Halloween

So much fun was to be had over the weekend! Halloween began with my work Halloween party that never disappoints. Don was Young Frankenstein and I was Inga the nurse. Juliette was a fancy witch, Tripp was batman, Thomas was the dog and Tyler was the lion.

This girl danced the whole night at the party! Even in the pointed witch shoes she boogied all evening!

 

Halloween evening began at Tessa and Doh's house with the annual chili dinner and pumpkin carving. Don was quite proud of his piece of work.

Juliette picked the freaky eyes out and put here Daddy to work.

This was Adi's first Halloween experience. She had never seen a pumpkin carved, lit with a candle and all the trick or treaters out in the street.  

This year we had our friends Angus, Andralee and Audrey join us for an evening of trick-or-treating. They met us at Tessa and Doh's house.

The babies both went to two houses. Of course we start each Halloween evening at Mr. Jim and Ms. Sonya's house.

Tripp was ready to go!

He was quite nervous about Doh but convinced himself that it was only a mask! Of course he can't find his mask as we're running out the door... so the dracula mask that we made had to do. Sure - he was just going to be part Bat-Man and part Dracula.

Doh you really are f-weaky he told him!

We snapped pictures in a graveyard we encountered in a front yard down the street...

We had three tired trick-or-treaters by the end of the night. They were so floppy they sat down in the grass and wanted to begin to organize their candy. Little did we know, the entire night Tripp trick-or-treated in socks. He forgot to put his shoes on. 

We got back to Tessa and Doh's and the kids spent a few minutes doing some trading and sorting. 

I still LOVE this video from last year. It just never gets old. This is when we pulled up in front of their house last year and Doh was ready for the scare!

I hope everyone had an extra Spook-tacular Halloween!

A gorgeous day for the pumpkin patch!

We had the most gorgeous weather to visit the pumpkin patch at Boone Hall! The babies came this year and they loved every minute of it!

Juliette is such an amazing big sister - she is so helpful and even tries to encourage a photo op with Thomas. Pictures with the twins is next to impossible. They just don't quite get it yet. They think it is funny to run away when you say "stay" and try to shoot...

And her dear big little brother that she can't get enough of! It was not worth the battle to encourage Tripp to wear something Halloween related... he was sure that the Christmas reindeer would be so much better!

Thomas loves tickles from Doh!

  

The hay ride is spooky as always! Tripp was all eyes and Thomas was all hair blowing in the breeze!

So happy for another Halloween season!

Until next year pumpkins...

It's beginning to feel "Goolish" around here...

The kids were ready! They had been talking about her for weeks and now was the time to see if they could get her here. Juliette thought she would be super impressed with her new cursive handwriting. 

The babies as you could tell were excited as well. Tripp let us know that even though Juliette loves her... "I don't love her... She is f-weaky"

The next morning the children woke up to a note from Toothetina their Tooth Fairy. It was quite cute... Juliette and Tripp were quite surprised and a little confused. It is perfect because the older they get, the more I've got to make sure I'm on my game. 

SOOOO... 

with that being said I crafted a totally new plan! Belinda would arrive early evening while Juliette was playing at Tessa and Doh's house and Tripp at soccer practice with Daddy. The babies and I got everything ready. Juliette has been devastated that her breathing dog Belinda was left under the airplane seat. She talked about her daily and was assured knowing that she could talk to Santa and surely he would find her and bring her home. 

Well, instead, guess who Belinda  found while she was flying through the air? Nutmeg! This time Nutmeg came home in a special dog carrier so that she would not be dropped from the broom!

The babies were hilarious. Tyler was terrified of her and backed away whenever I tried to have her talk to him. Thomas was unphased. He thought she looked like a nice maybe a little scary looking kinda lady. I tried everything to get a good picture with them and her....

100 pictures later.... and we did end up with two precious ones!

Well then the kids got home! I was hidden in a bush and got to video the whole thing! Mom and Don timed everything perfectly and arrived home at the same time.  This video is ONCE and a LIFETIME... I may not ever be able to pull something off like this again!

As a Mom, the shock, the aww, the joy and the magic brings tears to my eyes! Juliette realizes that she is stuffed but in her eyes, her little mind still tells her that Belinda is filled with magic and really flies in on the broom to come to us every year!

It was time to try the babies' costumes on. Once again, Tyler is not all up on this whole costume thing. I dressed Thomas first and had to hold him so Tyler would begin to approach and pet the puppy...

Then slowly Tyler got comfortable that underneath it was really Thomas.... It was first worth a look

and then worth a hug but not ready to look and hug...

Then "Hello it is you my sweet brother!"

See after all there is nothing to fear! They are getting all prepped for the big day!

The big kids' costumes came today! Besides Belinda, there is nothing quite as exciting during Halloween than the arrival of the costumes.... Juliette was crazy about her long blue hair as part of her matching Belinda witch costume! The outfit even came fit for witch shoes with a point and buckle! And then there is batman... yes no words needed for that guy!

Keep the Fall coming! We love it... we love the weather, the magic, the excitement, the giggles, cooler evenings. I am thankful for all of this! Enjoy each day my friends! 

My cup runneth over!

Go away Matthew

We survived Hurricane Matthew! We actually were very lucky and the Lowcountry seemed to be very spared! Many areas got it much worse than we did. 

We ended up staying and of course after the storm I was so happy that we did. Daniel Island was like the old quiet island... hardly anyone around. The weather could not have been any more amazing!

We entertained ourselves before the storm - played outside, enjoyed cheerios with Gypsy, decided to fare a winter coat, and even all jumped into the tree house to practice "hurricane safety"

The night before the storm we took two bike rides and walks.... the skies did the talking that night and I was at peace that we were going to be just fine! 

Later that evening we took the Babboe out and the kids were sure they were all seeing coyotes! You can see who is brave, who is not and who just doesn't have a clue even what a coyote is! Although I would start to how like a coyote and someone was not so brave then...

"Mommy, stop that! You could be calling the pack over to us!"

They always say that animals know when a storm is approaching. There is no doubt about that. Gracie has no hearing and really did not act any differently. Gypsy however was a nervous hound... she paced, licked, panted and then even insisted on sitting on my lap... as they say, the more the merrier.

We all jumped into the tree-house and played "Evacuation"

Tyler is squeezed in there but that big head of Gypsy is right in the way... gotta look hard for him!

As the winds were beginning to die down we could not hold the kids in the house any longer... they were ready to jump through the windows! So out we went. 

Adventure did not have to go far! We found a baby canebrake rattlesnake just at the end of the driveway. If there was one thing I remember from Hugo, it was the snakes that came out afterward! It definitely did not take long to find one. 

And as soon as the weather passed... the most amazing weather cam through! Once we were able to get out of the house with a few days off, we lived outside! We went to every park and I enjoyed every minute with this sweet little people. 

  

I could not have asked for a nice "Evacu-cation" with all of my sweet little ones!

I am not sure who had more fun - the kids or the Mommy...