Televison

I am preparing for FHE next week and I want my husband and I to learn more about television and it's effects on children and family. I'm happy to report that he and I and our son have been having most of our meals at the table together instead of in front of the TV! Hooray!! I'm not taking a scientific approach for FHE, at this time I want to find things mainly from church articles and the Ensign. I have heard some say "television is great" and vise-versa "television is evil". Personally, I feel that television is a good thing. I believe it was invented for a good purpose but Satan finds his way into everything and evil influences are everywhere. We just need to avoid the inappropriate things on TV. I found a Great article from the October 1981 Ensign, in the "I have a question" section.

http://www.lds.org/ldsorg/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=2354fccf2b7d
b010VgnVCM1000004d82620aRCRD&locale=0&sourceId=ff1aa
eca0ea6b010VgnVCM1000004d82620a____&hideNav=1

I feel much like the author does. Television is neutral. We are the ones that decide if we are going to bring something worthy or unworthy of viewing into our homes. Television is just the messenger. I totally agree with his advice to plan which shows are important to watch and not just watch "whatever is on" because we're "bored". I am not one to stand on a pedestal and tell everyone how, when or what they should watch on TV, I have days that I like to be lazy, but I want to be a good example early on to my kids and show them that there's more entertaining things to do than watch TV all the time. I love watching educational shows on TLC, Discovery Channel or HGTV (woo-hoo for DIY projects!), but I'm really glad that the author mentioned that it's okay to watch TV just to be entertained. There are good shows out there that are just plain fun to watch. I also don't mind letting my son watch cartoons for a few minutes every now and again. We have some Disney DVD's with Mickey cartoons on them that we love watching as a family.

What are your thoughts about television?

Wednesday Weekly

What is your favorite secular Christmas song? What is your favorite sacred Christmas carol?

Cleaning Tile and Grout

Earlier this year my husband ripped out our carpeted kitchen floor (an old lady owned the house before us!) and laid a beautiful tile floor, with very, very light grout. Since then the grout has become quite dingy and in preparation for having all of Scott's family over for Christmas Eve, I decided it was time to scrub my floor with the main purpose of whitening my grout again. (I then plan to seal the grout so as not to go through all this again!) I've read several websites and asked my friends and neighbors for advice on what product to use. I'm happy to announce that I've found one that works!!! I'm so, so excited!! (Well, as excited as I can get about cleaning!)

I thought I'd share the product with all of you because this stuff seriously works! My grout is so light that its almost white and after months and months of walking on it, mopping it and the occasional spill, its quite dirty, but this stuff makes it almost white again! Here goes...

1/2 cup of baking soda
1/3 cup of ammonia
1/4 cup of white vinegar
7 cups of water
Combine all the ingredients in a labeled spray bottle and shake well to mix. (Do not use this in conjunction with chlorine bleach or where chlorine bleach has been used.)

I then spray the mixture on my tile and grout, scrub with a hard bristled grout and tile brush, and wipe up the dirt that is dislodged from my grout with a damp sponge. Hope this is helpful for someone!!

Recipe courtesy of www.queenofclean.com, though I've seen the same recipe on various other sites also!

Unrealistic expectations

We just got back from spending a long weekend with our families for the holiday. Sigh... For the most part, I consider ourselves pretty lucky when it comes to family not telling us how we should raise our child. We put up with the occasional comment, like everyone, but that's to be expected. I'll probably do it to my own children some day, without meaning to. The one thing that does really get to me though, is I have a sister and brother in law that don't have children yet. My sister in law is wonderful and loves our daughter to pieces. However, her husband doesn't have very realistic expectations when it comes to small children. He makes comments about her whining, crying, waking up in the middle of the night (thus waking him up), etc. At one point he told her "NO!" in a super harsh voice, over something pretty unnecessary, which I didn't really appreciate. I don't want to be over-sensitive, and part of me feels like I should "turn the other cheek," especially because it's family. However the defensive and emotional part of me wants to lash out and tell him what I really think! It's annoying when people think your child is undisciplined or "naughty" when in fact they are just exhibiting normal behavior for a 14 mos. old. Am I horrible for hoping that if and when he has a child they throw tantrums and wake up at night 10 times more than mine???!!!!

Making it "the most wonderful time of the year..."

What attempts are you making to reduce added stress this Christmas season?

What strategies do you use to save money at Christmastime?

Books ... not always a chew toy

My son likes to chew on everything. We have a lot of great board books, and also regular books, that I would love to sit down and read with him or show him the pictures. When I try to read/look at the books with him he tries to chew on them! Has anyone else dealt with this? How do I teach him that it's not okay to chew on books. Do I keep taking them away or stop reading to him if he tries to "eat" the book? I'm wondering how I let him know that it's not okay to chew on some books but others (like plastic ones) it's okay to chew on.

Weddings on a Budget

My little sister is getting married!! (For those from MSU... she is marrying Ed Wicklander, better known as Elder Wicklander, Scott's mission companion from when he was serving on campus!)

What tips do you girls have for planning a wedding on a budget? I'm making the cake, and my cousin's fiance will most likely be doing the photos. Other than that we are trying to do this wedding on a tight budget! Any ideas?

Plays Nice With Others

My little one doesn't live near cousins. So, we're here in Arkansas with all her cousins and it's been a bit traumatic! We stay at Grandma's and so the cousins who are around here are a bit territorial. My child is very good natured but when she gets around her cousins, she gets aggressive. She pinches and shoves and screams and becomes an all around crazy woman!! It stresses me out and her poor cousins have battle wounds! What do you do when being around family makes your little one go nuts! She rarely hits in nursery or preschool or daycare, just here!!! Help!!!!!

Black Friday Re-visited

So, I know the ads aren't officially out, but have any of you been looking at Blackfriday.com yet? What kinds of things are you shopping for on Friday, for those of you going out? Anyone crazy enough to do the stand in line hours before the stores open thing? I've seen that sheets and pillows and stuff are 50% off a few places, so I'm interested in that, otherwise I'm pretty much going for the experience!

Wednesday Weekly--Thanksgiving edition

Are you cooking the turkey this year?

New to the Group

Hello Sugar & Spice girls! My name is Claire and I’ve been lurking and commenting on this blog for several weeks now and I’m so excited that Lindsay invited me to join. I think this blog is such a great idea! I lived down the hall from Nate and Lindsay during my freshman year of college… Nate use to take my trash out for me! He’s such a sweet guy!! Linz got a good one!

I live in the Phoenix area with my husband Scott and darling little girl, Cecelia Shannon. Scott is a police officer and I’m a mom. He loves his job and I absolutely love mine! I started college at MSU studying Interior Design, but have since put school on hold to have a family. I hope to eventually finish my degree; though I’m not sure I will finish with Interior Design… we’ll see what happens! For now, I’m perfectly content to be at home with Cecelia.

I met Scott 4 years ago, during my freshman year. He was serving his mission in Lansing and was one of the elders assigned to my student ward. It wasn’t until I moved to Utah and he got home from his mission that we got in touch and decided that we liked each other. He came up to Utah to visit me after about a month and a half of talking on the phone. By the time his 5 day visit ended he had proposed and 2 weeks later I moved down to Arizona to be with him. We got married in August of 2005. I actually had a huge crush on him while he was on his mission, but it wasn’t until he got home that he had any interest in me! But that’s how it should be, so it worked out perfectly! Six months after we got married we bought a house that we’ve had a lot of fun painting and remodeling. 10 months after our wedding we found out I was pregnant. Cecelia joined our family in March 25, 2007, 14 days after her due date!!

I love to spend time with my family, scrapbook, sew, play piano, read, cook, sing, shop, and travel. My big project for the moment is starting an organization for the wives of police officers in our city. Among other things, we hope to offer gun safety courses for the wives and children of police officers and raise money to help the families of local officers who are wounded or killed in the line of duty.

Christmas Books

I just thought I'd let you all know that I was at Target this morning and they had a HUGE selection of Christmas books in the dollar section at the front of the store. There were several lift-the-flap books and books that made noise, so I picked up a few for my daughter. I haven't had a chance to look through them yet so I don't know how good they are, but they sure kept her quiet while I was shopping - not an easy thing to do!

Thankful for Motherhood

I loved this article, and thought I'd share.

International Travel

Have any of you traveled abroad with little ones before? My husband and I have been offered a chance to spend a week in Jerusalem in March, but we have to decide this week if we want to go. I have never been there before, and I doubt we will ever have the chance to go again (especially for free.) However, I don't want to go if it will be torture traveling with an 18-month old. Any thoughts?

Cabin Fever

Hey girls...for some of us, the cold weather has arrived, and it doesn't look like it will be going away for a while.

I was wondering if anyone has some really great ideas about things to do with your kids once that nasty case of cabin fever sets in.

Please share!

Frog Eye Salad

For those of you who have never heard of frog eye salad, it's delish! You'll love it!

Cook Acini Di Pepe macaroni: Bring 6 cups water to a rapid boil in 3 quart saucepan. Add 2 teaspoons salt. Slowly add 1 cup Acini Di Pepe. Return to rapid boil, stirring to separate. Boil only 2 minutes. Cover and remove from heat. Let stand 6 to 8 minutes. Drain immediately and rinse with cold water to chill.

3/4 c. sugar
2 tbsp. flour
1/2 tsp. salt
2/3 c. pineapple juice (from canned pineapple shown below)
2 eggs, beaten
1 tsp. lemon juice

In small saucepan, mix sugar, flour and salt; stir in pineapple juice and egg. Cook over moderate heat, stirring constantly until thickened (or cook in microwave). Add lemon juice, set aside and cool.

Combine cooked, cooled mixture with cooled Acini Di Pepe. Cover, place in refrigerator until chilled. Add the following:

2 cans (11 oz. each) mandarin oranges, drained
1 can (20 oz.) pineapple tidbits, drained
1 can crushed pineapple, drained
1 carton (8 oz.) dairy whipped topping
1 c. miniature marshmallows

Stir lightly. Chill at least 1 hour before serving.

Serves 8-10.

Sweet Potato Crunch

3 c. sweet potatoes, peeled, cooked and sliced/chunked/mashed
1 c. sugar
1/2 c. plus 3 Tbs. butter, melted and divided
2 eggs, beaten
1 T. vanilla extract
1/3 c. milk
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 c. brown sugar, packed
1/4 c. all purpose flour
1/2 c. chopped pecans

Combine sweet potatoes, sugar, 1/2 butter, eggs, vanilla and milk; mix well. Turn into a greased baking dish. Combine remaining butter, cinnamon, brown sugar, flour and pecans together. Sprinkle brown sugar mixture over sweet potatoes. Bake at 350* for 25 minutes or until bubbly.

It's a fun new twist on the old standby!

Share Your Recipes!

Okay, ladies. Commenting on the Wednesday Weekly got my mouth watering. Please share your favorite recipes/turkey tips/centerpiece tips! (Personally, I want to know what frog eye salad is.) Those of us hosting will thank you in advance for your ideas! :)

Black Friday

Is that what it's called? I'm thinking of the day after Thanksgiving: the busiest shopping day of the year. Just curious, how many of you go shopping on this day? How many of you go at the break of dawn? I don't know if I have ever gone shopping on that day but I'm thinking about it!

Wednesday Weekly

What is your favorite (edible) part of the Thanksgiving feast?

8 Days to go!

Until we all stuff ourselves!! What are your plans for Thanksgiving? What are your family traditions?

When I was little my grandma told us the "Tale of Candy Corn" every year. We all got three candy corn and those represented the food that the pilgrims had the first year...or something like that (can you tell how well I paid attention?)

My Dad likes us all to say something we're thankful for and gives a nice testimony before dinner.

I set the tables. It's my job to make them pretty with all the best china and silver and crystal and beautiful centerpieces.

My parents always have families from the ward over. Usually the families that can't go anywhere but don't have family nearby. For years, we also had the missionaries in our ward (up to eight of them!)

When we lived in Utah, we'd put up a quilt to tie after dinner with my grandma and aunts.

Now, I always go a day early. My other job is pies. Mom makes the crusts and I make all the insides. Except for the chocolate cream pie. That one's too complicated! :)

My family is so deeply steeped in food tradition that the year my Mom changed the sweet potatoes there was mutiny...until we tasted the new recipe! Yum!!! We HAVE to have potato rolls, pomegranate salad, ribbon jello as well as the regulars: turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes. We could care less about green beans! :)

That's what makes my Thanksgiving. What makes yours??

Date Night

What are some dates you've done at home that cost little or no money?

Vaccines part II

Just in case anyone is interested. In my post about vaccines, someone mentioned that they thought the church was supportive of them... which is true. One of the church's major humanitarian projects is providing the measles vaccination (just as an example). True we do not have the same number of cases in the US as Africa but it still exists here and I can't imagine the church doing one thing for African children that they wouldn't want for American children. This is a statement by the First Presidency in 1978 about vaccines.

“We urge members of the Church … to protect their own children through immunization. Then they may wish to join other public-spirited citizens in efforts to eradicate ignorance and apathy that have caused the disturbingly low levels of childhood immunization.”

“Reports that increasing numbers of children are not being immunized against preventable childhood diseases deeply concern us. In the United States alone approximately 20 million children, 40 percent of those 14 years old or younger, have not been adequately immunized against polio, measles, German measles (rubella), diphtheria, pertussis (whooping cough), mumps and tetanus.

“Every parent who has agonized when these diseases have maimed or brought premature death to their children would join us, we are certain, in a plea to mobilize against these deadly enemies.

“Immunization is such a simple, yet vital, matter and such a small price to pay for protection against these destroying diseases. …

“Failure to act could subject untold thousands to preventable lifelong physical or mental impairment, including paralysis, blindness, deafness, heart damage, and mental retardation.

“Immunization campaigns in the United States and other nations, if successful, will end much needless suffering and erase the potential threat of epidemics. Such efforts are deserving of our full support.”

Car Seat Question

It's hard to believe that this little baby confused by her new surroundings fresh out of the hospital has turned into this giant dancer with statues. But...its true. Megan is a giant. And the time has come for us to buy her a new car seat. I have no idea what to get her. What are your opinions of the convertible car seats that you got for your children? What features do you like/dislike? Thanks for the help. :)

Vaccines

I'm sorry if there already was a post about this, I looked through and couldn't find one.

What are everyone's thoughts on vaccinations? I know there are a ton of theories out there about whether or not to vaccinate, how many at once, and the side effects, etc. that sometimes it's staggering. For instance I have a nephew who was labelled as "1 in 500 autistic children" because he is very very low on the spectrum of Autism... my sister doesn't blame the vaccines for causing it, but does think that they triggered it. So on the one hand we have all the dr. and researchers saying there is no link, and on the other hand mothers who are certain their child's developmental problems are linked to vaccines.

I like what Dr. Sears recommends at http://www.askdrsears.com/. He suggests not giving more than two vaccines at once to avoid overloading the child's system. Unfortunately it costs more money, but to me it's worth the peace of mind :)

I'd love to hear everyone's thoughts! Did anyone else hesitate to vaccinate their child?

Ensign Hoarding

Do you keep all of your old Ensigns? We used to, but I used a lot of them last year to make quiet books for my daughter and niece and nephews. However, we still have a lot and I'm trying to convince myself I don't need them. Everything is online now, but do you think there's a benefit to keeping them? (And moving them from Minnesota to Utah? :)

Chicken Lettuce Wraps

I have made these three or four times and each time I love them and so does Phil. As we were enjoying them tonight I thought, I should share them with the Sugar and Spice ladies. So here is my version of the recipe. If you want the PF Chang version go here. My version is just a bit less complicated - you could look at them both and come up with your own variation.

2-3 servings - 25 minute prep/cooking time

2 T Olive Oil
2 boneless skinless chicken breasts - thawed (tonight I used the pre-cooked grilled chicken strips and they worked great and were fast!)
1/2 C chopped Almonds
2/3 C Mushrooms
3 T chopped Onion (I used yellow)
2 t minced Garlic (I used the bottled kind)
5-6 leaves of Romaine Lettuce
1/2 Carrot
1/2 Cucumber
Stir Fry Sauce*
Kraft Asian Toasted Sesame Dressing

Mince mushrooms and onions about the size of peas.
Saute chicken breasts in Olive Oil for 4-5 minutes per side (or until done).
Remove chicken from pan and when cool chop it the same size as mushrooms.
Add mushrooms, garlic, onions, and almonds to the pan and saute.
Add the chicken back in.
Add the stir fry sauce and saute for a couple of minutes.

Wash the lettuce.
Shred the carrot and cucumber.

To serve, place a tablespoon of the chicken mixture on a piece of lettuce then top with the shredded carrot and cucumber. Dribble some Kraft Asian dressing on it. Wrap and eat (make sure you have napkins handy).

*Stir Fry Sauce:
In a small bowl mix 2 T Soy Sauce with 2 T brown Sugar and 1/2 t rice vinegar.

Wednesday Weekly

What is your greatest phobia?

Videos for Toddlers

Any suggestions for videos that are somewhat educational or stimulating for ages 1+? I don't really make a habit out of sticking my little one in front of the television. However, I like to have some videos on hand for those occasions when I am trying to make dinner or something, and she doesn't want to be anywhere but hanging on my legs! We have several Baby Einstein videos that we have loved, but I think we're (all) over them! We don't have cable television, so Nickelodeon and those options are out too. I would love to hear any suggestions of videos, sing alongs, whatever, that you and your kids have loved!

Nursing Strike

My son is going through what is apparently called a "Nursing Strike." Have any of you dealt with this before?

It has been going on for 4 days now and I am not sure what to do. He nurses well in the morning but by the 11 am-ish feeding he lets me know he does NOT want to nurse. He fusses, cries, arches his back, you name it. I have been pumping to try to keep my supply up.

I can't figure out what is wrong. He has been congested, but is mostly over it now. I get so frustrated trying to get him to nurse, and then decide it isn't worth it so I offer him a sippy cup of pumped milk. My patience is wearing thin. I planned on nursing until he turned 6 months. He is now 7 months. I am surprised that even going through this experience I am not quite ready to give up nursing him (it is so stinking convenient... very inexpensive... let alone the bonding that happens!). I wonder how long this will go on as well as how much longer I can handle it!

Any tips, suggestions, or even support would help!

Developing a Relationship with your Pediatrician

I read this post about developing a relationship with your pedi on tutus and turtles. They review kids' stuff and often have great discounts. It's fun to check out. I liked this post because I think it's totally true! I love our pediatrician and I'm totally bummed that we're probably moving soon and I'll have to start from scratch with a new one! One thing they talk about is making sure you're getting your advice from your doctor and not just from researching the internet! I'm so guilty of this one but I also totally agree. Anyway, enjoy!

Toy Purse idea

This post is kind of for Linz. I wasn't sure if anyone would go back and read the post Toys for Tots. I just wanted to share an idea that I am doing for Christmas, for my (will be) 15 mos. old. I can't take credit for the idea, I got it from a friend in my old ward. Anyway, since my little one is OBSESSED with my purse, and everything in it-keys, wallet, pens, etc. I am putting together a purse for her. The idea I got from my friend is you take a wallet or billfold that has a lot of slots for credit cards, and you make your own cards. She had pictures of family members, Christ, animals, etc. You just make the pictures the size of a credit card, and then laminate them. Little tots will happily pull out the cards and examine them all day long! Anyway, it becomes a good alternative for getting into my OWN purse, (and real credit cards) as well as a good quiet activity for Church, etc.

Does anyone know of a kind of toy keys that are more realistic then the plastic colorful baby ones they make?

Milk and Coughing

Skyler has had a bad cough for almost a week now, in fact we think it may be Croup. When I was talking to my mom last night, she mentioned that when we were little, the Dr said not to give us milk when we had a bad cough/cold because it increased phlegm production. My Pedi has never said anything like this, and I don't remember learning it in nursing school. But on the other hand, she doesn't seem to be getting any better either. I'm hesitant to try it, partly because I feel like most recommendations have improved and changed withtime, and partly because I don't really give her juice yet, and I would have to start that. I was just wondering if anyone knew anything about this old wives' tale!

Exercise in Pregnancy?

Right now my ward has an extremely high pregnancy rate, rivalling many BYU wards. With all the cute pregnant women around, I have been reminded how cute I wasn't and how much weight I gained. Lets just say I am one of those women who gains everywhere. So this has gotten me thinking that when I become pregnant with my third child I want to have a new approach to exercise and eating. Through my first two pregnancies I followed the no exercise and eat what you don't think you will throw up routine. Needless to say, I don't think I ended each pregnancy in the best shape. So what do you cute pregnant ladies do for exercise and how do you eat so well when nausea is such a huge factor?

"You just wait..."

Hmmm. I get kind of annoyed by something and I just wanted to vent a bit. When I say kind of annoyed, I do mean that. It's not a big deal to me, but when it happens it makes me feel not so great for a few seconds.

Anyway, I have one child. I feel like there are some people with more than one child who make comments that basically give the overall message of "You have no idea how easy you have it with just one. You're in for it when you have more."

Okay, whatever, but seriously, 99% of the time that people make these little comments to me, I'm not even at all exasperated by what my child is doing. It feels like the comments are unwarranted. If I was huffing and puffing, rolling my eyes, sighing, scowling, then yes, put me in my place if you must. But I'm generally not overwhelmed by my child. If she's acting tired after 3 hours of church, I don't blame her!

Anyway, I forget about these comments once they've passed, but they feel like cut-downs more than anything else. For a brief moment I feel a small pang inside as the "commenter" smiles and laughs. I mean, what's the intent? Are they the exasperated ones? I surely know that having more than one kid is way more challenging than having one, but I will tell you what, I will not be one of those people who makes those types of comments to others when the time comes. We're all learning and growing! Thank you to my friends and family who support me in my parenting endeavors! I'd much rather enjoy the journey then bring others down in the process.

The Monkey and the Fairy

This year my daughter chose to be a fairy, a costume we found in the dress up section at Target. My son almost 2 so didn't care much what he dressed up as, so since he climbs on everything like a monkey, my husband and I thought it would only make sense for him to dress up as a monkey. Luckily he loved his costume and wanted to lay with his padded belly on the ground, making for one very dirty costume by the end of the night. Halloween night we went to our wards Trunk or Treat party and went to a couple of houses in our neighborhood. My daughter loved Halloween so much that she has become stuck in a sort of Halloween time warp, similiar to the movie Ground Hog's Day. She has decided that she needs to watch all the Halloween cartoons on our Tivo over and over again, and only read the Halloween books in our household. She even has recruited her brother to carry around his pumpkin with her as she dresses up and comes up to me asking for candy. Hopefully this won't last too long, so we can move on to celebrating Thanksgiving.

Belated Halloween

Here are our little cheerleaders (and me) at our ward Halloween party, and Haley in her second clown costume that she loved dressing up in at home, but never wore out! Sorry I'm so slow with the picture download! :)

Daylight Savings

I thought "Fall Back" meant you got to gain an hour!!! It's 5am here and my little one is up an hour early. No one told her she could sleep in extra!!! Any suggestions on how to retrain your toddler to the new time change? I don't remember what we did last year!

Gifts for tots

Most of my child's favorite toys are ideas that I got from others. Her friend had a cute little Elmo push 'n ride toy. I got her a Winnie the Pooh one and it's wonderful: tons of things to press and pull, a lift-up seat you can fill with things, plus you can ride on it or push it. I highly recommend it for a 1 year old. I bought mine at Costco for $21.99. Another example is this little Dora futon that she plays on everyday. I also recommend this Fisher Price toy where you stack on four star rings. It makes a pretty noise and flashes lights every time you get a ring on and, at the end, you put a star on top and it plays one of the toy's classical tunes. It's about $12.99 at Toys R Us. When she was 9 months old, she would just pull the rings off and press the button that played the music, but now that she's older, she puts the rings on herself. My mother-in-law introduced me to this toy as well as the Fisher Price ball popper! It's so fun. She loved to watch it at 6 months and then grew to love putting the balls back in and pushing the red button that plays the music and gets the ball rolling. Basically kids at every age love playing with it. I've even seen 5 year olds play with it.

Okay, anyway, I am looking for some ideas for my 14 month old (will be almost 16 months at Christmas) for toys for Christmas. If you've had a child at this stage, I would love suggestions on what toys your kids have loved. I know personality plays a part, but I'd just like your general suggestions from a developmental standpoint. Think 18 months old.

Oh...and if you have great suggestions for any other age group (6-12 months, 2 years, 3 years, etc.), maybe others would find that helpful as well!

My pink skeleton

Here's my little skeleton. They are glow-in-the dark pajamas from Gymboree and surprisingly they had adult ones as well so my husband got black ones.

Crush the Turtle

Here's the front and back view of Bauer's costume. I put so much thought into him being Crush and he only wore the costume twice. He really didn't like being in it and would slowly take off one piece of his costume at a time until he was in his Wal-mart clearance sweatpants and t-shirt. No mom wants their child to wear that as a costume! So, after forcing him to wear the turtle costume twice we decided to just let him wear his Superman pj's for a Halloween party we went to and trick-or-treating. Now that I know how happy that made him maybe I'll just get pajama's every year!

You can't really tell but I slicked his hair back and plastered one little curl in the middle of his forehead. It was so cute!

The Lion Sleeps Tonight...

We spent most of Halloween like this. Yep. He slept through trick-or-treating, visiting family, the movies we watched... Luckily I took some pictures the day we got the costume from Old Navy!

Hermione

My mom made this costume, skirt, tie, robe... the whole thing!

Skyler was a ladybug for Halloween, so my husband and I followed along with the garden/insect theme and I was a bumblebee and he was the flower. He was a pretty good sport about it overall, although the headpiece didn't stay on for much longer than the picture! Skyler kept tearing her costume off too, so I was the lone one in costume most the night!

p.s. Instead of going back and responding to all the individual posts, I'll just say that everyone's pictures are great. The kids all look so cute!

This is Luke. We dressed him up as Luke Skywalker! We even had a little lightsaber. He's sitting on his Daddys lap. Daddy was going to be MacGyver but it was too hot to wear the "costume" we picked out...jeans and a shirt with a flannel shirt over it.

Bradyn is a Pirate, even though we lost his pirate shirt (oops), so some people thought that he was a ninja. My Parker was just the cutest chicken ever and Logan the most adorable little frog. We used all hand me down costumes this year. So, Bradyn has been all of these at one time or another.

Little Lamb

This was Margaret's first Halloween. I made her costume, so she looks a little more like a bunny than a lamb :) To clear up the confusion, Michael dressed up as a shepherd.

The Garden of...

This is Eden and her stroller ("The Garden of...")