Happy Halloween

HAPPY HALLOWEEN

from

HAILEY and RYAN!!!

The kids sure enjoyed their Halloween day!!! Hailey was able to bring her costume to school and had a small party there. Then, after school at CARE, they painted her face!! It scared me when I picked her up, and she agreed to wash it off before going out trick-or-treating! :) Ryan had "pajama day" at Toddle Town and of course special activities there throughout the day. We came home, had "jack-o-lantern" shaped pizza, got the costumes on, took pictures, and then waited to go out trick-or-treating. Finally it was 6pm and it was time to go out!! Hailey did good most of the time walking, but Ryan was "sooo tired." He could hardly walk up to the houses...so he was in the wagon most of the time. We will have to work on him for next year! :) It was fun having Kari go out with us to the houses...and big thanks to Doug and Doran staying at the house waiting for kids to come to the door (maybe next year we will have more!!).


Ready to go get the candy!!! Look...Ryan was actually WALKING! :)

Candy, candy, and MORE candy!!

After the neighborhood, Hailey, Chris and I went over to our old neighborhood to see her friend Crystal. After that it was time to go home...we were all tired!! :)

Carving pumpkins

On Thursday night (Oct 30), we went out to eat to celebrate my birthday, and then we came home to carve the pumpkins. The kids got to pick out what they wanted on their pumpkins, and we got started. Hailey was 100% into carving her pumpkin. She got right in there and was taking out the "guts" with no "eeww gross" or anything like that! She even wanted to keep the seeds (and I made them for the first time ever...and will do that again next year too!). She loved poking the holes in her pattern for her pumpkin face and was very good at it too! Great job Hailey!!


Ryan wasn't as into it as Hailey! :) He took a little of the "guts" out of his pumpkin, and then gave up on that!! He wanted to poke the holes in his pattern, but wasn't quite as accurate as Hailey so we helped him a little more and it was fine. Still fun for him :)

Check out the Halloween post for a picture of the finished pumpkins!!

Pajama Parade

In preschool today (yes...today....look at me posting the same day again!), Ryan had a pajama day! They all wore their pajamas so no one would be scared of the costumes. Then, before the day was over, the parents came to see all the kids and hand out candy/toys to the cute kids.

Ryan of course was loving it! He walked around getting all his candy and toys. When he got back to me he found that he got a pencil...and immediately went over to sharpen it. Very cute!!


Here is Ryan and McKenna. Cute friends...best friends...ahhh.

Practice

Each year I try to have at least one other event for the kids to wear their costumes at. Previous years we would go to the zoo, the mall, schools, etc. Wouldn't you know it..this year with Halloween on a Friday night, all those events are on Friday night too!!! I was bummed!! However, when we were leaving daycare yesterday, Bonnie told us that the college was having their trick-or-treating night that night (Wednesday)!! We didn't have anything else planned, so off we went. How PERFECT it was!! We got there and were able to play a few games. We found out there were two dorms participating. We headed over to the smaller of the two and by the time we were done the kids had SO MUCH CANDY! Their bags were 1/2 full...EACH (and they are BIG BAGS too! The students told us if we go over to the other dorm we would get THREE TIMES the candy. I said...no...not this year! We had more than enough. :) Plus, the little monkey was tired of walking. Kids were walking out of there with baskets completely full of candy. CRAZY! :) The kids really did have fun. Between the trick-or-treating, the decorations, the games, the cookies and cupcakes...it was a fun night!! :)

Here they are...all dressed up! Hailey is a "witch"...but more of a "fairy/witch" if you ask me. Ryan is a "new monkey." He was the same thing the last 2 years, but this year we had to get a new costume to fit him so it is "NEW" monkey. :)

Playing the games....bean bag toss (Hailey did GREAT at it) and fishing (Ryan's favorite).


Of course trick-or-treating and we ended with decorating a cookie!

Try it again

On Tuesday night (10/28) Chris was off hunting so the kids and I decided to try the fall / leaf pictures again (well, I decided to do it since it was really nice outside and I still wanted the pictures and they went along with it since I promised them they could play after them ;). What a difference!! Hailey was posing all over...doing whatever I asked. Ryan took a little more direction, but I am happy I got a few pictures ;)

Here is Hailey doing one of her favorite things right now...the monkey bars! I think she probably goes across them as many times as she can each and every recess!! She is getting very strong arms now too!! :) She is very proud considering she couldn't do them at all at the beginning of the year.

Pilcher boys and Pilcher girls

On Saturday it was a "Pilcher boy" day and a "Pilcher girl" day. The boys...they went to the ranch. They wanted to go hunting, move cows, and ride the 4 wheeler. However the wind was INSANE so Ryan didn't get to go on the 4 wheeler at all. He still had a great time hanging out with Uncle Randy and Papa at the ranch though!! He wants to go back and shoot a deer, a pheasant or a cow (his words ... not mine ... so watch out Randy!!). Here is a funny picture of Ryan before they left in the morning. He had to wear his orange hat and bring his gun with. He was going all crazy shooting in the house...and it was 6:30 AM! :)

As for the Pilcher girls...Hailey and I stayed in town to go to Old Navy in her costume. I thought they would have more for the kids, but they didn't. I still tried to make it a fun day for her. After lunch she got to have her first playdate at the new house. Her friend Taylor came over to play ... they both enjoyed that (I did too ... uninterrupted unpacking time!). Then that night we went over to see Grandma and decorate Halloween cookies. Hailey is getting to be quiet the cookie decorator! It is fun to watch her! :)

Fall

How much do I LOVE this picture?!?! TONS!! I had the great idea to take the kids last Thursday and let them play on at the playground behind Hailey's school and take pictures of them playing and some with them in the leaves. Wouldn't you know it...I got one picture and that was like TORTURE for them! They were in no mood for pictures...and that put me in no mood for taking them or trying. We left all upset, but we did have one picture. :)

The New House

Finally....I know....it has taken me a loooong time to get some pictures posted of the new house. Do you want the list of excuses I have told myself the last few days?!?! ;) I will spare you, but know that I have been trying, but never took the time to get this done! Also, when shrinking the pictures today I did notice that things have changed since I took these pictures almost a week ago! More things have been unpacked and put away. So, maybe I will do this again around Thanksgiving or Christmas time to show the improved house! :) Here is a little tour.....

First, the garage (I know my dad will LOVE Chris' workbench area!!), the bench when you come in from the garage (LOVE IT!) and the laundry room (I am so glad to have new a new washer and dryer!).


After that "mud room" area, you see the kitchen!! :) Also the dinette, and finally the living room. You really need to click on these pictures to enlarge them to enjoy how beautiful the woodwork is in here! These rooms are our favorites! We love it!!!


Also on the main floor is my office (this has changed some, and I need a new, brighter picture in there sometime for you to see it really). Then if you go downstairs you see the family room down there. What a difference compared to the old house!!! I don't have a picture of Chris' office, the extra bedroom, or the bathroom as those are still being worked on. :)


Continuing on the main floor, is the master...the bedroom still needs some help with piles of clothes that need to be donated, and pictures hung up. However, we love our bathroom! :)

Upstairs...that is the fun area!! Here is Ryan's room (hey Tim -- isn't it funny that Ryan has Hailey's bookshelf that you made her and also the toy box you made her too!??! :) Don't tell her that!!!). We don't have the animal mounts or anything on the walls yet in his room. But you can get the main idea.

Next is Hailey's room. You will see the wall stickers up in Hailey's room. I made the mistake of having them in her closet, she found them, and came downstairs saying she put some up already!! She got to put the butterflies on the wall by her bed ... all her doing! :) She loves it so that makes me happy!


Here is her walk-in closet and also their monkey bathroom. The bathroom really did turn out CUTE! :)


So, I think that is the majority of it. I know I need to take a final picture of the outside too. Maybe one day this week :) Let me know if I forgot something you would like to see. :) Hope you enjoyed the picture tour.

Baking together

Sunday, October 19th was our first full day at the new house together. What a nice feeling!! The kids liked playing in the morning, running a few quick errands, and then relaxing at home some more. Then, we had Grandma, Grandpa and Kari over for supper so they helped me make some brownies. Our first baking at the new house ... done together. LOVE IT!!