Get Your Own! View Slideshow

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Well, I was not really prepared for Halloween. I knew we’d take the kids out trick-or-treating, but I just didn’t really plan ahead. I mean, I bought a bag of candy at Costco a couple days ago, and I’ve got pumpkins (yet uncarved) lining the front porch, but that’s as far as my preparations went. I didn’t plan on the whole costume issue… just figured we’d go with what we did last year… that, or swap them around!

For Blessings #s 1 and 2, I kept hyping up the good ol’ princess dresses that are in the dress-up box. Granted, they’ve been the princesses for like three years, but I was still working on those. Blessing #3 was Superman last year—we pulled out the trusty Superman pajamas and off he went. Last Halloween, Blessing #4 was half cricket half duck. Blessing #5 was cozied up in my belly, so he didn’t need a costume.

I really wanted to get by on what we have because I have no intention of spending money on Halloween costumes… You buy for one and you gotta buy for all… and these days, they don’t have the cheapy plastic costumes like they did when I was a kid. Five costumes add up to quite a bit of money. Anyways, my dear, sweet, Beloved (and practical!) Husband said that Halloween was a lot like Prom… why spend the money on something that only lasts a few hours… I neglected to remind him that he, himself, went to Prom (though, not with yours truly!) and dressed up for trick-or-treating… mostly because I didn’t want to buy anything anyway!

But, unfortunately for me, it was a No Go on the princesses. And the Superman. And the cricket and duck costumes are too little for B#4 and too big for B#5.

So MM had to get creative...

Bs #s 1&2 have been on The Little Mermaid kick lately and were quite insistent on being Ariel this year. So, yesterday morning (yes, the day before Halloween), after unsuccessfully proposing Cinderellas in the princess dresses, I set out to create two Ariel costumes. Two cereal boxes, a tub of scrap fabrics, a hot glue gun, a stapler, and a spool of pink ribbon later, I was successful… mermaid fins and clamshell bras (coincidentally covered in material left over from my highschool prom dress!) to boot. Total cost: $0. The girls’ reactions? Priceless. (And when I sent the kids up to get their jammies on last night, B#1 came down with the just the pants, curiously unable to find the matching shirt, and put on her clamshell top. It was quite amusing, but she was not allowed to wear that to bed. She did strut around the kitchen for the few minutes it was on, though!)

Since B#3 said he didn’t want to be Superman (“Those are jammies, Moma.”), I dug out the Batman pajamas that he hasn’t seen in a while. That, too, was met with a negative response. He got bright-eyed and eager and decided that he wanted a sword and he’d be King Tritan! But I decided that even the manly Merman would end up looking pretty girly on my little boy. So, King Tritan was also met with a negative response. Instead, together we decided he’d be G.I. Joe… we dug out his camo shirt and camo jacket. I got a camo bandana to tie around his head, and I’m going to paint his face. Total cost: the 97 cents for the bandana. His reaction? Priceless… when he came down the stairs this morning singing “It’s Halloween! It’s Halloween!” and wearing his camouflage gear and his black snow boots, er…, I mean army boots. (Though, by breakfast he said he was going to be Superman this year. Then he came in with the Batman pajamas. “I think I’ll wear these to go get candy.” Humphfff! …I don’t think so! He’s decided to be an army hero again… Daddy found him a toy gun that only G.I. Joes get to carry.)

B#4 got dressed in her orange thermal jammies this morning… she is going to be a pumpkin. I’m going to paint her jack-o-lantern face on this afternoon. She said she wanted a sad face with mad eyes… I’ll probably just put on a happy face with happy eyes. After all, she is only two! No need for her to be a grumpy pumpkin!

For B#5, I dug out the Winnie the Pooh pajama costume. Then I look and it says it’s a 6-month. Unfortunately, he’s 9 months old. Fortunately, he’s only 17 pounds, so he fit in it just fine. (Also, previously unbeknownst to me, Pooh enjoys more than honey from his honey pot. He also has a taste for cat food from the kitty bowl. It seems I left the laundry room door open, and he got in there and has now left a trail of brown drool across the kitchen floor.)

We even pulled out the doggie reindeer costume a few days ago, so Zacchaeus is also ready for tonight.

These pictures are from the “dress rehearsals.” I’ll get more pictures up after tonight.

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Recorded this last night... Here's some video of Blessing #5 jumping to some Five Iron Frenzy!

(So, to make the most of your viewing experience,

have your speakers turned on and your volume turned up!!)

Click first to activate and then again to play the video...

Enjoy two minutes of ska... and a bouncing bundle of blessing leapin' along!:)

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The little ones were up early this morning… #4 woke up crying and I met her at the bedroom door just as she was turning on the light. I hurriedly flipped the switch off so that she wouldn’t wake up #3. (I was not, by the way, successful in this.) I brought her to my room and put her in my bed… after removing the shoes she had fallen asleep in. (I guess after going to bed last night, she got back up and put her shoes on.) Not too much longer, I hear #3 headed up the hallway. He gets to our bedroom door, turns around, and heads back down the hall. Fortunately, he did not go downstairs but was only making a pitstop at the potty. Unfortunately, I still had to get up and help him because a half-asleep 3-year-old is helpless at 5 in the morning when he’s gone poops... and even more so when he has sleepily slumped himself too far down in the toilet… A little boy’s bottom in contact with potty water (needless to say, poopy potty water) requires a moma’s assistance.

During all of this, I hear #5 rustling around, chattering away. He played happily for quite a while. Eventually I got out of bed and started his breakfast since I wasn’t sleeping anyway. #s 3 and 4 were both asleep, snuggled up next to one another. It was adorable! I knew the flash would probably wake them, so I didn’t take a picture. (Since they were both up soon after I went downstairs, I guess I should’ve captured that Kodak moment after all!)

I didn't capture that, but I did capture the post-breakfast (but pre-cleanup) jam faces... well, most of them. #2 had already washed up, and #5 didn't have any jam... We had quite the sticky black raspberry mess!

We got #s 1 and 2 dropped off at school this morning, and I stopped by the post office to drop off some mail. By 8:45, #3 was asleep again, so we ran a couple “drive-thru” errands (dropping off library books, dropping off a movie rental) while he got a little morning nap. By the time we got home, he was waking up. We parked in the driveway, and I started unloading everyone. I had the baby out of his carseat, and #4 had gotten out of hers and was climbing over the seat to get out of the car. #3 got out of his seat but instead of getting out of the car, he got on the floorboard. He is a flower seed and is planting himself, he says.

“Surprise, Mom! I’m a flower!” He starts to pop up from the floor, but he is moving in super-dooper slow motion… like the slow motion of slow motion. “Tell me to grow, Mom. Say, ‘Grow, grow, grow!’” So I tell my little flower to grow, grow, grow, and he eventually grows big enough for me to pull him over the backseat. I picked my flower, smelled it, and said what a pretty handsome flower it was. He slides out of the car and steps onto the driveway, and I ask him what kind of flower he is. He shakes his head and giggles. “I’m not any kind of flower, Mom. I’m [Blessing #3]. I was just pretending. I’m not really a flower, silly!”

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Zacchaeus and I are at it again! The last time we tried to show you the video, the website went AWOL. We've reloaded, so here we go!

It takes a few seconds to load, but it's worth it for an easy giggle, right?

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Recent afternoon conversation over coloring books and dirty dishes:

Blessing #3: I’m coloring a heaven picture. God’s castle is in heaven. I’m coloring the plants in front of the castle yellow.

Monkey Moma: Are they golden plants?

Blessing #2: There are streets of gold in heaven…

B#3: God’s castle is going to be yellow, too. A golden yellow castle.

B#2: Maybe you should color a golden witch on your picture of heaven.

MM: What? Why would he want to draw a witch on his heaven picture?

B#2: Because coins are golden.

MM: (looking quite perplexed) Huh…?

B#2: (very patiently explaining the obvious “duh” moment to MM) Lots of golden coins make you a witch, mom.

MM: Huh?.... (short silence)Oh…. No, not witch... rich! Lots of golden coins make you rich!

B#2: (giggles) Oh…!

B#3: I colored God’s present. I’m coloring God now. He’s who made us. That’s why I’m coloring His shirt pink!

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I haven't been suffering from Blogger's Block (I've had plenty of time to think about what to blog, as I've had quite a few days of absolutely no talking and of barely any talking... I've gotten myself a case of laryngitis!) but I haven't had a lot of extra computer time either. Family was in town visiting, and my Beloved is off of his night schedule. So evenings have been spent visiting with my parents and with my husband rather than bloghoppin' and postin'!

My parents left early this morning, and after the kids were in bed, Nathan fell asleep on the couch. Since I've finished emptying, reloading, and running the dishwasher, I figured I'd get a quick post written!

The dishes didn't get done earlier tonight because I was on the floor capturing Blessing #5's first time crawling! He's been awfully close for a little while, but tonight it all clicked for him. (Blessings #s1-4 were outside playing, and I was able to get down on the floor to watch and to take pictures without the distraction (and obvious frustration!) of my monkeys climbing on me or hamming it up for their own camera-time.) So, as I watched him slowly creeping forward (and as I had the camera pointed, focused, and ready to click), I encouraged him with a toy. That worked pretty well, but when the dog came around, I found that he worked even better! B#5 thought chasing Zacchaeus was especially fun!

And speaking of him, Zacchie has been in doggie mourning today... My parents brought their little shih-tzu for the visit, so Zacchaeus and Winston had a fun week hanging out together. This morning Zacchaeus went in, looked around the empty bedroom, jumped onto the bed, and curled up in Winston's spot. I've found him in there a few times today.

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Poop Doors: number two

Another recent bedtime conversation with my 3-year-old boy about those bottom poop doors…

Blessing #3 is sitting on the potty; when I stop by the bathroom to see how things are going, I hear a "noise"…

Monkey Moma: Are you going poopies?
B#3: No, I’m not going poops. I just TOOTED, Moma.
MM: Oh, okay... well, let me know when you’re done so we can get in bed.
(After a little pause) B#3: Oh, I am going poops now, Moma… Moma! That’s how those bottom poop doors open!! Moma, the WIND blows them open!!! The wind blows bottom poop doors open so you can go poops!

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