Boo!  Happy Halloween!  Taking the kids trick or treating this year was delightful.  Evelyn's costume was loved by all.  She was a snail!  She came up with the main structural ideas for her costume.  She decided to use a fold out hamper for the base of her costume which she discovered could double as a holder.  Every time she received a piece of candy, she would lightly toss it over her back into her shell--so clever that girl! I did her hair up into two long  towering pieces, each attached with a  large googly eye.   

Eli's costume was pretty common fare, Luke Sky Walker, but his manners set him apart.  For the first hour of trick or treating, we anyone out.  All the houses we stopped by were glad to see us.  Eli didn’t just say "Trick or Treat" and "Thank you" as we had instructed him.  He added to it his own suave mix like, "Have a very fun Halloween evening!", or "Isn't it pretty great that we came!?!" or my favorite, "Thank you for this candy!  Did you know I have the best manners?!"

The Gaskin Funnies:

Evelyn usually likes her hair pulled back in a bun at night when it is hot. Tonight when she requested her usual bun she said, "Mom, can I have my hair in a bun.... but not a hamburger bun!" She was so tickled by her own joke, she laughed and laughed!

We have landed

Here is the proof to show you that we have landed in California.
These pictures were taken on our hike at Monte Bello in the foothills.

Sneaky Little Guy

We catch this little guy snuggled up close to the funniest things. Today after waiting a whole week, his backpack and lunch box arrived in the mail. When we had the kids put to bed and we were talking downstairs in the kitchen, he sneaked down and ran into the closet to retrieve them. It is so hard not to laugh when he thinks we don't see him. When we went up to check on him an hour later, this is how we found him.

Not just right

With the changing of seasons and the lack of air conditioning, Michigan summer nights have turned humid and hot. Tonight I was trying to coax Eli to switch his warm thick quilt for a sheet. It went something like this:
Blue striped sheet
"It is too tooo toooooo sharp!"

White sheet:
(with gesturing hands)
It is toooooo flat!

Sheer soft piece of fabric:
It is tooo good!

So tonight he sleeps with nothing.

Eli's first attempt to read a word:

a t at

(I point to the "a")
Eli: a-a-a-aapple

(I point to the "t")
Eli: t-t-t-t tttent

(I point to the word "at")
Eli: a-a-appletent-t-t!

The Gaskin Greenhouse

There she is in all her glory. The kids and I planted them a few weeks ago. It's always fun to see little seedlings sprout. When a seed is slow, Evelyn is always hopeful in thinking a little pebble or bit of rock might really be the plant! We'll see how green our thumbs turn out to be this year.