Mom & Me Halloween Party

Our Mom and Me group had a fun Halloween party at Eden Church Halloween morning. Thanks to Techni-Tots for letting us use their space. The kids had a super great time decorating treat buckets, eating cookies and making their own parade of cute little costume kids up to the secretaries, across to the Senior Center and then downtown to some of the shops. And you could not have asked for a more beautiful day to do it all!



Nicolas is a cute little Speed Racer!

Lexi concentrates hard on getting the back off her sticker for her bucket. And of course she has to do it ALL herself!

Nicolas has to sit next to his "girl" Allison as they decorate buckets.

Treats and Not Tricks for our Sweeties!

The night before Halloween is our trick-or-treating time due to the big parade downtown on the 31st. Our two were more then willing to get to go a day early and to get to wear their costumes over and over again.



Nicolas has been wearing his yellow gloves for the past week ... in the car, in bed, etc. Last night he got to wear them with the whole ensemble and he loved it. Here is our little Speed Racer. To those of you familiar with the show and movie, you will notice that he is specifically the "old school cartoon" Speed Racer. They sell the movie version as a costume but that is NOT what he wanted to be. He told me piece by piece what Speed Racer looked like: blue shirt, yellow "G", yellow gloves, red scarf, white pants, red socks, helmet and brown shoes. Okay didn't get the brown shoes but think the rest is simply adorable! He was a big hit with the adults.

Cinderella is darling! Had a little wardrobe malfunction with the skirt I made. Would not stay up and got too long. So need to do some adjustments before tonight. She never complained! True to form for a princess!

Who knew what good friends Speed Racer and Cinderella were.

They trick-or-treat together.

"the Dad's" were in charge it seems. Nicolas and Ryan were much faster then the rest of us. I admit, Lexi's wardrobe issues slowed her down. I felt bad because she makes it a priority to keep up with her brother under normal conditions. We tried to remember how we felt as kids and running from house to house as we watched the boys take off for the next door. They were adorable and very polite with their "trick-or-treats" and "thank yous". We could hear Ryan's trick-or-treat from the sidewalk. He was excited!

My personally witnessed favorite was when one lady told Lexi that she could have two or three pieces if she wanted. Lexi, very matter of factly, told her "three pieces then." Then the next house she took one piece and the lady told her she could have another one. She took it and turned towards me to tell me "this one is for you, mommy." Well, needless to say, that got her extra candy from the giver at that house!

Ryan and Lexi bust a groove at Brett & Andrea's house. It was the hardest house to get the kids away from. Not the candy, not the decorations... but the 80's music!

Pretty as a Pumpkin!

Paul's pumpkin carvings were a HUGE hit. Grandma Birdie handed out candy while we all walked around so I didn't hear all the comments. But apparently there were tons and tons and tons! We got a few more pictures with the inspiration for them.... our two trick-or-treaters.

Fall Party at Kids First

Kids First had their Fall Fest yesterday. The kids had a ton of fun as usual. They started out in the church for their morning singing and Lexi showed her stuff doing the chicken dance. (as I type this Lexi is laying in bed singing "Hey, Jesus Loves Me")

Then they went off to different classrooms. Each class had a different game or craft set up. They rotated around having fun in each!

Nicolas makes a fall leaf necklace.

Lexi does a ring toss... from a favorable distance!

Lexi's teacher helps her to successfully fish for some yummy snacks.

Face painting was a hit! Nicolas got a rainbow. This was a big deal to me since he normally doesn't like to do face painting at all or even those temporary tattoos. I think he just knows how upset he gets when they rub off half way and so he doesn't want to get them at all. But for this he was all smiles!

Lexi got an ice cream cone. I am glad I ended up being able to stay long enough for this one because it was... melted... by the time I picked her up just 90 minutes later.

I missed Lexi's hayride but I got to ride with Nicolas. Yeah!

Candy and Tons of It

I cannot believe how much candy we have for just two little preschoolers who don't run to every house in the neighborhood yet. Wow! And I keep eating so much of it. I researched some ideas of what to do with all this candy and I have posted them to the right if anyone else is having the same issues. There are some yummy ideas. I think my favorites are:

• bagging some up for a pinata for Nicolas' birthday party
• breaking up some and rolling chocolate covered pretzel sticks in them for the holidays
• bagging some up to take to my grandma in the nursing home
• Taking all the stuff I can't find other uses for and don't want the kids eating (laughy taffy and Tootsie Rolls... too young and hard for their teeth) to school for the teachers to give to the older grade levels.

What age were you when you got to be "in charge" of the candy? Let me know!!!

Speaking of sweets.... father's lock up your daughters! Ryan Harriss is apparently a good kisser! Lexi got off her bike yesterday when were getting ready to come home for dinner and said she needed a kiss goodbye from Ryan. He gave her one and she came back very happy saying "That was great" AND "That was all I needed!" I am worried at what age I stop locking up the candy but instead I need to lock up my daughter! (hee, hee)

How "old" is old anyway

Sorry that I got so behind on photos again. The last few weeks have been so busy with fall festivities and such! I added some photos under the swimming lesson that I had managed to to post earlier this week. So scroll down past the swimming to see new ones.

Also wanted to add a Lexi moment that happened this week when Lexi filled me in on future milestones that she is looking forward to. Wanted to just share how a 2 1/2 year old's mind works.

According to Lexi, when she turns:

3 years old she gets to chew gum (yep, that's our rule)
4 years old she gets to play soccer (um... that's the Y's rule although she is protesting it taking so long)
5 years old she gets to go down the BIG water slide
6 years old she gets to drive a car (um.. we might need to talk to her about this one later)

I ask her what happens after she turns 7 years old and her answer?

... quiet for a moment as she thinks.... "I don't know... that is just to old to think about."

Wow!

From Thomas to Pumpkins! What a Day!

We had quite a busy second day of the weekend. After getting up late from our fun night last night, we piled in the car, grabbed breakfast and headed to "A Day With Thomas" near the Casino Queen. The kids got to ride on a train pulled their favorite engine, Thomas the Train.



They loved the chance to have Thomas pull their double-decker passenger car. We all rode the rails for a short time as the tracks ran on the riverfront across from the arch. Then we were off to explore the grounds.

Nicolas and buddy Ryan check out the St. Louis skyline from our train car.

They both got a huge kick out of the "train wash". Yep, just a bunch of those pool noodles hung under a tent. There were tears when we made them leave this part! Would it be wrong to hit Walmart and hang a bunch of these in the basement for winter amusement? Maybe they sell them in "decorator" colors somewhere????

We also loved that they got to see cousin Kai there too! What a fun day!

A picture with a few of our other train friends, Thomas, Percy and James.

Then we were off to soccer practice at the Game. It was the first practice for indoor soccer. They had all the kids from both time periods meet at once this week so it was crowded! They wanted to watch all of them and divide them into two groups by ability for future class times. I guess outdoor soccer at the Y did help our little Nicolas out. Even through his shyness and playing the perimeter, he must have showed some ability because he was chosen in group "1" and is playing with the "older boys." He was pretty proud of himself and so were his mom and dad.

Sorry no pictures. Hard to get any good ones through that Plexiglas!

From there we were drove to South County and the home of the famous (to us) M & H Waterjet Company.

Our friend (and co-owner) Paul said it would be a special day carved out for fun and he was right! Even as tired as they were, the kids loved riding the cars in the warehouse parking lot, playing baseball and then getting to take some of the neatest carved pumpkins home for our front porch. Who said waterjets were only for cutting through glass, tile and metal. I think they do a great job with pumpkins too!

An up close look at the water jet "cutting" into the pumpkin and making Snow White.

Paul shows off our first pumpkin. Amazing that this was my pick... spiders! Me? The girl who is terrified of spiders? Wow!

Shawn's FIRST time of ever cleaning out the guts of a pumpkin. That was worth the price of admission right there!

Who knew Cinderella was beautiful even in orange! Lexi was so excited that her "favorite princess" was available to be carved into her pumpkin. I can't wait to take her picture in costume this week next to her pumpkin all lit by candle light.

Come back and check out Nicolas' favorite racer in pumpkin form on Wednesday! Unca' Paulie is making a pumpkin special for Nicolas tomorrow. He has to design it out for him. I guess the way to a boys heart is through his pumpkin carving. Thanks Paul!

What a great day (minus the dagger sized splinter Lexi got playing while the pumpkins got cut). Now they are both crashed out in bed and praying for a LONG night of sleep.

Fall Fest 2008

Once again Mom & Me puts on a Fabulous and FUN Fall Fest at the... Pfund house! With the help of our group (and "too-much-to-mention" help from the entire Pfund clan and their farm), the kids AND their parents had a amazing time in spite of a bit of a chilly wind.


So many great things to do.



Sugar Cookie and Caramel Apple Decorating (yum all around). Neither child is much into caramel on their apples right now... but I made one and was very happy about it!

Three great bounce houses! Lexi had fun in the huge toddler one. Nicolas and Lexi both liked the regular sports themed one to bounce in. And the biggest of them all, the obstacle course, was loved by all those older siblings and friends.

Games were created by our mom members . And the kids really enjoyed them. The Witches Hat ring toss (as demonstrated here), the marshmallow-bob, the ping pong buckets, bowling, scarecrow toss, tattoos, cake walk, and more...

including the ... Witches Brew (below)

Witches brew was a fun game (spaghetti with gummy candy of ... interesting shapes inside to find). But the funniest part was after the games were over and evening winding down... all the kids got in a spaghetti throwing fight! Noodles flying everywhere. And they loved it! The parents got a huge kick out of watching them scream, giggle and run from each other. Plus, no child was hurt in the making of that hilarious festival memory! Who knew all my noodle boiling would turn out to be such a good laugh. Splat!

Swimming Started

Nicolas is an eel! And he is excited about it. He did great today. He went happily, not issues and was so thankful that "that" girl wasn't lifeguard on his end anymore. Here he is swimming with his face in the water. He is also very excited that Lexi is taking lessons at 7:00 so we now go out to dinner after Nicolas' class gets finished at 5:30 and he gets to stay up and watch her swim. I love how they get excited for each other as they do new things! They are super siblings.... most of the time (hee, hee).

Birthday Bash

From Great Grandma's we squeezed in a hour long car ride nap before heading to cousin Abbey's sixth birthday party. Bounce houses and lots and lots of toys (yeah, who knew someone has a worse toy addiction then we do), the kids had a blast once again!


Lexi takes a moment to sit on MeeMa's lap with cousin Kai and read him a book. Look how sweetly he is listening to her version of the story.

Abby poses with her adorable clown cake! Yep, she is already six years old! Oh... that "old" according to Nicolas!

Lexi is in cupcake heaven of course!

Sunny Sunday

With Aunt Joanne in town we thought we would get some special visiting time with Great Grandma. We went to church in Nashville, brunch and back to Great Grandma's to enjoy a her big yard with trees! Wow! Trees big enough to climb!


This is something Nicolas loves to do every time we come here. And they prove to be great photo ops.

Lexi has a seat under one of those big trees and enjoys the breeze.

Nicolas gets a game of kickball in with Grandma and Aunt Joanne. Who knew they could run like that?

Lexi makes her own game of baseball with a kickball. Innovative isn't she!

Then she takes a break with her princesses and Care Bears... and uses the back bumper for her play space. Well, at least she doesn't get her tights dirty (hee, hee).

Unlike Nicolas who got more grass stains on those brand new jeans then I have ever seen on him before. Really! Nicolas is tagging first base... not posing!