Trick Or Treat

Halloween 2011...

and the girlies were up...

rip roarin' ready to get to school!

Not a ton of Halloween activity at school,

but once back home...

a few littles were getting quite excited for TRICK OR TREAT!

Yep, thinking we have a Cullen in our home!

And sure enough, looks like she got her first victim...

went for the eye!

Mimi and Papa (my parents) came over for a pre-candyfest dinner.

We traveled to family...

and looky who we saw once at Jon's parents...

Papa Larry in the combine!

Jon literally scooped Henry up and boogied across the road.

Up they went, with Miss Laney right behind.

Papa Larry (Jon's dad) just turned that combine right at me!
First time ever in the combine for my sweet boy.
Three generations of Johnson's together...right there in the cab.
They finished that lil' field.
Sounds like Henry and that combine...L-O-V-E.

We then zipped into town...
ghosts and goblins filled the sidewalks!
The girls and I walked door to door
(while the boys sat in the car and chatted with lotsa outside friends).
So nice when you know every person!
What I loved the most....how excited the girls were.
This was their first time walking door to door.
Ya, excited about the treats,
but more excited about the experience....
walking in the dark, brushing shoulders with witches, monsters and freaky masked peeps...
holding out their Halloween buckets...TRICK OR TREAT!
Yep, they were just a smilin'!

Now we have 3 buckets, 3 bags and 3 sacks of goodies...
put the three tired babes to bed.
Jon and I may or may not have put a dent in the candy.
Shhhhh!
I'm thinking sugar detox tomorrow!
HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

One Party To Another

Last night...whole family went to celebrate another birthday!

Of course we had to pull out costumes!

Not overjoyed with the whole Cheshire/CATS face paint anymore (Yawn!),

so went more for just a nice lil' meow!

A kitty and an owl...who knew they could be best friends?! :)

Even took the sweet spiders that the girlies helped me make!Started out with grilled hot dogs!

Love this shot...

told everyone to make a crazy face....

and I'm thinking nobody heard me...

this was reality, people! Ha!

My sweet lil' Henry reenacting some Robert Frost for his momma

(yessiree...I'm the English major, thank you very much!)

After some grub...the witch pinata was ready to fly!

Then back out to the fire pit...smores to wash down all of the witch's sweet treats!

And how can you forget apple bobbing?

After all of the party fun,

we left Emily with the birthday girl.

Oh ya, it was a spOOktacular party!

And today...

loungewear.homemade chili.fireplace running....

We resorted back to crafting again...

Helped the girls make treat bags for their classmates.

Even added these fabric covered suckers!

Oh goodness...been years since I made these babies!

All of this...

and it's not even Halloween yet!

It's My Party....

So, she's 6.

After she blew out her breakfast candle...

up came the sun and the birth DAY began.

Miss L was STUDENT OF THE WEEK...

daily snacks, pix, show-n-tell...just for my girl !

(every student gets a turn.)

I volunteered on her actual birthday...

made up a lil' story about a monster.

Had the class LISTEN to my instructions on how to draw it

(colors, shapes....)

Nobody could peek.

Then 1-2-3...we all held up our versions of Lou!

I read a story and handed out birthday treats.

Even ate lunch with my gal!
*****

And later... after a birthday dinner...

presents it was!

(*When we were at Disney, we told the girls that they could each pick out 1 thing at the END of the week. Made window shopping quite fun for them. They picked out their one special item on the last day. Didn't know that Momma was shopping for some of their passed up ohhh and ahhh items all thru the week!)

Birthday dessert...requested root beer floats...and a new Halloween video...

perfect way to end a lil' bday!
*****

But tonight...

Laney's family birthday party!

She wanted a Halloween themed #6!

Pizza, cupcakes....goodie bags filled with more sugar and Disney!

And can't forget the insane amount of AMAZING gifts from family!

Everyone enjoyed the party.

Henry even taught his great grandmother how to navigate the ipad!

Sheesh....were they ever movin' and groovin' all around cyberspace!

And WOW! Balloons are the tip top #1 love of his life!

Oh Laney Isabelle...

#6 was pretty darn good to you!
Hope it gives you the best year yet!

Six

Six years ago...

you came into this world...fast and furious

(and at a whopping 9.5 pounds)!

You've been full speed ahead since...

never looking back.

You are so smart, creative, funny...

Oh how I love you so.

At exactly 7:18 this morning, we sang to you.

Happy #6 Laney Isabelle!

Disney 2011

While the girls were at school...

making secret phone calls, pulling out suitcases, packing, then hiding them again.

Quite crazy trying to keep Disney World a secret!

Woke the kids up way early...had a flight to catch.

Had new Minnie and Mickey shirts layed out!

They saw them...and finally guessed!

Screaming...hugs...then Emily got upset.

She was worried about missing her class zoo trip...worried that cousin Megan wouldn't have a partner!

Taking the van to the airport...guess who was on it?

Jon's parents!

Oh...more hip-hip-hoorays and lotsa hugs!

Girls didn't know that Jon's sister, hubs and their cousins would be flying one hour after us!

Their girls had no clue either.

Decided to surprise them in our hotel lobby upon arrival!

Needless to say, they were thrilled!

And Emily and Megan were both relieved about missing the zoo trip! :)

We hit all of the parks!
Am thinking everyone liked the race car ride!

And WHOA! Characters galore!

The girls' autographs books were used up!

Henry even got a kick out of the characters!

Everyone had breakfast with the princesses...

then everyone was present to see Henry meet his very favorite people...

WOW! Did Henry's face light up!

I was taking pix and video.

Outside a huge glass door...the whole family watched Henry meet his friends!

And Mr. H. even got a round 2 meet and greet with Buzz later on in the week!

Oh...yes, I looked a bit nutty...

We took the kids trick or treating in Disney World!

Way fun...a must do!

They shut down the Magic Kingdom for this special event.

Everyone dresses up.

Tons of fun...parades, dance parties, way too much candy...every.single.character out!

We did the whole ALICE IN WONDERLAND theme...even though that movie freaks me!

Mad Hatter Jon

White Rabbit Henry (he was sporting an oh so cute bunny shirt via Vintage Lucy's)

Queen of Hearts Emily

and Alice Laney
and I sported my Cheshire Cat/Mr(s) Mistoffelees outfit!

(I thought not smiling would make me look better...FAIL!)

Yessiree...Emily had a blast!

And Laney too!

Even Henry (and his monkey that made so many pix!)

The girls LOVED spending time with their cousins...

everyone enjoyed....

the boys....and the girls!

Disney 2011...

I have a feeling we will be back(after a BIG rest up)!

A Run And Some Halloween Fun

Disney post is coming.

365 pix on my camera alone.

Whew!

Today was our first day post Disney.

Since we gorged ourselves for 7 days...

although walked a lot, not nearly enough after all of that food...

Hubs decided last minute to run our local 1/2 marathon this morning.
He wanted to put in 20 miles, so he ran 9 miles before the 1/2 marathon.

You know, a little warm up!

(He's in marathon training mode.)

I bundled up the babies and we drove into town to watch him finish!

Every single race I watch, Jon always finds me and gives me a high five.

(Yes, even Chicago Marathon, Honolulu Marathon...all of 'em!)

The kids got a kick outta Daddy stopping by before his finish!

And off he went!


Yay Daddy!

Jon ran well,
everyone was happy.
It was all great...
until big sister decided to go down a slide...without checking to see if there was a ginormous puddle at the end!


And yes, we all had a good laugh...even Emily!

*****

Tonight I took Laney to a local church Halloween party!

Jon's grandmother is a member...like the queen bee member!

Emily heard the word HAUNTED and was a big NO WAY!

So off Laney...ummm...Alice (in Wonderland) and I went!After crafting, decorating cookies, playing games..and filling her bucket with an crazy amount of baked goods and candy....

My sweet Alice in Wonderland turned into this!
What a wonderful event.

Quite the first day back from vacay!