kate scraped out the guts for the third year in a row.  He can't stand pumpkin guts.  The kids ran around for an hour while Brady cut out the design Zachary drew on the pumpkin.

Captain Frank.

 Zac's school also had their annual costume parade.  He was bummed not to be Harry Potter this year, but that obsession didn't start until a week into October, when we had already purchased his costume. Maybe next year!  Here he is with David, who dressed as Anger from "Inside Out."

 Zac was also really offended when someone said, "You chose to be a bad guy?"  He answered, "No, I didn't!  I'm a storm trooper!  They can be good!"  I think that Zachary and I have about the same amount of Star Wars knowledge.  His came from easy chapter books he read in kindergarten and mine came from a quick Google search.

Kate marched in the parade with Zachary, but left her Ariel costume at home.  She didn't want to sweat red all day at preschool like she did the day before.

 This tattoo on his face is hanging on for dear life after three trips to swim.

We snapped a couple pics in the chaos of leaving the house for the Trunk or Treat.  Sadly, we missed the photo op of Brady dressed as eye candy.

Can you spot the dart?

I finally get my red head child.

I felt so silly doing this outfit, but the kids were very excited about it and told everyone they knew about my jack o lantern belly for a month in advance.

The ward Trunk or Treat was Friday and we had easily over 300 people attend.  It was crowded and crazy, but the kids loved it.  The trunks were the best I've seen in all our years attending.  This activity is a ton of work--making chili, side dishes/dessert, decorating trunks, and getting the kids ready--but it's a lot less work than being in charge.  (The primary runs this event and I had three stressful Trunk or Treat years...)

 Zac invited David and Jojo's families to come.  These boys are nuts together.

 The next morning, Brady left on his run at 5:30am.  He's training for the Koloa Sugar Mill half marathon in a couple weeks.  I knew that despite the kids going to bed at 9:30am, they'd be wide awake early.  I woke up to this guy dropped on my shoulder, followed immediately be quick footsteps out of my room.  It took a second to realize he was fake.  Happy Halloween, Mom!

 Candy negotiations started early and continued for several hours.  Kate holds her own a lot better now, but after a few hours, her pile looked suspiciously small compared to Zachary's.

 Candy sorting at 6:15am.

We attended yet another Halloween party on Saturday afternoon with a bunch of Kate's co-op friends and parents, and then trick or treated on Kipuka St.  It's the south side's self-designated "Halloween Street" and there are hundreds and hundreds of kids that go there.  The first year we went, we knew some people.  Each year, we know more, and now we can't walk 15 steps without running into someone to say hello to.  It makes me feel small town love.  I don't know what to do with all the candy and every year, it's a dilemma for me--I hate being wasteful and getting candy I'm definitely going to throw away, but I hate for the kids to miss out on trick-or-treating with school friends or trunk-or-treating with church friends.  Every year, I decide to figure it out next year...

I didn't have enough baby belly pics of Kate, so I'm trying to take at least one a week with Owen.  Today is 31 weeks.  I looked at my 30 week pic with Kate and my bump is definitely lower than it was with Katers.  Lower and pointier.

 Just a quick shot of Kate on the way to church today in her new dress.  She comes up to me several times a day and hugs my belly tight, and says between clenched teeth, "I just LOVEYOUSOMUCH."