Happy Halloween!!

This year was the best Halloween yet!  We decided this year that we would do homemade costumes - what we had on hand, sewn or thrift shop re-purposed.  The boys got to choose, and after MULTIPLE changes, finally narrowed it down to Frankenstein and Karate Guy.  Leah has been wandering around for months saying, "Aarrgghh, I'm a pirate!", so hers was an obvious choice.

 Austin has wanted to be a karate kid since he watched Jake take lessons this spring.

 Leah has this thing lately with not wanting to look at the camera.  Such a pill!

 Aarrgghh!  I'm a pirate!  (Yes, that's chocolate on her sleeve, already).

 Dad the makeup artist

 Bolts pre-paint

Still so handsome even under all that monster paint

Happy Halloween!

The boys got to do real door-to-door trick or treating this year after the ward trunk or treat, and they made a haul!  Leah was recovering from a nasty chest cold so she recuperated with Dad at home while I took the boys around the neighborhood.  Everyone loved Jake's makeup, and Austin was the most polite trick or treater ever.  He cheerfully chimed in on"Trick or Treat!" and followed it up with a bouncing thank you, and then a compliment for their porch, lights or pumpkins.  "I love your porch, it's spooooky!"  

Pumpkin Patch

Halloween Cupcakes

Thank you Jess for the fun FHE activity!

Boys

Daddy's Girl

When we had our little girl, I thought the scales would finally be balanced in our little family, as I would no longer be the only female in the house.  I envisioned my little princess and I being the best of friends, and doing all things girly together.

How wrong was I.

My darling little girl is a big time Daddy's Girl.  It is her dad that she calls out for in the middle of the night when she is scared, her dad she goes to for comfort when she gets hurt, her dad she want's to cuddle with during movies or when she gets sleepy, and her dad she can't hardly bear to be apart from.

As Brian puts it, the boys always loved me best anyway, so it's high time he got his turn.

For the most part, I don't mind, because watching them together is just priceless.

Jog-a-thon

The boys had their jog-a-thon today.  I took the day off work so Brian could go and watch, sans the Diva.  She and I stayed home and had some quality girl time, and Dad headed to the school with the boys and the camera.  The following pictures are a tiny bit blurry, but I think you will get the essence of the day.  

When Brian came home from the jog-a-thon, he told me "I can't believe how lazy our son is" and I immediately assumed he was talking about Austin.  But no..... apparently this time, it was Jacob, who after one lap of running spent the remainder of his 30 minutes walking and chatting with friends (he later claimed a side ache).  Austin, however, once again lived up to his name - Champ!  He did 5 laps in only 8 minutes and didn't stop running once, even though towards the end he was huffing and puffing and sporting the Knips family beet red face.  

It never ceases to amaze me the ease with which kids do things.  For an adult to run, there has to be the right shoes, special running clothes, maybe an iPod or a treadmill.  For kids, they just need an open space.  I told the boys this morning as they were getting ready to wear pants they could run in - they both looked at me a little strangely and informed me they ran in jeans all the time and they would be just fine.