Halloween.

I made this shirt to be ultra festive.  :)
 
Here’s a better belly picture, Linds.

I pretty much lost my motivation to do the kids’ costumes since I already took pictures, so Talmage got his wish to be Batman.  He is soooooooo cute!

We went to a Halloween party at the American Embassy which was pretty awesome and fun and included trick-or-treating (including some American goodies like Reese’s peanut butter cups) and lots of treats and cupcakes.  Plus some of our good friends were there to party with, so it was good times.
Home with the loot!

And Jethro looked almost scarier after he started washing off his makeup than before.

The weekend (and Monday)

looked like this from  my window.

On Saturday we cleaned the  house, Brett and the boys cleaned the van and put the snow tires on (good thing!) and then we watched a movie.

Sunday was the primary program.  I thought Hazel’s hair was so cute.

 

My sister Lindsay said I was obligated to post a picture of my belly.  I realize this isn’t actually a good picture for comparison, as I am wearing a loose-fitting shirt and am not sideways, but it will have to do.  (Also it’s fuzzy and the kids heads are half-chopped off, but Jethro took it for us really quickly before church so it’s better than nothing.)

 

I liked how my boys looked all working in the kitchen.  :)

To celebrate the snow we made snow icecream (and to try to assuage the sadness from it being Sunday and not being able to go sledding/playing in it)!!  It was our first time trying it, even though I’ve been meaning to try it for many years now.  Here’s a link for some recipes, in case you want to try.  We made it with sweetened condensed milk, but maybe next time we’ll try it with milk/cream and sugar.

Orrin thought something Brett was doing was funny.

The boys excited to play in the snow on Monday morning.

Throwing snow at me, the little stinker!

He was pretty excited about hitting me.

It’s gotten warmer, but the snow isn’t completely gone yet.  I was kind of hoping for a reallllly long Indian summer.  I don’t think it’s going to happen.  Sniff.  Winter is NOT my favorite.  I will take this opportunity to share a list.

10 Things I Dislike About Winter

1.  It’s COLD.

2. It’s dark.  Soooo dark for soooo long.

3. It takes forever long to go anywhere when you have to put boots and coats etc. on kids.  And then packing them into car seats is aggravating.  Then when you actually get to where you’re going- say, the grocery store—it’s too hot and all the coats have to be stuffed into the grocery cart, leaving no room for your groceries.  It’s a pain.

4.  Wet mittens, hats, boots, snow pants, etc. are ALWAYS strewn around the house, leaving puddles and disarray.

5. Perpetually cold feet, particularly at night in bed.

6.  Sometimes snow can be pretty, but for a majority of the time, it’s just grey, dirty, and everything is bare and ugly.

7.  It lasts FOREEEEEVER.

8. I turn into a slug.

9.  Driving on slick roads.

10. Perpetual runny noses.

Yes, I am a whiner.  To offset this whininess a bit, I give you

Things I Like About Winter

1. Christmas (and that’s not even really winter’s doing—but I do like white Christmases)

2. Clementine oranges

3. Nice warm dinners are particularly gratifying on a cold, dark evening.

…and, that’s all I can think of.

 

Anybody have any tips on how to keep the coats and hats and scarves and mittens and boots orderly in a small hallway with only one small closet that is already brimming to overflowing with the normal coats and bookbags??

Halloween Spooks

Be warned- some of these pictures are mildly disturbing.  You’ve been warned.

This year we had a witch, a mummy, a ghost, a skeleton (kind of), and a demon of the night.
       
(I have to say I’m pretty… no WAY… impressed with how everything turned out especially considering I only bought:
from a second-hand store-
black turtle-neck, candle-stick, white skirt, lacey thingee, striped leggings (which can be used as p.j.’s),
new-
witch hat, spray paint, black hair spray.)
Ethne’s costume photographed awesome, and Talmage looked so awesome, as did they all, actually.  Good times.  They were all even really good for pictures (and here I was all prepared to bribe them with treats or whatever I could think of).
We are going to a Halloween party at the American Embassy on Wednesday, but I dressed them all up today for the pictures because the temperature is supposed to drop by a thousand degrees or something in the next few days.)
Have a spooooooky Halloween!!!!