Halloween 2011: May The Force Be With You

We had a Star Wars theme for Halloween this year. 

Now, don’t think that we are Star Wars junkies or anything.  In fact we had to do some serious Star Wars brushing up this summer.  Emma had never even seen any of the movies until the summer, and Isaac and Grace had no idea who Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia were.  Thankfully Grace was sold with the “princess” part and Isaac was totally ok with it once he heard about light sabers and we showed him pictures of Luke Skywalker.  The year that the twins were born Lee announced that we would do a Star Wars theme one year just because we have boy/girl twins and he desperately wanted the opportunity to say “Luke, I am your father”.   Well, he got that opportunity and Isaac and Grace played their rolls well.

Emma was Queen Amidala.   As the mother of Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia I should have been Queen Amidala.  But, for some reason Emma didn’t want to be Yoda or Jabba the Hutt or C3PO or R2D2 like we suggested.  I decided to take one for the team and be Yoda myself and let Emma take the more glamorous roll.  You’re welcome, Emma. 

These costumes weren’t as fun for me to make as last years, but they turned out pretty good and I was happy with the final results based on our inspiration pictures. 

And Lee Darth Vader got his fight scene with Luke (& Leia.  Yes I know Leia shouldn’t have a light saber, but if Isaac was going to have one than Grace thought she should too.  It was also easier for me to put a light saber in the hands of my sweet three year old than a blaster.).

My favorite part of the costumes were the kids’ trick-or-treat bags.  Probably because I got to be a little creative AND add glitter to them!

The only time we all wore our costumes this year was at our ward trunk-or-treat.  Isaac and Grace were beyond excited to go.  They remembered getting candy last year and they were all ready to do it again.  We had to keep telling them that we had to eat chili and play games first.

Before they realized they were brother and sister…

Both of them loved the donut on a string game.  They weren’t quite sure what to do at first, and were surprised to end up with the whole donut at the end.

Funny story.  When they announced that there were games for the Primary kids Emma said “well, I don’t need to play them because as of tomorrow I won’t be a Primary kid”.  When we got into the room with the games and she saw the donuts she said “well, I’m still a Primary kid today so I guess I can play that game.”  Made me laugh.  She enjoyed her donut!

Before we made it out to the parking lot to do some trunk-or-treating we had to do a little fighting in the hallway.

It looks like Harry Potter got in on the action too…

Finally it was time for the candy.  Isaac and Grace knew just what to do and wasted no time collecting their treats.  I missed most of it because I was searching for my keys that were locked in the car (with our candy to pass out which meant we ended up with way more than I wanted!).  Emma did a good job taking them around the parking lot.

The trunk-or-treat got them all primed and really ready for Halloween.  They were so excited!  We had been counting down the days on our Halloween Countdown and the day had finally come.  They practiced throughout the day by knocking on the cupboards in the kitchen and saying “trick-or-treat” and “thank you”.  They were so ready. 

After we ate a jack-o-lantern pizza it was time to go.

We went trick-or-treating with the Sunderland’s again this year.  Lee was able to go with us for a little while but then he had to head back to the house for more Leap of Fright prep with Peter.  It was a clear and dry night which is always a wonderful thing in Oregon!

I was so glad that Emma went with us this year.  It will probably be the last.

Isaac and Grace knew exactly what to do and I couldn’t get any good pictures of them because they were moving way too fast.  They did remember to say thank you most of the time!

Once we were done it was time for the great candy sort and exchange. 

Halloween is so fun!  Besides all the junk that ends up in the house, I love the costumes, the excitement, and the neighbors all being out and nice to everyone.  The fun continued for several more hours with the haunted house, which was a success.   The fun for Gracie is still going strong a week later.  I really hoped they would forget their candy, but the first thing Grace said to me the morning after the trunk-or-treat was “can I have my candy?”.  I realized that all she really wanted to do with it was sort and organize it.  She has been carrying her candy around ever since.  She is so good with it and doesn’t eat any except a piece after lunch and a piece after dinner, but it has been organized over and over again.  She sorts it all by package type, by color, by candy, whatever suits her fancy at the moment.  She has made us candy pie many times.  She is so funny!

Isaac hasn’t cared about his as much (besides eating it when we let him), but he has been nice enough to share with his cars.

Emma is the smart one.  She keeps her candy well hidden in her room where mom and dad can’t get into it…

Birthday Sweaters

Lee’s mom made each of the kids sweaters for their birthdays.  They all looked so cute in their sweaters!

Isaac LOVES the car and train buttons on his sweater, and Grace loves that hers is pink.  The style of Emma’s is cute.  Thank you Grandma Vicki!!

And, here’s some sibling love for you.  They do this all on their own, I love it!

Happy Birthday Emma!

Sunday brought a break in Halloween festivities so we celebrated Emma’s birthday.  Emma was recognized in Sacrament Meeting at church that day for graduating from Primary.  She recited the 13th Article of Faith beautifully, even looking up at the congregation and smiling like we coached her. =-)  She was thrilled to go to Young Womens and loved it all.  For her birthday dinner we had a scaled down Halloween dinner.  It wasn’t a surprise that she wanted potato soup as her main course, which became Chunky Brain Matter.  We also had Bones & Blood Sauce (bone shaped breadsticks and marinara sauce), Eels (fancy cut green beans), Monster Jaws (apples, peanut butter & marshmallows), Vampire Hearts in Greens (salad with tomatoes) and Goblin Juice (green punch-thank you Granny!).

Then we partied for Emma. 

Look at all those candles!

This year most of her presents were clothes, including a scarf that Isaac and Grace picked out for her.  She also got iTunes gift cards which made her really happy.  I think the gift she was most excited about though was her first tube of mascara.  We had told her she could wear a little bit when she turned 12 and she wasn’t going to let us forget that!

After she opened her presents we got to work eating her yummy tie-dye cake with mint chocolate chip ice cream. 

We sure love our 12 year old girl. 

Emma is such a wonderful part of our home.  Here are just a few things we love about her:

*Everything is AMAZING to Emma—whether it be the last book she read or the last movie she saw.  Her enthusiasm is contagious.

*She wants to be good and tries her hardest to do what is right.  Emma always asks us before she does anything

*She is witty and fun to be around.  She leads with a smile.

*She still likes to be with her family.  Good thing because we like having her around!  She doesn’t mind holding our hand, cuddling or giving hugs and kisses.  She is always willing to read Isaac and Grace a book. 

*Emma is a good friend.  She is kind and includes everyone.

*She makes the best chocolate chip cookies.

*Emma is a smart and conscientious student and always gets her work done the best she can. 

*We love that she is so excited to sit in the front seat.  It has always been our rule that she couldn’t sit in the front seat until she was 12.  That has been almost as exciting as the mascara!  =-)

Happy Birthday Emma! 

Emma’s 12!

We tried to tell her not to, but she went ahead and turned 12 anyway.

Actually, 12 is an exciting birthday and we are looking forward to all the new experiences she will be having.  Before all that happens though, we got to celebrate with her over several days.  It started the Sunday before her birthday which was her last day in Primary and also happened to be the day of the Primary Program.  She wasn’t terribly excited about having to be in one more program, but she was a trooper and did her parts well.  In Primary she received her Faith in God Award.  That award reflected 4 years of goals and projects.  We’re proud of you Emma!

Excuse the horribly blurry picture, Lee took it on his phone and it didn’t quite turn out…

Earlier that morning she had an interview with Bishop Price and she received her Young Women Personal Progress books.  That was exciting!  After church Sister Casper came over to talk with her about graduating from Primary and to go over her Faith in God book.  She left her with a candy bar poster that Emma was thrilled about!  How did she know that Emma had actually ASKED for a candy bar poster for her birthday!

I think it really hit Lee and I that day how much Emma has grown up.  We have a beautiful Young Woman now! 

The day before her birthday the twins and I went to school to eat lunch with her.  We brought her a fancy cupcake for her dessert.

I love to be at the school with Emma and to spend time with her and her friends.  Isaac and Grace love all the attention!

Not quite sure what was up with Isaac and Grace in both those pictures…

Emma’s actual birthday was on a Saturday.  We weren’t going to have her family party until the next day, but we did a little bit of celebrating that day anyway.  She woke up to a decorated door and the much anticipated candy bar poster.

She requested cinnamon rolls for breakfast and we sang to her.

She spent that afternoon on the soccer field. 

It was our turn to take snacks so of course we had to do something for her birthday.  A soccer ball cupcake cake was the perfect thing!  She liked it and the other girls got a kick out of it as well.

The rest of the day was filled with Leap of Fright prep.  Thank goodness Emma doesn’t mind sharing her birthday with a haunted house!  It’s kind of fun to stretch the celebrations out anyway.  We did cake and ice cream the next day, which will be another post!

Gracie the Graduate

Gracie graduated from her ESD physical therapy.  Karen the physical therapist has been coming to our house since Grace was a little over a year old.  Grace has made leaps and bounds in her physical development since then and no longer qualifies for the program.  This is of course a good thing, but we will miss Karen.  Both Grace and Isaac loved her visits, she was so good to play with both of them and make Isaac feel included in whatever therapy she was doing with Grace. 

Grace will always have low muscle tone, but it won’t be noticeable to most people.  Karen has said that she most likely won’t be the athlete in the family, but Grace can definitely hold her own when it comes to getting physical!  We have been a little concerned about her speech and so we had her evaluated before she actually graduated from the program.  She has a fabulous vocabulary, but the way she talks was concerning us a little.  She passed the evaluation with flying colors, in fact we were only in the room for a few minutes before the speech therapist said there was no way she would qualify.  That is also a good thing, but she still may have to work on how she coordinates her breathing and her talking.  All of that has to do with her muscle tone as well as the muscles that didn’t develop properly because she never crawled.  It has been fascinating to learn through this whole process how important each step of development is for a child.  Because Gracie skipped the whole crawling thing (and combined with her low muscle tone) she didn’t develop good core strength and her neck, face and mouth muscles didn’t get strengthened like they should.  She is doing great though and really shouldn’t have any major problems throughout her life.  Way to go Gracie!

Pumpkin Patch

We had totally intended to get to the pumpkin patch as a family this year, but with the craziness that is at our house around Halloween we never made it.  Instead I called La La to see if she wanted to go with me and the kids to Lee Farms one afternoon.   We missed Lee (he was home working on the haunted house), but we had a great time with La La. 

Isaac saw the tractors right when we got there and immediately wanted to “drive” them.

We enjoyed the hay mazes and slides and the animals.

The goats really liked Emma.

The bouncy houses and the jumping pillow were favorites. 

Emma and Grace had fun on the pillow, Isaac wanted to stay in the bounce house. 

Emma was such a good sport to let the little kids play, but sometimes I caught her being the preteen that she is!

And of course we saw lots of pumpkins.

Thank you La La for going with us!

I didn’t like this pumpkin patch nearly as well as Bauman Farm where we usually go, but this farm did have THE BEST apple cider donuts.  They seriously melted in our mouths.  I was very tempted to buy more.  These pictures speak for themselves, I love Gracie licking her fingers!