Tricks and Treats

Tis the night that the goblins and witches come out to play.
Tis the night that it is much better to receive a treat rather than a trick.
Or for some of us, tonight is the night we will receive many treats and even a little trick.
It can only be one day.
It's Halloween!

We started the night off at a party hosted by our friends, the Farmer Family.
The party they were giving these adorable kids was dubbed "Jack-O-Lympics."
They had a little obstacle course set up with sack races, chicken heart toss, push ups while eating candy pumpkins, etc.
It was a very cute idea and the kids had a blast...

After games and pizza, we decided to invite some friends and circle the neighborhood for a few minutes so the kids could go trick or treating.
This is where things got a little tricky.
Joe stayed back for a minute to replenish our candy bowls.
When he caught up to us, he told me he had locked the door and jumped the sensor in the garage to get out.
The problem was, we had no key.
Oops!
Instead of panicking, we let the kids continue going door to door and then dealt with the problem when we got home.
I had planned on it being an early night since the girls had school the next day.
After two hours of trying to open our door, the locksmith finally jimmied Joe's car door and in we went.

Even the sweetest night of the year could get a little sticky.

Pumpkin Carvers

It's the night before Halloween and we have one job left to do.
It's pumpkin carving time.
Before the carving could begin, I had the girls pick out clothes they wouldn't mind getting messed up.
Joe was a little heartbroken when he saw the shirt Sophia chose...

I told Joe it would be ok because we, as a family, are Giants fans now.
All of us :)

Now back to my pumpkins...

Instead of getting too fancy and intricate this year, we let the girls draw the design...

The end result were very simple, old school jack o' lanterns...

LOVE

There are three words spoken by my children that I can never get enough of.
I
Love
You.
I am fortunate in that my children tell me these three words often.

Often times, Sophia will be sitting somewhere doing a task when she will just yell,
"Mama!"
"What Sophia?"
"I Lub You!"
"I love you too Sissy!"

Sophia's inability to correctly pronounce the word "love" has never taken away from the sweetness of her words.
She could tell me "I Lub You" over and over and it will still have the same impact as when Lily tells me "I love you."
Her speech impairment may sometimes get in the way of properly pronouncing a word, but the meaning and "lub" behind it is never lost on me.

Today, Sophia came out of speech therapy with her teacher.
Her teacher told me they were working on "v" and "s" sounds that fell in the middle of a word.
Mrs. Wilson asked Sophia to tell me what she learned.

To which Sophia turned to me and said:
"I Love You!"

And mommy loves you, too!

Honorable Mention

Our neighborhood was having their annual Halloween Costume Party and Pumpkin carving contest.
I like to maximize the usage of the girl's costumes each Halloween season, so this was the perfect little event for our family...

Lily chose to be a "Whimsical Witch."
My mother in law made the costume.
She did an incredible job of making sure every detail was right...

Sophia wanted to be a pink alien.
This was the closest I could get to having her be a pink alien.
The name of the costume is actually "Galaxy Princess", but either way, she looks out of this world...

Our neighbors also came along.
We have Meghan (Laura Ingalls) and Erin (the butterfly)...

Before the costume judging, we carved our family pumpkin.
Notice Joe's manly painted fingernails...

The costume contest was divided into two categories, toddlers and school age children.
Sophia fell into the "toddler" category because it went up to preschool.
Lily was in the "school age" category.
Sophia's category was up first.
Poor Sophia was stuck in a category of mushy gushy babies.
Everyone knows that people tend to go for the babies.
The winner of Sophia's category was a two year old ostrich.
It was a very impressive costume.

For the school age category, our neighbor Erin the butterfly won.
The selection committee was impressed by Sophia's costume and she ended up winning the Honorable Mention prize...

C-c-c-cold

This morning, I set about with good intentions.
But somewhere in between climbing into our cozy car and sitting at the blustery cold soccer field, all good intentions were lost.

This was to be the morning that I was going to capture soccer memories with my camera.
But the ice cold wind got the best of me and wouldn't allow my fingers to function.

Yes folks, that is correct.
It is COLD here in Houston, Texas.
This only picture I did manage to get before snuggling under the blanket pretty much says it all...

By the way, that's Lily on the far left.

Since I have no pictures to tell how the soccer day went, I guess I will have to use my words.

Lily is quickly becoming more aggressive.
She doesn't just stand back waiting for the ball to come to her.
She runs as fast as her little legs will carry her and gets right into the middle of things.
For a little girl with generally not an aggressive bone in her body, this makes her dad and I quite excited.

Sophia has no problem getting into the thick of things and going after the ball.
Her problem is that by the second half, she generally peters out.
Not today.
She played almost the entire game and scored her fifth goal of the season.
The moment she scored that goal is when I was really cursing my frozen hands.
If you could have just seen the pride on her face.

Oh well.
I am certain today's weather was just a fluke and we will all be back out in our shorts again next week.
I will be ready with camera in hand.

Dewberry Farm

As I have said in the past, Fall is my favorite time of year.
The cool weather, changing colors and pumpkin dishes of every sort help to make it my number one season.
I have, however, quickly discovered that a Fall season in Houston is unlike any I have ever experienced.

For instance, today we made our annual pumpkin patch trip.
I had the girls dressed in leggings and rain boots to keep from getting muddy.
Joe and I wore jeans and tennis shoes.
Boy were we overdressed.
Apparently in Houston, your "pumpkin patch attire" is the same as your attire for the other seasons, shorts and flip flops.

Oh well.
The sweat and heat (88 degrees plus humidity) did not keep us from having a good time.

Not knowing the area, I asked friends to tell me the best pumpkin patch in town.
All fingers pointed to Dewberry Farms.
Everyone else in the city must have felt the same way because this place was packed!
Good thing for us is that there was so much to do, that the crowds of people didn't slow us down.

We arrived just as the gates opened, excited as can be...

 The pony rides were conveniently placed just as we walked in, so that was the first thing the girls did...

 Lily panicked for a brief moment, but was quickly consoled by her daddy...

 After the ponies, we took a gander at the geese...

 Along with all of the other animals...

After grabbing a quick bite to eat of your typical fair food (think fried everything), Lily and Sophia wanted to get their faces painted.
Now as far as face painting goes, we aren't just talking a stamp and ink, but some serious artistry.
I was amazed at the transformation...

Sophia chose the butterfly mask...

So fitting for my colorful girl...

Lily chose the "Sugar Skull"...

Definitely not your typical face paint...

Then we had to get what we came for, pumpkins...

Sophia muscled up and chose her pumpkin right off the get go...

It didn't take long for Lily to find her perfect pumpkin either...

The fresh picked pumpkins were then used as seats for one more pumpkin picture...

 The last item on our very long pumpkin patch to-do list was to ride the cow train...

After four hours of fun, we had two beautiful pumpkins and two extremely exhausted girls...

By far, the family tradition most near and dear to my heart.