Halloween Activities

Halloween started a bit early for us this year as we had events beginning four days prior to the 31st. 

First up: the Story Book Character Parade on Thursday.

Tristan's class was Clifford (I made the ears at his teacher's direction)

Grace was Aurora.  She is now officially out of princess costumes (hint, hint, nudge, nudge, Grandma Dawn).  They have served us well over the last three years!

Friday was the post-wide Spooky Hollow event.

This extremely odd shaped pumpking was at the commissary when I bought ours.  It crossed my mind to get it, but couldn't justify the cost... Apparently others felt the same way because it ended up on the commissary's booth.

Walking through a "field hospital"

Partaking of treats

BFFs - the Staffords and Samuelsons

Michael, Grace, Tristan, Kayden, and Lily

Princess Aurora and the clown in the Mystery Mobile.

(the clown suit was David's when he was a kid - minus the wig)

Even Naomi got in on the fun.

Unfortunately her flower costume that I ordered for her didn't arrive in time.

And finally, tonight was Trick-or-Treating at family housing.

Grabbin' a bite to eat before they run off and get more stash for David and I to snack on. :)

Pumpkin Carving

 David stopped at the store today and picked up some pumpkins to carve with the kids. 

They still aren't sure they like the slimy feel of the pumpkin "guts".

Designing pumpkins:

Tristan really liked his crazy face.

I can't decide who this one looks like more...

By the glow of the Jack-o-lantern:

Naomi - Month 4

A few highlights from this month:

Hangin' out with baby Ben.  "Hey Naomi, check out this toucan!"

She's sitting up with support

The girls in matching outfits I made for Red Ribbon Day.

She absolutely loves her bath.  She can be a screaming mess and as soon as she hits that water she has a big smile on her face.

She has learned that if she arches her back she can immerse herself...

completely.  She loves to just have her face poking out of the water.

Party Like You're 7!

For some reason, Grace's birthday got lost in the shuffle this year.  I can't say that a whole lot has been going on, but I can say that my mind has not been functioning at it's best since Naomi was born.  And I can't even blame it on lack of sleep!  Anyway, Grace decided that she wanted a unicorn themed birthday party this year, and that she wanted to have it at the bowling alley like her brother did.  So, almost 2 weeks after her birthday, we finally had the big bash!

Her unicorn cake made from a horse head cake pan.

What kid doesn't love a good corn dog?

My sweet princess...

Silly, silly girls.

Naomi - 3 Months

It's been a challenge being here and getting the kid's pictures taken - there is a "studio" here on post, and I have met some people who do photography (but I don't really want to pay the price when they're using a camera quite similar to mine), but it was just so easy back in the States to call Sears and make an appointment (then all I had to worry about was standing on my head to make the kids smile, not take the picture too)...   David encouraged me last year to do the kids' pictures myself, and I think I did okay, but I was always worried about not knowing how to compose the setting to get a good shot - and I didn't have any backgrounds or props, which really posed a problem for shooting an infant who is not sitting up on her own yet.  I felt a little more confident this year as I've been learning more about my camera and all of it's functions, and am proud to say that not one of these pictures was taken in auto mode. 

I finally found some time, a sunny day (our bedroom gets fabulous light in the morning), and got Naomi to cooperate.

And then she started this...

And when she got her thumb, I was almost certain we were done.

But then she got over it and I ended up having to choose from all of these!

This is why I spend so much money on prints...

Oktoberfest

After taking Grace's pictures, we headed back on post to Oktoberfest.  Nothing like beer and brats to finish off a day of  posing for the camera!  Okay, the kids skipped the beer, and I only had half...

This is Naomi's "I've got to keep my eyes open" look

A beautiful sunset over the airfield.

They had all sorts of fun stuff for the kiddos: face painting, crafts, 

clowns,

giant slides and bouncy houses,

beer,

pretzles,

more beer,

large chested women...

dinosaurs that you climb into their mouths,

and then out their middles...

Gobbling up Gracie.

Chomping up Tristan.

The kids bowl better on actual lanes - must be the turf slowing the ball down.

They also had "Eurobungee" which the kids really enjoyed.  But we couldn't convince them to do back flips even though they were in safety harnesses and saw other kids doing it.

It was a nice way to finish off the day, and you couldn't beat the weather!