Trunk or treat

Anna and Elsa:

Our ward's trunk or treat was last week. Everyone dressed up but Jess. After over 11 years of marriage I think I finally get it-Jess actually likes dressing up, he also likes pretending he hates dressing up. This has mad it rather confusing to me, but now that I know I will plan him a costume from here on out.

 

Pantera wanted to be Aphrodite the Greek goddess. After getting her all dressed up and taking a step back I had to try hard not to get all emotional on her. She is so grown up!!! And I don't think it is just my mom goggles seeing that she is absolutely gorgeous! With a feisty and funny personality not to mention brains, ok now I might just be bragging but seriously look what I made:

 Yes I am taking full credit for my child. When she saw a rather tight fitting costume on a teenager she whispered to me "I would NEVER let my daughter wear that!" Ok Pantera it has been documented, we will all remember this if you ever want to wear something I think is "skankalicious."

 Amari wanted to be Elsa for Halloween. I really think just to cause problems for me. You see Seneca is OBSESSED with Elsa and she is the only one who can be "Let it go." I ordered an Elsa and an Anna costume hoping Seneca would wear the Anna one. Lucky me when they came in the mail the Elsa one fit Seneca and Anna fit Amari. And even luckier Amari was alright with it...phew crisis averted.
Amari was telling us about her sleep study the other morning. She said "When we were driving home before it wasn't even morning it was so dark, and there were lots of lights. It looked just like Tokyo, wait what does Tokyo look like?" Then tonight she was being goofy and put her head through the arm hole of one of Jess' t-shirts. Jess said she looked like E.T. she got huffy and said "I don't look like a T or a E!" I guess she didn't get that 20 something year old movie reference.

Katurah is Larryboy AKA Larry the Cucumber for Halloween. Surprisingly enough she was the only one at the trunk or treat. She makes me play this game with her constantly and I always have to be Bob the Tomato. It usually goes something like this "You have to say, Who is that Pickle?" I repeat "Who is that Pickle?" she replies "I am not a pickle, I am a cucumber! And I am a superhero. You have to say What is your name?" And this can go on for hours. My favorite is the way she moves while pretending to be said cucumber, she hops with her arms straight down by her sides, it looks amazing. She is getting a boatload of Veggie Tales toys and books for her birthday. When one of the packages arrived I opened it in what I thought was a sly manner and she must have seen something because she asked "Is there something cucumber in there?"

If your kid wants to be Larry the Cucumber, you better be ready to be Bob the Tomato:

Zeke was torn between a police officer and Darth Vader this year. He makes a pretty cute cop, I wouldn't mind getting a ticket from that sweet face. He found his first tooth that he lost in a little tooth chest thing. When one of the girls went to open it he said "Be careful, it 's a shark tooth in there!" He really thought it was a shark tooth. He has been invited to all sorts of birthday parties over the past few weeks. On our way home from one yesterday he said "I have so many best friends, like everyone just wants me to come to their parties!" Kind of overwhelmed like. And he was greeted so happily yesterday, all of these little boys were so happy to see each other outside of school.

He's already got his good cop down:

Or his bad cop if he needs it:

 

We carved pumpkins for FHE this past week. I loved watching Zeke's face as he cleaned his pumpkin out, he was absolutely disgusted! The girls on the other hand relished in the feeling of the pumpkin goo, go figure. This could be part of the reason he is like never dirty and I am constantly chasing my little girls around the house with baby wipes.

 Jess didn't really help, he mostly just posed for us the entire time. Lookin' good babe!

Pantera has been having a pretty great few weeks at school. She has really seemed to find some friends who she doesn't have much drama with and she is a lot happier. She is working on a fundraiser for Make a Wish right now. She has a big idea to throw this huge carnival to earn enough for at least one wish. We are starting by selling necklaces to earn money to put the carnival on. This will be this coming summer. I have a feeling that if this all works out as planned, this will be the first of many fundraisers this kid wants to plan.

 Zeke is still supercharged about superchargers. He carries his official game guide with him everywhere he goes. This is nothing new, I can't remember a time in the past 4 years that he has not had a book that he needed to read and reread constantly. I just need to push him towards law books, or perhaps medical dictionaries. Yes, yes, Zeke is the anatomy of a Skylander, now memorize it:)

 Seneca is still just as joyful and dreadful as always. Jess has been making fun of me because I look at her so often and can hardly contain myself because she is so cute. She is our last one, last 2 year old and whether  I am mocked or not, I will enjoy every ounce of her cute chubbiness until she can't stand it. Luckily she is pretty obsessed with me to so it works out. She has been so fond of the phrase "No way!" lately. "Do you want to give me a kiss?" "No way!" or today "Do you want to go to  nursery?" "No way!" And she didn't go, because I am back in primary and nursery is just ridiculous without me.

 In super HUGE news.....Katurah is FINALLY POTTY TRAINED!!!!!!!!!!! After weeks of listening to her yell at me every time I asked her to try, she in going on her own and having very few accidents. It took so much pushing on my part, I really think she would have been content to stay in diapers for the rest of her life if I let her. But last night Amari accidentally said something about Katurah's diaper and she was so offended "It's called UNDIES Amari!" Duh, she hasn't worn diapers in like weeks.

 Amari has a pretty bad case of "dramatitus" she has insisted on wearing a bandage wrapped all the way around her hand for the past 4 days for attention. She just loved it when people asked her what happened to her "I bent my fingers, so hard." She still loves school so much and gets really disappointed for the weekend. I would love to be a fly on the wall in her classroom, she is such a random kid.

Zeke is 7

Holy moly, where has the time gone?!? My little boy turned 7 last week!

 When I asked him what he wanted to do for his birthday, I really thought he would ask for a party. I would have been happy to throw him a party. Instead he asked to have his friend Colby come over. Easy enough buddy. Colby's little sister is Amari's age so they all just played together. At one point Zeke got upset and Colby stomped off right behind Zeke and said "If Zeke's not playing, I'm not playing either! You guys are being mean to my friend!" I am glad Zeke has Colby in his class again this year.

Zeke got the new Skylanders game for his birthday and even more exciting the new "official guide" to said game. He has carried this book around with him everywhere he has gone for the past 8 days. He is so funny reading Jess and I all of the stats of the characters with such excitement. He is an excellent and enthusiastic reader. He is so fun to listen to when he reads a book that he finds amusing. He just cracks himself up as he reads. He has the best laugh!

Zeke, you are such a special young man. You look up to your father and I know you are going to be just as wonderful as he is. You love your family and your Heavenly Father with all of your heart. You are not shy about speaking about the Savior and letting your friends know that you know Him. I am so very proud of the person you are. I am also so grateful that you are feeling good again. I can't even begin to tell you how much I missed you while you were sick and just not your happy, bouncy self. I love to hear your super loud runs and jumps from upstairs at night, as I know this means you are happy. I am so glad I get to be your mom, you were the answer to so many prayers. I love you Zekie!!