When Michelle's dad and little sister Jasmine arrived to let Michelle know it was time to come home we were just finishing up. Here is a picture of the finished project.
Christian (aka Mr. GooleyGong) also got a little surprise in the mail yesterday -- a Halloween card from Aunt Mikki, Uncle Gary, Jack and Olivia. He loves getting mail!!!!
We're looking forward to trick or treating tonight. Our weather is supposed to be perfect. We'll fill you in and share our pictures in our next post.
Our finished fellow and our inspiration...
Getting a good nights sleep before his big trip...
Almost packed and ready to go...
Our friendly neighborhood postman.
Very soon Flat Stanley will arrive in Hollywood. He'll be visiting his cousins Jennifer, Peter and Autry. We're sure he'll have a great time and we'll be sure to let you all know how his trip turns out!
Christian and Madeline outside the moonbounce
Playing Party Games
Taking a whack at the "indestructable" pinata!
Two wild and crazy guys!
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After the birthday party, Christian and I headed over to Ed, Kristin, Grace and Eddie's to drop off Eddie's way over due birthday present and visit for a while. When we arrived we found them all in their back yard painting Halloween costumes and carving pumpkins. It wasn't long before Christian joined in on the action and helped Grace clean out one of the pumpkins.
After the pumpkin fun we all walked over to the neighborhood playground. The kids had a great time playing and especially enjoyed climbing onto the roof of one of the play houses.
We were pleasantly surprised when we got to the park and ran into our friends Rich, his daughter CC and their dog Larry. Rich's wife is my good friend Elizabeth and they live in the same neighborhood.
CC, Rich and Larry
Rich and Elizabeth were just blessed with a new addition to their family two weeks ago when they adopted their son Paul. Baby Paul was just getting ready to eat when they were heading out to the park so he stayed home with Mom. After we left the playground and got back to Ed and Kristin's I found I had a message on my cell phone. It was a message from Elizabeth inviting us over to meet the baby so we said our good byes and headed over for a quick visit. Baby Paul is beautiful and Christian loved him.
What a busy day we had. We left our house at 10:45 a.m. and didn't get home until after 5:00 p.m. Christian was conked out in the car 5 minutes after we left Rich and Elizabeth's house. It's a good thing that Sunday's are days of rest!!!!!!
He also brought home this picture he worked on with his teacher Miss Amy. It's of a castle complete with a moat and a slide that goes over the moat. I think this combination of things is from his trip to Cox's farm with all the great slides and the Halloween party and his Aunt and Uncles's house.
I took this picture this morning before he left for school so his Grandma Bailey could see how nice he looks in the new rain coat she bought him. It fits perfectly and he loves that the hood has a little hidden compartment snapped up around the collar.
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Shane is working late tonight so I told Christian that we could stop and get a Happy Meal on the way home and put on our pjs when we get home and then spend the evening playing board games, which he loves. Our weather is so rainy it's a perfect night for it. I also plan on surprising him with a new pair of Spiderman pjs complete with the web/wings under the arms. They are exactly like his old pair that he has outgrown and actually wore for the last time a few nights ago. When we were taking them off in the morning, I explained to him that they were just getting too short and tight and were too uncomfortable. It made him very sad but when I told him that we'd be sending them to his cousin Connor in Michigan that made him feel a bit better.
Our weekend started out Saturday morning with Christian's last soccer practice/game of the fall season.
Water Break!
And since it was the end of the season all the parents formed a tunnel for the kids to run at the end of the game...
and the kids had such a great time they just kept running around and going through it again and again.From the soccer field we headed to Aunt Colleen, Uncle Skip and Cousin Taylor's for the annual Halloween party. They always go all out for the kids and this year was no exception.
They live in a beautiful "castle" in the woods in Mt. Airy, Maryland and Christian loves to go visit them. I think he actually thinks he's in a fairy tale when he's there.
Christian with Aunt Colleen
This year's festivities included a treasure hunt for mini pumpkins filled with candy!
And a hayride. Christian loves Uncle Skips tractor! This year when I went out to get Christian on the hayride I asked him if he was ready to go and he replied "yes mommy and this year I don't want you to go with me." Ouch! Just typing this almost brings tears to my eyes. I guess I need to expect these things. I of course replied bravely "okay buddy, I know you're a big enough boy now and can go by yourself. Just don't stand up or jump around and listen to Uncle Skip and remember I'll be waiting right here for you when you get back." I think his eyes began to glaze over and he zoned me out right around the "just don't stand up" comment.
Even Pookie the dog got into the swing of things this year! Arghhh!
and Cousin Taylor.
Needless to say, Christian fell fast asleep on the way home and slept for almost two hours! Sunday morning he actually let us sleep until a little after 8:00 which is pretty late for him. We had a time for real breakfast so I cooked up some scrambled eggs, toast and bacon for Shane and me and toast, yogurt and fruit cocktail for Christian. I keep trying to get that boy to eat new things and occasionally I can get him to eat a bite or two of scrambled eggs but bacon...never!!! He looks at me like I've got a horn growing out of my head if I even ask him if he'd like to try a bite!
On Sunday afternoon we headed out to Leesburg, Virginia for a birthday party for the son of one of Shane's co-workers, Shaun and his wife LeeAnn. Their son Gavin was celebrating his first birthday and Christian had a blast.
LeeAnn had a treasure hunt for the kids too and...
Christian was happy to help Gavin open his gifts.
And Christian loved these crazy Where's Waldo/Harry Potter glasses that were in his goody bag. When I put him to bed tonight he asked if he could sleep with them!
It was a busy weekend but filled with fun!
And, he milked the cow! Last year the "yuck factor" won out and he wouldn't go near old Bessie!
