Halloween

I know we've already seen enough of the kids in their costumes this year, but here's some from Halloween Day. We went out and visited most of the relatives in the area and then came back home and trick-or-treated throughout our neighborhood. Finally, Jack handed out candy to the few that came to our house.

Jack...

Olivia...

Jayce and Ailie trick-or-treating...

Pumpkin Carving

We decided to take a more simple approach this year since we waited until the last minute to carve the pumpkins. We had two pumpkins, so Jack picked a "happy" face and a "scary" face for them.

School Halloween

Today was the Halloween party at school for the kids. They spent the day dressed in their black and orange attire.

And then in the afternoon there was the usual costume parade for the parents.

Olivia as a little pink butterfly...

And Jack as a giraffe...

Lady Antebellum Concert

On Friday, I decided to take a vacation day, so Katie and I could head down to Minneapolis for a day of shopping and the Lady Antebellum concert. I picked Katie up, and then the plan was for Steve and Dan to meet us down there for dinner and then we'd all stay over night. We left around 10am and the guys left about 11. We got all the way to Minneapolis when I realized I had forgot the tickets for the concert. We quickly called the guys, but they were already to Forest Lake, so there was no turning back to get them.

After about 10 minutes of panicking we pulled over in a parking lot and I called the Northrup Auditorium to see if there was anything they could do. Thankfully they were able to print us replacement tickets and we could just pick them up at will call.

I've also determined that my camera take the crappiest pictures ever. Either that, or I am completely unaware of how to use it. Regardless, here is a pic from the concert.

Stacey and Thomas come for a visit

My friend Stacey was home from Colorado for the MEA break to visit her family. She brought her little one, Thomas, who is almost 7 months old. He's such a little cutie and looks just like his father. They have come to visit before, but of course I've never taken pictures.

This time I was sure to snap a few...

Cookies & Pumpkins

On Saturday, while Steve was gone, Jack and I made Halloween sugar cookies with frosting. We each ate about 5 cookies while we were making them, but it was fun.

We also took some pictures of the kids on the front porch with the pumpkins. I just realized that I missed these pictures last year when Jack was 2.5 and Olivia was 4 months (as you can see last year is missed the annual comparison).

Fun in the Fall leaves

Olivia - 15 Months

Olivia was 15 months last Friday, but I decided to wait and post her update until today since she had her check-up today with Dr. Manney. I had to fill out a little checklist regarding her gross and fine motor skills as well as her communication lever. She seems to be right in line with her age group and is saying a few words including "mama", "dada", "baby", "papa", and "Jack". She tends to have many conversations with herself, in "baby talk" of course. So cute!

Her stats today were as follows:

• Height: 30 3/4" (60%)
• Weight: 22 lb. 14 oz. (51%)
• Head: 18 1/4" (65%)

As always I like to compare her to Jack at the same age (even though boys are typically bigger - at least we can go by percentages.) Olivia is just over 1 inch shorter than Jack was and he was 71%, she's about 3 pounds lighter and he was 55%, and Jack's head was at 77%.

Here's a picture comparing them both at 15 months. I think Olivia seems older, but maybe it's just because she's standing with shoes and a jacket on.

In less than 1 month, Olivia will be transitioning into the toddler room at daycare. She'll start napping on a cot, drinking from a cup, and sitting on a normal chair. So funny, how quickly they become independent little learners.

Boo at the Zoo

This morning after Jack had gymnastics we took the kids to Boo at the Zoo at the Lake Superior Zoo. We only had Jack dress up in his costume since Olivia really didn't know the difference and was content riding in the stroller.

There were so many people that we had to walk about 5 blocks just to park, but thankfully we had bought advance tickets, so didn't have to stand in line. They were several different local businesses handing out candy and the weather was beautiful.

We were only there about an hour, but at least it was something fun for Jack to do on the weekend.

 

Sunday School

Jack had his first day of Sunday School today. It is kind of nice because the preschool kids have the class during mass, so it's something to keep him busy while we go to church. We took Olivia with us upstairs, while Jack stayed downstairs in the school at Queen of Peace for class. When we picked him up he was so proud of himself for staying on his own and being able to sing songs. Jack has had many of his prayers memorized for some time now, so he'll be so happy to share that with his class and teacher.

Here's a pic of his first day...

YMCA Gymnastics

Jack started a 6 week gymnastics program through the YMCA in Duluth. The classes are held every Saturday morning at the Woodland community center. He had his first class 2 weeks ago and then a week off and now again this Saturday. He get's to jump around on the trampolines and mats, and even hang from the uneven bars.