Happy Halloween!

We had a good time trick or treating tonight.

Ella and her friend.

William, however, wasn't the happiest. He skipped his afternoon nap so he was done before we even started!

I tried to get him in the wagon to ride around with his friend, but he would have no part of that. And he didn't want to walk. So I ended up carrying him around to six houses before calling it quits. He was exhausted and went home to bed. :(

But Ella and I proceeded on! My big girl went up to the houses and rang the doorbells all by herself!

She met this little ghost - it lit up and danced and she loved it. :)

We got home and Ella dumped all her candy.

That's a lot of candy!

Now to hide the candy and use it as a reward. :)

Halloween cut and pastes

I cut out pictures and Ella first worked on finding the pictures that rhymed with "bat." She did awesome, it was very impressive! She checked with me on her answers, but didn't need my help at all.

Then she worked on sorting pictures by beginning sounds. We did /w/ and /p/. She sometimes needed me to tell her what the picture was (they were a little confusing), but then did it all by herself! Amazing! She'd pick up a picture and say "w-w-water!" She was really hearing the beginning sounds. My smart little cookie! This is the same activity that I used to do with my first graders when I taught reading.

Great job Ella!

And she even had fun doing this! :)

Happy 18 months to my little boy!

I truly don't understand how time goes by so quickly. William is already 1 1/2! He has a terrible cold and ear infection, so he's a yucky, boogery mess. I'd like to get some pictures of my little 1 1/2 year old tomorrow.

This little boy has flipped my world upside down and made it sooo much better. I love him more than words.

Some William facts:

1. when he sleeps he sleeps with his head up against the rails.

2. he frequently sleeps on his tummy with his bum up in the air.

3. his favorite word is "alleluia" and he loves to sing along with Ella and me

4. he runs. all over.

5. has a little bit of a temper

6. loves his big sister so much. always wants to be with her.

7. now owns a stroller and a baby because he loved ella's so much. he even talks to his baby. (cutest thing ever)

8. gives really wonderful hugs (but is less giving on the kisses)

9. loves being outside. he'd hang outside all day long if I'd let him

10. is finally starting to enjoy books. His favorite ones are Trains, Boats, and Airplanes by Byron Barton as well as The Wheels on the Bus (he likes doing the wipers).

11. is very affectionate and will snuggle right up to you.

12. loves to sit in my lap (and I love it too!!)

13. still not a big fan of swimming pools, but loves the bath.

14. loves animals, especially dogs. points and "talks" excitedly whenever he sees one. (uh-oh, is a dog in our future?)

15. is a real climber. on chairs, tables, really anything. (very unlike Ella)

16. has a wonderful bond with daddy. he hates when daddy goes off to work.

17. is currently cutting his eye teeth.

18. has the most infectious little laugh. and what makes him laugh the most? silly things ella does.

19. loves his side tickled and kissed.

20. has been going down slides all by himself for a few months. and loves to walk up them too.

21. is very attached to his green alligator blanket.

22. only takes his binky at bedtime and when he's sick.

23. always, always shares his toys with ella. all she has to do is ask him for what he's playing with and he'll give it to her.

24. ella and william often hold hands in the backseat in the car. (so sweet)

25. when we read Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed, he joins along and waves his pointed finger around like I do when the doctor says "No more monkeys jumping on the bed!"

William is so sweet, loving, happy and wonderful!! He's brought so much to our lives. :)

Paper Plate Ghost

Ella had fun making this today!

As the ghost was drying, she decided to trim her ghost, hence the unevenness. :)

Our trip to W. Virginia

My new thought is that 6 hours in the van is a little too long for a 1 year old and 3 year old. We stopped at least twice, but it was just too long for them to be in the car.

We did a little exploring in the national forest. Checked out leaves...

and the falls...

It was a little noisy for William, so he was plugging his ears. (so cute!)

Me and the cuties.

Our family picture from the trip.

We had to climb a lot of steps. William was working hard. He wouldn't let us carry him either, no matter how tired he got.

William loved looking for leaves. :)

We took a little break. We were all tired from the lack of sleep all weekend.

The deer hung out around the resort. People feed them, so they were a little too friendly. They got really close. The kids loved them.

Ella and I went swimming THREE TIMES. She absolutely loves the pool, and if it were up to her, we'd still be in it right now.

It was fun seeing a new area, and the mountains and trees were quite beautiful, but none of us slept all that well, making some of us a little cranky. :) I'd love to fly somewhere warm in the winter, but as of now, Ella is adamantly against getting on a plane. We'll see...

Halloween party fun

Tonight was our halloween party! The kids were all dressed and ready to go! Our little doctor and Baby Bear. :)

William was so happy running all over the place waving and smiling at everyone.

This would have been a nice picture of the three of us. Why, oh why, can't I get a good picture of me with my babies? Is it impossible?

Trick or treating... This is all Ella wanted to do all night. "Is it time to get candy yet?"

Ella and her friend.

Overall it was a good time. There was a balloon man that Ella eventually warmed up to and enjoyed as well.

Bats, pumpkins and ghosts!

Ella and I made yummy halloween cookies today! Playgroup comes to our house tomorrow, so we wanted to bake them a little treat.

Ella enjoyed frosting her own cookie, and of course adding sprinkles!

These little guys won't last too long!

:)

Mondays

Lately, Mondays have been our recoup-from-the-weekend down day. We have nowhere we have to be on Mondays, so we usually just hang out at home.

Here are a few things William did today to entertain himself.

I tried crayons with him again. And again it didn't go so well. He attempted to scribble a little...

but mostly just kept trying to taste the different colors. I don't think he liked any of them, but he kept trying!

Then he came up with this little game of lining up the crayons all by himself. I was impressed!

Then William had to spend some time in the bathroom at the sink playing with the water, as he does most days. :)

He thought it was pretty funny stuff!

Halloween Prints

Because William got up at the crack of dawn, he was ready for a morning nap by 9am (and he does not take morning naps anymore). This enabled Ella and I to make these cute prints. A spider, a pumpkin, and a ghost. She wanted to glue googly eyes down too of course.

I think I was more impressed with the way these turned out than she was. :)

Fun Family Weekend

Dave and I are exhausted tonight, but we had such a fun weekend with the kids. Fall is my absolute favorite time of the year, and I am loving all the pumpkin festivals, the changing leaves and the cool, crisp air!

This was so cool! All these pumpkins lit up in the dark. It looked like they were floating!

We waited in a very long line for a hayride.

And in another very long line for this lovely balloon flower. :)

We also went to the outlets and enjoyed the nice weather. They have a nice duck pond where Ella got to feed them, and a playground area too.

William had to get in on the fun too. :)

He liked picking up leaves and throwing them at the ducks. It was cute. :)

Love, love, love days like these.