All Things Halloween 2011

Well, it's a little strange to be posting halloween pics when it's December already, but better late than never, right? Here are our long overdue adventures from the end of October...

in the days leading up to Halloween, the kids wanted to wear their costume hats all the time--here they are eating breakfast in them!

Anthony was a mailman for Halloween...I might have mentioned the idea early on, but he took it and ran with it. He loves watching the mail lady out of our front window, so he kept insisting he wanted to be a mail LADY. Eventually he understood that since he is a boy he has to be a mailMAN! silly boy! He waited for the mail lady one day all dressed in his costume so he could pick up the mail get a picture with the mail truck!



handsome little postal worker with his homemade trick or treat box

Lucas was a UPS delivery man. We received the costume as a gift from some friends up in Chicago when Anthony was born. The combination of these costumes was the biggest hit everywhere we went!

cutie little UPS worker also with a homemade box

some pics we snapped in the backyard one day

i couldn't get enough of them!

the hugs are so sweet

love anthony's sweet smile in this one

lucas' face in this one makes me giggle every time!

they are teasing me because i kept telling them to leave their hats on! haha!

one of the activities at our church's fall festival--they had a little kid play area with tons of different sizes and shapes of colorful mats

the kids had a ball climbing...

jumping and balancing...

... rocking, sliding, and rearranging. genius idea!

taking a little break from the games and having a taste of those treats

we ran into Anthony's good friend Audrey while there--what a cutie little strawberry! (thanks for the pic, lacey...i helped myself! all mine turned out blurry!)

the boys try their hand at the bean bag toss

another day at home, the boys decorated mini pumpkins with markers and stickers

posing with their big pumpkins in the fort

we decided to paint our pumpkins this year instead of carving them! so fun!

almost time for trick-or-treating...can you tell they're excited?!?

sweet, goofy boys
these little smiles tug at my heartstrings every single day!

posing for a pic while trick or treating

(i promise we didn't go around the neighborhood in the afternoon! we go right before it starts getting dark)

they really enjoyed the glow sticks that Nonna sent them in the mail...what a fun surprise!

And a couple of quick movies...

we made it to the fall festival early, so they had the entire bounce house to themselves for a little while!

this one's for you, mom! i know you wanted to be with us again this year! we missed having you here! the boys had a ball once they got going...(this was the first or second house they stopped at). love you!

October Visit to Memphis

Mid October, Mario had the opportunity to go on a fishing trip with his dad. He dropped the kids and I off at my parents' house in Memphis for a long weekend. We did a lot of fun things with the kiddos. They especially enjoyed playing with their cousins! It's picture overload again, but here's a snapshot of our time at "The Big H" (that's what the kids call Meme and Papa's house!).

me and my little "Bookus" (as he calls himself)

We got to visit Delle, Peggy, Michelle, Lexxis, and Landon at their home. They treated us to a yummy lunch, and the kids had a ball playing!

One day we went to the HUGE new park out at Shelby Farms. The first area the kids played on was the "climb and slope nest".

Reese snoozed while the boys played.

My boys loved the "musical ramp"....these hanging gongs were all over--the kids found some sticks and started banging away making some beautiful music! It was great!

Lucas and James playing on the "climbing wall" of the climb and slope nest

Basically, the ground was made of non-skid rubber (like a running track). It sloped down with 4 huge slides of differing widths and heights. Anthony's first try down!

He got brave pretty quickly and started going down head first!

oh, he had a ball!

anthony showing lucas the ropes

wheeeeee!

lucas ready to try his hand at the big slide

what a rush!

he loved it!

anthony tries backwards

james did a little sliding, but he had more fun playing with the rocks

big cheers from his mommy when he decides to go down! yay james!

aunt mandy helped the kids on the bungee swings in another area of the park

james enjoyed this one!

cutie smile!

the park had this adorable padded swing shaped like a big basket! it was in high demand, but the boys snagged a turn!

can you tell they loved this one?!?

these cousins love each other so much!

wish they made these swings for big people too!!!

Grandad came over and was able to snag a picutre with all the great-grandkids

then it turned into one big jumpfest! poor reese!

anthony loving on his uncle josh

these two are up to no good! :)

dinner around the Bellican table--corky's...YUM!

our family is going to outgrow this room before too long!!!

the boys love playing outside at the playground in the backyard!

anthony lines his forks up on the balance beam that i used to play on!

lucas plays in the playhouse...or should we call it a "fort" now for all these boys?

james going down the slide

my sweet big boy

little reese snuggled in her blanket, watching all the activity

It was a beautiful fall day--we decided to go on a family walk on the trails behind the house.

James and Anthony lead the way!

twins!

don't you love the height difference!

Papa pushes Lucas in the stroller

sweet happy boy

james was really power walking along the first stretch

james loves his uncle josh

anthony would run ahead and yell, "come on guys!"

sweet lovebirds michelle and josh

we stopped to look at the beautiful horses

when we got back home, the boys helped Papa collect some firewood

anthony was very enthusiastic about his big job

lucas was a big helper too

the perfect end to a perfect day--a huge bonfire!

we used to do this all the time growing up

it's been quite a few years since the last one, but hopefully this will be a new tradition

lucas loves his marshmallows, oh yes he does!

what an adventure!

i think this was the best part of the weekend for them!

trying to get a shot of all the kiddos before we leave!

there we go...that one will work!

thanks, meme and papa, for letting us come for a visit!!! our time there always seems too short! we love you and love how you share your home and your lives with us! miss you!!!