Halloween

The kids were SO anxious to get into their costumes and even though I had to wake them from their naps to make it to our first stop, they were in fairly good moods.

On the way to trick-or-treating at Jessie's office, Noah and I had the following conversation:

N: "Mommy, there's bad guys at Aunt Jessie's work."

Me: "Oh really? Man, what should we do about that?"

N: "I'm gunna get them with my big muscles!"

Oh, that boy!

Yeah, he most certainly showed off his muscles:

Afterwards, we headed over to Aunt Connie's house to trick-or-treat them.




The highlight of the stop was when Connie and Mickey blew up the inflatable that the church gave them to use. Instead of doing a big church festival, their church has the congregation do "mini festivals" in their neighborhood. Which, personally, I think is a FANTASTIC idea! I mean, when else do you have all the neighborhood come knocking on YOUR door?

Our next stop on our way home for dinner was Aunt KK's house. By then, we didn't have shoes, socks, masks, or hair accessories.

But we definitely had our bags.

After dinner, we all loaded up into the Sequoia and headed to our church for the Fall Festival.

Noah. had. a. blast. He wanted to play every game, do every activity, and was over-the-top-excited about every one's costumes.

Ellie, not so much.

Though, she did have her moments.

Here's a few clips from our day:

Happy Halloween!

Halloween Eve

The kids have been getting pretty excited about getting to dress up. Noah knows and understands that trick-or-treating means candy... and Ellie just understands candy. After naps today, Mom and I got the kids dressed into their costumes and we loaded into the Sequoia for a little trick-or-treating over at Grami and Papa's house.

I think Grami might have squealed and giggled a few times over the cuteness that is the SuperDuo.

And they definitely got excited over the candy that Grami let them put into their bags.

After we left Grami and Papa Snow's house, we picked up Papa and Aunt BB and headed over to Westmoore Community Church's fall festival. We don't go to church there, but since we were already dressed up and I didn't really plan to take the kids door to door tomorrow night, I figured we might as well hit up as many fall festivals as possible.


The kids had a blast. Noah wanted to play all the games and even wanted to get his face painted {big step from last year when I drew a beard on him for his pirate costume and he freaked out}.

Ellie, not to be outdone, didn't want to have her face painted until after she saw how Noah's turned out.

They were just way too cute for me to be able to handle!

Speaking of way-too-cute-to-handle, look whose hair can officially fit into a big girl ponytail {when still wet from a bath}?!

Here's a few video clips from Halloween Eve:

Crossing Things Off the To Do List

This morning, Mom and I took the kids to Krispy Kreme for doughnuts. Back at the beginning of the deployment, I created a "Deployment To Do" list and get doughnuts is on it. We've gone once already, but today was definitely a doughnut worthy day.

Noah is a HUGE fan of doughnuts. He zipped through the freebie and his pumpkin one in no time flat.

Ellie, who is also a big fan of doughnuts, barely made it through her freebie one before we gave up waiting for her to finish.

We came back home to freshen up and before we headed out to do some shopping, Mom snapped a few pictures of us for me. {Mom, look at that focus! Nicely done!! :D }

As we were about to pull out of the driveway, Noah exclaimed, "Mommy! We're in the StarWars car! I'm Belle {the fire engine from Thomas}." Nana and I laughed so hard - the boy switches from trains to Superheroes to StarWars to Legos and back again before we even know how we're suppose to respond!

We did a little shopping while we were at the mall and then stopped for a lunch break at Chick-fil-a. Noah immediately noticed the cow cut out and wanted me to take his picture with it. {BE. STILL. MY. PHOTOGRAPH-LOVIN'. HEART. He ASKED for a photo!!} I willingly obliged, but only after he finished all his nuggets.

As soon as I took it, he wanted to see it. He giggled, and said, "That's so silly! Now let me take your pish'ure."

I gratefully handed him my phone and he snapped one of me too.

I just love that kid.

After naps, we painted our pumpkins. I'm personally not the biggest fan of the carving process and since we didn't ever pick up a bigger pumpkin for carving, we decided that just painting the smaller ones they got from school yesterday would be perfectly acceptable. I put down some paper, used some painter's tape to stencil their initials, and they went to town with three colors of paint of their own choosing.

I still laugh a little when I see how much bigger Ellie's pumpkin is than Noah's! And they picked them out!

Pumpkins are painted and trick-or-treat bags are made! I think we just might be ready for Halloween!

The Pumpkin Patch {at School}

All the classes at Noah and Ellie's school today got to go to the "pumpkin patch". It wasn't a real big deal, but because Ellie wouldn't be going with her class since she doesn't go to school on Fridays and I've really been wanting to see how Noah reacts and behaves with his peers, we tagged along. Nana and Marlene met Ellie and I for lunch and then we all headed over to the church to follow his class to the pumpkin patch.

Noah, according to Ms. Billye, picked one with "a lot of character". We all giggled!

{I'm not sure who she is and didn't want to post a good clear photo of the little girl, so please pardon the weird censorship!}

Afterwards, they all came back inside and took individual photos for their scrapbooks they are making, and then did a group shot as well!

We left right after this so that they could read the story in peace without Ellie trying to climb onto Ms. Billye's lap and Noah wasn't sad at all to see us go. Such big improvements from that first day of school!

Getting Ready {for Halloween}

Both kids made it to school today. And the entire rest of the family? Off work.

Mom and I went a did a little shopping while Daddy-Man and the girls got caught up on Doctor Who. I managed to talk Mom into eating at Chipotle with me in Norman.

I even splurged and got a burrito instead of a burrito bowl. Yum!

So by the time the kids got home from school, I was fully prepared and ready to help them make their trick-or-treat bags. Nana had found these great little canvas bags on sale at Michael's last week, so I cut some freezer paper with the Silhouette and let the kiddos go to town.

No lie. It was a little more than nerve-wracking to let them use the Speedball fabric ink without some sort of protection for their clothes!

But they both did a fabulous job and kept themselves {well, their clothes, at least!} from getting inked up.

And, it doesn't hurt to mention that I was right. there. the entire time as evidenced by this shot by Nana!

Thanks for the bags and all the help, Nana! ♥

Turtle Power!

Yesterday, Daddy-Man found a little turtle, trying to make his way into the garage. Mom got him a little box and we kept him close to the house overnight and through the afternoon today so the kids could watch him through the backdoor. While the kids were napping, Mom moved him to the yard so that he'd be a little more comfortable until we released him after naptime.

Too bad for the turtle, the kids took an extra long nap. Probably partially because they were up since the crack of dawn, but also {in Noah's case} because of an early morning trip to the urgent care clinic {strep. fantastic. Thankfully I had already started him on antibiotics Monday when the fever wouldn't go away... and since we were dealing with DUMB issues with Tricare and Tinker.}. Thankfully, we've been fever free since this morning, so I'm hoping he'll be okay for school tomorrow.

Once they finally woke up, we headed out to the front yard {since there would be no escaping for the poor turtle in the backyard} to release him back into the wild. I'm pretty sure the kids felt like they were being released too - they haven't been able to play outside since Sunday due to cold and/or sickness!

The little guy was pretty happy to be freed.

And the kids watched him intently.

Until they couldn't find him anymore.

"Bye, tut-tle! Bye!"

Just a Little Screen Time

for the sick one...

and the recovering one.

{big. fat. sigh}

Remember when Ellie was finishing up a round of antibiotics and I thought we were all going to be healthy again? Yeah, I do.

And remember when I came home from last night's photo session and realize as I'm putting them to bed that Noah is now running a fever? Yeah, I do.

So tired of these poor kiddos being sick. Starting him on antibiotics now.

The Bailey Family | Family Photos

This afternoon, I had the pleasure of shooting a full photo session for my friend and former RA from OBU, Cara, her husband Mike, and their way-to-cute little boys. I'm not going to lie, I was a little nervous going into it, but by the end of it, we had some fantastic shots and a full compact flash to prove it!

Here's a few of my favorites:

And the last one, though probably not the best of family portraits, was possibly one of my most favorites of the day - Cara and Mike lost a good portion of their wedding photos, but one that they still have is of them leaving in a horse-drawn carriage with a sign just like the "Ten Years" sign that the oldest two boys are holding. So, we recreated the look and in this shot included the boys! Happy Ten Years, Cara and Mike! Thanks for the opportunity to photograph you and your handsome boys!