Halloween!

It was a lovely, mild Halloween this year.  Everyone opted to be Avengers characters this year, so I very grudgingly agreed to be another Marvel character (Lady Loki).  

Our Marvel-ous family
Spiderman, Rescue, Scarlet Witch, Thor and Lady Loki

We carved pumpkins the Friday beforehand, and all three kids got their hands dirty.  The girls are both at an age where they did all their own carving - I was pretty impressed with Evie!  Ben "helped" us clean out the pumpkins, and then we all pretended to be done for the night so he could go to bed... then we carved the pumpkins without a 2-year old trying to grab a bunch of knives.

Pumpkin guts everywhere

Maggie's, Daddy's, Ben's (mostly Dad's)

Evie's

Mom's (not very inspired this year)

We were excited to have the Odglen's come over for trick-or-treating this year!  We totally did not plan it, but they also showed up as Marvel characters!  Grandma and Grandpa helped pass out candy while we took the kids out for the beginner round (Ben and Violet can only handle so much).  It was nice that Halloween was a Sunday this year, so we didn't have to rush home from work to get the kids ready... still a tired Monday morning for them though!  

Family!
(Aunt Amy and baby bump not pictured...
somehow she got out of wearing a costume!)

Adorable spider-kids

Fave photo:
Ben trying to figure out how to shoot spiderwebs like Spiderman

Iron Man and Rescue - looking tough!

Trying to get a good photo with Grandma...
turned out like it usually does!

Maggie and her trick-or-treating teammate

So hot

Swung by her friend's house at the very end!

Some others:

Expecting a very purple poop after this one...

Maggie's outdoor team, last practice for the season

Happy Birthday to Sarah!

Proud girl-dad

There's a baby polar bear at the zoo!!!

Ben continues to be great on the potty - 
also still wants to wear his Spiderman hat everyday

Got their first vaccine dose!! Woo hoo!

Love these faces

Fall fun

It's been a fun October with some fun outings!  We got to do a pedal pub in Detroit for our friend Adam's 40th birthday celebration.  It was so fun, highly recommend!

Cruising Woodward at 5 mph

Party gang

Smiles get bigger as the night goes on

Jamie helped coach his school's Powder Puff team this fall, and the girls were super excited to go!  They enjoyed cheering with their pom poms, and then ignoring the rest of the game while they made new friends!

Go Lakeview!

They won... time to go to bed!

Jamie representing with his elementary shirt along
with another teacher who went to Lakeview!

Outdoor soccer is winding down, and we're getting ready to start indoor (sort of wishing there was a gap!).  I've had a lot of fun helping coach Maggie's team, and have a greater appreciation for the patience of teachers.  So. many. questions.

Maggie got muddy this weekend!

Evie and Cece, together always
(Evie snuck her hair chalk to the game and colored
Cece's hair before we realized it... the coach was not impressed)

One perk of coaching - free photo with your kiddo!

New school year means new school pics!  Ben's daycare will do photos in November which I'm looking forward to, since they didn't do them last year.

Evie - 1st grade

Maggie - 3rd grade
(probably taken after recess?)

One of our new neighbors has a big sidelot yard, and invited us over for a random football Sunday.  They had a big screen anchored to a tree, mimosas and bloody mary's for days, brunchy yumminess and good conversation.  It was an awesome start to the day... unfortunately we had soccer all afternoon so we only stayed for a couple hours.  Jamie went back at 8pm to pick something up and they were still going!  

One couple was celebrating their anniversary, so they brought 
these champagne flute shooters (think beer bong for champagne)
and we all toasted.  These were super cute and I need someone to
get married to I can buy them as a gift.

Cheers

We went to Royal Oak's fire station open house, and as predicted, Ben was psyched!

The truck actually made him a bit nervous - his favorite part
was watching firefighters scale down the wall

Face painting fun

Beautiful and serious butterfly

I got this

Some others:

Maggie and her new bestie down the street

Helping walk Cece's dog... continuing to beg us for one

Evie has an obsessive addiction to hot chocolate

Taking a dip

Exploring the nature trail by our house

Yoda is here to share his wisdom

An umbrella is a good way to distract a
toddler while trying to watch the game

Grandma made the girls custom booties to keep their feet warm
all winter, they love em!

Familia!

 

Zicke Zacke Oi Oi Oi

After running a bunch of annoying house errands, we celebrate Oktoberfest for a bit in Detroit at Eastern Market Brewing Co. with a couple friends.  Jamie talked me into buying yet another beer vessel, and was sooo close to winning the stein holding contest.

Prost!

mmm beer

There's not much else going on lately, just cranking through the grind of school, work, soccer and meetings every week!  Maggie is turning slightly teenager, but for the most part she is still our sweetheart.  Evie is really improving with reading, and we try to spend some time each night reading together.  Ben is doing well at daycare, and each morning he stops to give each sister a hug and kiss before leaving the car, it's too sweet!

Making the world's tallest pizza

He spent about 2 days with this unicorn
necklace, so attached (then he got over it)

So much energy after playing a full game of soccer!

Evie's team - the unicorns!
Somehow they are all blonde or blonde-ish, and fierce!

Buds for life

Jamie has been begging for years to get a giant Stay-Puft blowup for Halloween.  I finally caved, and it really did make him so very happy.  The kids are also big fans.

Ghostbusters... Jamie is still envisioning additions for the future

Giving Stay Puft a hug before bed

Some others:

Dentist checkup (no dentists were harmed)

Helping with the housework

Ben adores Grandpa

Fruity-Pebbles donut for the win!

Jamie took the girls to a football game at 
Lakeview.  They weren't hyper at all.