Trick or Treat

Zach was so excited for Halloween this year.  We've seen Little Einsteins, Mickey Mouse, & Higglytown Heroes all have Halloween fun; he couldn't wait to join in the festivities!  This year I actually tried asking Zach what he wanted to be for Halloween.  I'm not sure if we'll be doing that again.  He was determined to be a ghost.  I'm sure the idea came from at least one of the shows listed above.  So I decided I'd be the dutiful little homemaker & make his costume.  I pulled out my sewing machine (I'm sure my parents will be glad to hear it gets used occasionally) & started sewing away on my twin size sheet.  I put together his little costume & got him to try it.  Of course, he would have none of it.  He didn't like the hole for his face, so I thought I'd make it bigger.  That didn't help either.  Now I had to find another costume & forget the time I'd spent figuring out this amazing ghost.  Good thing MawMaw & PawPaw had gotten him a football uniform a couple of years ago that was way too big.  So our final costumes ended up being: Zach - football player; Sean - hobo; Makayla - angel.  Apparently my sewing machine could have stayed in the closet where it usually resides.  I'm not sure if it will make an appearance at future Halloweens or not...
We hope everyone else had as much fun on Halloween as we did!!

Here Come the Pumpkins!!

Last year Alex sat in the kitchen floor with our big, messy pumpkin & gutted & carved it with the kiddos happily watching.  This year, I didn't think I'd be able to get away with that.  Zach would have probably been happy; he's not big into getting dirty.  However, Sean & Makayla (Makayla mostly) would have been a different story.  So I decided to paint pumpkins instead.  It was, of course, a huge success.  The kids loved it!!  However, much wailing & gnashing of teeth commenced when it was time to put the paint away & get in the tub.  I expected Makayla to be the messy one of the group, but it was Sean that managed to get the paint all over his face, arms, in his ears, etc....  All in all, it was a successful night.  You couldn't see a face on the pumpkins by the time the painting was completed, but I don't really think anyone cared!

The whole family!
Sean wasn't content only painting his own pumpkin.  Apparently, Makayla was in great need of help...  I had already cleaned the paint out of his ear at this point.
Sean had the most fun out of the group, I think.  I expected just the opposite.  Maybe he'll be our little artist?
If you can't tell by the smile, Zach loved getting to paint the pumpkins this year!
Makayla took her painting assignment very seriously...

Why all of the messes?

Here's my question -- Which of us passed along the gene that causes my children to take a perfectly clean room, & in less than 5 minutes, turn it into an absolute disaster zone??  I still can't understand why a room that looks like this is more fun to play in than let's say a CLEAN room, but I'm guessing my wonderful little angels have somehow found this life truth that I have somehow managed to go through life without. 

Apparently devices built to hold toys are also able to double as equipment generally found on a playground...