treat or treat

The Rowdy Girls went trick or treating for the first time. Roo stuck with her pirate costume. Em switched it up and went as Belle from Beauty & the Beast. Aunt Kaki is Audrey .

Em was pretty shy and stuck to me like a burr. She poked her head around and would quickly whisper "trick or treat" and then hide again.

Roo shocked us all and embraced her inner pirate. She stomped down the sidewalk bellowing, "Arg!" and marched right up to doors shouting "Trick or Treat!"

She likes candy.

That would be three lollies in her hand.

Em's exhibitionist side reemerged once we were home and the sugar kicked in. Glow stick rave!

glue bones

Em and Roo have new favorite pajamas. Their glowing skeleton jammas. They ask to wear their bone pjs. And in case I'm confused, they clarify that they want the ones that glue.

I think they mean glow.

the doctor is OUT

The doctor costume is kaput. Roo refused it for the next dress up opportunity... playgroup Halloween party.

Well then, what do you want to be?

A pirate.

Okey dokey. We'll just pull that costume out of thin air 20 minutes before the party.

Fortunately, we already had an eye patch, sword and pirate hat. Hello Kitty rain boots with chopped up black hosiery pulled over sufficed for pirate footwear. A pink bandanna from a cowboy birthday party went on her head. And we found a billowy white tunic right after I took the pictures in their room.

The host of the party taught Roo a pirate joke.

"How much will a pirate pay for corn?"

A buccaneer! Arg!!

Roo loved it.

The dwead piwate Roo in her tricked out ride at the party.

on parade

The girls got all dressed up for the costume parade at school the Thursday before Halloween.

Em kept us guessing on her outfit. She changed her mind every day of October, sometimes twice. But Cinderella won out.

Roo was even tougher. She said she'd only wear a hat as a costume. I finally heard her say she'd be a doctor, so I grabbed a doctor outfit quickly. Which she then refused to wear.

The day of the parade, she agreed to the coat only.

They were so excited to be on parade. But, forgot to factor in that a parade has an audience. Once they stepped out the doors and saw the masses, freak outs ensued.

Still mad and freaking out after the parade during the photo ops. Awesome.

Things got lots better as the fall festival kicked into gear. Also, everyone changed out of their costumes. Except Em.

On the way out the door, Em stopped at her friend's princess lunchbox and gasped, "Mama! It's all my family!"

HalloWeekend

It ended up a bit different than we planned, but in retrospect, the weekend was perfect.

A Halloween birthday party attended next door. Costumes were encouraged, but the Rowdy Girls were not having it. Trick or treating downtown was nixed and instead we got the tired, cupcaked girlies bathed and pajamatized.

Em and Roo got their second wind as the first wave of trick or treaters hit our house. Instead of donning costumes, they became the perfect hostesses. Greeting each person with much enthusiasm and lighting the way with glowsticks.
Bonus, we're not stuck with buckets of candy we shouldn't and couldn't eat.

Today, the weather was stunning. Ideal for a belated trip to the pumpkin patch. Sweet Berry Farm was a total blast for our family. Hayrides and mazes.
Beautiful fall flowers and pumpkins galore.
It was the perfect weekend.

Hip Hop. They Don't Stop. First a Parade. Then a Photo Op.

Today was the preschool fall festival. Which commenced with the classes marching in a costume parade.
(We opted for tights with the bunny suit today, as panties peeking out seemed a smidge inappropriate at a Lutheran preschool.)

All was going well until Em spotted us standing along the parade route. After breaking out of line and running to her Daddy, she agreed to finish the parade if he went along.



Once the parade was over, we helped Em and Roo change into their play clothes and said goodbye. They had a full agenda of fun and games planned... pumpkin patch, rotating rooms for carnival games, crafts, stories, snacks, and then, early release at noon.
Because, who wants a class full of hyped up, carnival crazed 3 year olds after 12pm?

photo-op after the parade
once again... Em spotted us in the crowd and abandoned ship...
... much to the bafflement of the rest of her class.

nothing scarier

There's not much scarier than a rained out Halloween playgroup park party that 40-50 people have rsvp'd to.  Especially if you're the hostess and it's your home that those people, mostly under the age of 5, will now descend upon.

Fortunately, I was not the hostess.

The Rowdy Rabbits had a great time not doing the craft.  

They think balloons are to be played with, not crafted with.  Something to work towards, I guess.  

Then, Em and Roo were off to cookie decorating camp. 

Em put the entire bowl of sprinkles on her cookie.  Crunchy.

In between, there was lots of eating and playing and visiting and more playing.  It was a super way to spend a rainy afternoon. 

By the time we left, Em had removed every article of clothing but her leotard and underpants.  She said she likes to 'wear her tummy'.  I managed to convince her to put on her jacket and rainboots for the run to the car.  The resulting exit photo looks a little disheveled and stripper-ish.  Ah, irony.  

Scraps

It's been a busy couple of months and not everything made it into the blog.
Looking back through our photos, I see a few to remember.

Daddy and the girls at H's and L's Halloween party. The girls were in terrible moods when we arrived. Wearing their costumes only made it worse. Turns out, they just needed a few kilos of food to make everything happy.

Later that evening, Roo left her mark on the dog's water bowl.


Then, we had the privilege of attending Mallory's and Kelby's first birthday celebration. What miracles they are!

Em and Roo discovered a deep and abiding love for popcorn recently. And, also, for wearing Daddy's cycling bandanna. They ask J over and over to wear his "ya-yow hat".

Em and Roo bounced their booties off at R's and C's 2nd birthday party. Fun! Roo kept checking in with me to make sure I was where she left me. Love her little "Hi, Mama!" Hi has 8 syllables and Mama barely has 2. (note to self: must get that on video)



Saturday morning snuggle time with Daddy the day after the decorations went up.

This is the picture I thought we would have to use on our Christmas cards. Fortunately Roo and Em showed us mercy later that day when we tried again.

Bugs, Biscuits & Bedtime

Bugs:
Only one more chance to get decent picture of Em and Roo in their costumes. They're butterflies. Except Em only likes the idea in theory. The whole putting-on-the-outfit part is a bust. Roo is more easygoing about it. But, I haven't been quick enough with the camera.

She's rocking the leotard and tutu part here.

And the wings, headpiece and tutu here. Put it all together and you got yourself a cute little fufferfly.

Biscuits:

Tonight the girls helped make biscuits. It was messy work that required a lot of clean up.
Roo washed up while Em ate everything left in the bowl.

Somewhere in the midst of snapping pictures, I looked down to see a toddler-sized hand print on my chest. All outlined in biscuit dough.

Bedtime:

Em insisted on wearing a hat to bed tonight. She preened in her crib mirror and cheesed for the camera happily.
So, Roo had to have a hat, too. Of course.
Note to the grandparents... this Christmas, whatever you're planning on... go ahead and buy 2.