Happy Halloween

Keira tried on Katharine's witch costume this morning, but it was a little too big.



Lennon nuzzles Keira.

Lennon looking trim and dapper in his black jumpsuit.

Lennon and Katharine waiting for Lukas's Halloween parade to begin at his school.

Mom and Katharine.

Iria strikes a pose, but the kids aren't. They are looking for Lukas.

Lukas in his Halloween shirt 'costume'. We actually bought him two real Halloween costumes this year, but he decided that he did not want to wear any of them. Look for Lennon as the Batman and/or a knight in two years.

But for now, Lennon has put on the spider hat! Iria has a better picture somewhere...

Lukas changes into his Halloween pajamas and Katharine strikes a fashionable pose. I wonder where she gets that from?

Feathers are for witch brooms and for tormenting younger brothers.

Iria, Katharine, Lukas and my Mom were off to Trinity's house for 'trick or treating', but it was the end of the road for Lennon. After getting up around 4 AM he was not going to miss his bedtime tonight.

Not to be denied, he promptly raided the candy stash once Iria had left (and then I promptly put him to bed).

Homework

Here are some recent assignments from Katharine's home schooling program:



"Portrait of the Royal Family"

Katharine studied the art of Hans Holbein the Younger, and then was asked to create a portrait of King Henry the 8th and his family as if she were sitting alongside the artist.



Katharine's first written poem (with an illustration, of course):


Kim and her cat

Kim and her cat

were on the path

There was a patch!

There was a pumpkin patch!

Welcome, Koji!

Out friends Neil and Mio had their first baby two weeks after Keira was born. I suggested that Neil start a blog, much like Meagan did to me a year ago. It works out great for some of us Texas expatriates.

Anyways, check it out. The kid is really cute, and Neil and Mio are going to make awesome parents:

http://neilmiokoji.blogspot.com/

Goodbye, Linda and Erika

Linda and Erika left today after a long visit. We'll miss the cooking, the diaper changes, the weeding, the garage cleaning, the baby feedings, the kinder chocolate, the fussy baby burpings, the German dice and domino games, the outdoor playtime with the older kids... but most of all we will miss them.


My Mom arrives this Wednesday, so we won't feel so lonely for very long.

Cupcakes and Raindance, Part 3

Cupcakes and Raindance, Part 2

Cupcakes and Raindance

Charlotte came over for a playdate today and we made cupcakes and danced in the rain. More pictures to follow.

Swim Suits in October, Part 3

Can it get any better?

Swim Suits in October, Part 2

What a fun day we had!

Swim Suits in October

After a quick trip to Houston to apply for a new passport on Monday, we all needed a day to regroup, so I ended up canceling all activities yesterday and we enjoyed the gorgeous day with shopping for new flowers for the flower beds and playing outside all afternoon. Who knew it would be warm enough for swim suits?! The kids made a "water rug" by dumping buckets of water down the driveway and running and rolling around in it. Using wet chalk was a great way to make chalk handprints. Sitting in a bucket is always fun.

Mommy's Big Helpers

Katharine and Lukas gave Lennon a bath yesterday after lunch to show me what big helpers they are. They did awesome! Everybody had fun.

Lukas and the kid eating bush

I'm not sure how he got himself stuck, but it was funny enough to delay his rescue by 30 seconds in order to snap a picture.

Update: Superman is ok!

Princess Supergirl used a washcloth to mend his wound, and it looks like Superman will be back in action soon.

News flash: The death of Superman?

Superman took a bullet during a battle with giant space apes today. Princess Supergirl is rushing him off to her castle for some immediate medical attention.

Stay tuned!

Princess Poison Ivy in the snow

Katharine and I were playing our story game this morning, and it inspired this picture. Batman was digging out some of Poison Ivy's flowers from under the snow when he discovered that she was a princess. They were already married, so Poison Ivy invited Batman to live in her castle. Poison Ivy's castle was too small to fit all of Batman's superhero equipment, so she built him a bat castle. The rest of the Justice League promptly moved in, along with a family of ducks (each getting their own castle). Giant space apes then attacked Gotham City, so they all flew off to save the day.

Visit to the Pumpkin Patch

The long, long wait is over and the kids FINALLY got to go to the pumpkin patch. Especially as we couldn't even get out of the car when we went yesterday. It simply rained too hard. The disappointment was GREAT, but I think we made up for it today. They had a blast picking, lifting, comparing, and finally buying pumpkins of all sizes! Even Kiera got to go, though she slept through the whole thing. Note how her car seat matches the pumpkins. She fits right in, just like Lennon and Lukas. Orange has got to be one of our (or mine?) favorite colors.