Happy Halloween!

We had a Happy Halloween with this cute crew!

When we were discussing Halloween costumes with the kids, I asked Kyron if he wanted to be Olaf because he LOVES any little show with that silly little snowman.  Surprisingly, he said no--he wanted to be a dog.  I showed him some pictures of dogs and he decided he wanted to be a white dog. Since Kyron loved the Peanuts Movie, I suggested he be Snoopy and he seemed pretty excited about the idea.  Well, after I sewed up his costume, he looked at it and said, "No, Snoopy's not for Kyron, it's for LaLa!" And he refused to put it on!  I explained that his costume was for Halloween and so when he wears it he would get candy.  He finally put it on so I could make sure it fit him properly and even smiled when he saw his reflection in the mirror and then turned to me asked for his piece of candy and for Snoopy to be taken off.  Ha ha!  I hung his costume up where he could see it, hopeful it would grow on him, but when Halloween finally rolled around...he exclaimed, "I don't want to be Snoopy, I want to be CHARLIE BROWN!"   I asked if he could just put it on so I could take a pictures with all the kiddos and this happened:

This picture breaks my heart to see those little tears in his eyes, but we took it off right after to go to our Halloween festivities for the day...

Hylie wanted to be the Pokemon "Alolan Umbreon"

Eliana was the Pokemon "Mewtew"

And Lillian was "Piplup"

The kids loved wearing their costumes around the house and it would crack me up to see Mewtew practicing the piano,

or a crew of Pokemon eating breakfast!

Lillian enjoyed the Halloween fun planned at Preschool

On Saturday, the kiddos had fun participating in the festivities at the Library--Kyron even put his costume on after we arrived!

Our ward also held a trunk or treat activity where other Pokemon fans got to gather

And to wrap up our Halloween festivities that day, we headed to Main Street in Lisle to do the business trick or treating fun they had planned!

Carving Pumpkins

The minute the kids start to see pumpkins at the stores, they are constantly asking when we'll pick out our pumpkins for carving!

 

Loving Lillian's classic reaction to "pumpkin guts"!  Ha!

The kids all drew the outlines for their pumpkins.  Lillian wanted to carve Piplup--her Halloween costume.

Eliana patiently waited for help to carve her pumpkin, but as she waited, her outline became more and more involved!

Hylie did the majority of the carving on her Jack-O-Lantern

This little guy saw everyone else drawing their faces on their pumpkins, so he wanted to do the same.  I was super impressed when he drew circles for the eyes and then sketched his preferred nose and mouth!

Lillian allowed me to make a few modifications on her pumpkin creation

And Eliana was completely fine with me only carving out SOME of her lines to her dragon!

Hylie was pretty proud of her fantastic carving job!

Lillian's Piplup Pumpkin

Hylie's pumpkin

Eliana's dragon pumpkin

Kyron's pumpkin

Lillian's 5th Birthday

Lillian was bouncing off the walls ever since the calendar turned to October--she just couldn't wait to turn 5 on October 14th!

But let's be honest, we were pretty excited to celebrate this cute girl!

 

She enjoyed being showered with gifts

and then spent the rest of the day playing away with her new things.

She felt like the biggest princess with her new jewelry beads!

Ever since Hylie showed Lillian how to use a little loom with the elastics, she has been creating bracelets LIKE CRAZY!  She was delighted to get her own kit and probably made 3 bracelets before the sun went down that day!

Lillian has such a big heart and was so patient with Kyron who also wanted to be in the middle of the fun all day long.  We decided to wait until after Kyron went down for a nap to actually try to PLAY a game of Trouble!

Her dessert request was a chocolate cake with green frosting and sprinkles!

I'm wondering how long until Lillian passes up Hylie...

She also got to be celebrated at Preschool.  She selected Goldfish snacks

and picked out one of her favorite "Piggy and Elephant" books to be read to her class.

Lillian shows us so much strength, determination, and kindness.  We are delighted we get to keep her forever and ever!

Shedd Aquarium - October 8th

Ever since establishments started opening up after the pandemic lock-down, Lillian has been begging to take a trip to the Shedd Aquarium in downtown Chicago.  We finally made this little girl's wish come true on a day off from school on October 8th.  That morning she danced out of bed and already had her outfit picked out, what hairstyle she wanted, and even knew what rings she was going to wear!

Lillian was also determined to get a picture with a Beluga whale because her preschool teacher mentioned that was her favorite animal.

 

Hylie giving some serious fish quite the stare-down--they were some pretty fierce competition!

It was a gorgeous fall day and we loved eating our lunch on a balcony of the aquarium.

Thankful for all we can learn and experience near our home