Trick-or-Treat!

Take one little robot...

 

...add a valiant Knight...

 

 

...throw in one curly Shirley Temple...

 

 

(Annie's favorite part was getting to wear lipstick and mascara :)

 

...top it off with two crazy cousins...

 

 

...and you get one perfect Halloween night!

 

And since it took a lot of work to pull it all together...I am gonna bore you to death with a few more pics :)

 

Robot doing the robot

 

 

 

 

 

 

94 trick-or-treaters later...we are calling it a night.

 

I can hardly wait for tomorrow to sit down with a cup of coffee & look through all my friends pics on Facebook & on their blogs to see their little cuties while I yell, "No more candy Rocco!  I mean it!"  & "Bo!!! Come back here with that candy bag!"

 

Let me know if you have some trick or treaters for me to see too!

Happy Halloween!

 



Party Animals

Last night, I thought I was so smart...Kelly was at a Vikings Game I was home with the kids, and I was tired! 

 

At 6:50 I said, "Get your Jammies on!"  And at 7:00 I shoved them all into bed with prayers and kisses. 

 

Ahhhhhhhh.  Silence.

 

Until about 5:50 this morning,

 when I was pretty sure there was a frat party downstairs.

 

It turns out I was right.

Music Blaring.

3 boys streaking through the living room in their

Spidey Tighties.

1 screaming and giggling girl chasing the boys.

I turned to Kelly & said, "Do you think they are drunk?"

 

He was pretty sure they weren't since the only time we had

alcohol in the house was to make some Tastefully Simple beer bread, and their sippy cups were filled with

milk (thank you Annie).

 

 

So today, I pay.

 

I managed to shoo the girl out the door

and get clothes on the boys.

 (well almost all their clothes)

But their batteries are charged and they are wild as ever.

 

Think I'll go give them some naps! 

(I never learn:)

 

 

 

A DO NOT DIY...

You think this is scary?

or this?

They don't scare me!

(well maybe just a little)

 

Wait until you see where I went yesterday:

Now THIS is scary...

That is right...nothing scares me more

than taking three little boys into Michaels!

 

Now THAT is scary!

It really is.

 

I'll tell you why I braved up for this scary trip.

My friends have all been creating gorgeous pumpkins.

Koralee paints them,

Theresa sews them,

& Jessica wraps them magically with yarn.

& they are all perfect!

 

So...when I bought a bunch of sweet little gourds & pumpkins from a friend at Annie's school I knew I wanted to "do them up." 

 

I also knew with all the little hands around I should probably go with something "easy" since I knew I wouldn't be doing it alone.

 

Well here is a little DN (do not) DIY to paint pumkins:

 

First, do not find your self telling all your boys,

"SURE, you can hold the pumpkins in the car...

(seemed harmless)

 

...just be careful not to break off the stems!"

 

Do not tell them they can pick any color they want at Michaels.

 

EW.

 

Then when you start painting, 

do not tell them, "Try really hard to keep it off the stems."

 

 

 

And do not buy the cheap paint.

 

Who even knew a pink pumpkin could be so ugly?

(Not me, I mean did you see Koralee's adorable pink pumpkin?)

 

Just when you think they can't get any uglier...

they do:

 

This is when I just started shaking my head.

 

Oh...& whatever you do, do not try to fix them with glitter!

 

Sigh...

 

Of course, the whole time they are

smiling & so proud of their work.

"How does it look mom?"

"Interesting Bo...very interesting."

 

And poor  Annie,

"Honey, I can't lie....that thing is pretty ugly."

She laughed & agreed :)

 

When they are drying, do not bother telling any little boys,

"Don't touch them yet, they are still wet."

It's like saying, "Please touch them all!"

 

Then, after about 5 coats,

do not keep pushing on determined to finish the project

by spraying them with a shiny clear coat.

 

They are still just ugly.

Now they are just shiny and ugly.

 

No matter what...DO NOT try this at home.

 

You have been warned.

But, I have this baaaaad feeling we will be
destroying pumpkins for years to come.  The kids love those awful things :)

If you have some cute pumpkins for me to see make sure to let me know!  I need a little cuteness after all this!

 

 

Have you ever met a blog friend?

I can hardly believe September is over.

 

The week before school started

we went to a rustic cabin with our cousins.

 

You know the kind of trip where

everyday was spent in the water.

 

 

 

 

 

The babies tipped over so much in their life jackets

that we all just giggled and tipped them back up.

 

The kids fell completely in love with Paul Bunyan,

and Babe the Blue Ox.

 

 

The kids had opportunities to try new things like:

 

hold snakes,

 

feed kangaroos,

 

and pet the deer.

 

 

 

(Although I do think the deer were glad to see Rocco go.)

 

 

 

Dinner was made over the fire

 

followed by s'mores

 

and cuddles.

So many magical moments that

I was instagraming all day :)

@libbiedoyle

 

But the highlight of the trip was meeting a blogger friend!

I had never done that before!

 

Two days before we left I found out my friend Pat had a resort only 6 miles away and she was brave enough to invite us all over!

 

From the minute we got out of the car we felt like old friends. 

 

She talked with the kids as if she had known them for years.

 

She & her hubby Steve were so sweet that

the kids didn't want to leave.

 

(and her milkshakes were pretty amazing too!)

 

 

It was so fun to meet her daughter Jen too!

(although they discovered my secret that I am very good with camera angles and much larger in real life :) 

Soooo...here I am with Pat in all my

"pregnant glory" (we will just call it that :)

 

 

We had so much fun we visited her

the next day too!

 

I realized that our "blog friends"

should just be called friends.

 

And even though we had a flat tire both on the way there AND on the way home...

...it was one of those trips where you just knew that everyday we were making childhood memories that would last a lifetime.

 

 

Summer is magical.

 

 

 

P.S.   If I were you I would pop over & visit Pat.

It will be the beginning of a beautiful, uplifting, friendship...I

... promise :)