Happy Halloween

 My three favorite little Halloweenies!!!!  Two American Girl Dolls (Kaya and Kit) and one Super Boy!

 My little Kit strikes a pose before trick or treating.  Thanks to Auntie Heather for the trick or treat bags.  They really upgraded the outfits.  It was a pretty chilly night so there were A LOT of layers under those costumes!  Breleigh actually looks like she has chubby legs.  hehehehehe  Anyone who knows her knows that this is not the usual case!  Let's see... now I just need to toot my own horn a little.  I made Breleigh's skirt but bought the rest.  I did however take a sweater that was too long and cut it shorter and then sew the band back on the bottom and I also added the ribbon to hat.  The hat was actually mine back in the days of "no hair" so it was large on Breleigh.  After two failed attempts to pull it together with dental floss to tighten it I finally ran some elastic on the inside.  Worked like a charm!!!!  I LOVE HALLOWEEN!!!!! 

 Kaya- I have always thought that I should have a little girl who would dress up as a Native American.  Don't know why but I have just always felt that way.  Then last year in preschool they studied Native Americans and Helaina became VERY interested and connected their study to the American Girl Doll.  I knew I HAD to turn her into Kaya.  We knew VERY early that this would be her costume.  I am so proud of myself on this one.  After extensive discussion with my costume mentor (a.k.a. my mom) I made my own pattern using a night gown and some wrapping paper got the basic shape.  Then it was off into the world of "extras".  I loved putting it all together piece by piece.  The fabric was already fringed on the bottom so I just had to do the sides.  I literally made this entire dress.  My mom made the headband for Helaina.  It was important for her to have that since she couldn't have the "actual" braids that Kaya has.  I did manage to learn to french braid weeks before Halloween.  It wasn't a fantastic job but we got through it!!!!  Helaina already had the fun fringed boots so it was super easy to complete the look. 

 She's silly!   I don't always let her show her true silly side...  I need to more.  just saying!

Super Boy

 Originally I was going to have Easton be a frog.  Found the costume at Once Upon a Child for 8 bucks.  He was super cute as a frog.  But...... something changed my mind.  You'll have to keep reading to find out what that "something" was!!!!  I was so proud of myself on this one.  I actually used a sweatshirt and made my own pattern for this cape.  First time for that!!!!  I have been reading this blog that I love called Make it Love it and she does this kind of thing all the time.  It was so much fun to have it all come together.  I decided I wasn't even going to fight with an actual mask so I velcroed it to his hood.  All babies need hoods for midwestern Halloween's- don't you think?  The hard part of this was making it tight enough around the ears.    I thought he was so adorable.  Of course.... we learned a valuable lesson about Super Boy just after these photos were taken.  (stay tuned for that little tid bit too)

 Kit has freckles!!!!  Aren't they cute!?!  Don't they totally change her look.  I googled an image of Kit (no we do not have the doll but Breleigh has her on her Santa list) and tried to copy the placement of the freckles!!!

Super Daddy!!!!

 Yes.... I did turn my husband into Super Daddy!!!!!  I have always had a thing for a man in uniform!!!!  I love this picture of my two super dudes!  I think it looks like Easton is pointing out some injustice that Super Daddy must try to solve.  Perhaps one of his sisters was up to no good? 

 Doesn't duct tape rock?   Both my boys wore duct tape super hero belts.  I wasted a lot of tape making them because I didn't really know what I was doing but I think it turned out pretty cool. 

Super Baby Cannot Fly

While trying to instruct Jim on where to be to get his picture taken with the kids he looked away from Easton,  I looked away from Easton and the girls were not holding on to him (not that we told them to do so) and he leaned forward and fell from the top step to the bottom step on his face.  Jim lunged for him and caught his cape but since it fastened with velcro at the neck he was left cape and I was left with a rather sad and injured Super Baby.  He handled it with courage though.  He scraped his head and nose but no goose egg so that is a good thing.  Aye Yi Yi Yi!  Mother of Year..... here I come!!!

All in All we had a great time this year.  I wasn't sure what to be for Halloween so I went as the All American Mom.  (Pioneer Mom)   The girls liked it and I already had the costume.  My mom had made it for me while I was teaching second grade.  Thanks to Bre for taking our family picture.  Much easier than the tripod we had set up!  We got a couple of good shots which is a miracle when you have five people in the picture!  I am already looking forward to next year. 

Back to School Luau

Guess who won first place in the best dressed family contest at the Luau? We Did!

Breleigh's First Day of Preschool

 The before picture!  I asked her to look at me but was told the sun was too bright.  I guess she must have sensitive eyes like her mommy! 

 She is so proud to be carrying her own back ack!  (yes I left off the P on purpose-  that is the closest I can get to spelling it the way she says it!)  So cute!

 On our way!  She is thinking.... Finally!  She has been Super excited to go!

 Breleigh meets with Mrs. Webb for the first time as a preschooler!  She has been watching Helaina go to preschool in this same place for two years and it is finally her turn!

This was taken while walking out of the preschool room!  Do you think she had a good time?   The picture says it all!!!!

First Day of Kindergarten

 Getting ready to go pick up Helaina from the bus stop!

 Breleigh got to ride the strider bike to the bus stop!

 Helaina was the last one off the bus.  I thought perhaps she didn't realize she was at her bus stop.  The bus came back from the opposite direction so I thought she might have been confused.  This morning I told her to pay attention to when the bus stops and check to see if it's her stop.  She then said " I saw you guys out there but I wasn't sure if I was supposed to get off"  Yup...that's my girl! 

 I just love these running pictures.  I think she had a REALLY good time!  It was so fun to see that big smile!

 Check out those Kindergarten legs!!!!

Sisters hanging on the porch after school!  Breleigh can't wait until it is her turn to go to school.  Preschool starts on Wednesday for her!!! 

Easton was 8 months old on July 22nd.  He hit this momentous milestone while attending the Agan family reunion in Dubuque, Iowa.  At that time he was barely sitting up all by himself and we were calling him the laziest baby on earth and frankly I was starting to get a little worried.  What changes a person can see in a month.  Just after the reunion I took all three kids (Jim had to work- darn it) Up North to my parents cabin for a little Edwards family reunion.  My brother and almost all of his family from Colorado were there and of course my sister and her family were there in their own cabin.  My other brother was unable to attend with his family.  They just opened a nail salon and it requires a lot of attention.  They were missed.... a lot.   In all honesty it was the kids that were missed the most but if you ask me to say that in person I will deny it!  Hehehehehe  We had an absolute blast and I finally go around to snapping my pics of Easton for his 8 month picture up there.  Do you like his blue hat?  I got to the lake and announced that everyone was to be on the look out for a sandbox hat.  I wasn't having much luck here at home and I figured Up North would have more.  Turns out I didn't have to look far.  Heather trotted down to her cabin and found this adorable hat in her stash of stuff left over from Grayson.  It fit the bill and the price was right!!!!   I stole the tube idea from Heather.  Grayson had his 6 months pictures taken in the same tube.  The other side still says 6 months.  Just after the picture was taken the tube was used by all the cousins.  They didn't care what it said on it!   This picture makes me smile.  It really shows Easton.  He is smiling and happy and that is exactly what he usually is these days.   He smiles so easily and loves to laugh at his sisters.  He is sitting up like a champ and leaning towards toys on the floor and scooting backwards when he gets on his belly.  I am not eager for him to crawl so his slow progress towards that milestone is not making me unhappy.   He was such a good boy on vacation.  He went to bed later than he usually does and wasn't choosing to wake up until ten or after every day!  He shared a room with me.  I was in the bed and he was in his pack and play.  He was a great roommate.  We were roomies for 12 days!   He had no problem being passed off to my other family members.  He would fuss if I walked into and then out of the room so I just avoided that!   
Easton is a very happy guy but he is a terrible eater of solid food.  I will spare you from the most gory of details but solid foods have been known to cause some scary vomit sessions.  I will definitely be asking the doctor about that at his 9 month appointment! 
All in all it has been a great ride between 8 and almost 9 months.  He is growing so quickly and could not possibly be loved any more! 

Nails of Eden

Random Stuff

 What do you do when the weather is so hot you think you might have accidentally moved to Arizona?  You buy a wading pool!!!!! 

 Jim surprised the girls by sitting in the pool fully clothed!!!  Those bilibo's also make great seats in a small wading pool.

 There was just enough water for Helaina to back float.  Her buns were actually off the bottom!

 A few nights ago Jim called me out to the garage to "SEE" something.  Jim had taken the dogs out for their last potty break of the night and found two raccoons in the garage.  Parker chased one out but the other hid under the tool box.  We shut the garage door and went to bed.  In the morning Jim came back in the bedroom to tell me that we had apparently locked three more coons in the garage over night.  They spent their night pooping all over Jim's grill.  hehehehehehehe  Maybe I should mention that Jim didn't find that party very funny.  We haven't seen them again but we are read this time!  We have a live animal trap just waiting.  Of course, with our luck we will probably catch our neighbors dog or a cat!   

All three kids hanging out on the floor with a good book and some toys!  I think Curious George is on the TV! 

Easton is 7 months

Easton is seven months old!  EEEEEEKKKK!!!!!  So many months just flying by!    So, what is Easton doing these days?  I think I can finally say he starting to sit up a lot better.  The picture above is one of few times where I haven't placed a pillow behind him.  He doesn't always stay on his buns.  He seems to enjoy falling over and then just playing on his back for a while.  Jim and I just call him LAZY!!!  hehehehehe  I figure at this rate we won't have to worry about him crawling any time soon.   
Easton laughs and smiles VERY easily.  He is exceedingly ticklish too.  He is a squealer too.  Sometimes he just squeals for no reason.  He loves his dogs but doesn't have much patients for other dogs.  I don't think he realizes the noisy hairy thing that lives in our house is the same as the sweet quiet one next door.  We ran into the neighbors on our walk and they had their sweet Retriever with them.  Copper didn't so much as look as Easton before Easton was screaming with terror.  "Oh Easton, you can't be in this family and be afraid of animals!"
He is in LOVE with his sisters.  Helaina adores him so much.  Breleigh  loves him too and always calls him, "Mr. Man" but doesn't have the patients for him like Helaina does.  (it's an age thing I am sure)  There are a lot of smiles and giggles in our house right now.  Easton is a good baby food eater.  We haven't branched out too far with other foods.  He tends to gag on anything new and since gagging usually leads to a full fledged vomit session I have avoided trying anything new while we are out and about!  YUCK!!!!

Easton is 6 months

Easton is 6 Months!  I am cheating on this one because it is technically getting VERY close to his 7month time but I wasn't happy with the first set of pictures that I took so I allowed myself a "re do".  He also just went to the doctor for his six month appointment so I figure I am safe, right? 

He is a growing, growing boy.  He now weighs 16 pounds and is making the doctor very happy with his weight gain.  He is eating bottles like a champ and baby food also.  He is not a fan of peas.  The first time I tried them he not only gagged on them but power puked them ALL OVER so I haven't been brave enough to try them again.  I can get him to eat all other veggies if I just alternate a fruit bite with a veggie bite.  I am counting that as a win. 

We made our first solo trip to Minnesota to visit family.  It was just me and the kids and they all did great.  Easton didn't sleep for long periods of time in the car but didn't spend too much of his time crying either.  While we were in Minnesota we were very busy!  My dad was so helpful.  He took upon himself to watch after the girls so my mom and I could go shopping on three different occasions.  The girls LOVED staying with Papa too.  It was a win win situation.   While we were visiting I got to do A LOT of fun Auntie things.  On Wednesday we picked Grayson up from school and went to Dairy Queen.   My favorite part of that experience was meeting the gym teacher.  He talked to Grayson and to me and it wasn't long before he asked me if I had gotten my hair cut?   He totally thought I was Heather!  I felt bad because he was embarrassed but it was funny!  Grayson's teacher had been told that I was picking up so he wasn't fooled.  Grayson's graduation from Kindergarten was on Friday during our visit so we were all able to go back to the school and see their performance and enjoy their celebration.   It was fun to see the kids perform and Grayson knew every word and action and participated with enthusiasm.  Please don't EVER let him lose that zest and zeal he has for life!!!!  I love the smile and hugs I get when he sees me.  Especially in a situation that is different.... like picking him up from school.  That little dude can read like a whip too.  He is NOT a beginning reader either.  He READS!!!!   We were sitting in Dairy Queen and in mid thought he says  "Bring home a dozen Dilly Bars today!"  I was like, what?  He was reading the sign outside on the marquee!   He is such a good reader.
We also were able to attend my niece Paris' piano recital.  WE were hoping to go out to dinner after the performance but it didn't even start until 7:00 so we got together at Paris' house for a light dinner.  The girls were more than happy there.  Paris has a large American Girl doll collection and we had fun looking at the dolls and clothes.  Paris did a VERY nice job on her piano piece and I enjoyed that part very much.  My brother was there too and while I missed seeing the rest of his family it was nice to see him.  He loves kids so he was infatuated with Easton and indulged Helaina in her coloring.  He picked all the colors for her to use.  The opportunity to be at these events don't happen very often so I felt blessed to be a part of some of them this time. 
We were also able to attend the First Birthday Party of Maggie.  Maggie is my sister's niece.  (that would be Grant's sister's daughter)  While I am technically not related to Maggie and her parents we actually like it each other.  I was glad that I got to be there for that one too! 
All in all it was a good time.  Time went very fast and I was sorry to say good bye but swimming lessons were waiting for us here at home. 
We will all be together at my dad's family reunion in the middle of July and then the week after that our trip to the lake for some more family fun. 

On a side note.... I just filled out my portion of a physical form for both girls so they can attend school next year.  I feel so blessed that I am able to mark so many of those questions with no!  We are so lucky to have healthy children!!!!   Thanking my lucky stars for that one.

All Dressed UP

 This is one of the better ones of all three kids.  Kinda hard to get them all looking at the same time.  We weren't sure if Easton would cooperate since he had been a VERY long time without sleep but he managed to do pretty well.  It is actually Breleigh that makes pictures a challenge.  She has a serious case of "goofy face" when it comes to the camera! (oh yes- Easton is wearing a tie!) 

 I took pictures of Helaina before I took her to school for her Spring Program.  She needed to be there at her usual time but the program wasn't until later so Breleigh still had her jammies on.  (Yes it was 12:00pm)  But, when the girl asked for her picture to be taken I did it.  I am so glad that I did because I think it is really cute.

 Here she is all dressed up ready to go to the preschool for the Spring program.  I thought she looked pretty cute!

 The kids made plates and this was the display.  Doesn't it look nice?  Turns out that those plates are dishwasher safe so Helaina can use it all she wants!  Pretty nifty keepsake!  Some of the Messiah Preschool Alumni (AKA- parents of present preschoolers who also attended Messiah as youngsters) talked about how they still have their plate.  I love it! The potted plant was really cool too! 

 Here's Helaina all dressed up in her finest.  I neglected to mention that my mom purchased these dresses for the girls.  I thought Helaina looked so grown up.  She wanted to know if she looked 100?  I guess if she wants to look 100 then 37 doesn't seem old to her!  Heheheheheheh!

It was a very fun day.  The teachers Messiah did not disappoint.  I cannot believe that next week is Helaina's last week of preschool.  We are off to bigger and better things.  Kindergarten is right around the corner and Breleigh will be the new student at Messiah Lutheran Preschool and Easton will be one lonely dude for 2.5 hours Tues, WEd and Thur!  
As I was standing in the fellowship hall watching Helaina, with my phone in one hand taking a quick video for Jim since he had to work, balancing Breleigh on a chair so she could see and rocking Easton in his car seat with my foot I thought... "WOW, how lucky am I to be able to stay home and be able to make it to all these events without worries"  We are SO BLESSED!!!!!!!