Happy Halloween!

I know everyone posts Halloween pictures this time of year, but some of these are just classic and I had to share. We were in Disney the week before Halloween so I wasn't very prepared this year - I kind of thought in the back of my mind that somehow we would miss the holiday all together and then I realized while we were away that we would be back just in time. We got off the plane in Grand Rapids at 3pm and were ready to trick or treat by 6pm. Luckily, all I had to do was borrow a Superman costume from our friends across the street for Dylan, unpack Ella's princess dress from her suitcase, and dig out a chicken suit for Mady from our costume bin downstairs.

Our little princess.

Superman.

I asked Dylan to take a picture of Mady and me. He took one, looked proud of himself and said, "I got everything except your eyes and your forehead."

Second try (handed the camera to Matt this time) - Mady really wasn't this happy. She was still exhausted from our trip but she tolerated the chicken suit as long as she was being held.

We introduced the chicken to the bear -

love Ty's expression...so calm...Mady...a little dramatic.

Our kids + our favorite neighbors' kids - an adorable bear and Batman.

Take One: the chicken tries to escape.

Take Two: that's a little better.
Happy Halloween everyone!

big girl

I snapped this picture of Mady last night - Dylan and Ella were playing in the front yard and she was having so much fun watching them and "yelling" at them. She just turned 11 months old and it seems like she's suddenly growing up so fast. She has six teeth now - four on top, two on bottom - and she's eating more and more table food (bananas and whole wheat bread are two of her favorite foods...and chocolate chip cookies that Daddy sneaks her).

She is pulling up on everything and can stand on her own for a few seconds at a time. She looks around at us and grins until she falls on her bottom. Yesterday for the first time, I caught her walking while holding onto the couch. Big sister walked at 11 1/2 months; I'm guessing Mady might follow in her footsteps.

We are counting down the days until we are done with formula and bottles and the infant car seat (remember how your baby stuff was all shiny and new with Kid #1? By Kid #3 all you want to do is throw it in the nearest trash container.)

She is definitely the baby in our family - she gets lots of extra attention and I'm sure we're coddling her in a lot ways...but she still has a lot of  years ahead of her to develop some character, right? For now, she is our baby and we love her to pieces.

Mini Monkey Breads

You know how you save recipes thinking "I'll try that later" and then never do? I have an entire folder devoted to this idea - and today I finally did try one out. The recipe is just a basic monkey bread recipe but you make mini ones in muffin tins instead of a big one in a Bundt pan. I cut all the ingredients in four also so I could use just one small can of biscuits - it ended up making 6 muffin sized loafs which was perfect for an after school treat.

Mini Monkey Breads (makes 6)
1 can buttermilk biscuits (7.5 oz)
1/4 C sugar (or just under)
3/4 t cinnamon
1/4 C brown sugar (or just under)
2-3 T butter

Cut each biscuit in four. Shake with cinnamon and sugar in a gallon Ziploc bag. Place biscuits inside muffin cups, filling about 2/3 full (spray bottoms first with Pam). Over the stove combine butter and brown sugar, melting the butter completely. Spoon the liquid over each muffin cup. Bake at 350 for about 20 minutes, until tops are golden brown.

cold turkey

We are trying to kick our Pull-Ups-at-night habit around here (note: there is a reason why there haven't been many recent blog posts around here: this is as exciting as it gets around here).

Last Monday morning, somehow a Pull-Up exploded in our room as Dylan and Ella were doing their first-thing-in-the-morning-run-around-mom-and-dad's-room routine and I decided I had enough of the pee-filled chemical holders known as Pull-Ups. I made up a big speech about how they were big kids and we could do this and we were going to give away their Pull-Ups to other kids who need them. Poof. The Pull-Ups vanished from the hall closet and I vowed not to look back. Or at least give it a good week.

It's been a week and it's actually going better than expected. They have each had a couple of completely dry nights and a few "almost" nights. I think the most encouraging thing is that they actually seem to care - some of you have been the lucky recipients of sleeping-in-underwear updates by our dear children (if you see them on a morning when they were dry all night, they are going to tell you about it....just a warning.)

I have done a couple of late night sheet changings and a lot of extra wash this past week, but I haven't had to throw any wet Pull-Ups in the trash dumpster or fork over any more money at Target...and the grins on my kid's faces in the morning are priceless...all in all, I call it a success.

hey, tooth fairy!

First loose tooth! Time to give the Tooth Fairy directions to our house. What's the going rate these days?

polka party

Just ordered these Robeez for Mady. I can't get over the cuteness. One of those moments (I know, it's trivial) that I love having little girls!

If you don't have one - a little girl - I strongly suggest you go out and get yourself one ;)

Princess Moonka

Yes, you read that right, we call her Moonka (Moo-nka, not monkey, like Jalen thinks). Sometimes it's Moonks or Moonkeys (long "o") or even Toonks - it doesn't matter what the variation, it's always the same spunky, blond-haired little girl we're referring to. I hardly remember when it started but I think I recall her crawling around our new-to-us house as a baby with determination set on her brow and Matt calling her Princess Moonka Moonka. Funny how nicknames stick.

The other night Dylan was with my parents for the evening, so we decided to go out for Chinese - after all, we only had two kids (funny how your perspective changes through the years). Since Mady hasn't yet mastered the art of conversation, Matt and I were able to have some one-on-one conversations with our Ella. On the way home, we asked her what she wanted to be when she grew up. In her sweet little matter of fact voice she told us, "I'm going to have a house...and a baby...and then I will push the itty bitty buttons on the c'puter. And have a cat. But not a dog."

There you have it. Dear, sweet Ella, we can't wait to see who you continue to become!

school days.

We attended kindergarten orientation last night. I remember two years ago feeling vaguely overwhelmed at preschool orientation - I think they might have handed out a calendar and there were newsletters here and there. Now that we have two years of preschool under our belt I figured kindergarten would be a piece of cake.

I was wrong.

A lot of people worry about their child starting school - will they cry when you leave? will they make friends? will they be able to keep up with the school work? I have to say I'm not too worried about Dylan. He'll like the challenge and he'll love the big playground and he'll finally know the answer to 12 + 27. I'm worried about me.

First of all, the sheer amount of paperwork is overwhelming - lunch forms, snack calendars, "specials" calendars (i.e. which days you need to make sure your kid brings gym shoes), Scholastic book order forms, bus tags, classroom policy forms, forms for the office, forms so you can volunteer...get the idea?

And then there are the volunteer tables - as you are surrounded by hoards of sweaty children and their parents in a tiny non-air-conditioned hallway They would like to know if you would like to help out with the Valentine's Day party...or perhaps Santa's secret shop...or maybe popcorn day? Oh, and could you pick up some extra hand sanitizer and glue sticks for the classroom too?

Seriously, however, I am very excited to volunteer and be involved and I am glad the opportunities are available...it's just a little hard to decide as a first time kindergarten mom what is too much? too little? (Not to mention the big question: will the other mom's like me?? Nothing like being in a school setting to trigger all sorts of school-aged insecurities!)

And actually - truth be told - I love school - love the structure, the learning, even the forms. I'm a rule follower at heart, but I think that's also my problem - there is some mild paranoia that I am going to forget something - and how terrible would that be?? I had JUST mastered remembering to send show and tell to preschool every two weeks. This is a whole new ballgame.

All of this is just the tip of the iceberg because there is also an emotional level to all of this kindergarten business - my child has a locker, and a bus stop, and he's eating lunch in the school gym - where did my sweet chubby cheeked little boy go? Have I prepared him adequately to go out into the world? Can I cross everything off those checklists they keep handing out (pop quiz: does your child know his address? his birth date? his mother's social security number? (kidding on that last one - or am I?)

So just when I've slowed down, taken a couple of breaths and realized this all really going to be OK (and possibly purchased one of those obnoxious super organized mom calendars), I realize...oh wait, there are two more little ones coming behind big brother. Can someone please explain how you juggle more than one school aged child's schedule??

Here's to a new school year - full of change, possibility, and forms.