Halloween

Lukey had a really fun Halloween party at school the day before Halloween.  He wasn't allowed to wear a mask for the parade so he decided to go as Luke Skywalker.  There were a lot of Darth Vaders but only one Luke Skywalker, which was this boy.  He had fun at his party and was in a really wild mood for the rest of the day.  

This year Lukey has gotten really into coloring and writing, which is pretty great.  

Uncle Ben came over the night before to help carve pumpkins.  Anna was very excited about this and requested a Hello Kitty pumpkin like she had last year.  She also wanted a butterfly.  Uncle Ben made a Darth Vader for Lukey.  They looked great!  

Anna decorated this pumpkin.

Lukey drew all over his pumpkin and laughed hysterically about it.  He didn't draw anything worth carving.  The best thing he did on the pumpkin was draw a picture of Darth Vader and wrote next to it, "You are my son."  We thought that was really funny and will probably forever think of that as what Darth Vader's lines should have been in the Empire Strikes Back.  Later, while he was distracted by watching Star Wars, I wiped it all off and Uncle Ben turned it into Darth Vader.  

We messed up and didn't get a white pumpkin to draw a sheep on like we usually do.  This worked out pretty well though.

The whole crop.  The painted ones our neighbors gave us.  They all look great!  

During the day on Halloween, we went to Maeve's soccer game then to their house for her birthday party.  As usual, the kids enjoyed watching Kent play with his I-pad.  

Lukey was Darth Vader and Anna was Hello Kitty.  We played for awhile at the party then went home and rushed out to go trick-or-treating in our neighborhood. They did pretty well.  They were good about saying trick-or-treat loud and clear and always said thank you.  I didn't get any pictures later in the night because by the time we got home we had to just get out there right away then get back to have a late dinner. 

Evie joined in too.  

Anna said she wanted to be Hello Kitty for Halloween.  I looked on Amazon to try to find just a cat ear headband and this costume ended up being really cheap so I just bought the whole thing.  Even cheaper was a big Hello Kitty costume.  Anna was very excited for us to dress up together for Halloween.  It was worth the $9.  Usually we're "mum sisters" but on Halloween she said that we were "mummy sisters".  I thought that was pretty clever of her.  

It was very rainy out in Holland so they set up the piñata inside.  This worked until it started to make a hole in the wall where it was hanging.  All the kids got a turn though.  Then the started just attacking it to get it opened.  

Kent was VERY concerned with making sure that everyone just got as many hits as they were allowed and that the blindfold had to be on the bigger kids.  He really wanted to knock it down.  

No one actually knocked it down.  They just all attacked it at once.  Except Anna.  She stood off to the side uncertain of the whole situation. 

Pumpkin picking and Anna's first field trip

It's been a great fall!  We picked one of the warm days to go pumpkin picking.  We picked kind of small ones this year because we walked there with our wagon and the kids weren't willing to walk home.  So, the kids and the pumpkins had to fit in the wagon.  it's starting to get a little tight to do this.  We might need a new plan next year.  

I love Anna's face in this picture.

On a much colder day then the day we went pumpkin picking Anna had her first field trip.  We went to the Plymouth Orchards.  When Lukey was in pre-school I felt like I knew who all the kids were. She likes to tell me more about her day and Lukey always was more willing to talk about the other kids he played with.  I only know who about 4 of the kids are in Anna's class.  Juliet is definitely her favorite.  She likes this little boy, Austin, too.  She doesn't care about anyone else in the class. No biggie.  She seems to like school and that's really all that matters right now. 

They must've not had a good crop of apples this year so there were no apples on the trees.  They took us on a wagon ride by apple trees then stopped by a big cart of apples and told us to pick an apple. 

We also got to pick more pumpkins!

Happy Birthday to Lukey

Lukey turned 5 last week!  Sorry Lukey, but the pictures from your party have never been worse, but we all had fun!  Lukey is doing very well in his young 5's kindergarten class.  He really likes going to school and likes telling us all about the things he does every day at school.  He likes the kids in his class and his teachers too.  His favorite thing right now is Star Wars.  He also still likes Batman and Rescue Bots, likes to read and draw and play with legos.  He consistently says that when he grows up he wants to be a builder.  To him I think this means a construction worker.  I think he'd make a good engineer of some kind.  He has a few more years to think about it though.

The girls wore matching outfits for the party!

Lukey made us wait for him before singing because he thought it was really important to put on his new Darth Vader pajamas.  He looks great in them.  (and is wearing them right now and him and Anna have a lightsaber battle while Anna's kitties a/k/a Anakin's pets watch). 

Lukey was really excited that we played the Imperial March (Darth Vader's theme song) when it was time to eat cake.  

happy birthday, school, soccer, dance

We haven't posted in awhile. We're been pretty busy with Lukey starting Young 5s kindergarten, Anna starting preschool, soccer, dance, etc.  This is a picture from labor day weekend when we celebrated Nana and Pa Bob's birthday.

I think these are the first pictures of Nana and Pa Bob with all of their grandchildren!

We went to the Plymouth Cider Mill.  Pictures are no good.  

Lukey has been doing a great job in young 5s kindergarten!  We've gotten good reports from the teachers and he really likes going to school!

Anna was sad that Lukey didn't want her in the pictures.  

Lukey and Anna started soccer a few weeks ago.  They're both pretty good!  Well, not that good I guess but they're both having fun and listening to their coaches pretty well.  

Anna's started 3 year old preschool this year 2 mornings a week. I think she's been doing pretty good too.  All I've heard is that she's been fine and plays a lot with Juliet.  She really likes playing with Juliet for a little while after school too. Lukey was sad that he wasn't allowed in her pictures.  It was payback for him not letting her in his pictures. 

Anna also started ballet class!  She seems to be having fun.