Grandma's Halloween party

We love the tradition of our Halloween party at Grandma Sloothaak's house.  She plans the most fun activities for the kids, and it gives us a chance to put them in their costumes more than once!

We headed there this afternoon, all decked out as the cutest shark and ballerina in town.  These kids were ready to party the day away, and waited anxiously for everyone to arrive so that the fun and games could begin!

Of course, I tried to get a quick picture of just Trey and Rowan right away.  I didn't know how long their costumes would last. (They actually kept them on the whole time, although the shark head and tutu didn't make it through the whole party.)  

Sibling love!

A group shot of all the cousins before we started playing games.  Love these kids!

 The first thing we did was decorate pumpkins.  

The kids used buttons and yarn to make the most adorable little pumpkin faces!  Any guess what color Rowan is looking for?  Purple, of course!  She wanted a pumpkin face made of only purple buttons.

Trey worked hard on his face too.  Grandma helped with this one!

Proud of his masterpiece!

Rowan wanted a sad purple face.  It got the name Purplicious (perfect because Rowan loves those books....but she calls the book Purple Delicious).  I love how her green eyes really shine in this photo!

She chose not to do hair, but instead wanted a crown made of purple buttons!

After pumpkin decorating, we found the boys taking a little break to watch some of the Michigan game.  The way they were sitting in that chair together made us giggle!

Next, we headed downstairs to play some games.  The first game was "Pin the Nose on the Pumpkin".  All of Trey's noses ended up in the pumpkin's mouth. 

Rowan didn't get too close to the mark either!

They both got to choose a prize anyway.  Grandmas are wonderful like that.

Then they played a pumpkin balancing game.  This one took great concentration and patience!  Trey got three pumpkins to the basket in one minute.

He chose fun football pencils as his prize. 

Rowan had her own method -- she held the pumpkin all the way to the basket.

So many choices!

There was also a "Bucket Bonanza" game.  That one is always a hit and was Trey's favorite!  They played it twice!

Lastly, we headed upstairs to decorate pumpkin cookies.

Of course we had to eat some when we were done.

After the glue had dried on the pumpkins, we gathered all the kids for a picture.  Cute pumpkins, but cuter kids!

It was such a fun afternoon, and this little ballerina was completely pooped!

Thanks, Grandma, for such a FUN party!

Halloween cookies

This week started out crazy busy.  I had parent-teacher conferences Monday and Tuesday, then taught a full day again on Wednesday.  

But yesterday and today I didn't have school.  I was so very ready for a break.  It's been wonderfully relaxing, and has given this busy momma a chance to breathe a little!  The house is a complete mess and I haven't gotten much of my to-do list done, but I have had lots of time with my kids (and a little bit of time to myself too).

Tonight while John was away at the Dux first playoff game (which they won!), the kids and I made Halloween cookies.  I had bought a set of Halloween cookie cutters on major clearance after Halloween last year, and it was fun to finally pull them out tonight and use them to make some festive frosted sugar cookies!

Trey had fun helping to press the cutters into the dough.

Trey liked the skull and crossbones best, and Rowan liked the black cat face.  I think the ghosts are the cutest!

Making the frosting.

And tasting the frosting!

Trey helped me spread the frosting onto the cookies.  We kept it simple and used orange for all of them.

And what's a frosted cookie without sprinkles???  Rowan found some {very non-Halloween} sprinkles to add. (For my own memory's sake... Rowan's favorite book by my parents' house right now is "Baker, Baker, Cookie Maker".  We talked about that book often as we made these cookies tonight, and she thought that it was so funny!)

They made a pretty great team!

The finished product!

I love these little cookie makers!

Our family -- by Trey

Almost daily, I find myself in my classroom thinking "I wonder how Trey would do with this."  Since I teach Kindergarten, and since Trey is so close to Kindergarten, I bring home many, many things to try at home with him.  He loves it, and thinks that it is fun to do "Kindergarten work"!

I brought home this page the other day (look familiar, Jana??) and asked him to draw a picture of our family.  Just like at school, I asked him to try writing the names of the people in his family if he could.

This is us!  

Bug-eyed with no arms and pretty crazy hair!  But cute, huh???

Funny that we're all the same size. :)

Makes me smile!

Happy Saturday!!

Not a Halloween dress (revised so that you can actually read it!)

I came across this pillowcase dress while perusing Pinterest early one Saturday morning when Rowan and I were awake before the boys.  It caught my eye right away - I just thought that it was so sweet.  Perfect for the month of October without screaming "I'm a Halloween dress!".  

(Although, as soon as I showed John the dress I made, he said "Did you just make a Halloween dress?!?".  hee hee)

It was a busy weekend (as they all are), but somehow I found time to whip up a version of my own.  You make time for the things you want to, right?!?!?  It's definitely missing some of the special features on the sweet one I found, but it's made with love for my girl!

Here is Rowan before church this morning.

Pillowcase dresses are the only thing I've ever tried to sew.  There is just something about them, though, that makes me happy!

Later today, Rowan was playing in the laundry room while I was folding and ironing clothes, and I just had to snap these pictures of her.  She was making me laugh!  She was setting up a picnic (her very favorite thing to do these days) with a backpack on, while talking on the "phone".

Already a multi-tasker, as every woman should be!

Oh, and she added socks to her outfit.

She absolutely loves purses, bags, backpacks....andything that she can use to carry all of her treasures all over the place with her.  Today it was a Buzz Lightyear backpack.  She loves this backpack probably partly because she also LOVES purple.  Every time she sees something purple she'll say "Mom!  Purple!  My favorite!"

Hmmm...what occasion will she need a pillowcase dress for next?

Thanksgiving?  Christmas?  Her birthday???

:)

Weekend re-cap {a few days late}

Last weekend was the best, most relaxing weekend.  The weather was glorious!  It felt like summer, but looked like fall.  We took bike rides on Saturday and Sunday (one of our very favorite things to do as a family), and it felt amazing to be riding in shorts and t-shirts while listening to the crunch of leaves under our tires.  Just so surreal for October in Michigan.

We soaked in every minute, and spent lots of time outside.  That week of summer-like weather felt like such a gift -- unexpected and completely wonderful! (John likes to remind me that if we still lived in Florida, 80 degrees in October would be normal!  And we wouldn't be looking ahead to months of SNOW right now!!  But we also wouldn't have family nearby, changing seasons, the amazing friends that we work with, our church and small group.....it's a good trade for sure!)

Anyway...just a few photos from our outdoor fun.  And a video that will give you an idea of what Trey does all. the. time.  No joke.  Inside...outside...everywhere.  The boy is completely obsessed with football.

Yay for warm, sunny weather -- especially in October!

Dux date

I was lucky to be able to have a little date night with Trey on Friday night.  Rowan had a sleepover with Grandpa and Grandma, and Trey and I headed out to dinner and to the Zeeland West football game.

Trey has been asking for weeks to please eat out at Wolfie's.  I have no idea why or where it came from ( I didn't even know that he knew the name of that restaurant!), but I love their paninis so I was happy to make that the first stop on our mommy-son date.

After dinner, we went home and got ready for the game!  It was SUCH a nice night -- amazing weather for a football game in October!  We got to the game in time to watch the players warm up and the marching band entertain us a little.

This little guy was ready to cheer on the Dux!

Clapping for the players as they ran out.

Jimmy John's was there handing out free subs!  Trey only took one bite and decided that he didn't like it, but it was still a fun part of the game!

Still a happy (and WIDE awake) boy after the game!  It didn't hurt that the Dux pulled out a great WIN!

He even got to run on the field with daddy afterwards!

When I was tucking him into bed later that night, he said "Mom, the football game was the best part part of my day!".  

It was mine too, without a doubt!

Spirit Week

This week was Spirit Week at Imagination Station.  Since the kids only go there on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, those were the only days that we got to take part in. (Thankfully, because Tuesday and Thursday were the tough ones!)

It turns out that 7:15 AM (right before leaving) or 4:30 PM (right after getting home) aren't the best times for taking photos of my kids, especially if I hope to put them on the blog.  BUT...I want to remember this week, so I am posting them even as terrible as many of them are!

Monday was CRAZY SOCK DAY.  The kids don't really have any crazy socks, but thankfully John and I had some -- his from a high school assembly and mine from a Girls on the Run race.  They were a little big, but they worked!

Wednesday was CRAZY HAIR DAY.  We did what we could with this one for Trey.  His hair happens to be too long right now, so I just spiked it all the best I could.  Rowan had three ponytails and a headband.  Actually, from the front it looked kind of cute!

Friday was Trey's favorite for sure.  It was FAVORITE TEAM DAY.  He was super excited about getting to wear his new Michigan jersey to school, even though it is two sizes too big.  Rowan wore one of Trey's old Michigan t-shirts, and she thought that was pretty cool too.

I do love things like this, so I had a great time showing off our Sloothaak spirit! (hee hee)  No more photos before school, though.  They really slow us down!