Trick and Trunk and all other treatings

Figuring out costumes for the kids this year was really a breeze.  I was so surprised.  I only had to buy a couple of items to make them work.  We had them ready pretty early too so they were able to wear them four times to different parties and functions.  It was great.

This year we had:

Clark Kent

Aidan has been watching a tv show with me called White Collar. He really wanted to be the main character in this show, Neal Caffery 

The guy wears a suit and a fedora hat all the time.  Aidan had it all planned. He would wear his suit, we could buy him a fedora hat, (yes, I have taught him some fashion terms) and then we could make him a security ankle bracelet like the guy has in the show.  He was really excited but I told Aidan that no one would know who he was so we needed a new idea.  I saw on Pinterest a cute boy dressed up like Clark Kent and thought we could go with this idea.  Well, while looking up pictures of Clark Kent to see what type of glasses he wore,  I found that he too wore a fedora hat all the time.  I knew this would convince Aidan to be Clark because he has been eyeing a hat at Target for months now.  So off to Target we went.

 

Lacey wanted to be a black cat because her best friend, Allie was going to be a cat.

Our Angel

Cassidy decided to be an angel when I pulled out our costume box and she found this tulle skirt and white butterfly wings.  She was smitten with the idea from that moment.  I did get her a halo and some "real" angel wings instead of butterfly wings.  I loved her in this and she loved the makeup and glitter.

And miss Brynlee was a pumpkin.  Since she was less than 2 months not much fit her but we found this cute tulle skirt that had pumpkins on it and I had the big green flower.

Before the trunk or treat

At the trunk or treat

Aidan and George

My costume?  A post partum mom suffering from sleep deprivation.  I'm convincing huh?

Trick or treating: 

The whole gang

 The whole Gremmert Gang

Cassidy and her best friend

We go to the same neighborhood every year.  It isn't our neighborhood but it is relatively close.  The houses are really close together and tons of people participate.  They are very festive with their decorations too.  The kids had a great time trick or treating.  Cassidy finally got the concept this year.  She was so gracious too, she said Thank you every time.  Usually it is the boys running door to door but this year the girls were the ambitious ones.  The weather was just cool enough but not freezing!  It was a great Halloween season!

Oh and here is my one Ghoulish treat I made 

From Patch to Porch

We went to a local orchard to pick out our pumpkins.  We took a little hayride out to the patch to pick out our pumpkins.  It was pretty chilly and my kids were really not dressed for the occasion.  I had envisioned cute pictures in the patch with cute fall outfits.  Instead I got soccer jerseys and flip flops.  Oh well.  We had a great time.  We had to go through huge mud puddles on the way out there and the kids thought that was the best part.

 jumping off the haystack

 My kids are always so disgusted by the goop inside of the pumpkins. They never want to touch it.  It makes me laugh every time.

We opted for old school jack-o-lanterns this year. We normally do two intricate pumpkins and it takes us over an hour.  Tonight is took us maybe 20 minutes. love that.

 Cassidy's, Lacey's, Aidan's, and Nick's

We loved having Nick, Granny, Martha and Grandpa Arden joining in on the fun!

Big Sister...Finally!

Cassidy has waited for so long to be a big sister.  She told everyone she met that she was going to be a big sister.  The day finally came!  She is off to a great start!  She is always checking on Brynlee, helping to change her diaper, she talks to her when she is crying to calm her down, and helps pick out her clothes.  She gives her lots of kisses and always wants to hold her.  I love to watch her with Brynlee.

 

Try to focus on what Cassidy is saying.  She says some pretty cute things but the other kids talk over her some of the time. 

Congratulations from Lacey

Lacey wrote me a letter and brought it to the hospital today.  It is another sweet letter.  I so love them!

Translation:

From Lacey To Mom
Congratulations mom.  I am proud of you.  I love our new baby. What are we going to name the baby?  I was thinking that we can name her Rebecca.  I love that name. Can we mom? I hope we can. It is an option. You can think about that name.  We are the greatest family in the world. I love you.


What sweetie pie pie. And it is true we are the greatest family in the world.

First days!

The kids were a little too excited about school this morning. Aidan was up at 2:30 complaining he couldn't sleep. After helping him fall back asleep Cassidy woke me to tell me their was a monster that didn't like her. Then Lacey woke up at 5:30 to tell me it was almost 6:30 a.m. and we would need to get up soon. Then she continued to tell me every 15 minutes how much time left. All the kids somehow ended up in my bed too. Finally we all just got up even though I had 20 minutes until my alarm was to go off. I'm happy they were excited.  They both seem to have good teachers and have at least on of their favorite friends in their class.  It should be a great school year for both of them.

Cassidy has been waiting to start preschool for so long.  She associates going to preschool to becoming a big sister.  When she woke up this morning she asked if she was going to be a big sister today.  Sadly, not yet.  She loved being able to say in her weekly schedule that she had school.  She feels so big.  I can't believe I am sending another one off to preschool but I love to see how they enjoy having something all their own to be excited about and proud of.  She has mostly kids from our ward in her class so the transition will be very easy for her.

Cassidy with her carpool buddy and new favorite person in the world, Mary.

She had songs to sing to us, stories to tell, crafts to show us. and snacks to tell us about when she got home.  She had THE biggest smile on her face. 

Tennis pros

Aidan and Lacey took tennis lessons over the summer.  It was a crazy hot summer but we all endured the lessons well.  We had our camping chairs, snacks, and water for the spectators and then a fan/spray bottle, and water bottles for the players.  After a few lessons we realized the coach was our neighbors son.

Lacey had great form to start but just couldn't connect with the ball.  It would take her five swings to finally hit the ball.  Aidan had great form but too much power.  He was hitting it to the fence each time.  After a few lessons though they both improved drastically.  They played with larger balls that were mostly nerf.  They were called Quick Start balls.  I guess they are all the rage in Europe and the coach claims that is why European tennis players are better than Americans.  The coach was really good with the kids.  He was fun, patient but stern.  It didn't take long for the coach to find out that Grandpa Carter was tennis player and that the kids now felt ready to play against him.  I think that was both of the kids goal, to beat Grandpa.  The last tennis lesson of the summer was exciting for the kids because the coach had put all sorts of prizes on one half of the court.  Stuffed animals, toys, candy, snacks etc.  He had the kids hit the ball over the net and which ever prize they hit with the ball or hit closest to, they would win.  Each kid one like 3 things.  Also this summer they were featured in the local paper.  Lacey was quoted in the article.  It was exciting for them.

Trying to keep up with the big kids.

I was so happy to see them love tennis and that they actually have some skill in it.  Ryan has been good to take them to play tennis to keep up their skills.  Hopefully we will keep with Carter tradition and become a tennis playing family as well.