Halloween 2010

Ever since last Halloween Alex and Ben knew they wanted to be "zombie brothers" this year.

Charlie wanted to be Yoda again- no complaints there from me since we just had to use last year's costume. We even painted his face green before one Halloween party but he didn't like it when he looked in the mirror so we took it off. He did NOT want me to take his picture, either. I put Wesley in a Frankenstein shirt and drew some stitches and a unibrow on his face. He looked pretty good for the first Halloween party (and of course I didn't get any pictures), but we tried again the next week for another party and it just didn't work, as you can see here. Oh well.

Ryan and I went as Bob Ross and a painting. I don't think any wig will ever be as good as that real fro of his, but it was fun to try. Not the most practical costume for me- I couldn't hear anything since my ears were behind the canvas, and I couldn't eat with it on or move through a crowded room very well. I guess that's the price I have to pay.

Another Halloween favorite

This is the first spooky movie I remember watching

Happy Halloween.

our house

Welcome to our new house! Come on in.

First we have the entryway. Notice the abundance of flowery wallpaper, floor to ceiling.

(The black blob on the stairs is what is left of my Martha Stewart inspired Halloween mice decorations.)

Go through the french doors and to the left is our family room.

To the right is the kitchen.

Pass through the kitchen to the dining room and living room.

Again, more floor to ceiling wallpaper and lovely pink carpet! The fort made from moving boxes is an architectural highlight.

Here are the patio and backyard, and view of the house from the back. We have lots of trees that needed to be trimmed, and now we have lots of branches lying around that need to be disposed of.

The bedrooms aren't really exciting enough to post pictures, although the master bedroom also has pink carpet.

We love having space. The deep storage closets are perfect for hiding in and playing if you are a three-year-old.

The house is about the same age as the house I grew up in, so some of the original fixtures are familiar to me. That linoleum in the closet and these doorknobs, for example.

We are trying to decide what our first project will be. Replace windows? Remove wallpaper? Paint over wallpaper? Flooring? There are so many options. We are open to any decorating suggestions so if you have any ideas please send them our way. Also, come visit! We finally have somewhere for you to sleep other than on the couch!

Wesley's birthday

A couple days after we moved we had a little family get together for Wesley's birthday. We never do a big celebration for a first birthday, and this one was even more scaled down than usual, but we still wanted to at least acknowledge the occasion.

The boy:

The cousins playing:

The cake:

The boy who was entirely uninterested in presents:

(He never got to play with that ball- the other kids took it outside and found a way to put a hole in it in a matter of minutes.)

The boy who was a little more interested in cake:

Charlie learned how to do this the day before we moved. Unfortunately, we couldn't bring the swing set with us. It wouldn't have survived the move. Fortunately, we live close to a park where he can practice his new skill.