Hello Fall!

Sundays are changing around here. Jake has been called to the Young Men's Presidency... as the President. He's gonna do great! Anyway, it's just me and the kids before and after church these days. This past Sunday, Zac fell asleep on the way home and was awakened when I carried him into our home. When I entered, I set him down on the ground and turned to close the door, when I heard a loud thump. I turned to see what it was... and it was Zac. He apparently hadn't woken up completely and decided to lay down right where I left him.

He slept while I got his sister undressed. He slept while I changed. He didn't budge while I made them lunch.

He even slept while I changed his clothes.

Sweet little guy.

Zachary has also started laying on the couch in the mornings, demanding to be covered with his woobie and provided a pillow to lay his giant cranium upon. This is his position of choice while watching "Handy Manny".

Katie had her first "Character Dress-up Day" at Preschool this week.
She chose to dress as Sleeping Beauty. I have absolutely no idea why because she refuses to watch Sleeping Beauty or learn anything about her. (Which is very disappointing for her mother because it was my very favorite movie growing up. I wore out the VHS tape for heaven's sake.) But that girl LOVED school that day. She came home so wound up she spent the day running around driving everyone nuttier than usual! Mommy and Daddy were very excited when bed time rolled around that day.

The insanity began again this evening. It was the Seffner/Brandon Ward Joint Trunk-or-Treat! Kaitlyn is officially able to understand what trick-or-treating is all about. Zac on the other hand, couldn't believe people were just handing out candy... and to him! Not to mention, there were games in every room of the church building! And hot dogs! He ate two and wanted "more"!

Jake and I went as Red Riding Hood and the Wolf. (The elementary school I work at had a "Dress Like a Book Parade" and I chose to dress as Red. So, Jake decided on the Wolf so we would match. He's so sweet.) Katie wanted to be a fairy, and Zac was Buzz Lightyear!



Uncle Matt, Aunt Ellen, and Issac were a pack of lions! Aren't they cute?!

Nana came as a "Dessert Judge"! No, not really. She just has a really big sweet tooth and couldn't help herself at the dessert tables.

After everyone chowed down on chili, hot dogs, and pumpkin desserts (Grammie won the dessert category by the way. Go Grammie! Yay for Pumpkin Chiffon!) the games began. I got some pictures of Katie playing corn toss with Grammie, but they all turned out fuzzy.

When we went fishing I told Kaitlyn to look behind her. She and Zachary LOVE to play Mario Brothers with Daddy. She even said she wanted to be Mario for Halloween at one point. She was extremely excited to see them. After all was said and done, I asked her which costumes she liked and she replied, "Mario!" Notice her smile in the picture below. She was elated!

Here is Katie and Riley waiting for what ended up being Katie's favorite game...

GHOST BOWLING!

Thank you Seffner Dollar Tree for the large tumblers and electrical tape. The Seffner Young Men were in charge of providing a game for the festivities and this was it. We also did a ping pong throw, but it wasn't as popular. Kids love to knock stuff down.

After the games, came the candy!

Trick or treat Nana!

It was a very fun evening!
Happy Halloween everyone!

And Six Months Later...

We're still alive!

Sheesh, it's been six months since our last blog update. We stink. I blame our out-of-date computers. However, we have since replaced them with a new laptop and should no longer have any other excuse besides laziness.

We had a pretty simple summer. Stuck around the house and painted. Late August brought Preschool for our baby girl! She was pretty excited. First Baptist Learning Center has an outdoor playground that they get to use daily and that is all Kaitlyn cares about. She has actually started making friends and talking about them at home. This is unusual because Katie is an oldest child and has never felt the need to play with or be friends with anyone. As you can see, she is becoming quite the character (and these are the best of her photos from her first morning of Preschool).

Kaitlyn also managed to break her bed at the beginning of the summer. She liked to take flying leaps onto it after going to bed. Her toddler bed just couldn't take it anymore, and one night she came slowly walking up to her Mommy and Daddy while sobbing. "Katie, what is the problem? Why aren't you in bed?" "My bed broke. I can't fix it." Sure enough, the footboard had snapped off of the bed frame. She got to sleep on her mattress on the floor for a couple of months before we got her a bunk bed.

Zachary on the other hand, is still in his crib and is shaking the tar out of it! He has officially entered the terrible-two stage and I occasionally put him in his crib when he is inconsolable. He is pretty good about going to the corner (see below), but to cage him in his crib outside of nap time... no way.



Zac has also discovered tools. He is all boy and loves anything with wheels and tools. He loves to have a job, like his sister, but especially loves when that job involves tools. This of course, led us to introduce him to "Handy Manny" which he and his sister now watch as if they are in some kind of daze... every day. "Man Manny" is what Zac asks for.

More to come next week, after all of the Halloween festivities!