Happy Halloween!

This year I whipped up five Halloween costumes in a little over a day. That's a personal best! Granted, they were all pretty simple costumes. The fifth (not pictured here) was a store-bought costume that received some alterations and accessories.

For Cultural Day at school, Sutton dressed up an American flag, and Sawyer was Abraham Lincoln. Sawyer delivered his first large-scale oral report to his class that day, and even though he was super nervous about it, he knocked it out of the park - YAY! 

In the evening we dressed up and went Trick or Treating with the usual crew - Stella, Deacon and the other kids from the neighborhood.

I altered Mitch's old suit jacket to fit Sawyer and tattered the edges, but I kept the shoulders huge and Frankenstein-like. I couldn't get his neck bolts to stay on no matter what I used, but luckily he wasn't too bummed.

Sutton went as Steve from Minecraft. Mitch fashioned the box head with a kid's hard hat inside so that it didn't wobble all over the place and took the weight off of his shoulders. We ran into a LOT of other box heads running through the neighborhood that night!

We opted not to put green makeup on Sawyer's hands since I didn't want it to rub off on everything, but this picture looks even sillier with his mismatched hands!

Simon didn't want anything to do with his puppy costume (surprise, surprise!), but at the last minute he decided to put it on and go around the neighborhood with everyone. He LOVED trick or treating, and he'd cheerily proclaim "Happy Halloween!" to everyone who gave him candy. He was SO excited about everything, but he was still leery about some of the creepy Halloween decorations.

Happy Halloween! 

Three.

We celebrated Simon's third birthday with the smallest party we've ever had...and it was one of my most favorite parties yet! After health issues kept me laid up in bed all last week, I've never been more grateful to have had nothing more planned for his birthday than a simple barbecue with my sisters at our parent's house. My mom bought and prepared everything for dinner, so all we had to do was show up (thanks, Mom! xoxo)!

 

 I did manage to make him a cute cake though! 

Simon refuses to nap these days, so by the time we arrived at my parent's house for dinner he was already pretty sleepy. Fortunately he doesn't get too crabby until he's completely exhausted, and his mellow mood set the tone for the rest of the kiddos who played nicely together all evening.

The big kids spent some time building Duplo towers that were taller than they are. Their goal was to make one over six feet tall (aka taller than Daddy).

They almost made the 6' mark before the towers toppled...so close!

 How many kids can we fit into a hammock? 1, 2, 3, 4...

 How about ALL of them!?!

♩ ♪ ♫ ♬...and they all rolled over, and one fell out...♩ ♪ ♫ ♬ ;)

Simon loves to talk about "Baby Lexa," but he's not very interested in her when she's actually in the same room with him!

 Cake time! Zane decided that utensils are for the birds. Hands are much more effective!

Simon was half asleep by the time we got to opening presents. He got some Disney wooden puzzles, Monsters University toys, a water doodle mat, and binoculars. Yesterday at home we gave him a new three-wheeled scooter, a Dream Lites penguin and an abacus. His favorite presents were MegaBloks alphabet blocks and a Duplo number train from Grandma Ardy which perked him up through his sleepiness, and he exclaimed, "This is SO AWESOME!"

And just because we're talking about how much he loves letters and numbers, can I do a little bit of Mommy bragging?

 

The other day he knocked out this upper and lowercase matching worksheet (and the accompanying worksheet with the other half of the alphabet) in literally three minutes flat! 

He shocks everyone around when he points out words on street signs or in the stores and can actually read them now. He constantly asks me "How do you spell _____" or "What word starts with the letter ____." He also likes to quiz me, "Mommy, what does s-t-o-p spell? What does b-o-x spell?" or ask me questions like "Can I go in the p-o-o-o-l?" [which is a step better than last week's p-o-l-l version haha!] Yesterday he brought me a book from Sawyer's bookshelf and said, "This says 'Hop on Pop'" and then proceeded to open the book and start pointing out words to me. It's amazing! Looks like all that time he spent watching "Your Baby Can Read" dvds actually paid off ;)  

Back to School 2013

The Color Run 2013

Last weekend Sawyer and I got up before sunrise to head to downtown Sacramento so that we could participate in The Color Run. Last year I ran with some friends while the boys cheered me on from the sidelines, but this year Sawyer was determined to do the run/walk himself. We formed a kid-friendly "Color Walk" team and signed up a few friends, but in the chaos of the morning we ended up only being able to meet up with Jessi, Stella, and Robin. Sutton was on the fence about coming with us because he wasn't sure he could walk that far, and the night before the race he decided that he would rather wait til next year.

We were all clean and white and ready to go...but it was early. Really early. That's why we all look exhausted already haha! I realized when I was posting all of these photos that Robin took a lot of them, so she's not in most of them. Oops.

Sawyer's so protective of Stella. He wanted to make sure that she always knew where he was so that she didn't get lost in the crowd.

Inching closer to the starting line...

These guys were SO ready to get going! We actually didn't have to wait all that long since we were in the first wave of runners.

And we're off! 

Approaching the first color station - orange! Sawyer put on some safety goggles and was beyond excited to get colored!

The yellow station was next. Stella got a cramp in her side not long into the race, so she spent a good portion of the 5k on Jessica's back!

If I'd have only known just how blue this kiddo was about to get...

He looked like a Smurf!

The final station was pink, and Sawyer got a lot of it!

We got a splash of green from some excited kiddos at the finish line too.
(Hey look, there's finally a picture of Robin!)

We made it! This kiddo walked the full 5k without a single complaint, but he was pretty darn tired when it was done!

Look at how thick that color powder is on his face! (Did I mention that BLUE is the only color that's a little difficult to wash off of your skin afterwards?)

But wait! That's not all of the color fun - we still have to do the finish line color packet toss! 

Ready, set, throw!

Inside the color cloud is seriously stunning!

 Sawyer and Stella were bummed that they didn't get very much of the orange color on themselves, so they decided to take matters into their own hands. Literally.

(Look at that couple walking in the background. They are totally amused.)

Color fight!

Thanks for another great event! We'll see you again in 2014!