INCONCEIVABLE!

Yes... I know Halloween is SO OVER, but I had to flashback really quick because a lot of thought and prep went in to ours and we had  A LOT of fun!  

We took a vote, and 

The Princess Bride

won.

One of our all-time favorite shows.

So, I have a little sister who can turn straw into gold.  SERIOUSLY!
I gave her:
A hideous red dress from the 80s

A large women's night gown with weird ties in the front
and an extra large woman's vest
all of which I picked up from local thrift stores.

She knew precisely what to snip and where sew to turn them into beautiful Buttercup dresses and a Vizzini vest.  She is amazing! (AND she made cute little costumes for her own kids on top of all that.)  My hat is off to you, Bethany!

Plus- she even mailed it- we all had to lay them out to admire her handy-work.  I was just going to uses them "as is" and when I first showed Autumn, she tried really hard not to be disappointed that it was an adult nightgown that slipped over her shoulders.  She just said, "Oh- it isn't quite what I had imagined, but it's lovely."  When she saw it after Beth worked her magic, she wouldn't take it off. :)

I wish I had taken better pictures- they just don't do it justice.

 

These are the dresses they are modeled after.

And of course we had to have a Wesley...

Seth does an awesome job of saying, "Drop your sword!" 

(I didn't have to buy anything for his costume but the sword... nice!)

And it just wouldn't be complete without this trio...

Anybody want a peanut? (so silly I know!)

Picturing Brig as Vizzini one night when he was particularly whinny, was what inspired the whole thing. :)

I was thinking it was all pretty fun, until I tried to wash my mustache off and...

I wore it for a whole extra day.  I scrubbed and tried 20 different things online.  Turns out washable markers aren't so washable.  FYI... I had the most success with baby wipes. (and a long hot shower)  Doug gave me such a hard time.  I tried to talk to him several times that night and he just laughed at me... really hard.  It was worth it to hear him crack up, but my ego was injured. :)

Our love really is like a "storybook story." :)  We had a great time dressing up this year.

We also had a fun party with neighbor friends eating chili and root-beer before we went to the trunk-or-treat.  The kids made a haul.

And I made myself sick on it and hid it from myself several times until I finally got smart and made a Christmas Candy Advent Calendar with it.  Thank you pinterest! :)
I'd say life is definitely a little sweeter around here.

Treading on Thin ICE...

Autumn has made a sweet friend, Kyree, that lives in our building and is in her class.  She and her mom (whose been a sweet friend to me) invited the girls to a fun production of Disney on Ice.  We made it a girl party.  We had a great time singing along and trying to imagine how these people could ice-skate with big costumes on.  It was pretty incredible.

The girls are doing their "Princess Wave."

And speaking of treading on thin ice," how about Seth doing a literal cake-walk on the cakes for the school carnival cake walk?!  The little stinker!
 

 

 

Isn't it ironic that Seth ended up being the cake winner?!  With four kids, we had pretty good odds, so between that and Amberlee praying that we would win one, I was pretty confident we would come home with something. :)

  

And of course there are pumpkins to be carved.  (Loved doing this outside on the picnic tables this year!)  We ended up adding half the neighborhood to the mix by the end of it, our sharp knives flying, but it was fun.
 

And we finished the night with a jack-o-lantern pizza of our own. :)

We've enjoyed a couple cool morning walks to school.
 

And some walks to the park.  We love the fall!
 

 

We managed to get four flu vaccinations without any tears- love the nose spray! :)
 

And {my favorite} we have squeezed in a date night or two.  Doug and I had fun eating at a Japanese restaurant and yogurt shop downtown. (My smoked teriyaki salmon was delicious!)
 

 

Yay for family, friends, and babysitters! (And such an awesome man to stand by!)

B is for BUSY...

 We keep life pretty busy around here.

Seth's fun preschool a couple days a week definitely fills some of our time.  He is really learning and growing up!  He loves his preschool friends and looks forward to the fun activity.

Doesn't he draw cute little pictures!


Other than that, we've mostly just been hangin' around.

With apples!
Stewarts generously sent us home with a box that turned into dried apples and apple sauce.  Yum!
 

  

Then hittin' the town...
(Local Farmer's Market.  We thoroughly enjoyed munching on fresh rosemary french bread as the boys and I wandered around downtown.)
 

...Or home runs.

Or getting "hit-on".

Brig came home from playing outside with lipstick marks.  I guess they just couldn't resist his sweet cheeks. :)  Thankfully I knew who it was.

The girls come up with fun little crafts to keep themselves busy.  They have had so much fun with Aunt Chelsea's doll making kit.
 

 

We like taking breaks every now and then for family time.

 

Because even Superman needs a little break every now and then. :)


I'm grateful I have little friends to remind me to stop and smell the flowers.