Saturday, October 30, 2010

trick or treating: part one

Ethan could hardly wait for this day! After hockey practice, we ate lunch and put Elliott down for a nap. Jason was on his way home, and we planned to go to the Zoo for trick or treating after he got home. As soon as Elliott was up, we started getting the costumes ready. Elliott had fun watching Ethan get his face painted, and was pretty disappointed that his costume didn't require it, but the tattoos made up for it.
GRRRRRR 
I tried to get some tats on Elliott's neck, but he wasn't having it, so we had to settle for just the arms and hands. 
Ethan stuffed himself into the car. 
Elliott couldn't wait to get some candy. 
After several minutes in line, they were off. 
Ethan tried to fit his two extra heads in two of the holes, but I made him use his real face. I love this picture. 
Ethan thought he was telling us directions, but it was an informational sign, not a map. Haha. 
Even Borris was there! Elliott was ecstatic!  
They had some real sled dogs and sleds, and Ethan got to stand on one!  
Every person that walked by made a comment about the boys, mostly about Ethan. This is what they saw coming at them.  
After the zoo, I saw I had a text message from my cousin, Natasha. The beauty school she goes to was having trick or treating there. Oh my gosh! They each had full buckets from the zoo, so we dumped them out, and they were full and spilling over by the time we left the school. They still have tomorrow to go! They had a blast, and I think tomorrow will have the same outcome.

Friday, October 29, 2010

before it's too late

Carving pumpkins is something I love to do. Not so much the process of, but the outcome. There are just so many possibilities! The night of Elliott's birthday party, before Jason had to go back to Helena, we got out our prize pumpkins from the pumpkin patch and dug in.
The boys weren't so sure about the guts at first, but Ethan didn't take long to warm up to the idea. 
I can't wait until he can do this all on his own. He kept wanting to wash his hands after every clump he brought out.  
Elliott tried a handful, got grossed out and spilled it on the floor. He thought the spoon was a much smarter way to do this. 
He really wanted to help. 
We cheated and used patterns. While they look cool, I think we will skip the patterns next year. They are way more of a pain than they are worth. 
Sunday night got much to late, so Monday after Jason left, the boys and I painted their small pumpkins. They really got into it.............well, you'll see. It started out so innocent. Ethan's says "I love you mom and dad".
Elliott could not figure out why I thought finger painting and getting messy was a good idea, but he got the hang of it after a bit. 
They had so many colors they couldn't remember which one was in which bottle. 
Elliott kept getting paint on him and was wanting to wash it off every time, so I decided to make it more fun for him. I painted a smiley face on his stomach. Of course Ethan couldn't be left out (remember the tattoos Chris?).
Elliott thought painting himself was so much more fun than on the pumpkin. 
Ethan has never been impressed with my art so he added his own. Don't worry, it's acrylic paint, and they were in the tub washing it off soon after we were done. They even had fun washing it off. Haha.
I'm pretty proud of our pumpkins. They turned out perfect. 
They look great on our steps. 
Tomorrow starts a weekend of Trick-Or-Treating! I can't wait!

Have a safe and happy Halloween!

Thursday, October 28, 2010

won't my mommy be so proud of me?

I bought these candy molds for my mom to use. She makes the COOLEST "Graveyard Cake". She usually buys a bag of plastic skeletons then cuts them up, but I thought edible ones would be so much better. She decided while she was here that I needed to make Ethan and his class "Graveyard Cupcakes". She has a sneaky way of putting these ideas in our heads and not being around to help make them happen.  Haha.
Ethan and I made a bunch of the pieces one afternoon and put them in the freezer for another day. They are pretty awesome. 
Today was the day to bring them to life. I started by baking cupcakes this morning. Elliott snuck up onto the counter and stole one while they were cooling. It was so dang cute to see him with it all over his face, I couldn't even be mad at him. After school, I sent the boys outside and started frosting.  
Then I colored the "grass" and sprinkled it on. 
I crushed the Oreos and made "dirt". 
They were starting to come to life at this point.
I used the squares from mini Hershey bars for the head stones and added a little white frosting to look like writing.
And last, I added my skeleton bones sticking out. Sometimes I impress myself.
The teacher preferred cookies, but how do you tell a kid we have to do lame cookies when he has his heart set on "Graveyard Cupcakes"? You don't.  :) I did wrap them all individually like she asked. (Dang the camera hates the crappy light in my house)
The kids are going to LOVE them!

Happy Halloween Weekend!

Monday, October 25, 2010

Happy Birthday Elliott Joe

We waited until Sunday to have Elliott's party. He's 2 so it's not like he cares if he gets to celebrate his birthday two days late. The pre-party consisted of Ethan blowing up balloons and Elliott kicking them and throwing them around. I would say it was the best $1.25 I have spent. :)
Once everyone showed up, we got started. The kids loved the balloons! 
Jaymee was nice enough to take pictures for me! Thanks! Our fridge was full of dump trucks filled with dirt cake. They were so cute! Ellett did this once for Dominik, and I was so greatful when she called and reminded me of the idea for Elliott.
Carson and Raigan LOVE "Mer's House".  
The big truck was for the adults, and all the kids got their own cake in a dump truck.  
Elliott was so happy when everyone was singing to him. His smile was plastered to his face for the whole song. 
Ethan was going to help him blow out the candle and Jason thought he should help them both, so we got this picture of them. I love it.  
I'm not sure if Jason thought the cake was nasty, or if someone farted, but either way, Elliott didn't seem to care.  :) 
Cake face! Too cute! 
Raigan was excited to see the Mr. Potato Head from Erica and Carson. She loves hers and wasted no time snatching it to ask her mom to open it. Elliott had so much going on, I don't think he even noticed. 
Brayden was one of the big kids helping, and Elliott was excited to show him the nerf gun! I can hear Elliott saying "AH-AH-AH". 
I couldn't see Elliott from where I was, but Jaymee was able to get a few pictures of him buried amongst the paper and toys.  
After the last gift was open, the kids headed outside and left this behind. Good thing we cleaned the house before hand. 
The weather was beautiful and we all ended up in the back yard. Elliott had a great time with his new soccer ball from Ethan. 
And of course Ethan had a great time playing soccer with his dad.  
Elliott had a great party. Thanks to everyone who came and celebrated with us. Everyone knows this, but time goes so fast. Our boys are growing up and making us old. Lucky for them, we still love them.

Sunday, October 24, 2010

busy busy busy

Saturday was our busiest day yet. It started with hockey practice, then after lunch, Ethan had his final soccer game. He played his heart out, even though he was exhausted from skating hard in the morning.

He won this kick. I'm so proud of him for working so hard at everything he does.
Jason was able to come home this weekend, and he kept Elliott occupied during the game. 
Another action shot of Ethan. 
Elliott was showing off his mad skills to the little boy sitting next to us.  
Ethan played goalie for the second half. It looks like he is going down here, but he saved himself. 
The ADM hockey clinic was also this weekend, so after a short rest, we got ready to go back up to the rink. Ethan is very excited about his USA Hockey jersey he got for attending.  
Elliott loves his big brother. He had to get in a shot too. 
After another hour on the ice, we had dinner then went back to the rink to watch the Bulls game. 10:00pm made for some tired kids and some really tired parents, but we had a really fun day.