Let's face it, this is a pretty high high point. :) Who doesn't love a toddler in 80's workout clothes?! Allie rocked this costume and later even won a prize at the Halloween party she was decked out for.
So much fun to do Halloween with friends! We had some families over for dinner on this night and then all went to a party together. Here are some of the girls doing makeup beforehand.
That's Joshua in there. This costume lasted about as long as it took to take the picture. Too little mobility for him.
Allie wasn't the only one that went 80's.
The boys finished up the cross country season with a county meet in which they were given the championship trophy in error. Whoops. They did win overall, though--just not this last meet.
Joshua got his belated birthday party and began with a huge frisbee game on the big field in our neighborhood. They played for hours, which worked out well because Matt was a little tied up with an uncooperative tree in our backyard. But that's a whole other story.
Post-frisbee pizza dinner. Yes, we let all these boys spend the night in our house. Sooo thankful for that loft, where they were sequestered from 11 pm on and who knows what happened in there. They cleaned up the next morning by downing dozens of leftover cans of pepsi with blatant disregard for sanitation. Oh, teenage boys.
Halloween itself was a happy night, as each kid got to spend it with friends (and me too). Matt was happy to hold down the fort at the end of the driveway and hand out candy, sometimes to unsuspecting nieces who thought he was just some "sketchy" guy. And no, he was not in costume. :)
Gray had his first Halloween out with no adults and he and his friends did a great job staying together, in spite of our worries.
I stuck with these lovely ladies. Julia was so psyched about her costume (Gamora from Guardians of the Galaxy...which the boys would never have been allowed to see as young elementary kids, but that's what you get when you are a tough little sister with two big brothers) and loved trick or treating so much. The big girls were good to wait for Allie, who went nonstop for quite awhile, not even want to be in the stroller....then hit a wall and zoned out. The girls made up their own system of waving their glowsticks and getting a wave back from the moms to find their way in the dark after each house. At one point I remember them laying down in the culdesac from exhaustion, but still protesting when we called it a night.
Meanwhile, Joshua was creeping around the other side of the neighborhood, taking frequent breaks because T-Rex is not real fast. :) He had a great time with friends and even managed to cross to the other end of the neighborhood at the end of the night to see Nanny and Pa.
In November, I got to go with my dad to watch a State game. It was cold, a little wet, and we lost. But it was so nice to be in another world for a bit and just get to hang out with Daddy.
Gray has had lots of friend time this month, with several of his buddies-new and old- having birthday sleepovers. I love that he's keeping the usual suspects around but also making several new friends with the influx of kids from other schools that happens in middle school.
He and Matt got to go to a Duke game on a beautiful fall day. They ended up with great seats, thanks to a family friend.
With the end of the fall sports season came the sports banquet. We enjoyed watching the boys get several awards for their team's success and keeping up their grades. I remembered that when Gray went to Joshua's banquet last year and saw him get a scholar-athlete award, he began to plan to get one for himself, asking me if organization counted in the awarding of this medal. Well, buddy, it did and it didn't. It's been tough at times for Gray to stay on top of the organization stuff, but somehow he managed to pull things off anyway.
The girls cannot get enough of friend time. When they get playdates, it tends to look like this...lots of pretending, dancing, performing, and happiness.
We spent Thanksgiving with Matt's family this year. Matt was able to take off a few days and not have to go into work after we ate, so that was really nice for him. Gray awoke Thanksgiving Eve feeling terrible with an ear infection, cough, etc. He and I stayed home for Thanksgiving at first, but then he slept and was like a new man! So we headed over to eat and before I knew it, he was out in the yard playing football in the cold. Can't keep that boy down.
We had a fun visit from Jeannie and the boys to finish off our Thanksgiving weekend. The kids have so much fun together. Julia gets right in there with the boys and my big boys get a little more "little kid" to hang with their younger cousins.
We got our Christmas tree December 1st (Julia is not happy with having to bend down to fit into the shorter face here) and the kids had it decorated in no time. We also did our shopping trip to the thrift store, where the kids all bought each other gifts for about $20 total.
We also kicked off the Christmas season with a party for Joshua and some friends. It was the first mixed gender party we've had and even though these kids play frisbee together all the time, they aren't so comfortable with this kind of socializing. They warmed up from their segregated circle here and all had a good time and Joshua can't wait to do it again.
We finished our weekend with the Hillsborough Christmas parade. We were so bummed that the bands all canceled due to threat of bad weather, but we had fun hanging out with lots of friends anyway and it was very mild out, which made it even more enjoyable.
Julia had a trial gymnastics class and loved it. She'll start after the holidays and cannot wait!
If the weather cooperates, we have a whole lot coming up this month and it's all so fun! We have three concerts next week, several frisbee and basketball games (the boys had their first frisbee game last night and Joshua was thrilled to get a score), some service events, parties, a visit home, and some special guests. So many blessings in this special time of year!!
