Halloweek

In case you were wondering why it has been awhile since my last post, it is because my kids have been wearing their Halloween costumes ALL week! Any pictures taken this week have one or both of them wearing one of many costumes. I didn't want to post any pictures of them in those costumes until after they went trick-or-treating. It was a fun week!
Zachary and Allie would wake up in the morning and immediately put their costumes on. Zach's costumes were stinky by the end of the week because he'd sweat in them. And every night, we'd have a few moments of frustration because Mommy wouldn't let anyone sleep in any costumes.
From earlier in the week, Allie with her pjs on underneath her costume:

Both kids with Todd, Saturday morning, coloring on their little pumpkins. Allie wearing her costume over her clothes:

Ready for trick-or-treat time:

Mimi made Zachary this dolphin costume, per his request. Awhile back, when we started talking about Halloween, he said he wanted to be a dolphin. Lesson learned (by mommy), a 3-year old will change his mind many many times. The dolphin was so funny because Zachary wouldn't take it off for the first few days. Mimi & Grandad were visiting us and he wore it all over the place, dragging his tail along.

Such a cutie!!:

Then he decided he wanted to be a kangaroo. (In between the dolphin & kangaroo, he mentioned an alligator and a dinosaur)...I can't believe we found a kangaroo costume. It came with a little Joey too, so funny!:

Allie at a front door, waiting for the candy. She enjoyed the process of trick-or-treating, but it was just too cold & rainy.
We headed home right after she did this, to tell me she was too cold:

Zach's naps

Zachary is 3 1/2 years old and still naps fairly consistently every afternoon, although I have noticed a slight change in the afternoon routine. He now likes to spend some time reading on his own after we've finished reading & singing. There have even been a few times where he reads for an hour and never actually falls asleep. I imagine he'll probably drop the nap over the next few months, and that's ok...I know it's all part of growing up.
The other night, he also decided he needed some additional reading time before he went to sleep for the night. When I was heading to bed, I peaked in & saw him like this. I grabbed the camera and snapped these pictures. I love my little babies when they're sleepin'!

Allie-talk

Well, she's been an effective little communicator for awhile, but only recently has she decided to use the actual words. We can get her to say almost anything, just by having her repeat what we say. But here's a list of the newest words Allie is currently using on her own:

"juice juice" = juice
"mine" = mine
"b-tee" = blankie
"buh" = book
"teh-tee" = thank you
"peece"= please
"biye" = vitamin
"peesh" = fish
"kee-yee" = kitty
"buh-yee" = bunny
"mooo" = cow
"duh" = duck
"daw" = dog
"uff rff" = what a dog says
"mimi" = Mimi
"pa-paw" = Grandpa
"d-yee" = Grammy
"d-yen" = Aunt Jen
"shh" = Aunt Shell
"che-chee" = cookie
"cheen" = chin
"teet" = teeth, brush teeth
"ba" = bath
"die-pee" = diaper
"bee" = bird
"tintee" = stinky
"be-yee" = belly
"ggg" = George (Curious George)
"peet" = feet
"eh" = Can I?, (she asks before she does anything!)
"poo" = spoon
"yan-na" = Panda
"-sht" = shirt
"ft-bah" = football
"b-shew" = bless you (when someone sneezes)
"ew-dee" = excuse me (with her hand over her mouth)
"buhm mee" = help me (we think that's what she's saying on this one...)

And if she doesn't want something or wants you to stop, she will nod her head & furrow her brow. She has a non-verbal "no" that speaks volumes...!

So funny.

Zachary: "Mommy, why do you have finger rings?"
Mommy: "Well, Daddy gave them to me as a present."
Zachary: "Why did he get them for you?"
Mommy: "Because he loves me and wanted to give them to me when we got married."
Zachary: "Your rings are very nice."
Mommy: "I know, they are really special. Some day you'll be able to give a nice ring to someone that you love when you get married."
Zachary: "Mommy, will you stay with me when I do that?"
Mommy: "Of course I will, if that's what you want."

Carving Pumpkins

We carved pumpkins today and had a lot of laughs. Allie was very interested until we cut the pumpkin open. At one point, she gagged at the smell and then wouldn't touch it. Just like her dad.

I love this picture. Zachary was watching Grammy and I love his little hands & sweet face.

Zachary drew the face he wanted on his pumpkin. He specifically wanted "oval shaped" eyes with a little triangle nose and a very big smile. This forced me to branch out from my standard (i.e., super easy) triangle eyes.

Pretty Dress

Grammy Claire made some pretty dresses for Allie and this one is my favorite. Allie wore it to church on Sunday and I enjoyed watching her walk around in it. She really liked the little front pockets.

The way things are

Zachary: "Mommy's the cooker and Daddy's the helper."

I love my sweet boy

Zachary has a really sweet little tender side that just makes me smile. He's very thoughtful and concerned for other people. He takes great care of his little sister. He knows what her favorite things are and pays attention to what she's saying. He is really so very sweet.
He also spends a lot of his sweetness taking good care of his lovies, specifically Panda. He makes sure Panda eats (bamboo, only, of course) several times a day, gets a good nap (yes, Panda lays his head on the pillow too), and LOTS of affection. The other day, he even felt compelled to carry Panda around like a newborn baby. This makes me laugh. I just love my little Zachary and I'm so thankful that he is such a sweetheart.

"Beeyath" Time

Sometimes Zachary has a strange little accent when he speaks. It's a little combination of Boston & Canadian...? Anyway, when he says, "bath," it sounds like "beeyath." I love it.

The kids love their baths. So fun!

Little Allie

Allie has become quite the little character lately. She is super silly and a lot of fun! These are just a few random pictures of her that showcase a few elements of her little personality.

Grammy-time

Grammy was here this week and we had a good time! These are cute pictures of the kids reading a bunch of new books that Grammy brought. So fun!

Apples & Grapes

I love Fall!! We visited one of my favorite farms near our house to pick apples. Apparently we were a little late on the apple-picking season, so we picked 2 apples and then a bunch of grapes. It was a super fun morning!

To the Fair!

We headed to the fair a couple of weeks ago. The highlight of our time was in the 4-H section where the kids got to see lots of cute little animals, as well as the 4-H competitions.

The kids enjoyed the competitions...

...until the cows started moo-ing really loud.

...and stinking.

The kids didn't really ride very many rides, because the fair has become way overpriced. But this ride was really cute, especially because Allie was tall enough to ride it alone.