Halloween

This cute little munchkin was all ready for the big day.

 

 We headed to Reagan's school for the class party and costume parade.  Nolan is showing off his skills with his shield.

 and posing with his friends Ender and Colton.

 Here comes Reagan in the costume parade, waving to her friends in the crowd.

 Nolan with his idol Aiden...he seriously WORSHIPS Aiden, even though he is a 5th grader.  The kids played at their house this summer and Aiden built legos the entire time with Nolan.  He has held him in pretty high regards since :)

 Reagan with her friend Olivia and little sister Sophie.

 All that daytime festivities made this guys tired...he slept for 2 hours, which allowed for a more peaceful trick or treating experience.

 Taking Halloween photos...the comedy of the night.  Here is Nolan pouting because Reagan got to hold Miles.

 Then we took turns (yes!--what a concept!) but now Reagan is pouting because Nolan go to hold Miles.  Yes this is what I deal with most days :)

 After dinner with friends, we headed out with our group...lots of glow necklaces, running from house to house (this year, the parents were trying to keep up!) and too much candy.  But such a fun night.

Another first this year...they finished all their candy.  Nolan ate his in 2 days (ugh, my stomach hurts just thinking about it), but Reagan kept it slow and steady and has a little bit of the bleh candy left.  We have been on sugar detox ever since and I am happy to report that my kids are starting to be better eaters...who knew?  See you in November!

(wait, yeah, its already November :))

The Rest of October

October was a really busy month for us.  To prove it, most of these picture took place in our second to last week, which was one of the busiest weeks ever in our household.  I got a taste of what my parents must have felt like with 6 kids all in sports and activities year round.  This was their life all the time!

 

Miles and Nolan hanging out on the back porch.

 We decorated mini pumpkins.  Reagan was proud of decorating her own witch, but Nolan's blue spiderman eyes peeled off right away. 

 Reagan completed her second season of St. Francis Cross Country.  These photos are taken at the race in Alameda, which is our furthest drive, but nicest venue.  It is right along the shore at Crown Beach in Alameda and very pretty, although this year was pretty chilly.

The K-5 runner girls getting ready!

 Reagan running with Addie.  Reagan tripped early in the race and Addie was so sweet to stay and help her and run with her till the end.

 Done and waiting in line for the ribbons

 Here with teammate Breanna

 Taking a few pics before we leave. 

 We made caramel apples and ate them almost immediately. 

 Reagan's cross country team party was that Monday at Fuddruckers and I totally forgot my camera!  The next night was Nolan's team soccer party at Mountain Mike's Pizza.  Two of his 5 teammates weren't there, so here is Nolan with Jack and Wyatt.  Our coach was also not there, so Matt did a great job as the pseudo coach and passed out the trophies.

Nolan is so proud of his very first trophy!

 We carved pumpkins and ate lots of pumpkin seeds!  I am pretty certain this is Matt's favorite thing about Halloween.  He goes crazy over pumpkin seeds.

 Our school had a carnival that Friday night and the very next night was our ward trunk or treat.  I think Nolan made a stunning Captain America.

And Reagan a beautiful (good) witch.

 These next 2 costumes were the hit of the night, both worn by dads.  The guy below works for Clorox, so the costume was even funnier.

 

 I was in charge of the dinner and also table decorations.  It's fun what you can do with a few dead tree branches from your yard and leftover black spray paint.

 And then....(I seriously feel out of breath even recalling this week), the next day was the Primary Program at church.  The kids looked beautiful and sang so well.  They each knew the words of every song this year. 

Whew!  We loved October, but I admit I was happy to have it over :)  We took down our decorations and have loved November thus far...it's been warm here and a little less chaotic.

Play Structures, Soccer & Birthdays

If I kept up with my dang traditions, I would be calling this post I HEART SEPTEMBER!  But can I call it that when it is actually October already? :)  We did have a really great and really busy September.  Over the summer, Matt bought the kids a play structure to install and finish off our backyard.  Really, we are blessed with lots of parks nearby, but it is nice to have one in our yard.  My favorite is being able to send the kids out when I am trying to get dinner on the table.  Plus, it fills the empty space in our yard quite nicely.  After the structure was up (which Matt labored intensively on for a few weeks), we had a huge dump truck of redwood chips delivered to fill in the space.  I will tell you now...we had PLENTY of woodchips.   I think I was digging that sawdust out of my ears for days after.  It is filling up every nook and cranny on our yard.  And we have a nice lovely cedar/redwood smell.  I love it!

 

Nolan was my model in the pic below.  He loves to hang upside down.

 We had a hot spell in September, which caused a wildfire on Mt. Diablo, which is somewhat nearby.  Nowhere near threatening where we live, but close enough that friends of ours felt threatened.  Luckily, it was put out in a week or so and no severe damage to homes, I believe.  This pic was taken the night it caught fire and we are standing in our front yard. 

 The kids looked nice in their Sunday clothes and I had a few minutes, so we snapped some shots of them outside.  Miles is so loved on, it is almost ridiculous...but in a good way :)

 Sometimes my kids just do the sweetest and cutest things, that I can't help but laugh!  Reagan was a little bum one night and so I sent her to bed angrily.  I found this note slipped under my door later that night.  In case it is hard to see, I will tell you what it says: "Dear mom I am so so sorry of the way I actid to night.  I am hoping you forgive me do you?  Circle what one.  Yes no.  Love Reagan Love you so much."

How can I stay mad after this? 

 Matt had a birthday and not just ANY birthday...the big 35!!!  Yes, he is 35!!  Actually, it really doesn't sound all that much older.  When he turns 38, that will sound much older.  35 just still sounds like 30 to me.  Truthfully, I feel bad that we didn't do much for his big day, but we low-keyed like most parents of 3 kids (one just 4 months) do.  We ate Chipotle and had cake.  Yep.  Oh yes and Matt got some gloves to bike in and went to our brand new Nordstrom Rack and bought some biking gear.  Did I mention he bikes to work now?  You prob figured that one by now.

 I am not really sure how this photo came about, all I know was that I turned around and saw my kids doing this.  I had a moment where I thought my kids were such baby geniuses.  Random, I know.

Nolan plays soccer now!  Can I just tell you that a year ago, I would have NEVER guessed I would one day see him in a uniform with a ball and smiling.  He hated team sports, really any organized sport at all.  I tried Kids Love Soccer, with 2 of his favorite friends last fall, and it was a disaster.  He cried most the time and I finally gave up.  But Matt insisted we try again this year and he has LOVED it!  What???  He looks forward to playing each week and loves to score goals and pretend he is a super hero with his teammates.  He sees many of his friends out there, even the ones on other teams.  He slept in his uniform the first day.  He is a little on the aggressive side, but not in a mean way.  He has a huge smile every time he is running down the field.  When he gets knocked down, he laughs and gets back up.

 

And he looks dang cute in his uniform!

 

He loves that his number is 5 because he secretly wishes he were 5 and not 4.  Sometimes in public, when a person asks his age, he says 5 then looks at me, eyes pleading as if to say, "please don't tell them I'm only 4, mom!"  LOL.

 

 Here he is with his teammates, smiling and laughing.  There are only 5 boys on his team.  It is nice and small.  They practice for 30 minutes, then play a low-key, no score kept game for another 30.  Every single game this season is at 8am for us.  Every. Stinking. Game.  The early Saturday's have started getting kind of old by now.

 Here is Nolan and Wyatt, laughing their heads off over something.  Actually this is so indicative of these two, I can't help but stare at this pic. 

 

About the Kids--

 

 Miles at 4 and a half months:
*does not sleep through the night.  Ironically he slept straight through the night from 6 to 12 weeks, but now wakes up a couple of times a night to eat
*takes around 3 naps a day
*does not nap well on the move anymore, he needs his bed or his carseat in a quiet place
*has Nolan's features with Reagan's coloring...i.e. I think he will be a redhead
* is ticklish!  Laughs when I tickle his armpits or slide onesies and shirts over his head and brush his arms and belly. 
*has been teething for a month now.  I'm already done with it.  He gnaws on his hands all the time
*is finally (knock on wood) done with thrush.  We had 4 recurring cases before docs put him on nystatin for 6 weeks!
*loves to be around people, anybody.  He just needs someone looking at him, talking to him, holding him. 
*Sucks his thumb and occasionally a binky.  Loves to grasp your finger and loves blankies rubbing his face
*nurses every 2-3 hours
*loves tummy time, he is my first to like laying on his tummy
*loves the bumbo and his exersaucer
*has completely stolen the hearts of everyone in our house.  We love him to PIECES!

Nolan at 4 and a half years (not 5 like he thinks):

*loves Miles.  Asks for him when he wakes up, when he eats, pretty much every minute of the day

*wants to share a room with Miles

*love super heros and anything Avengers

*knows how to turn on Netflix on the computer and start watching Avengers or Super Hero Squad

*loves playing school with Reagan where she is the teacher and assigns him homework

*is really into soccer and loves playing each week

*loves loves LOVES preschool!  He has the best teacher and they have so much fun

*enjoys being read to at night and having someone to talk to

*loves Legos

*hates healthy food and loves unhealthy food.  He goes into the pantry and finds fruit snacks, croutons and craisins.  His favorite snack is graham crackers dipped in milk.

*is into bathroom talk, driving me insane (everything is a fart, toot, poop or pee and always ends in "head."  So that would make you a farthead, a toothead, a peepeehead, etc.)

*is a hoarder.  Saves every single scrap of paper ever to come into his life. 

*makes a really good Spiderman sound with his mouth...kind of like the sound of the web shooting from his hand.  I mean it, it is actually really good!!

*is the laughter and love in our home right now, he is such a sweet kid

 

Reagan at 7 years:

*loves 2nd grade, much better than 1st

*has finally gotten into reading.  She loves the magic fairy books, and anything princess-y

*wears the same outfits over and over and over.  Insists on washing her clothes every few days.  When I told her to wait until more were dirty to make a full load, she went back to her room and filled it up with clean clothes and brought it back out to wash. 

*loves swimming and doing cross country with friends

*pizza is her favorite food and she is also a snacker with mom constantly telling her that we eat meals, not snacks in this house.

*loves art and crafts and playing school, where she somehow ALWAYS ends up as the teacher

*loves the tv show "Jessie" and also knows how to get it going on Netflix

*can be a sass and is talking back, but also knows when she has gone overboard (see her note above)

*loves to have gno (girls night out or girls date, as she calls it)

*Reagan brings a lot of love and compassion to our home, we are so glad to have her to watch over her brothers like she does

 

Matt (35 years) and Lacy (25 years--just kidding!)

*we are so tired...like chronically!  But we signed up for this when we had kids, yes?

*Matt loves to relax with his shows...Pawn Stars, Amazing Race, and about a million other things set to record each day

*I relax by reading.  I have read some seriously funny stuff, that is my genre these days.  Just finished the Georgia Nicolsen series by Louise Rennison.  LAUGHED SO HARD!!!!!!  These were some seriously funny books. 

 

And that is it....yawn.  Matt and I are such bores these days, lol.  I am too tired to even write more about us.  Love to you all!!!