Halloween 2011

Holy cow!!! I am pooped! What a night of running around our neighborhood trick-or-treating!

This year was a blast though, the kids both really got into it, and it was Maddy's 1st year walking to trick-or-treat! So she LOVED walking up to each door just like her big sister! Her bucket got pretty heavy at one point so we had to empty it into a bag, as she was practically dragging it on the ground to keep going!!

Fun night, and both kids are in bed while I sort their HUGE loot of candy!!

 Carving the BIG pumpkin we saved for tonight!

 Just before dusk.....putting the pumpkin out, ready to get their costumes on!!

 LOOK!! It's Scooby Doo & Rapunzel!!!

Maddy got "Scooby-Doo" comments ALL night as we walked along. I didn't see another now that I think about it, so I guess it was somewhat unique!!

 We surprisingly got a few trick-or-treaters this year (past years we've had 0 or 1....So Abby LOVED the opportunity to hand out some candy before we left to get our own!

 Two tired girls wanted to snuggle with dad before heading to bed!

The LOOT!!!! Holy cow! One was even a full size candy bar! 

Good thing I can send the majority of it in with Mike to work so they can devour it and not us!

Pre-School Halloween Parade

Abby's Pre-School class had their Halloween parade today!

It was great because it is the first of many things this year that she gets to participate in, and display for the parents! Mike had to work, but Maddy and I were there to watch and take photos! Although it was kind of hard to take decent photos while chasing after Maddy, so this is the best I got! 

All the kids arrived to school in their costumes, and the parade started 15 minutes later in the front of the school. Abby was dressed as Rapunzel!

 Abby walking in with one of her classmates

 The teachers getting the kids lined up! This was a combination of two classes! So Abby's class is the right-half of kids, and her teachers are the ones in the orange shirts!

 Rapunzel (Abby), top row, 2nd from the right!

 A bit blurry due to my chasing Maddy, but that's the whole gang

More photos from tonight's trick-or-treating to follow!

Loungers....

These girls are always leaning, sitting or rolling on each other these days!!

 Lazy Saturday morning.....

Just watching a show together.....sitting alone just doesn't cut it anymore!

Pumpkin!

Pumpkin Time! Abby did a kid-safe pumpkin and it was witch-like!!

Pre-Halloween Fun

Halloween is just around the corner......4 more days!

We had a fun costume playgroup at our house today with a bunch of friends.

Amazingly we got the whole group of kids to sit still for 2 seconds to take a photo!!

 Abby is in the middle of the couch holding a little boy, and Maddy is second from the far right on the couch, not in costume, but holding a wand!!

Smith Girls

My wonderful friend Danielle snapped these AWESOME shots of the girls today!

It was a beautiful day so we took the kids to the park to burn some energy!

They are good sports getting their pictures taken!! Even when its playtime!

Simon Says....with Mickey Mouse

Following directions from Mickey Mouse

My Little Wrestlers

The girls have taken to wrestling, or rolling around on the floor.

Luckily no one has been hurt so far.....its all in good sisterly fun! Here's a cute video

Abby's 4-Year Checkup

Abby had her 4-Year checkup at the doctor yesterday.

I have to say, I was dreading it because I knew it would come with a few shots (which she hasn't had since she was 2!! So I know she doesn't remember getting any!!)

She did GREAT! She was excited to get the shots over with, but cried a bit during the process once she realized the pain they entailed. She was a champ, considering she got 5 shots (one was her flu shot!).

Most fun of the visit was making her paper gown into a ghostly Halloween costume during the moments of boredom waiting for the doctor to come in. Now she doesn't need shots again until she's 10! That seems like DECADES away.....but I know it will be here before we know it!

Abby's 4 Year Stats:

40 Inches Tall (56th percentile)

35 pounds, 4 oz (52nd percentile)

Perfect vision and hearing!! (And both tubes from the second set, installed in 2010 are out...nice!) 

Hunt Club Farm

We took a fun trip to a local farm with our mom's playgroup today!

It was a true Fall blustery day, but the kids still had fun, while us mom's froze!

Miss Lounger

Miss Madelyn knows how to lounge! Juice and cereal, and she's set! 

Naked too! Legs crossed.....the joys of being the baby of the family and being catered to.

Hiding....

Abby does quiet time (instead of naps now...) in her room everyday for 2 hours (while Maddy naps!!)

The other day, Maddy woke up, and it was a good 30 minutes past Abby's quiet time. So we went in her room to check on her, and found her under her bed playing with her animals!!

She said it was fun to play under there!! So cute.

Monkey Girl

Maddy has been a ball of fun lately.

Her personality shines through more everyday.

 Just this week she attached herself to an old monkey stuffed animal of Abby's

 It has always been around, but now she LOVES it. Its cute to see her love on something else, since she's usually the one being loved on by us!!

Our local zoo had a military appreciation day today (free admission), so we took full advantage and had a great free trip to the zoo (our membership expired and I'm waiting to find out if we will continue to live here before I renew!!). The girls had a lot of fun and Maddy got to ride on daddy's shoulders for a while.

Abby's 4th Birthday.....Week of celebrations!

Our BIG 4 year old got to celebrate her birthday ALL week long!

 It started with us waking her up (7:30am) on Tuesday because she chose that day to decide to sleep in......not happy to be awake....until she saw her NEW Scooter!!!

 Of course Maddy was equally happy to see the new toy!

 Tuesday I made Abby a homemade cake with vanilla meringue buttercream icing!!!

 And we made homemade pizzas that Abby got to help with!

 Then after dinner it was present time!!

 This was a fun year to watch her open gifts. She was so appreciative for everything and LOVED all the special gifts she received. (Can you tell Rapunzel is her favorite character right now???!!!)

 Cake time!!

 Well, her birthday week continued with celebrating her birthday at her school on Wednesday (I sent in Dunkin Donut, donut holes for all the kids and she handed out goodie bags!

Lastly on Saturday we had a handful of her friends over for a low key party at the house!

 All decked out in one of the gifts she received from a friend! Cute bakers outfit with apron, hat and oven mitt!!

Now the birthday banner for Abby is down and the house is getting back to normal......until Maddy's birthday in two weeks of course!! Luckily she's too little to appreciate big celebrations, so we'll keep it small :)