Todd's Tatler: 2012

Thankful

8:49 PM by Amanda

Instead of counting down, we decided to count UP to Thanksgiving. Each day, we took turns saying something we were thankful for, writing it on a feather, and attaching it to our turkey. He turned out to be one handsome tom by Thanksgiving Day!

Caleb was very thoughtful in his thankfulness, and included: praying, going to school, running around, parents, Madeline, eating, and "voting."

Snow Snow Magical/Awful Snow!

10:27 AM by Amanda

I think we got more snow yesterday than we managed in the entire season last year! Caleb LOVES it. Madeline...well, the snowsuit is a little too snug, and her other winter coats don't have snow pants yet. So she's less than excited about venturing out into the cold at the moment. I'm enchanted (now that my husband is home safe)! And Todd...well, considering his distaste for the white stuff...I think he's taking it rather well.

Around 10am on the 9th.

About 9am on the 10th...can you see our fire pit? Yeah, me neither.

Todd got to wear his snow boots for the very first time this morning! Southern boy that he is...he didn't know how to properly lace them. Good thing I come from Michigan. These boots are so massive! They're armpit high on baby girl, and come to Caleb's knees when he tries them on.
"Hrm, they fit pretty good I think," said Caleb boy. (Someone wants to be big just like Daddy right now.)

Apparently, the snow was a tad too deep for Todd to make it all the way up our driveway

and into the garage last night.

As I write this...Todd is hard at work finding our driveway with a shovel borrowed from a neighbor. Once we're free, we'll be heading out to buy a couple of our own!

Trying so hard...

10:01 AM by Amanda

Madeline so dearly wishes to keep up with Caleb and Victoria!

Hula

9:55 AM by Amanda

I thought this was rather smile inducing....

He didn't enjoy it on his own for very long though, so we packed up and headed over to his cousin's house to share the fun.

More countdown

11:18 PM by Amanda

We're finally getting to the last days of this countdown...and to be honest, I'm glad! I won't take the time to number the days, but here are some photos of our fun.

TP Ghost toss/bowling

Victoria was a very good stacker,
once she got over trying to rip the eyes off the tp.

Green pudding in Frankenstein decorated cups

And of course, pumpkin carving!

As you can tell from Caleb's smiles...he's sick of the camera.

Lovely

9:27 PM by Amanda

This is what lovely mornings are made of:

And I finally figured out where Maddie hides those pacifiers...along with favorite toys. Todd just shrugged and said, "Well, she knows she has to keep them somewhere if she doesn't want Caleb and Victoria getting them." How sensible.

Countdown days 20 - 13

8:42 PM by Amanda

Day 20 - We "Booed" a few neighbors with cookies. Someone had "Phantomed" us, so we passed along the note too.

Day 19 - Work on costumes! I won't add any pictures for this either...don't want to spoil the grand reveal!

Day 18 - What's a ghost's favorite ride at the carnival? The Roller Ghoster!

Day 17 - Get wrapped up like a mummy...and then, in the words of Caleb, have a "party."

Day 16 - visited the canyon to collect sticks...I wish I had brought my camera! The children were enchanted by the leaves falling with each gust of wind.

Day 15 - Make spiderwebs!

Day 14 - Play "Don't Eat Jack!" (Don't Eat Pete...but a Halloween version.)

Caleb and Todd were drawing the faces on our jack-o-lantern game boards.

Day 13 - Caleb glued bits of his mummy "costume" onto a ghost and mummy.

Countdown days 23-21

6:25 PM by Amanda

Day 23 - Use glow-in-the-dark paint

Day 22 - Monster guts! Witch's brew? Ok, so it was just a sensory concoction. But we still practiced our evil laughs while stirring and squishing with our fingers.

Day 21 - Make spooky ice cubes. We bought a bag of spiders, bats, skulls, and flies from the dollar store and added them to an ice cube tray. Tomorrow we will decide if we want to save them for a spooky drink, or throw them into their next bath!

Halloween Countdown Days 29-24

3:53 PM by Amanda

Day 29 - Pumpkin Goo (Ooblek, but orange)

Caleb lucked out and got to play with friends two days in a row!

Day 28 - Mummy hot dogs

Day 27 - Salt Dough Ghosts (with my lovely cousin Heidi)

Day 26 - tell ghost stories in the dark with flashlights!

Day 25 - on Sundays, we just tell a silly Halloween joke:
What kinds of mistakes do ghosts make?
Boo Boos!

Day 24 - Mad scientist experiment!

Halloween Countdown!

3:24 PM by Amanda

We made a Halloween countdown to help minimize
"Mom, is it Halloween-time yet?" being asked on a continuous cycle.

Day 31 - Color Halloween pictures!

Caleb really got into it!

Day 30 - Make paper bag trees!

Madeline got in on the action by making
me pay attention to scrap paper.

Stay tuned for more Halloween countdown activities!

Crawling

2:37 PM by Amanda

I realized that I failed to post a video of Madeline crawling. This one goes out to you wonderful grandparents!

"Mama"

2:02 PM by Amanda

THAT'S right. She said Mama first :) I win! Ok, not that it was actually a competition this time....Todd didn't know I had been working on it with her for the last few days. But hey, Caleb said Dada first.

Play time?

8:14 PM by Amanda

Caleb always makes a "house" in the corner of our living room. I grabbed the camera when he started pulling his little sister into his fort. Apparently she wasn't scooting fast enough for him.

Painted!

8:04 PM by Amanda

Since Todd was gone for 4 days on a business trip, I decided to paint. Nothing like a fresh coat of paint and a new color to help make our new home really ours! I was relieved when Todd got home and actually liked the colors I picked (...without consulting him).

BEFORE: