Halloween Weekend

WARNING: My ability to edit a group of photos down to a reasonable number of "favorites" has proven impossible due to a fascination with green face paint. Continue at your own risk...

Bobbing for apples

We have a winner!

Annika, party co-planner extraordinaire!

Faun, Queen of Darkness (and Face Paint!)

Serious Franken-Pirate

Startled Franken-Pirate

Charming Franken-Pirate

"Bapple!"

"Bapple...Cheese!"

Seriously, another photo?

SERIOUSLY, ANOTHER PHOTO?!?

The Cousins @ 20 and 19 months

"Witches' Brew with Brains and Owl Eyes"

"Blood Curdling Devil's Food"

"Finger Food"

"Roasted Jack-O-Lantern"

"Night Crawlers and Bat Terds"

"Chunky Cat Barf" (I literally gagged as I ate this...the image was too strong. Yuck!)

"Spoooky Cooookies"

Sunny, Annie and Annika went all out, CLEARLY!

OOOoooo....

...and of course, the actual evening of Halloween we couldn't get a shot of the boys to save our lives! Leif was happier handing out candy than dealing with mysterious creatures (although he didn't seem to mind Tom and Kaj's skeleton scarecrow on the left). My favorite Leif phrase of the season? "All done spooky guy!"

Halloween Parade

On Friday Kaj wrapped up what seemed to be a Halloween-themed month at Kinderfarm (I love that!) with a parade and music sharing for families. I, of course, had my own students to lead in song that morning, so I gave Tom very strict instructions to be VERY liberal with the photo taking and actually put the camera in the car the night before, just to be sure it wasn't forgotten in the craziness of getting both boys ready in the morning.

These photos capture some of his calmer moments lately. He is such a chatty kid at home, I'm always surprised to see him on the quieter side among larger groups of children. Yet I do know things are different when someone who's not usually there is watching. And his teacher did tell us she had to cut him off one day during show and tell. Apparently he had more to say than time allowed. :)

Peakaboo...I'm behind the princess...

Lining up

Making an entrance

I'm planning on a post-Halloween summary late tomorrow night!

Kaj Guy is 4!

What does being FOUR mean for Kaj?

It means you wear a crown on your birthday at Kinderfarm and bring Dad/Kaj joint-effort brownies to share with your class. It means you tell your teacher you have a nut allergy because you overheard mom and dad talking about nut allergies the night before and decide this is something kind of special to have. It means you prefer PB & J any day of the week and very clearly do NOT have a nut allergy. It means you get the coolest flashlight sword ever, and call it a "lifesaver." Five minutes later you've refined it to "Light Saber" and spout Star Wars lines left and right, thanks to knowledgeable aunts, uncles and dads. You try to persuade your parents it's time to see the movie.
It means you get FIVE shots at your check up, but say you would do it again to get another nifty dinosaur toy from the nurse. Also, you insist on saving the band aids, but compromise on mom on taking a picture instead.
It means you have a way of convincing your mother you should designate your claimed birthday cupcake by eating a decorative chocolate circle off the top several hours before it's time to eat. If a little bit of frosting makes the journey as well, even better.

Leif's a party (get it?)

Leif has been a hoot and a half lately, SO easily entertained by the simple stuff. He has discovered how to propel himself onto our relatively high bed, and is clearly so proud of his achievement. Despite my attempts to actually make our bed everyday - the low-maintenance duvet that it is - THE thing to do at the Larsen house lately involves putting one's legs under the covers, flopping back onto the pillows, and saying (with a huge grin) , "Night, night!"

Alien!

Watch out, Iowa City! There have been recent sightings of an unusual creature roaming our backyard and occasionally checking himself in our bathroom mirror. He looks a lot like our Kaj guy, but it seems to be wearing some sort of protective head gear.

Over the weekend

I've managed to skip much of July, but I am choosing to get out a few favorite shots from the last couple of days. I'll work on the last several weeks another time. :)

We have discovered that Leif LOVES corn on the cob. He may not have a lot of teeth, but he has just the right ones for this job!

It may be hard to see, but Kaj wrote "PAP" on the chart paper (P's backwards, but who cares!!!). He asked, "Mom, what did I write?" I told him, and he said, " WOW! How did I manage to do that?"

A spontaneous puppet show

It's sprinkler time at Grandma and Grandpa Larsen's place!

Approaching 18 months, Jonus and Leif are such a cute pair!

Kaj and Jericho working on their creations...

Wow!

Almost a month since I've posted an update...and it's summer! Check back soon...

In my own defense, I'm working on Leif's First Year album. Hopefully this will get me going again!