Happy Halloween!

The gang had a fabulous Halloween!

Annie decided to be Daphne for Halloween (from Scooby Doo, not Who Lives In Mexico). Naturally, Kate wanted to be Velma if Annie was going to be Daphne. So naturally, I couldn't pass up an opportunity such as that. Thus, Evie spent her first Halloween as Scooby Doo. :)

We went over to our Jul and Dan's for pre Trick or Treating pizza and pumpkin crafts.

Kate, Annie and Steve. Or Velma, Daphne and Buzz Lightyear.

Kate was loving being Velma. She was dedicated to the look, especially the glasses.

Daphne.

They made Matt dress up as Fred! (Scooby is looking a little rough. She was really tired.)

Evie and mama. She only last about 4 houses in the stroller. She was tired and wanted to be held.

Scooby and Fred.

Annie and our little neighbor Sadie (a pirate) sprinting to the next house. The four big kids (Annie, Kate, Steve and Sadie) were so cute running from house to house. I'm so glad I went along instead of staying home to pass out candy. They are the perfect age for Halloween!

Kate trying to keep up. For some reason, she had like twice the candy as the other kids even though they hit the same number of houses. Curious...

Kate's pre-costume Halloween look. I mean to get pictures of all of them in the Halloween shirts (and homemade headbands, thank you very much). But Kate was as far as I got.

It was a great day, and now they'll be eating candy for weeks!

Happy Halloween!

Hail

We took the girls the Michigan Field Hockey game on Friday afternoon. It was staff appreciation day, and there was free food. It was gorgeous out, Annie loves sporting events and it seemed like a perfect plan. And it was, actually.
 Annie and Kate loved the game. After attending the U of M football game (she actually said the field hockey game was like the football game but with less people--which was pretty much the understatement of the century), Annie is an expert at when to fist pump and yell either "Hail!" or "Go Blue!" She helped Kate along a little, and the two of them cheered the field hockey team to a Big Ten Conference title that very day!

They gave the girls M flags when we arrived. This is just before Annie whacked me in the face.

All you Buckeyes will be pleased to know that I tried to get Eve to hold the flag for a picture, but she refused to cooperate. She did, however, attempt to eat the handle later.

Celebrating the big win!

And now they want Aunt Jackie to teach them how to play field hockey! Score for everyone! :)

Pumpkin Carving

We were such procrastinators about pumpkin carving this year. We did them today, the last possible second before Halloween. Last year, the girls were really into it. This year, not as much. They drew the faces they wanted on paper to guide us in the carving, but that was pretty much it. Other than posing with the pumpkins proudly for pictures, of course. They wouldn't go near the pumpkin goop. I stuck a handful out near them, and they both nearly cried. What wusses. :)

Totally fake. She didn't get that spoon in any farther than that.

That goes double for Kate.

Evie didn't care what was going on. She just sat in her seat and had food. This kid seriously loves food.

I got Annie to touch the goop by offering her a quarter. I don't know if I'm sad or proud, but it's still pretty awesome.

Matt played a little fast and loose with Kate's design, and he fashioned this pumpkin tongue to use as part of his creation.

Annie with her design and my hard work carving (I still have all my digits!)

Kate with the pumpkin Matt made. It's actually pretty funny. And, that dirt on the porch is a coincidence that I just noticed. We weren't going for the vomiting pumpkin, just one with his tongue sticking out.

The remnants of their church clothes. Annie is, in fact, still wearing a skirt.

Mornings

I have gotten in the horrible, horrible habit of letting the girls eat their breakfast on the couch while watching a cartoon.  I am ashamed to admit it, but it's true. They are only allowed dry breakfast foods this way -- no oatmeal or cereal or syrup. But, they usually eat frozen waffles for breakfast (literally frozen, they won't let me toast them), so they end up like this a lot. For awhile, they were fighting over the best seat in the living room, in the corner of one of the couches. Then, they started taking turns. Then, they started doing this, which is so much cuter. And undoubtedly shortlived...

(They push the coffee table over themselves so they have somewhere to set all their stuff.)

At The Park

Evie's first time on a slide.

She thought it was great just sitting at the top.

Until her sisters found her...and piled in behind her.

She looks very worried. She's obviously already very smart.

It's hard to take a picture and keep your baby from flying off the end of a slide.

Round Two. Evie realizes this is actually really fun! And that Mommy will catch her! Hours of entertainment!

Pumpkin Patch!

It's October! My favorite month! The month of the pumpkin patch! I love pumpkin patch pictures. It's so much fun. We went last night, and it was cold! We saw some animals, walked around a big pumpkin patch, picked a few winners and laughed at Annie and Kate, who have suddenly become absolutely hilarious.

We started looking at some baby cows. The pen next to the cows was open. This was Annie's face when Matt told her it was because a farm animal escaped. When she's older, she'll know he's kidding because he would have been the first one sprinting for the car. :)

They had this little hay maze. It was covered in a blue tarp, which I think made it creepy. Annie didn't care at all.

In news that will shock no one, Kate was extremely wary. She didn't go in much farther than this.

I don't think I've ever managed a good photo at the designated picture prop area.

Except this one. What a cute baby!

Kate and the pumpkins.

We put Annie to work.

Annie wanted her own picture with a big pumpkin, but Kate snuck in the background. I didn't set them up like this!

Kate.

Evie and the Great Pumpkin. (Matt's foot in the lower right corner is proof that we didn't abandon our baby atop a giant pumpkin.)

Queens of the Mountain. That's what they were calling themselves.

Big House Big Heart

I am a bad blogger.

Anyway, we did do the run I last blogged about. It was the Big House Big Heart 5K. It's a really fun race that takes you around Ann Arbor, and then you finish at the 50 yard line at Michigan Stadium. Matt and I each pushed a stroller. I don't recommend it, but not because it was that difficult. Mostly, it was nearly impossible and totally frustrating trying to navigate the strollers around the walkers, of which there were many. They should add a separate walk next year. Anyway, the girls had so much fun, and so did we, so it was a win for everyone! I recommend this run for anyone who likes to do 5K (or 10Ks or Kids Fun Runs).

Worth the Sweat

A few weeks ago, Matt and I (really, I ) decided that we should run in a 5k that's coming up. (It's actually tomorrow, so I'm sure I'll post about it soon.)  However, in order to do that, we actually had to start running again so we didn't keel over during the race. And in order to run, we have to push our children in jogging strollers because we are cheap and sort of lazy and it's not worth paying a babysitter or begging our friends. So we pack Annie and her long, long legs into a very old stroller, and force Evie and Kate into the double jogger and off we go. It's usually fine with a minimal amount of whining and fighting. Sometimes it's awful, and we consider just pushing the strollers downhill and running the other direction. And sometimes, it is pure bliss. Because this happens:

ALL THREE! They all fell asleep. It was wonderful. Kate has fallen asleep in a stroller a total of four times in her entire life, and two of those times have been recently while we were running. Totally worth the sweat and near heart attacks and all the considerable amount of pennies we paid for that double jogger (see, Matt?! Totally worth it!)

They were so out, they even stayed asleep when we carried them inside.

Eight Months

Evie is eight months old!

I LOVE this age. Love it. If I had a seven to 10-month old at all times, I would be happy forever. :) She is so fun and happy and sweet and easy. Matt says I am obsessed with her. It's a possibility. I think he said the same thing when Annie and Kate were this age, too. Regardless, Evie is doing great. She's pulling herself up on everything, cruising a little bit and eating everything she can. She pulled the top off my cheeseburger bun today and stuffed it in her face before I could stop her! She babbles a lot, and Annie can get her to clap when the mood strikes her.

She is adorable and lovely, as always.

She keeps making this funny little face. And that's Annie's little finger tickling her to get her to smile. :)

We love this happy baby!