Boo to You! :)

The girls have been so looking forward to today! They've been counting down the days all week and the first thing I heard this morning was "IT'S HALLOWEEEEN!" I thought they'd be bouncing off the walls all day but they weren't too hyper. We had many other issues with listening, paying attention, playing nicely, following instructions etc so maybe I'll attribute the unbelievable behaviour to the excitement of the day.


They had skating lessons this morning so that got us out of the house for awhile & took care of most of the morning. Getting out the door was ridiculously hard this morning though.

The afternoon went quickly as we tidied up so they'd have room to dump their loot in the living room tonight. They even ate their supper without too much fussing and not one freakout from Miss Lovey. She sucked down her vegetables with almost no prompting and forced down 4 bites of meat as well. It's amazing what she can do when it suits her ;)

By 5:30 they were suited up and out in the driveway ready for their pictures to be taken. We got that out of the way and hit the road. It was still light out but it takes us so long to get down our road that we have to start early. Everyone was ready for us and Murphy even got treats at a couple places!

Grandad & I did the first half of the street with them & Murray, Grammie & Grandad did the other half. They were so excited to get at their candy that they didn't even stay out very long.

When we switched off, I made them do a bathroom run and they all decided to sample something from their bags before going back out again. Even with the break they were ready to come home early. I think the anticipation of getting into those treats outweighed the fun of trick or treating itself. I'm sure it won't be long before they upgrade to "hit as many houses as you can" :)

They got home and started examining their haul. Sweetie wedged herself into a little space between the wall & the recliner. We're pretty sure this was a tactical move on her part to shield her goodies from view and prevent any chance of mix ups between the bags! She called it the "Candy Cave" but still gave away a few treats when she realized Grandad loved Coffee Crisp bars.

They had soooooooo much fun and enjoyed their night out in costume. I found 3 outfits at a clothing sale and today Lovey decided she didn't want to be a Lion because it was too cute & she didn't want to be cute. Good thing she chose that grotesque kitty outfit instead ;)

They gorged themselves on candy & treats for about an hour. Honey had already had her fill awhile before that but Sweetie was plowing through her packages like they were going out of style and Lovey was just about keeping up with her. They were so happy with their evening and it was fun for the adults to watch how much they enjoyed themselves!

Braidy Bunch

I think french braids on little girls are just the sweetest! You can really see their little faces so much more clearly without that hair flying around and covering things up. :)

I haven't had much practice and any time I try, they squirm and fuss about all the pulling, which, as far as I can tell, is pretty much unavoidable if you want the braids to stay in any length of time.

Last weekend a friend was here for supper & she braided all their hair. They either wanted the braids verrrrrry badly, or she has magic fingers that don't pull. They sat quiet the whole time and although I did see a couple of winces, they didn't make a single peep the whole time!

Lovey found hers itchy when she went to bed that night & ended up pulling hers out but the other two kept theirs til Tuesday!

Popsicles!!!!!

Today was so sunny & nice & warm that we had popsicles after the girls got home from school. Honey stayed home with me today, she had a hard time sleeping the night before with a really bad sore throat and a bit of a temperature & headache. We're praying & hoping it's not the dreaded swine flu. She was feeling much better today but I think she was lonely without her sisters and was anxious to be outside waiting for them when they got off the bus. She did enjoy getting to pick whatever movies she wanted & lounging on the couch all day though! I was able to get quite a bit done, vacuumed & mopped all the hard floors, baked cookies for the school Hween party tomorrow, cleaned bathrooms, got some laundry put away and I guess that's it... hmmm it felt waaaaaaaaaay busier than that! The list of accomplished tasks was much longer in my head I guess. :)

The girls are really looking forward to Halloween and all the loot!

As They See It

The girls have been picking up their camera lately & I thought I'd share what items they think are of interest around here!

me of course!

Murray doing his "Risky Business" routine.... ;)

our peace lily has more blooms this year than it's had for years and years, would it be safe to take this as a sign of good things???

the view from the living room....

our Honey Bunny with her fancy hairdo

Murphy Baby! Lovey is very taken with him & does lots of training with him and is soooo firm with her commands. She hugs and kisses him before she gets on the bus & when she gets home after school. She loves her puppy!

Grammie's toes, fancy polish & all!

Lovey going for a ride on "Beauty" aka "Cinderella" and various other aliases that I can't remember at the moment

Lovey's french braids

pattern on my new shirt

the parents again

Stylin' Stylists!

The girls decided to play hairdresser and I was the lucky "client" at their spa. They were actually very gentle brushers but did have some trouble getting the elastics in! ;)

Don't you love their proud little faces? They were so pleased with their efforts to fancy me up! Ahhh the memories we're making here :)

Photo Fun!

Okay so that title is deceptive as all get out. There was absolutely NOTHING fun about this shoot. The kids were stinkers for the most part & just switched off whose turn it was to be rotten. I thought it was a perfect opportunity to get our family pictures done. Mandy & I talked about it before hand and planned to do each other's while we were all at the cottage together one weekend. Perfect right? I take pictures for several people throughout the year and am usually pretty happy to give them nice images. Not perfect by any means and I still have lots to learn in the portrait department but still decent. Why can't I have a nice picture of my OWN family???? It hardly seems fair! Getting them dressed was a battle since I wanted them to wear coordinating outfits. Do you think they appreciated that I didn't force them into the cutesy matching outfits? Nope. They were cold (even with undershirts!) and I admit it was not beach weather by any stretch of the imagination. Out by the bluff it was windy and cold but we're not talking frostbite weather here either.

We retreated from the front of the cottage in hopes of getting out of the wind and finally Honey settled down and started to cooperate. This instantly cued Sweetie to begin her disruptive whiny fit and cry her little eyes out. I have to say Lovey was the trooper. I don't think she ruined any pictures by having a tantrum anywhere along the way. And of course the bigger trooper was Aunt Mandy who willingly followed us around and did her best to catch a moment when someone wasn't being cranky.

I finally gave up on the wardrobe and let them get their coats on but it didn't make any difference!