Halloween Night

The kids had their costumes and were ready to go as soon as school was out. Cousin Adam joined them on their 4-hour tour, which included the Fibre Federal Credit Union, the Lilac Street neighborhood, Papa Ken and Bev, Grandpa Richard, Grandma Cindy, Uncle Dave and Aunt Charolette, Uncle Alan and Aunt Vera, Uncle Steve and Aunt Dianne, Uncle Dave and Aunt Laury, Aunt Julie, Uncle Dan and Aunt Robin, and Grannie and Papa Woodruff. We had some deliriously tired (but very happy) kids when it was all done!

Jillian knew she wanted a Princess Leia costume for a long time, and was thrilled to finally get it, but she was torn about the hair ... she wasn't too keen on the two large buns on the sides. After watching the Star Wars movie again, she decided on a slightly different bun-look that suited her more (and it was Mommy to the rescue, after buying a bun-maker and watching some YouTube tutorials).

Bridget didn't know what she wanted, even at the costume store. It took a while, but she found the "Dream Catcher Cutie" costume, and after trying it on, looked so cute in it and received lots of oohs and ahhs from everyone ... so that sold her.

Tor was initially going to be a Star Wars character (first Darth Vader, then Luke Skywalker), but when we went to Halloween City to look for costumes, he found a Batman costume that fit perfectly. He pretty much forgot about Star Wars, and focused on his superhero kicks and punches.

Soccer MVP

Jillian did not want this soccer season to end. She had a great time with her Kalama teammates, who were very nice and all got along very well. Plus, she really liked her coaches, Tress and Laurie. And finally, she was successful on the field playing mostly the forward and midfielder positions, covering all of the field and scoring plenty of goals. When we had talked about the season coming to an end one night, she cried herself to sleep. For the year-end party, she made cards for all the girls that told them she would miss them, leaving them her phone number to call. At the end of the party, the coaches announced the player who was voted the best teammate (MVP) ... and it was Jillian!

A Decade of Bliss

Heather and I took off on Friday for a short get-away, to celebrate our 10th wedding anniversary. It sure doesn't seem like 10 years already, since it's gone by so quickly, but considering everything that's been packed into those years, we've certainly got a lot to show for it.

We started by going to downtown Portland to walk around and visit the sites. An appetizer lunch at Henry's Tavern was very good and filling. Then, we browsed through Powell's Bookstore and picked up a few good reads (Heather got an old copy of "Little Women"). We finished at Cacao where we each tried a shot of "liquid chocolate". Our next stop was the Skamania Lodge.

We arrived at the lodge in just enough daylight to walk outside for a bit, before heading into the great room to relax next to the fireplace and huge picture windows. Afterwards, we dressed up and went to dinner in the Cascade Dining Room, where the waiter gave us a free dessert for our anniversary. We did some more relaxing in the hot tubs outside, followed by a brief stay in the sauna. We finished the night looking at some old photos from 2006.

Guess Who?

 I had picked up this sweatshirt awhile ago and imagine my surprise when Tor walks out and it has a mask inside the hood that I didn't know it had.  Tor was very pleased to run around and scare me and everyone else.

It turned out to be such a nice day Friday that the girls wanted to ride the tractor.  Papa hooked up the cart behind it and took them for rides all over.  In fact, when he tried to stop once they convinced him to do it all over again.  Papa is a softie sometimes. (They did have to sit on their bottoms at all times.)

Pumpkin Carving

We tried going to the pumpkin patch in Castle Rock on Hazel Dell Road, since we enjoyed it last year, but there was no sign of it. Looking around, it didn't look like there were any local patches, so we settled for buying them at Fred Meyer this year. Our friend Laura was visiting, and she helped us with the carving, especially with helping the kids scoop out the insides. Tor was a little hesitant at first, but then had no problem touching it. The girls, of course, just dug right in. Looking at the porch picture, from bottom to top, the pumpkins belong to Bridget (accessorized with beads), Jillian (the larger of the two), Tor (small and mean), Mommy, Daddy and Laura (up top).

Silly Tierney

 Tor had decorated a window with these foam stickers, so he got them out again and I think Tierney instigated this face decorating.  But it was so fun Tor did not want to quit, as the next picture shows, he kept trying to put these decorations everywhere.

Next there was Thomas train tracks and stations all over the table that kept Tor engrossed.

Tor at the Pumpkin Patch

It was time for Tor's pre-school field trip to the pumpkin patch at Mrs. Cathcart's farm. Not only did he pick out a tiny pumpkin to bring home, but he also got to do lots of other fun activities, including (his favorite) searching for treasures in a haystack. Here's a couple photos that Mommy took.

Crafty Kids and Storm

 All three worked on crafts in the morning since they didn't have school Friday.  Tor painted a picture about something from Starwars.  He worked on it for a long time and used different colors and it ended up quite impressive(modern artwise).  I didn't get a picture since he took it home to show Mommy.  Jillian made her own ink stamper which actually worked pretty well while Bridget worked on a puppet show featuring Bridget, Anna, and Mocha.  She even made a intricate backdrop for her show.

 The night before the lights had gone out about 9PM so the three had a ball running around with flash lights.  That was the first time they were in a black-out at night and it was very exciting.  At bedtime I kept a lantern low as it was so dark and we talked about the pioneers who did not have electricity.  They weren't sure they would like living back then without cell phones and TV.  Then on Friday when Rielee came to play the power went off again.  They made it a Play-Doh time.  Here they're making me a pizza that I ordered with all the fixings.

 Lots of company as Tierney arrived that afternoon from college.  The power was back on so they played this marble game that I did not understand.

Later that evening when the wind came up, Tor grabbed his light saber and said he was Luke Skywalker and he was going to battle that weather.  He must have done the job because we didn't lose power again.

Basketball

 Bridget found out that Daddy had signed her up for basketball and it looks like she's taking it seriously.  She drew a basketball court, put up the hoop and set up cones and went to work.  At first she was dribbling with both hands but after some coaching she was trying to dribble with each hand separately and really doing a lot with her left hand.  Surprisingly, she spent about an hour working on it.

Tor was not to be left out.  Jillian worked on a court for him but he was more interested in shooting.  Actually he got that big basketball pretty high toward the big basket.

Halloween is Coming

 I think Tor had forgotten about this spider from last year.  A loud noise makes it drop down so I showed it to him and clapped loudly. He ran behind a chair.  Then he discovered he could make it drop with a loud scream, so I finally had to shut it off as he was screaming every few minutes.  Then when Ava, Harper, and Rielee came, Tor, Jillian, and Bridget played the trick on them.

They love to get all dressed up to play and they even convinced Tor to dress up.  The witch hats are out so that sets up the mood for some scary antics.

Tractor Boy

Tor had the biggest smile when he got to help drive the tractor to a job Papa was doing.  Then he worked with Papa for quite awhile.

Anna's Grown

 Anna has grown a lot lately and she is acting like a playful kitten, but she still lets Bridget pick her up and cuddle.  It seems Anna remembers the cuddles from before she was hurt so tolerates it from Bridget.  You can still see Anna's shaved spot from her surgery. 

 Tor wanted to climb this small tree and he was pretty proud of himself when he got up pretty high.  He went higher than this but then wanted help to get back down.

Thanks to some lessons from Jillian Tor now is fearless on his scooter.  He tries to go as fast as the girls now.