Beauty and the Beast

Here's the official unveiling of Halloween 2013 at the Fokens' house. Beauty and the beast is the brother/sister theme we went with. Only kidding. I'm a big fan of matching costumes in families, but now that Miller is getting older...it really is impossible to please both. Miller really wanted to dress up as the Skylander wii game character, Tree Rex. Isn't the costume ugly? We are slowly graduating from the cutesy boy costumes as he ages. My costume rule is no blood, weapons or violence.  A big pat on the back because he stayed in the parameters of NO SCARY--I told Miller, we celebrate a fun Halloween. 

Remove the mask and you'll find the most handsome of first grade boys right there:) He really did resemble the beast sitting next to Belle. Eliza Kate is right in the heart of the princess age. She loves to twirl, sing ,and dance. Dressing up in jewels and dresses is a daily event. She really couldn't choose just one princess until two weeks before Halloween. I told her we had to finally select one character. I think she chose wisely! We had a dress rehearsal in which mommy was the beast twirling Belle around the family room. 

 With her hair swept up, she's growing up too fast on this momma. Three years old is a magical age.

They were antsy with Halloween anticipation. Our pre treating party was next door, and they loved watching all of the set up with jittery excitement during picture time on our front steps.

We ran next door around 5:30 to find our friends from the hood arriving. Ariel & Rapunzel were waiting with Mardi Gras dress up beads. Oh my, three princesses with dress up beads.

 Grayson was another Skylanders character. These two ran all over the front yards full of imaginative wii game stunts. Jumps, tree climbing, and few confiscated tree limbs were involved. They were truly "in character". 

They played their Skylanders hearts out waiting for the pizza to arrive. 

Our royal girls were enjoying the party--the belles of the ball:) 

They got a little silly too--oh my!

Our trick or treat crew from the hood. I'm loving how EK is curtseying. She kept looking back at Sam on the back row with the scary mask to make sure he was respecting her personal space. 

We love having Grandmama and Poppy come to pass out candy for us every year. They love spending Halloween with us as they don't get trick or treaters on their road. Grandmama sported her bedazzled pumpkin t-shirt. The littles loved their festive shirted Halloween grandmama.

And, they were off! We divided and conquered. The boys sprinted ahead with Mr. Greg. It truly is a sign of the times--I didn't see Miller the rest of the evening until his candy bucket was full and he was begging for water. They ran laps around us in warp speed. Trailblazers of the neighborhood.

We loaded up the royal carriage wagon. Landon pulled the girls from house to house. It's only a two seater, so the polite princesses had to take turns riding. We slowly rolled from house to house. Since the houses are more spread out here, it was an all night event. Our poor daddy coachman got a workout.

Our candy stash took a hit. Although, we purchased way too much candy.

This princess wagon called it a night around 8:00 p.m. She then came home to devour her candy and help our candy crew pass out candy. 

We waited for Tree Rex's homecoming on the front steps. She commented that her costume was itchy so she ditched her ball gown for comfy PJs. Sometimes beauty is uncomfortable.

After our friends made their rounds, we congregated on our driveway to play and watch the teenage crew roll in before turning off the porch lights and calling it a night. It was a wonderful first trick or treating night in our new neighborhood. Happy Halloween to all!

Mrs K's Pumpkin Centers

"Pumpkin Centers in Mrs. K's class" was penciled in on my calendar for a whole month before Halloween. Both Miller and mommy looked at the calendar hanging up with great anticipation for a fun Halloween morning. Mrs. K did all of the set up with decorations she reuses every Halloween. This is her special fall celebration that she plans every year for her techies.  The moms just showed up with donations in hand ready to party:)   She saved all the craziness including wacky hair day for one fell swoop. That's my kind of planning:)

Ms. Nikki, the other room mom snapped the cutest of group pictures. For that, I'm so thankful.  I snagged it from our class Shutterfly share site--couldn't resist.
 During picture time, I was in the janitor's closet filling up a large tub with hose water. It wasn't the best view of me {picture it---bottoms up shuffling my feet  down 2 hallways with sloshing water towards the class:)  It was actually quite hysterical:) Miller demonstrated a feat of first grade strength to his class, by moving the tub towards the tile. That macho, macho little man of mine. Gosh, I love him! 

That Mrs. K is something else. Everytime we leave her classroom, Nikki and I text each other about just how blessed we are to have her this year. She is truly a God send! I snapped a quick picture of the Pumpkin poem writing and tasting center. From pumpkin pie play dough playing, to bumpy gourd descriptions--these techies were busy on Halloween morning.

Here Mrs. K was leading Miller's group through the pumpkin Science experiment center. The techies had to predict if the medium sized pumpkin would sink or float by submerging in into a tub of water. That poor pumpkin was measured and weighed..and rolled:) And, then proudly set back up on my front porch to be carved before Halloween.

Here's my wacky green haired "Trick or Treat" boy {swoon}. What's a party without decorating pumpkin shaped cookies?

This turned out blurry, but it's one of my very favorite memories of our morning together.  Mrs. K turns on music during transition time between the centers. The kids & Mrs. K danced their way to another rotation. How cute is she dancing with her spooky headpiece? And, what a creative way for those wiggly worms to get their sillies out without being disruptive.

I was stationed at the mini pumpkin and gourd Venn diagram center. Oh what fun I had leading the groups through comparing and contrasting gourd attributes. Miller has come a long way sharing me from his preschool days of tears when I'd come in to help.  He's got the whole sharing thing conquered now.

Here's his center partner, A. The techies were so busy that we ran out of time. Our hour flew by with all kinds of pumpkin themed learning activities. Thankful that there are still opportunities to volunteer as he's climbing the grades in elementary school. A big thanks to Mrs. K for a fabulous, fall morning in first.

dress up fall party

Halloween week was one of the busiest weeks on the books for this momma. Somehow, I signed up for both parties for the littles {what was I thinking?} Both parties were on different days, so it did work out after all. Eliza Kate's fall party was a lot of fun to put together and I loved having the help of another momma to pull off some of the details. We nixed wearing her Belle costume at school due to the layers and layers of tulle. Her ball gown wasn't exactly playground or bathroom friendly. Strawberry girl with butterfly wings was her second choice.  I think it turned out dahh-ling:)

We decorated pumpkin sugar cookies. EK helped me to mix and cut 2 dozen cookies the night before the party. She surely is mommy's little helper in the kitchen. 

Costumed girlies! I loved meeting all the friends my girly chats about at home. 

Anna's mommy brought a shaving cream paint craft involving pumpkins. Luckily, the kiddos sported smocks to protect their costumes. The room smelled like a freshly shaven man. Eliza Kate loved the messiness of the shaving cream.  Can you tell?

I whipped up a quick pin the hat on the scarecrow game along with a beanbag pumpkin toss.  Three year olds love to be spun around. blindfolded. They especially love tearing off the bandanna to see if they made the mark. 

Loving the preschool season with my girly. Nothing like a fall party morning spent with my Strawberry girl.  There's always a reason to party in preschool. 

last game

Our last soccer game of the Wizard season came and went. It was a glorious fall day and the boys ended their season with a competitive game. The other team scored a goal to beat us the last few minutes of the game;(  If our team showed as much skill during the beginning of the fall, I'm confident we would have scored more victories. These Wizard boys really upped their skill level the last few games of their season. 

They worked hard for those snacks. Hot cocoa was the treat beverage on the last game!

Eliza Kate always had a little sister friend to play with. These girls always found a quilt to spread their crafting supplies out on the field. On this day, they continued their artistic flair on the picnic tables after the game. Girlfriends make the time fly by.

The boys always found time to work their sillies out after their games with tag, funny noises, and lots of goofing off. Seems like they didn't let a losing game get them down. 

boo'ed!

When we returned home from the pumpkin patch, a mysterious neighborhood pal tip toed through our side yard to play a ding dong ditch game at our door. To our surprise, we got boo'ed with a box of Halloween goodies. I have a pretty good idea just who played this festive little trick on us, but my lips are sealed:) 

Eliza Kate loved returning the favor and playing a ring & run game of her own to our one year old neighbor across the street the next day. Of course, Miller had a hard time choosing which friend he would boo, but our next door neighbor friend was the beneficiary of a fun pumpkin boo bucket. 

Poor Jackson, I think he came to sniff the bucket to see if there were any kitty treats for him:)

I'm not sure which was more exciting to get boo'ed or to be the "boo'er"!

pumpkin patch visit

We chiseled away an afternoon trip to select our real carving pumpkin. The only time in our schedule was a weekday afternoon, so we hopped on over to the Mt. Zion corner pumpkin patch. I love that they provide Radio Flyer wagons to pull through the rows of pumpkins. Of course, one wagon always causes  drama unless you decide to pilot a "his" and "hers" wagon. 

They've learned that if they smile and pose, mom let's us play the rest of the time. We're at golden ages for smiling. We witnessed extra small, medium and XL pumpkins on our hunt. Some were bumpy, some were smooth...Miller made the connection to the book The Littlest Pumpkin. As we were selecting our "just right" pumpkin, I couldn't help but feel sorry for the pumpkin that doesn't get chosen by Halloween night. Why do moms always put human emotions to inanimate objects? Or is that just me? ha!

 The pumpkin maze is always a favorite. When Miller spotted a neighborhood friend, he was off exploring the pumpkin woods around the maze before we summoned them back to the patch. 

We came, we saw, we chose--we called it a fun trip to the patch. Looking forward to visiting our old friend, Berry Patch next year, again.

I left with this unstaged, mental image in my brain of my two wagon cuties. After all the wagon sharing drama, they decided they liked each other after all. Here's to a harmonious brother/sister relationship & forgiveness at the patch!

the relatives came

 On one of our recent library visits, we picked up a copy of Cynthia Rylant's The Relatives Came.  Omi read the book to the kiddos aloud on their last stop through Atlanta in September. It's always been a children's favorite of mine. Little did we know that we'd be reenacting scenes from the book on a trip to Knoxville for a family reunion. Landon's Aunt Gail and Uncle Chip came into town during peak fall season in Tennessee all the way from Arizona.  Our family breezed into town on a Saturday morning for an quick, overnight visit.  We adored the picturesque country views as the backdrop to our little road trip. There's nothing like a pop of color on a rural drive to make you appreciate the season.

Eliza Kate enjoyed Omi and Papa's tricycle. 

 Aunt Gail and Omi planned a fall treasure hunt in the backyard. No fall leaf was left unturned by the cousin crew. With baskets in hand they hunted for all sorts of wrapped treasures hidden beneath the colors of fall. Some little sussy's needed verbal clues with hot and cold directions. I'm pretty sure we hunted everything. Only time will tell:)

Eliza Kate, Meredith and Miller played so nicely on this visit. They loved running up and down the catwalk upstairs and sneaking up on adult conversations below. Fun was had in the bonus room and Papa's secret finished attic space . Imaginative play with cousins is always so much fun to eavesdrop on. The laughter of children adds wonderful ambiance to a family reunion.

We're so glad that we squeezed in a quick Knoxville overnighter. The cousins treasure their great Aunt Gail and Uncle Chip. We loved our weekend that "The Relatives Came"!

Fall Festival Movie Night

Our family loved attending our first fall family night at Miller's school.  Every tradition at his school is new to us in the fall as he attended Kindergarten last year at a different  elementary school. We still feel like new kids at school at times. In many ways, we settled in and it feels just like home.  Stepping up as room mom has allowed me to meet other moms and feel like their are other familiar faces when I visit. 

Can you see that little sister enjoyed the coveted snack on the evening.  She is all about enjoying snacks. This little girl never stops eating.  Each grade donated a specific item towards a Trail Mix station. The make your own snack mix tradition has carried on for years at this school. I can see why it's so popular--check out the serving portion!!

I'm so happy Landon joined us so we could divide and conquer. As we greeted neighborhood friends, Miller man managed to weasel off with this his buddy from his class last year. They blissfully hopped from booth to booth without parents for awhile before they were located:) 

I signed up to run the Candy Treats Walk. Picture a Halloween themed cake walk. My lovely assistant, EK helped me draw the winning number out of the pumpkin basket when she wasn't hopping from sign to sign herself:)  Of course, she loved to fan her feet out on the number to see if she scored the winning ticket. Fortunately, she managed to win several times. EK was content to just hang out with her mommy amid the flurry of activity at other booths. That's what I love about my girl. She's content to help out wherever she lands. Winning candy was a great incentive to hang around.

There was a martial arts demonstration. Miller was mesmerized by the tricks and stunts he watched. I think he wants to try out this sport next;) The school's Fox Trotter's girls group drew quite a crowd as well. At dusk, we laid out our blankets on the school's newly renovated fields to watch the not yet released movie, Turbo on the big screen. Miller took initiative to hop on all the blankets to find first grade friends to mingle with. We lost him for another few while we were settling in. It took me a minute, but I spotted his laugh. A successful first annual festival for our fam!

foam pumpkins

Our Styrofoam pumpkins have made their way out on the front steps. There's nothing quite like a hollowed out, fake pumpkin to put you in a festive October mood ;) I grew up having brick steps on the front of my house, and something about our front steps reminds my childhood home. Memories flooded back of my own mom posing me for pictures on our front steps on Hampton Farms. EK and I had fun positioning our pumpkins , just so. And, then rearrange them ...just so.

This all girl of mine  really gets into decorating for each holiday. She ohhs and ahhs over each detail with a surprised face. God knew what he was doing when he blessed me with a little girl who appreciates all the little details. She spotted her monogrammed "e" pumpkin and smiled. It was packed away in bubble wrap last year, so everything really is new to this three year old girl of mine.

Sadly, brother had an accident with the pumpkin. He thought that one of my pottery pumpkins was made of foam and during his imaginative leap, it shattered into pieces. He said, "I didn't realize this was fragile" It just so happened to be sister's  "e" gourd:( Big brother was so sorry--boy was he ever so very sorry. Big crocodile tears were streaming down his face in remorse. I think they both were crying for different reasons. And, it took him quite awhile to recover from that blooper of an oopsie. At our house, we understand that accidents do happen & just seeing his remorse was enough for me to shower him with a little grace. Sure I was disappointed, but we used our time cleaning with the broom to learn a very important lesson. There was something said about using our listening ears. respecting property and using self control over the sillies in the cleaning up, discussion  speech.

 And, those lessons are what I'm available for in the afternoons. I've been feeling really thankful and convicted lately to make all of these little moments count. There are so many times a teachable moment escapes me, but then there's the reward of a seized opportunity that makes you feel like you've really got this mom thing down.

Only by God's grace does He equip me to raise these two. It's when I'm on my knees that he gives me the strength to carry on and recharge my patience batteries. Oh, how I love them so. Even on the days when we're sweeping up broken pottery.