Happy Halloween 2009!!

Halloween 2009.

Let's see...we had a Mario, a Luigi, a Thomas and an Iron Man.

Charlie is all about Thomas. He loves, loves, loves Thomas so, that costume choice was obvious.

The big boys love everything Wii and Mario Bros. So, Jack and Drew decided to be Mario and Luigi. Jack has been using his Mario voice since we ordered the costumes. The costumes are pretty cute and if you add in the funny voices and the natural cute-ness of Jack and Drew, they were a hit.

Which leaves us with Iron Man. We know nothing about Iron Man. None of us have seen any of the movies and we don't have any of the toys. I was surprised that Ben picked Iron Man and he won't really tell us how he ended up choosing to be Iron Man for Halloween. In my opinion, Ben just picks out the costume at the store that he thinks looks the coolest. And, it was very cool...all shiny maroon and gold, with muscles and a mask. What more could a 7 year old want in a costume?!?!

The neighborhood better look out...here they come!!!

Sean, Kiernan and Ravi joined in the fun.

"Mom, take a picture of Luigi getting hit by a train!!"

Mr. Sweet-tooth looks very, very happy!!

Here's a sneak peek at Wii's next Mario Bros. games...Mario vs. Luigi WRESTLING!!

Who needs candy when you have Doritos!!

And, how did Spencer spend Halloween afternoon???

Happy Halloween and Go Phillies!!!!

Children of the 21st Century....

...talk on the cordless phones with their friends!

AND!!

play with their friends!

on the internet!!

at the SAME time!!!!

In other Ben news, he was very excited when he got home from school yesterday because he got an "awesome prize" for getting earning 10 stickers at Speech. Hmmmmm....what would a kid that has EVERYTHING, and can spend his free time talking on the phone and playing on the internet with his friends, think is an "awesome prize"???? You will never guess....

That's right folks....it's a little notebook.

Woo Hoo!!

I really can't figure out the kids of this generation. :)

I know that they offer retakes....

...but, as goofy as Charlie's very first school picture turned out, part of me loves it.

Also, if you look at it from a distance.....and squint, you can't really tell that it looks like someone tried to give him a "comb-over" and his silly face kind of looks like a smile. At least he looks happy!!

Besides, we have plenty of adorable pictures of Charlie...like this one where he is laughing at his own school picture.

Yup, definitely a keeper!!

I carved a pumpkin!!!

LOL....not really. Spencer, Ben, Jack and Charlie carved a pumpkin. I put the candle in. But, using Charlie's logic, by tomorrow, he should be running around telling everyone that "Mommy carved a pumpkin". (If you are confused, see yesterday's post.)

But, seriously, our "Pumpkin Team" worked very hard and was very diligent.

Ben was an expert digger.

Charlie's job was to separate the seeds from the "gunk".

Jack took on the role of "inspector".

He remembered really liking to eat the pumpkin seeds from last year and wanted to be sure they were all out of the pumpkin.

Drew takes after his mom and had no interest in sticking his hands in a cold, wet pumpkin. (Yuck!!) He came in to enjoy the pumpkin lighting ceremony after all of the icky stuff was done.

I think my boys did a great job. Spencer copied the idea for the face from something he found on the internet. The boys picked it from about 20 different choices. They all liked it because it was labeled "Goofball". Perfect!! When the pumpkin was all done, Spencer asked Charlie if he thought the pumpkin looked "scaaaarrrry". Charlie said "no, he looks ANGRY!!". I jumped in and said that I thought it looked like a "goofball". Charlie said "NO....Goofball looks ANNNNGGGGRRRRRYYYYYY!!"

Hopefully, "Angry Goofball" lasts until Halloween!!!

Like my shirt????

"My *Dad* made it!!!"

Today was "Spirit Day" at the preschool. Charlie is in the Owl room so, for school today, he had to dress owl-ish.

Yesterday, Charlie and *I* went to the craft store to buy supplies to make a cool owl shirt.

Then, with Charlie's "supervision", *I* searched the internet for a picture of an owl that I could duplicate and *I* drew a picture of an owl on the felt that we bought and then *I* cut it out.

Then, *I* cut out eyes out of the white and black felt.

Then, *I* glued it all on the shirt.

Then, *I* colored and ironed on letters to the back of the shirt that said "Owls Rock".

Finally, I had to go teach the boys' RE class last night so, I asked Spencer to work with Charlie to finish the shirt by glueing a few feathers on the owl.

This morning when Charlie got up, he was very excited to show me the "shirt dat Daddy made". Then, he was very proud to tell everyone that commented on his shirt (lots and lots of people) that "Daddy made dat owl". He even announced it several times throughout the day, just to himself, that "Daddy made my shirt".

Isn't Charlie lucky to have such a creative and artistic Daddy?!?! I can't wait to see what he creates next. :-)

Charlie's New Attitude....

"I.... do.... it.... MYSELF!!!!!"

Sure, you think that is all cute, but it is not cute whenever we are trying to get somewhere, which is. all. of. the. TIME!!!

Actually, I exaggerated a bit. He only does this 50% of the time. The other 50% of the time is "Mommy **YOU** DO IT!!!". I don't know which is more "challenging".

I guess that is what being 3 is all about.

Good thing he is so gosh-darn cute.

Popcorn Selling Fun...

Who wants popcorn???

The boys had their first experience as salesmen a couple of weeks ago. We spent a couple of hours in front of the grocery store selling Cub Scout popcorn. I am not a salesperson at all...in fact, I hate selling stuff. But, I have to admit it was pretty fun. Maybe it was because the boys were so darn cute. I think the hat got them some extra sales and donations.
My absolute favorite line of the day belonged to Drew...

"Would you....ummmm.....like to sell....

ummmm...I mean *BUY* some popcorn,

or....ummmmm....make a DOMINATION???"

Who could possibly say no to that???


So, would you??? ;-) Seriously, let me know if you want some. I can put you in touch with an expert sales person.