Halloween party

 

We had our Ward Halloween Carnival, which gave the kids one extra opportunity to dress up in costumes.  Halloween is just plain fun.  Almost better than Christmas because there is a lot less stress and no pressure.  Just fun costumes and candy!

 

A Laser Tag Birthday

For Luke's birthday party this year, we decided to do laser tag.  After looking at lots of options, we found a company that comes to you and hosts a game in your own backyard for you.  This was the option we chose.  So Luke invited 8 friends and the anticipation was killer.

 

We told each kid to wear black, just to make it more fun.  The laser tag company had camo tents as obstacles to hide behind.  The laser guns were great because they essentially looked like Nerf guns only with lasers and sensors on them.  What kid doesn't love running around with a gun!

 

We got to play laser tag for 60 minutes.  Running around for 60 minutes is a hard thing to do.  They facilitated different types of games like free for all or blue against gold.   In the end, they played a game of everyone against the birthday boy and his dad.  That was fun too.

 We had uncle Sterling come too.  We had one big gun that the adults traded off with.  Each game was about 5 minutes, and one game was enough to wear you out.

Clara was the only girl at the party and she can keep right up with those boys.

It was a super fun party and super easy entertainment!

3 Months...almost

This little girl is growing up too fast.  We are in love with her chubby cheeks and she's got some adorable neck rolls that are to die for.

 

Some things we are proud of:  She finally giggled.  It's the sound you hear from your baby and just melt over.  Seriously, baby giggles are the cutest thing ever.

So far, she giggles the most for Luke.  She is absolutely enamored with Luke.

 

 

Another super cute thing about Ellie is that she is very easily startled.  You'd think she'd be used to loud noises with crazy Luke and Clara around, but she gets startled quite a bit.  It's kinda funny, but it usually scares her when she's startled so she cries sometimes.

 

 

Ellie also seems to be super ticklish.  She can't stand it.  She squirms around if you get her sides tickled.  

 

 

 

September Happeneings

 

We love to go to the swimming pool.  Our local indoor pool at the rec center is loads of fun and perfect for little kids.  We spend hours there at least once a week.  Luke and Clara especially love it, and Ellie is coming to love the water too.

 

 

Heading to the swimming pool means our kids are becoming better swimmers all the time.  Plus there's lots of laughing and goofing off for great family fun.

 

 

 

Luke has been begging for a long time to put some colors in his hair.  I guess since he's a hair dresser's son, he should be able to do something fun.  So we finally bleached the front so he could have blonde spikey hair.  He's funny about his hair, he determines the length and frequency of hair cuts.  Some days he doesn't even care if his hair is combed, and others he thinks his hair is too long.  Such a silly boy about his hair.

 

 

Clara finally got to start a preschool that is just for her.  It's so hard to be younger than Luke for her.  She can do everything Luke can do, and she wants to keep up with him in every aspect.  It was really hard for her when Luke got to start kindergarten this year and she didn't.  Her preschool started a few weeks after kindergarten so those few weeks were rough.

 

 

Clara is very smart too.  She probably could go straight to kindergarten and she would be just fine.  Preschool is more something fun and social for her, and an opportunity to do something that is just for her.  I love that she dresses herself every day.  Her sense of style isn't always spot on, but it's just Clara's personality shining through.  One of my favorite things she has said so far about preschool was when it was the first show and tell day.  She picked one of her "my little pony's" to show and a Dora doll.  I asked her how show and tell went.  She said she introduced her pony as "this is Rainbow dash, and she's a pony."  Then she introduced her dora doll like this "this is Dora, she's a human."  The things this little girl thinks of.  She's smart and funny, and simply adorable.