Kitchen helper

Bet you're jealous you don't have one of these in your kitchen!

Friends

Calvin and his friend Gracie decided to snuggle by the Christmas tree yesterday at Lucy's piano lesson. They can be so cute sometimes!

Christmas Tree Book Report

Miss Lucy has worked all week on her book report--a little bit each night. She chose Susan Cooper's "The Dark is Rising" (even though she was worried because none of her friends had heard of it) and planned a special tree with ornaments based off of the signs the hero of the story searches for. She's pretty proud of the final result!

Elf

I'm busy getting ready to host the preschool Christmas party--looks like I have a busy little elf following after me and helping in his own way :)

That mom

Yesterday, I was that mom who signed her kid out of school early to go to the fancy movie theater at the mall and see the decorations. I'd do it again in a heartbeat.

My girl

The light was gorgeous this morning, and Lu looked so cute in her outfit with her side ponytail, that we simply had to take five minutes and do a mini "fashion shoot." 

The switch

Big day here today--Calvin is moving into his own bedroom. Miss Lu is thrilled to have her own space, and Calvin has settled right in to his own play space :) We're not done yet, but this will give you the basic idea!

Goofballs

My favorite pic from the first week of using my new camera. These two goofballs make every day brighter.

Welcome home

Coming home from school = a special occasion, right?

New camera

I've been wanting to get a new camera for quite a while now, and the right deal finally appeared! Still figuring out how to use it, but caught some cute shots of the kids in doing so. 

Bright spot

I love our walks to school with this fun girl!

Busy little man

Yesterday I ran into Kohls to look at a rug. I had about 15 minutes I'm between pickups and drop offs. (6:15 Lu at Activity Days, 6:30 Nick at Mutual across town, then pick up Lu again at 7:15 and back to pick up Nick at 7:45--sheesh!) As I picked up the rug, I heard a little voice say "Goodnight!" And there was Calvin, in the display bed. It was that kind of day ...

Happy Halloween

There's a big storm headed this way tonight, so we rushed after dinner to get our airplane and Winx fairy out the door!

BOO!

Lucy decorated her own shirt to wear today. She made one for Calvin too. We'll see if he'll let me take a picture today :)

Pumpkins

We kind of failed pumpkin carving this year. As in, we didn't buy pumpkins before they ran out. We substituted with small ones and sharpies--the kids actually had a great time, but then Calvin threw a tantrum when I tried to take his picture ...

Yippee-Kai-aaay!

It's dress up like a cowboy/cowgirl day at school! She looked so cute :)

Trunk or Treat

We had so much fun dressing up as "Little Red Riding Hood" this year! Miss Lu was a big hit as the "Granny" with her missing teeth :) And we even won a prize for the best costume theme—even Calvin Jesse was excited about that one! (Ok, he was mostly excited that people were clapping for him, but still, it was really cute.)

 (I totally made this cute little bunting to decorate our car!)

3 Musketeers

This year, Miss Lucy walks home from school. It gives her a chance to decompress a bit, and get a little extra energy out before she gets home and has to start her routine of homework and practicing. While there's a whole herd of kids that walk home, most of them live a bit closer to the school; luckily, she's found some friends who have to walk almost as far as she does. Every day she comes home and fills me in on their latest adventures: there's been princesses fighting an evil wizard, robot aliens, and some sort of "freeze" game that I have yet to fully understand, among others. I love that she has such good friends, and that they're all so imaginative!

He's 3!

More to come--but here's some of the best from our family party today!