All Dressed Up

Here's my crew all ready for Halloween and some serious trick-or-treating.

Naomi wore the same duck costume that both Silas and Isaac wore when they were toddlers.

Here's Silas as Buzz Lightyear. Not sure what that pose is supposed to be? But he was rather pleased with himself for thinking to hang his plastic pumpkin on one of the wings.

Princess Millie...

And Isaac as Spider Man, though he was definitely more interested in candy than in taking any pictures.

We did quite the trick-or-treating marathon this year. We did a quick jaunt around our block before Millie had to be at her theater class. The boys ate supper, then went out for another round with daddy. Then once Millie was done with her class, we met up with friends to tromp around their neighborhood and collect lots more candy. It was quite the night, and Isaac fell asleep while we were still out trick-or-treating.

And while I'm on the subject of our dear third-born, here are a few Isaac stories worth remembering:

**Isaac still sleeps next to me at night, and recently in the middle of the night, I noticed him getting out of bed, but didn't do anything about it because I was half asleep and figured he'd be back soon. When he got back in bed I heard a crinkly noise - sort of like the sound of the plastic covering on a library book, so I figured he'd brought a book to bed. But, I realized in the morning, he had actually gone to the fridge and got a whole loaf of Ezekiel bread, which he brought back to bed and slept curled up with for the remainder of the night. I guess he was hungry.

**One night at supper, Isaac asked me in all serious sweetness, "Mommy, does God have a jet pack?"

**Turns out Isaac is the nick-namer in our family.  He frequently calls Tom "Mr. Daddy Man". And for some reason, about half the time he calls Naomi either bibs or bibbers or bibber baby. And he'll say it just as casually as you might say hi to a friend: "hey bibs."

**And finally, a few weeks ago I came into the bathroom to find wads of wet toilet paper covering one of the walls. When I questioned Isaac about it, he assured me it wasn't him, but rather that "Sticky Isaac" had made the mess (there he goes with the nicknames again). And it seems that "Sticky Isaac" made another visit today. And even as I write that, I just have to laugh. I love that kid.

Naomi on a Saturday Morning

I don't think I could ask for a more gorgeous October weekend than the one we're currently enjoying. This warm spell just begs us to get outside and take in the golden colors. We were just home today since Tom needed the van for a couple of work things. But the kids find plenty to do just playing out front, dragging out everything with wheels and zooming up and down the sidewalk, or sometimes requesting a walk around the block. And Naomi is getting so independent outside - finally sturdy enough that I don't feel like I have to follow her around every second to keep her from crashing onto the concrete.

I was inspired to pull out the camera because Naomi was wearing this little outfit that Millie wore in China. Not just any little set of clothes, but one that I specifically went and bought with a Chinese friend because I wanted split pants for Millie for potty-training. (I sewed the "split" back together once Millie was potty trained) And of course this had me all nostalgic for Millie at that age and all the adventures and our sweet Chinese friends. I went back through our pictures to try to find one of Millie wearing this same thing, and I couldn't find one of just Millie. Only pictures of her with our Chinese students, and this one of our little family when we were visiting Hong Kong, posing here with the owner of a restaurant we would frequent during our year there.

And then (sorry, I'm really off on a tangent here), I came across this picture of Millie on what was probably her first ever playdate. With her little friend Albert. All bundled up in their coats even though they were, in fact, playing inside.

Fun memories.