Halloween Trunk or Treat

Happy Halloween Week! I'm behind by at least 3 blog entries, but I'm going to start with this one and work my way back. We had so much fun yesterday carving pumpkins and Trunk or Treating with our friends the Ames Family (how did I manage NOT to get a picture of everyone??). Such a fun Halloween tradition- here are a few more pictures:

Violet's kitty cat pumpkin:

Daphne's "Little Heart" pumpkin:

Erik's Wolverine pumpkin:

Candy Princess:

Bat Girl:

An awesome cape (it's sparkly, too!):

Oh, I really should have cropped this:

Yep, should have cropped this too:

Yes! Cropped this one!

Rosie the Riveter, and a great shot of Candy Princess's tiara:

Bat Girl is pretty excited about winning the cupcake walk:

So is the Candy Princess (everyone's a winner!):

Our trunk, tricked out for treating:

Violet's First Day of First Grade

Happy first day of first grade, sweet Violet! We are very excited about her new school, and she is too. We got to spend Saturday morning and afternoon in her classroom helping her teacher prepare bulletin boards, sort books, arrange furniture, etc. It was just what we all needed; it helped us all to be familiar with the teacher and the space. Violet's teacher was lovely with the children who came on Saturday to help, so Violet was excited to go back. We have felt very welcome by everyone, and are hopeful for a great year.

Violet is just so much older this year! She is brave and confident, and came home reporting that she has already made friends. She wasn't emotionally exhausted when I picked her up- I could tell she was happy to see us, but she wasn't holding back tears like she was in Kinder. I feel so much relief; like a huge weight has been lifted off of my shoulders. Amazing what a difference a year makes. Oh, except for me, because I still cried. Ha!

Hold the sign and smile!

Morning calls to and from grandparents:

She found her seat:

Wearing her nametag:

Goodbye sissy:

Goodbye Mommy:

Goodbye Daddy:

Oh, there's a Beard Papa's on the way home from school? 

And they are serving frozen custard puffs? 

Well how about that.

Celebratory cream puffs:

Violet's third lost tooth...

Violet lost her third overall tooth and first top tooth tonight at dinner. She was eating a burrito and I saw it fly out and hit the floor, but she didn't realize it at first and was surprised. It's funny, she is very emotional when she loses a tooth. She went from laughing to crying pretty quickly and spent some time in mama's lap. She later changed the story a little to have some control over a mildly scary situation (something about how she knew it came out and tried not to swallow it I think). Growing up is emotional. And very, very cute.

Mud Run

Erik and I did a 5k mud run on Saturday! It was the most difficult thing I've ever done. Talk about exhausted, sore... And proud! I climbed the walls I didn't think I would be able to climb, even though I was scared. It was fun, but totally gross! Not many pictures- we ran with absolutely nothing!

Violet's Easter Book

Violet loves making books these days. Here is her Easter book for little kids to learn about her favorite Easter things. (I helped with some of the brainstorming when she needed to fill pages. Doubt she would have come up with bonnet!) As a side note, I'm pretty excited that tv is no longer really a part of our day. D watches 20 minutes in the morning while I get ready, but on days off like today we just don't turn it on. It is so much easier for us. No more negotiating or tantrums when the tube is turned off. And honestly, they do some pretty cool stuff, completely on their own, when they are bored! (Daphne cut a few pieces of paper to shreds while V made her book. Whatever. I have a broom!)

Erin Go Bragh! 2014

Happy St. Patrick's Day! I love this holiday. Food, cute outfits, dollar store decorations... What's not to love?? This year started off with a 4.4 or 7 earthquake at 6:25 am that was awfully close. It actually woke Violet up! More than anything, it was looong... Maybe 6 seconds? I will have to check. Anyways, it prompted me to get some earthquake preparation done (my littlest leprechaun took a nap!). I finally finished quake safe-ing the bottles in the dining room, and I ordered fire extinguishers. The girls were cute, we ate and delivered soda bread, and read out favorite St. Paddy's Day book! Erin go Bragh!

Daphne is almost 3

Just starting with a few pics... More to come!