Happy Halloween!

I can't believe that I haven't posted on this blog in almost a month. There was a time when I used this space to update the status of my two little precious ones, and I was vigilant about typing every night- it made me feel like I was doing something, even when I was miles away from Harper and Jack.

Now that we have two toddlers who are running all over the place...well, life has happened. And the last week, boy has life happened. Harper got a stomach bug and started getting sick last week.  She was sick, then got better for a day, then sick again, then better for a day, then sick again (you get the picture). In fact, we even went out to eat a couple of times amid the sickness because we thought for sure Harper had kicked the bug and was better. Nope. A big, fat nope. By Sunday when she was still getting sick, Tony took her back to the doctor (we had already been once with instructions to let things run their course), got her some medicine, and now, finally, today, she's feeling more like herself.  I don't know what was worse, the getting sick, or the whining and general bad mood that accompanied it.

Last week while Harper was sick, we just knew that Jack was on the verge of being sick as well. Each time he got a funny look on his face, I would grab a bucket. Tony asked him "does your tummy feel funny?" So many times that Jack started just giving a look in reply. But Jack didn't get sick. He bounced around the house, brought Harper toys, watched tv with his sister, and sword fought his way through the house...until today. When he got sick....dang it!  So, needless to say, we are still dealing with this stomach bug that refuses to leave our house!

On the bright side, we did have a great end to October and a wonderful Halloween, and I have so many cute pictures of the kids to share.

We went to three different Halloween celebrations, the first of which was our gym Halloween party. Harper decided she wanted to go as "Doc McStuffins" (a cartoon doctor for stuffed animals and toys). I got her costume at a resale shop on a whim, and she was sold the moment I brought it out of the closet. This girl was committed to her character and hardly put her doctor bag down all night as she played.

Jack started out as a pumpkin, as you can see, but that quickly turned in to his Mickey Mouse pumpkin shirt and a scary mask. The masks were at the party and Jack was so excited to see them; he didn't take the mask off, despite him sweating as he ran round the gym. In fact, when we were riding home, Jack said "this mask is perfect for my costume!" He had already decided to be Frankenstein's monster for Halloween, and the mask was a monster mask- he was very excited.

Our second Halloween extravaganza was a fall carnival at my parent's church. We drove over Friday after work and got to have dinner with my family and Aunt Becky, Uncle Rex, and Great Granny before the carnival. The kids had so much fun seeing the family and Becky and Rex even showed up in costume.

Great Granny went with us to the carnival along with Nana and Pop. The weather wasn't cooperating, so all of the games and attractions had to be moved inside which made for a crowded carnival, but the kids still had a good time jumping in the bounce house, trunk or treating, and playing a variety of games. They were so wiped out that they slept all the way home and until 8 o'clock the next morning.

Saturday was Halloween, officially, and the kids had been waiting all month to be able to go trick-or-treating. Our friends invited us over to their house for a block party and trick-or-treating, so we loaded up the kids and their costumes and went to hang out.

Harper and Jack both had a great time trick-or-treating. Jack liked to look at all the houses, look in the houses, admire the decorations and pick through the candy. Harper liked talking to the people, wishing them a "Happy Halloween" and then running to try and catch up with the other kids in our group.

Jack's costume was a big hit and even found his doppelgänger roaming the neighborhood.

They got a great haul of candy, and since they've both been sick with the stomach crud, it's been going to good use to fuel mom and dad as they play nurse maid.

Aside from Halloween, the kids have done a few other noteworthy things in the past few weeks.

We took the kids to eat breakfast at our local pancake house- Harper picked out her own outfit. The kids also put down six silver dollar pancakes each!

They've also been going to a toddler gymnastics class and we got a few pictures of their "end of session ceremony". Both kids have gotten a kick out of class, and they're excited to go each week.

We took the kids to their first football game as well. Tony and I decided on a whim last weekend, when we thought Harper was feeling much better, to take the kids to the high school football game. The weather was great, the kids were excited, and our team won! We left at half time, but not before Jack got to see many people get "mooshed" as they were carrying the football. Harper and Jack also got to see the band, talk to some of the drill team girls, and watch the cheerleaders tumble (a request that Jack made after the first quarter. He looked at me and said "I want to see the cheerleaders now" ha!)

I'm closing with pictures of the kids and their favorite Halloween "thing."  Durinda takes the kids for walks quite often and when Halloween decorations started going up at the beginning of the month, they were thrilled to go by and see all the new sights. Jack took especial interest in the "big skeleton" at the end of the street. The skeleton became folklore at our house and Harper started requesting that we drive by and "check on the big skeleton" on our way to and from the grocery store or the gym. It got so bad that we would have to limit our drive-bys so the people living at the house wouldn't think we were stalking them.

So, before "Humongous" as Jack named him was taken down for the season, the kids and I walked down so they could get their picture taken with him. Please notice the giant skeleton eyes (which lit up red at night). I asked the kids if they were scared of him and they both replied "No, he's not scary!"  Ha!

Also...couldn't end without our girl, Abby. She's too cute :)