Halloween Madness

Whew, what a weekend.  It was definitely action-packed, filled with trick-or-treating (yes, already!), pumpkin-carving, Rice Krispie-treat-making, K-State-watching, and Trunk-or-Treating.

Last Thursday the Student Union had a Children's Carnival for homecoming week.  We decided to try out the ol' pig costume.  She looks super enthused, wouldn't you agree?

Logan & Madeline joined in on the fun with us.

 

 

All in all it was a great people-watching exercise for all.  Our kiddos we're a tad young to participate in the games, but next year that will change.

 

R carved her first pumpkin.  And I say "carve" meaning, sort of helped Chad scoop out the guts.  She loved working her spoon.

 

 

I was selected to host another House Party (this is my sixth!) and this one was sponsored by no other than Rice Krispies.  Friday night we made the treats and got all the supplies ready for some down and dirty decoratin'.  Kellogg's provided four boxes of Rice Krispies, a mixing bowl, chef's hat, and enough spatulas for all party goers to take one home with them.

 

 

 

 

I only used three of the four Rice Krispie boxes provided, so the fourth box went to the lucky winner of the "Best Decorated Treat."  The boys decided, and it was unanimous.  Jenny's cat took the cake, err, I mean treat?

 

 

Sunday brought our church's first annual "Trunk or Treat"!  We had a blast decorating the bed of Chad's pickup, eating popcorn, bouncing in the bounce house, and listening to "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown".  Oh yeah, and Popeye & Olive Oyl dusted off their costumes from six years ago and made an appearance as well.

 

 

 

We were strategically placed across from the "Boo-k Store" where they were giving away books.  Riley was magnetized towards this area all evening.

 

 

All of this, and it's not even Halloween yet!!!  Only two more days and we can start celebrating Christmas, right? ;)

 

 



Family photos

So Tuesday night we made the voyage to Seneca, KS, for our family pictures.  Kayla Stallbaumer who runs Capture Photography has done our photos pretty much since Riley came into the picture and since she graduated from K-State in May and moved back home, we decided we'd go to her!

Let me set the scene:  We leave work early, get all ready to go and hit the road, a huge stack of books for entertainment in tow.  I'm sitting in the back with Riley, trying to give her a snack (she missed snacktime at Miss Sarah's) when she refuses it.  She NEVER refuses food, so I thought that was a little weird, but maybe she's just not hungry.  Lo and behold a few minutes later she looks funny so I ask her if she's ok when she suddenly spews all over herself.  Twice.  She was wearing what we had planned to be in the bulk of the pictures.  We are torn between going on (Kayla's booked the rest of the year!) or to go back home.  Riley seemed ok, so we kept on rolling, hey, worst case scenario is she's not having it when we get there and we turn around and go home.  To end a long story, Kayla had been counting on the colors I told her we'd be wearing so she took us to her parents house where her AMAZING mother, Debbie, washed Riley's clothes for her!!!!!  Talk about a saint!

Despite the vomit smell and me and Chad stepping in horse poo in one of the barns, I don't think they turned out all that bad. :)

Here's a few of the photos, but you can see more HERE!  (not sure if you aren't a member of Facebook)

Leaping Lizards!

Last weekend we went to Kansas City for Skylenn's 5th birthday party at an indoor inflatable playground.  She had it last year at the same place but Riley was only 6 months old, therefore couldn't even stand up let alone jump in a bounce house.

Boy things changed this year.

To make matters worse, the night before I was "walking quickly" down Mom & Kevin's laminate staircase...in socks....when I slid on the last step, it was like I hit a block of ice.  Down I fell.  Hard.  So the last thing I needed to be doing was climbing up ladders with ropes, jumping over and around obstacles and chasing Riley everywhere.  That didn't stop me though.

Climbing in the fortress all by herself.

Time with the birthday girl.

 

Weeeeee!!!!

 

 

The crew.  It was hilarious, Riley ran right up there like she knew what she was doing, no coaxing needed.

 

 

Me and Cort.  Friends of 20 years.

 

 

Can I have my birthday party here next year, please?  I think it would be the perfect venue for a 30th birthday party.

Is it under the leaves? 18 months

So we've hit the 18-month mark.  Riley is as big as your average 2-year-old, weighing in at 28 lbs. 7 oz. (above 90th percentile) and is at 33.75" long (95th percentile).  Apparently milk really does do a body good.

She understands SO much.  Like, everything we ask/tell her, it's amazing!  She surprises us each day with new words and loves to repeat everything we ask her to repeat.  Nana, Papa, “Gah” (Guy), Dada, and Momma are all VERY clear.  Holly is “Haw-wah”.  She LOVE bubbles and crack us up with how she emphasizes the b’s …“Bub-buls”.  And as we already know, she knows the word "no" very well but can now use it in more than the negative form.

 

When we are at home and I’m busy doing something and there's that stone silence that makes any mother cringe wondering what they are up to, she is almost always in her room quietly looking at her books.  Sometimes with no pants on.

 

 

With the wonderful fall temperatures we have had our windows open more which makes it very easy for both Riley and Holly to know when the neighbor kids are getting home (they aren't exactly quiet).  Riley squeals and Holly whines.  Two peas in a pod.  Riley sure loves them, though.

 

 

Chad stayed home with her a few days ago when her daycare was closed and he caught this super cute video.  She loves her dog.



She is a reckless sleeper.  I know, I know, most children are but Riley definitely takes after her Dad in that regardless of how tired she is, it usually takes atleast a good 20 minutes of tossing and turning to finally fall asleep.  And when she does, doesn't matter what form it's in.  Yes, she is asleep in the below photo.

 

 

She still loves to help me with household chores.  And yes, we are still working toward the supreme baby mullet. :)

 

 

Lastly, peekaboo will never get old, apparently.

 

 

 

 



Chili Crawl! and Fall Festival Apathy

This past weekend Grammy & Guy visited for the annual Optimist Club Chili Crawl in Aggieville.  We always have a blast and this year was no exception.  We took "picture votes" at each place, but rather than to bore you with those (Wahoo Fire & Ice got most of our votes), here's a couple miscellaneous ones.

Sunday afternoon we decided to check out a local pumpkin patch.  I researched the few in our area and thought the Lazy T Ranch made the most sense for Riley.  The only unfortunate thing is that it did not have an actual "pumpkin patch" (they call their event "Fall Festival").  Looks like we may need to check out Britt's after all.  Or just wait till next year. ;)

We made the voyage over to the Lazy T when Riley woke up from her nap.  I should have known she sometimes wakes up like her momma and shows no interest in anything for a good couple hours.

Your average petting zoo "gote".  She wasn't too impressed.

 

However we did pet the horsey!

 

But would not ride the "horsey".

But I DON'T WANT to walk through the hay bale maze. :(

Nice rack, buddy.

 

The day was inadvertently saved by the bounce house, which was approached with skepticism, but...

 

 

....she quickly became pretty darn proud of herself!

 

 



Aholt Wedding

Last weekend, Chad's cousin Sarah got hitched in Oklahoma and we wouldn't have missed the festivities for the world!  It was wonderful seeing all the family, close and extended.  We hadn't seen the Amarillo Plummer's since the cruise, so it was a welcome trip.

It was also a big weekend in that we decided to turn Riley's carseat around.  I know, I know, "they" say you can turn them around at 12 months, but we are overprotective parents that read too much so we decided to keep her facing backward just a little bit longer.  With this long trip ahead of us, we decided to go ahead and bite the bullet.  She loves riding next to her Holly.

The babies are into everything, as expected.

 

Coloring with Nana & Emmy.  It was so nice to just relax on Saturday (the wedding wasn't until 6:45pm).

Of course we had to get back out the singing bird house.

 

 

Then came time for the wedding.  It was outdoors (brrrr!!!), so the babies ended up watching from inside with the Dad's (how convenient for them, right?).  It was short, sweet, and beautiful.  Then came the reception.

 

 

We had the table in the furthest corner (good call, Zac & Chelsi) so the kiddos actually had room to run around.

 

 

Why is it that the kids always end up getting the dance party started?

 

 

 

That's how that knoby thing works

We had a fantastic weekend with Nana & Papa!  We did a lot of reading and jabbering.  I tell ya, her speaking ability has really exploded over the past week or so.  My favorite word is her favorite activity and that is "bub-buls".  It's hilarious.

 

 

Reading her new beach ball book with Papa.  As you can see, she's telling us it's a "ball".

 

We took some time out to practice our golf swing.

 

And we learned how to work the door handles thanks to Papa Mac.  Time to start investing in the $10 a piece child protection locks for our handle knobs.

 

We finished the weekend with Aaron & Sydney's wedding and it was absolutely beautiful.

Too bad it was a Sunday night, Riley would have loved to stay and perfect her stomping, or as what was coined that night, the "Herman Munster".

As you can see, her and Weston were the centers of attention.

Congrats to the happy couple!