Frankenweenie, Pumpkins, and Polymer

We've all had a bit of a cold, so we've been mostly staying at home for the last week or so.  We had a nice weekend though.  We were supposed to get our family pictures done Saturday, but we had a couple kids with runny noses, so I talked to Heidi(who was taking our pictures) and we moved it up to Friday, just in case anybody got worse over the weekend.  She was awesome, and we had fun and it didn't take long at all.  

Saturday we watched Cason play soccer in the morning, and after that spent a nice day at home.  

We haven't done too many Halloween crafts or anything so far this month, so we planned a Halloween movie night.  We ended up choosing Frankenweenie.  I had high hopes for that movie, but I ended up just liking, not loving it in the movies.  It grew on me this time, but I still feel like it could've been better.  I LOVE Sparky (the main character), and the idea behind the movie, just think it could've been better.  Anyway, I'm glad we watched it again, because I like it more than before.  The kids couldn't agree on whether to watch the old short version from the 80s, or the stop motion one from a couple of years ago.  So we watched both.  Paige read Neely a Halloween story while we waited to get the movie going.

We got the mattresses out and got cozy in the living room.  

Jess made some ghostie cookies.

It was fun.

The next day we had a nice, slow morning, and the kids and I got out the polymer clay and made some little things.  I was of course on a Halloween kick, so I went with a Sparky, a black cat, and a ghost.  Paige made a dementor from Harry Potter.  

Since you can only see the top of her Dementor's cloak, here's another angle:

 Cason made Toothless.  He even sat and drew nostrils and scales with a toothpick. 

 

Neely made a "pumpkin polar bear penguin".  :)

 

Then we went to the church to pick our pumpkins.

 

 So hard to get a picture of all four of them.  Cason's eyes instantly start burning when he knows he's having his picture taken and he can't even hold them open.  Ha!

 The kids wanted a cute little one for Reed, and I liked this one with its little curly vines still attached to the stem.  He seemed happy with it.

 Neely said she found the right pumpkin for her.  :)

 Cason was pretty careful about his choice, but it didn't take him too long.

 Paige preferred ones with a yellowy shade of orange.

I tried for a picture of Jess and me.  It was pretty bright out there, apparently.

 

 It's not exactly a huge pumpkin patch, but Neely and Reed were both OUT by the time we got home.

Once they woke up we got to carving.

 

 Then I made everyone pose awkwardly with their pumpkin.

 

 

 It was a pretty great weekend.

Husband Dungeon

Neely has hit a funny phase lately.  She's VERY emotional, and little things will set her off big time.  She's also pretty feisty, and some talking back has been happening too.  BUUUUUT...she's also very sweet the rest of the time, and hilarious.  She got a mask so she could be Cat Woman for a birthday party last weekend, and she has worn it almost all day every day since, along with her black leotard and leggings. 

She's also been talking about being married to Batman.  Cassie was over one day and got video of her being pretty imaginative.  She was asking us who we were going to marry.  I told her Wolverine first, (because I'm trying to convince Jess to be Wolverine for Halloween because I think he resembles Hugh Jackman and a certain Chipotle employee apparently agrees with me), but Neely didn't want me marrying Wolverine.  

Still in character as Cat Woman(but a good version, NOT the villain), she explained why I shouldn't marry him.  At least she has her priorities in order. 

It got pretty hilarious, as Neely talked about how she had Batman trapped in the playroom so that he couldn't escape before the wedding.  Haha!  Husband Dungeon. 

My favorite part though was when she asked me about MY wedding.  I was telling her I would have mine on a different day, to keep from stealing attention from HER wedding day.  She said "You WON'T(steal attention)!  Will you?" I told her I wouldn't want to and her face got kind of sad and she goes "But you would?"  Haha!  So cute and funny.  We were lucky and Cassie caught it on video.  So I guess there was no reason for me to type it all out, but I'll leave it in case it's hard to hear or understand.  Enjoy:

Reed's 1st Birthday Party

Since Reed was turning 1 on the 1st, this was his golden birthday.  I decided to use that for his party theme.  

It turned out to be pretty hard to find gold party supplies in town.  Plenty of yellow, but no metallic gold.  I found plenty online though.  My favorite find was probably the edible gold star glitter for the cake and cupcakes.

We kept his party a little smaller, since we have so many birthdays packed into just a couple of months, and he's not big enough to make requests yet-like bowling or a bounce house.  

As usual I waited too late to clean and start decorating or anything, and ended up having to miss Cason's soccer game that morning.  :(  Of course that's the game when he decides he's a machine and scores like 9 goals.  Ha.  Veronica made some food, and Cassie came over to help me decorate while I finished getting stuff ready.  Trudi also helped me finish some food I was trying to make.  Thank goodness.

Veronica also crocheted a cute little bowtie and suspenders for the guest of honor.  

It came together well and was such a nice little party.

It was just family, and we had fun celebrating our little man.

We opened gifts.  

Like a lot of little ones, he latched onto the first thing he received and spent the next 10 minutes playing with it while the other kids opened the rest of the gifts for him.

We sang to him, and gave him his cupcake.  He wanted none of it.  He put one hand in the frosting, and we waited, and waited, and Jess gave him a little taste to get him started, and we waited....and he started looking annoyed and trying to shake the frosting off of his hand.  We finally gave up and let him out of the highchair!  I guess he prefers chocolate.

People started to head home not too long after that.  When it was down to just us and my sisters, I realized I hadn't put on Reed's favorite music during the party.  So I set it to Mr. Pitiful, his favorite Otis Redding song, and a little dancing ensued.  That will be a happy memory for me. 

Once it was just us, and for the next couple of days, he got to leisurely enjoy his giant "1" balloon and discover all the gifts he didn't realize he'd been given.  :)

I love this boy so much.  So glad he has so many people who love him.  I wish he could've realized the whole party was all for him, but I think he knows he's loved.

Happy Birthday Reed!

 Last week Reed turned one.  It always seems to go so fast, but I swear this was the fastest year yet.  I can remember so many moments from the day he was born like it was yesterday.  It was my only morning labor, and it had a totally different feel.  I remember how big and heavy he felt, but tiny at the same time.  So crazy.  He was all amazed at everything, staring up at me with his squinty, light-sensitive eyes.  I think it took him a week to fully open them.  He was the cuddliest little buddy. 

 Like all the others we are so amazed at his personality.  I don't know how we get so lucky, but he's SO sweet, and smart, and funny.  Jess says things all the time to me about how much fun he is to have around, or thanks me for making him(like he has nothing to do with how great Reed is). 

 

He's been napping in his crib for a few weeks now, most of the time, which is new for us.  Ha.  He recently discovered the bear Great Grama got him when he was born.  He'll point at him and cry or try to say "bear", until we get him off the shelf.  Then he hugs him tight and is immediately happy.

He kept fighting off his naps for a few days and kind of fussing but I wasn't sure what he wanted.  I finally realized it was his bear.  As soon as I got him, he'd cuddle him, and nurse right to sleep.  It's so cute. 

  

At a year old, Reed weights 23 lbs 5 oz, which puts him at 84.1%, and is 30.5" long, and 75.8% for height.  He seems to grow in big spurts, more so than his siblings did.

He very suddenly started saying lots of words.  I THINK I've heard a few attempts at "peekaboo", and he definitely says "ball", "tickle", "bear", "mama", "dada", "byebye", and "moi(more)".  That one is our favorite, he says it in the cutest, desperate sounding tone.  PLEADING for whatever it is he wants.  He'll draw it out, sounding all sad, and adds an "uh" to the end for emphasis.  "Mooooo-uh"  He also makes a couple of animal sounds at times, especially "woof" and "meow" if we're reading books with cats or dogs.

He is a great mix of independent and cuddly and lovey with all of us. Still the most active, and is walking almost all the time now, unless he's in a real hurry.  Even then he tries to run sometimes.  He likes to be a little naughty, and will pretend to put something in his mouth that he shouldn't, like a Lego block.  He'll fake it, then hold it out to me with a mischievous smile, then turn around and "run" for it, cracking up because he knows I'll chase him.  He has a pretty sophisticated sense of humor, if you ask me.  :)  

A similar thing he likes to do is climb up on the hearth and give me that same naughty smile.

 He's still a huge fan of Gia.

Also his siblings.  He has to be right in the middle of whatever is going on.  I was playing Paige's tea party game with the girls on our bed one day, and he kept wanting to sit right on the "picnic blanket", which is basically the game board.  The girls were pretty patient with him.

One of his favorite things is to get to play on the top bunk with Paige.  We usually let him for a minute or two at bedtime, and he's not too happy when he has to come down.

Still loves to play catch.

He LOOOOVES water.  He will beg to drink our water, and wants to chug about a gallon in a sitting.

On his birthday morning, Jess made birthday cake pancakes, so he had some with strawberries, and we gave him his little birthday balloon.  He liked it all.  :)

 

After Jess and the big kids were off to work and school, we watched a birthday episode of Yo Gabba Gabba.

 

We read some books...

 

Got dressed for the day, and played a while.  Spent a little time with the beloved blue bear...

 

...had a morning nap, since he got up early for his birthday breakfast.

 

I took them to see Jess for lunch, and then to the pet store, since Reed loves animals.  He especially liked the cats.

 

We came home to meet Paige and Cason at the bus stop.  A package of birthday party stuff I'd ordered arrived, and in it was his crown, which he liked.

 

We played outside...

 

...and picked Jess up from work.  We had dinner, and then gave him a gift.  We got him a star and moon projector nightlight, and he loved it.  So cute.

Then we sang happy birthday to him and had chocolate cupcakes.  Reed played with his for a while first, but then he liked it quite a bit.

 

We all love this boy so much.  So grateful for all that he brings to our family.  Happy birthday sweet boy.