Halloween Night 2011

Shrek Dragon and Baby Shrek had fun tagging along with the big kids who had fun showing Tommy the ropes..."Now this is how you trick-or-treat." Shrek Dragon had a bit of a hard time keeping up with the big kids but, thank You, God, he remained cheerful and content throughout the activity. It had just a wee bit to do with the fact he was collecting candy and anticipated enjoying his bucketful of goodies!
No one wanted to slow down for a quick pic of the trick-or-treating...least of all Noah!

Fletcher, one of the Musketeers, was glad to switch from Shrek to more of an action figure...he just wanted to duel with his sword and found any opportunity to whip it out to battle the bad guys, namely his siblings!

After strongly urging him to wear Sarah's boots for the Shrek ensemble, he was an easy sell tonight when he put together a Musketeer's outfit. We copied the mustache idea from Sarah's Puss-n-boots character because people had asked her at the fall festival if she was a Musketeer. She opted for eyelinered whiskers tonight on her cheeks rather than the Puss-n-boots mustache. She was happy tonight when a teenager said to her friend, "Hey, there's a Puss-n-Boots!" Sarah was looking forward to being allowed to trick-or-treat alone with a friend this year for the first time. She hung with the family like a good sport for the hour or so that we all went together, and then met up with her friend, Olivia, our neighbor to finish trick-or-treating while we stayed home to pass out candy and put Noah to bed.

Love Noah's expression while the Musketeer holds him...Noah loves Fletcher; his face lights up when Noah interacts with his siblings.





Fletch loved his French mustache and was so pleased with it that he asked to "keep it on" overnight.

Some of the kids' best friends, Fall Festival 2011

The Campbell Family: Ryan, Raygan, and Reese (or Reesie Peesie, as Tommy calls him)

These are Fletcher, Paris, and Tommy's best friends. They LOVE the Campbells. The kids get to see each other every Tuesday now at Options. They are actually in different classes because of grade differences, but they still get to eat lunch together and play at recess. Tommy and Reesie have play dates on Tuesday mornings while the big kids are in school. Those two are Ree-dic-ulous together! So funny. So wild and rough and tumble. Luckily, they both like to wrestle and play BIG!

Lexie, one of Sarah's close friends, was a black cat. She and Monika (said "Monique-ah") came over after the Fall Fest for a slumber party. The three girls danced and sang until 1 a.m. They gave Charlie and I three dance performances before midnight which was cute.
Sarah and Monika, whom I love. Monika is dressed as Cleopatra in the costume she picked out and paid for with her own money. She is the SWEETEST thing! She is SO kind to Tommy and Noah. Her mom says she is so amazing with babies from choosing to help with them in the orphanage where she lived for many years.
My favorite picture of baby Shrek:

Southeast's Fall Festival 2011

Charlie took a break from being the event's photographer and helping with the Trunk and Treat to spend time with the Shrek family.

The Shrek "Dragon" was in rare form. I take that back; Dragon was his wild self that night. No one was mentioning to the three year old Dragon that in Shrek the dragon is actually a SHE!
Poor baby Shrek wasn't diggin' the green tube ears...Fiona made him wear them anyway...despite that they needed to be trimmed to a more appropriate baby Shrek length! Fiona was shocked baby Shrek dealt well with them all night. Maybe he got subliminal teachings this summer from his precious cousin, Julia, who tolerates her bow bows with much ease.
It's great what can be thrown together the morning of an event with much prayer and a few stops at consignment stores and Hobby Lobby! Thank you, God. No mom wants unhappy kids in costumes!

Big Kids' Costumes 2011

Puss n' Boots and the Gingerbread Man from Shrek:

Both girls were tickled with their outfits which so pleased me! I was so thankful they liked what they were wearing and how they looked.
This is our only picture with Fletch actually wearing his Shrek green tube ears! He did his own green face paint. We attempted to make a Shrek belly for him but nothing pleased him in that regard. His major complaint was having to wear Sarah's boots for Shrek booties...he was fine with the idea of just wearing tennis shoes. But Shrek wore brown booties, Fletch! Sarah's boots were just right for the costume but boy, oh boy, was he not thrilled with wearing something that was a GIRL'S! Oh my, MY!

Sarah's First Ever Art Exhibit (October 2011)

Sarah's art is now on display in the main hallway of our church. She has her very own wall. I believe she is the youngest artist to have the whole wall to display multiple works. She is so delighted to have this opportunity to display her art.

When Charlie came home from work on Tuesday (Oct.25) and said, "Sarah, I have some exciting news. You've been selected as an artist that can display work at church," he watched the big elephant tears slowly roll out of her eyes and down her cheeks because she was so touched by the opportunity. Charlie was holding back the tears when he saw his daughter get so moved by the surprising news that she'd get a chance to display her work. He had her select some pieces from our home and when he left for work Wednesday, all but two were unframed. When she showed up for youth group on Wednesday night, this (photo above) is what she saw. A whole wall of framed work that her Daddy had spent close to two hours at Michael's having done before the church activities that night in order to surprise her. She was shocked! The tears welled in her eyes yet again!

Snow Fort Fun

Sarah and Fletch spent hours building a snow fort using plastic buckets to form the snow bricks. They were looking for twigs, sticks for the roof, and when I suggested they use the lightweight sleds for a roof they replied indignantly, "Mom, this is an all-natural snow fort! We are only using natural things for it!"

Parie just eats snow constantly as she plays. She is always scooping up a handful as she walks along whether climbing back up the sledding hill or playing around in the yard.
Parie's quotable from the past year when she gets even slightly warm, "Mom, I'm BURNING!" So walking back up the sledding hill this week she wanted to take her coat off and just wear her snow pants with her lightweight three-quarter length sleeved shirt...I said, "No, leave your coat on." Isn't that what Moms are supposed to say? So I got the, "But Mom, I'm BURNING!" Parie quote. That girl is often one extreme or the other now. She's like me in that she is often cold and needs a warm hoodie on but if she is moving around in the slightest she'll get "Burning!" Sarah is still prone to being hot (rarely cold like me or Parie) and Fletch would never, ever wear a jacket if I didn't ask him to...maybe a Payson or a Charlie thing. I seem to remember my mom saying Payson would never wear a coat if he wasn't forced to. Charlie wears a coat now in CO more than Fletch would (if I wasn't around reminding him to please wear it!)

First snow PLAY day, Wednesday, Oct. 26, 2011

Of course, we had to make snow cream! Fletch was the only one who didn't want any. He is the least of the sweet tooths in our family. He and Charlie definitely prefer salty to sweet foods. Those crazy boys. Tommy also weirds me out that he often doesn't want and turns down chocolate items. Not sure he is my kid after all! Unfortunately, Tommy is still obsessed with sausage, hot dogs (uggh!) and pizza. How embarassingly American poor food choices! Poor fourth child.

Sweet Tommy said to me after tasting the snow cream for the first time this year, "Ohhh, THANK you, Mommy! Make snow cream. You good cooker!"

Tommy also had another quotable that day that melted me. He saw Noah attempting to sign "more" while he was eating lunch and said, "That's like our friend. (pause) Our cousin. When I play wid' her. 'Cuz her like me. (pause) Her L-O-V-E me!" (I knew exactly what he was talking about but asked him to clarify just to make sure..."Which friend? Which cousin?") Tommy said, "Jew-ya. Ummm, no Samanth-ya." He remembered correctly that it was Manfers who would sign "more" when she wanted him to continue the game he was doing as he interacted with her this summer.

Picture Day at Options (Oct.25, 2011)

First grade Parie:

Loving her stylin' outfit:
Noah was NOT himself...little under the weather this week, poor guy!

New used toys for fun activities...

We love Play it Again Sports. The store rocks! We've found great roller blades, a hockey stick, and now raquetball racket and scooter. Paris had been asking for a pink scooter, and Charlie had been wanting to play raquetball with Fletcher. Now, both activities are being greatly enjoyed by the kids. So fun that that store has items that greatly enhance our family time! Fletcher loves going to our local rec center with Charlie to hit some balls with him. Paris is having so much fun scootering around loving her PINK scooter.

Safety first with great protective eye wear!

First Chilly Day (Oct.17) of Fall 2011

Well, besides our snow day on Saturday, Oct. 8th when we got two inches of snow in the morning. The bright sunshine had melted it by that afternoon, though!

Sarah was SO excited to take Noah out to play in the leaves with him. Super cute sister, that Sarah girl!
Love these pictures with the yellow leaves of our front yard tree in the background as Sarah and Noah stand in our doorway.

Sarah presenting her art to the Options students and teachers

Sarah did an amazing job talking about her artwork during morning assembly on Oct.11, 2011 at Options. She prepared thoroughly writing out her "speech" first on notebook paper and then on notecards. She practiced her talk many times out loud the day before and morning of her presentation, and then, she didn't even use her index cards at all during the actual presentation. Way to go, Sarah! Mommy and Daddy were so proud of you. We thought you did an excellent job, sweetie!

Kids' Self-Portraits (Oct.2011)

"Pink Popper"

"Splat" by Fletcher
"Autumn" by Sarah
On October 6, 2011 the kids, their friend, Chantal, and I all went to an art show and had a blast looking at and talking about the pieces on display. One of the pieces was a really neat self-portrait that was a profile painted with bright, bold blocks of color. We decided to make our own self-portraits when we got home. We used a flashlight in the garage to trace the kids' profiles onto paper (not easy! in that the slightest movement drastically changes the profile as you trace/copy it onto paper). The kids then had fun painting them as I read out loud. We LOVED the final products. The kids were quite pleased with their creations!

A few Tommy comments...

Tommy really wanted to play with Noah in the leaves today (Oct. 17, 2011), or more specifically, throw leaves all over Noah. I found some quotes I'd written down that Tommy said about Noah earlier this year and wanted to record them on the blog. On June 14th Tommy said, "Now him not grumpy. Now him smile to me!" And on May 8th he said, "Noah is so cute- so, So, SO cute!" I agree TeeTom!

Tommy after church on Oct.9th:
Some other quotes I want to remember: On May 9th Tommy said about Snow White, "Her have a cape! Her fly? Her fly her have a cape!" and about Sarah's room, "Me love her room new!" Reminds me of the quote my mom has told me that I said as a little girl, "Look at my new brand shoes!"

On June 14, 2011 while I was prepping the blender for smoothies Tommy said, "Now me hide. Now me cover my ears. That loud!"

I love that although I first heard Tommy call a fish "schiff" back in July 2011, he still (yay!!) calls them "schiffies" to this day (Oct.17th, 2011).

I LOVE how Tommy prays! He remembers to pray for people that we love daily. He requests to be the one to get to pray at mealtimes and bedtime and is the first to raise his little hand up if I ask who wants to pray before we eat. He has prayed every night for Gammy's ribs to heal and for her to feel better. He prays every night that we won't be grumpy the next day (ha! I think this is hilarious!) He also prays for his Popsy's salvation when we see punchbuggie cars when we are out driving around. This melts me. I've heard him pray on more than one occasion as a beetle drives by, "Please God, save my Popsy. PLEASE God let Popsy have his faith in You!" I love that Popsy's namesake is fervently crying out for his salvation. Precious.

Almost 14 months old...

Favorite shots of Noah from our family outing Oct.14th

Noah still does the tripod scoot to get around. He crosses every room, making his way around our entire house by scooting on his tushie! He sits upright with his right leg bent Indian style and his left leg making a pulling action scooting him along at a pretty decent clip. His hands rest in front of him in an almost crawling stance and yet he is sitting upright instead of on all-fours for traditional-style crawling. His hand position while scooting around definitely reminds us of a gorilla as it walks leaning on its hands.

Noah got his very first tooth (bottom left) at 11 months old, his second (bottom right) at 12 months, his third (top left) at 13 months and his fourth (top right) is going to be making its appearance by next week right at his 14 month mark.

Noah ADORES his siblings who do SO much for him. All the big kids love on him EVERYday. Tommy's latest obsession with him is about how "warm" Noah is. He'll state, "Me want to sleep with Noah. Him so warm! Him so cute!" I think Tommy is meaning Noah is snuggley. Not sure, really, but I'm guessing it is because he's been wearing the jammie sleepers and wakes up all squishy, snuggley. Tommy makes these comments, though, totally out of that context so I'm not convinced that's it. Tommy says it frequently! Daily, almost. Quite cute, though the exact reason is still unclear.

Fletcher has REALLY stepped up in his display of love for Noah. He is super close to him now. The year landmark for Noah marked a deep bond with Fletcher who carries him around daily, helping to feed him breakfast and other meals everyday. He takes him to and from the car for outings, buckles him up and sits beside him most every car ride. Fletcher is willingly choosing to sit beside Noah...it's not like we are short on spaces to sit in Chuckwagon! The fondness I see Fletcher has for him is really adorable. It is so fun for a Momma to observe! I saw it right from the beginning with Paris (and with Sarah too, but a slightly lesser degree than with Paris), but the strong affection for Noah has just recently blossomed in Fletch. One of Fletcher's favorite things to do is be the one permitted to get Noah out of the pack-n-play, yes, it IS in the master closet, and carry Noah over to watch the fish swim in the dining room fish tank.

Sarah has continued to show love and affection for Noah. Her favorite thing to do is play with Noah in the den with his one year old birthday gift that Poppa Sam and Fletcher put together for him. Paris loves to be in the bath tub with Noah to bathe him for us, washing his hair and everything. She often transports Noah to and from the car for outings, but as he has grown, it is more of a struggle for her and a bit easier for Fletch who never did it when Noah was little. Fletch seemed less comfortable with the newborn-ish stages which Paris was great with, but now Fletch seems totally at ease with the one year old phase.

Noah is 1% for height and 12% for weight, our teeniest guy yet! Noah is so laid-back and go-with-the-flow. Chill. Relaxed. Easy going. 5th baby! We LOVE him!

Family Day Adventure, Friday, Oct. 14th

I LOVE these boys!
AMAZING rock!
Rambo Parie!
Kung Fu Tommy!
Power Lifter TeeTom.
Sarah had a ball here! (Thank You, God, she still loves Your Creation!)
Pretty Parie, peek-a-boo Sarah!
Tommy loving life!
My red heads!

We discovered cool new rocks to play on and between. This spot is off the main road just before we get to our favorite river. Lots of fun to be had here...next time we will bring wood for the campfire and smores supplies! There are lots of campfire spots right near these amazing rocks.