What They Do For Entertainment.....

This is what I saw this morning.
Riley pulling Lily around on a blanket.
Here is Riley "tucking Lily in" you know, "for safety" or so Riley told me. =)

Lily had so much fun having Ri pull her around! It was so funny to watch.

OOPS!

I wish I could be so easily entertained. =)

Wicked!

I went to see Wicked last night. It was the best show I have ever seen!!! The actors, the costumes, the scenery, all brilliantly done. I really wish I could go again!

I went with 3 of my sisters, and my niece.

It was so much fun to go with all of you!!

We had awesome seats! (Thanks Amy!) We were three rows back, right in the middle!

I did try to take a picture of the stage before it started, but the picture turned out really dark.....and then the usher people came over to tell me to put my (Amy's) camera away. Which Amy was none too happy about...not that they told her to put it away....that they had to come over to us. =) Sorry Amy! But then we saw about 100 other people doing the same thing and the ushers went over to them too....so see, it's not just me. =)

I LOVE the theatre, and while I do go and see Music Theatre of Wichita's shows (and many other theatres around Wichita), I really hope that Wichita has shown that it can have a big show like Wicked come here, so now more big Broadway shows will come here. Keep your fingers crossed! ;-)

Halloween!!!

We had a GREAT Halloween last night!! The kids got way too much candy, but I'm sure Jeff will help them out with some of that. ;-)

Zach was (as he kept saying) a camouflaged Ninja.

Riley (who likes to do whatever Zach does) was also a Ninja.

Lily was Sleeping Beauty.

I even put some glitter eyeshadow on her. She loved getting all dressed up!

Ready to Trick-or-Treat!!

These are our pumpkins lit up. The picture isn't good, but you get the idea.

I took all three kids around our court. Lily was so excited about Trick-or-Treating! She would run up to the house and yell to the boys, "ring the bell" and then she would say Trick-or-Treat with the boys and get SO excited when they gave her candy. Lily doesn't usually talk to people she doesn't know, so I was impressed that she was so eager to go door to door.

We dropped Lily off at home with Jeff when we were done with our street, and I took the boys back out for more candy. They had a lot of fun and Riley kept saying, "This is the best Halloween ever!!"

I hope everyone had the best Halloween ever too!

Let The Wild Rumpus Start!

My sister Amy wanted to take Zach and Riley to a Where the Wild Things Are event at Borders. My kids love Where the Wild Things Are, so of course they wanted to go.....Amy graciously allowed me to go also. =)

They got to do fun crafts, making noise makers out of paper plates and plastic eggs.

Then we listened to a fun music show and got to see Max from Where the Wild Things are!

Then the part that I was excited about came....a Wild Thing came out!! He and Max led them in a costume parade all around the store. Then they got to have their picture taken with him!

Even Amy got a picture with him. =)

Thanks for inviting us Amy!

**Stay tuned for more Halloween costume pictures tomorrow!**

Carving Pumpkins

We carved pumpkins tonight....after the boys' Halloween party......because I forgot all about carving them last night.

Lily was way more enthusiastic this year. Last year, she refused to have anything to do with the inside of the pumpkin. Tonight she was all about it. She dug her hand right in and pulled out a seed!

She even wanted to touch the big pile of gunk Jeff pulled out for.

Riley on the other hand, did not like it...again. I think this picture pretty much explains how he feels about sticking his hand in a pumpkin. =)

Zach, like every year, LOVES to pull the slimy stuff out.

Me? I'm with Riley. That's not my favorite part.

Lily told me what shapes she wanted on her face, and then she "helped" me carve it.

Riley designed his pumpkin's face and then I helped him carve it.

Zach drew his own face on, then said, "Mom, I'm old enough to carve my own pumpkin". (add some attitude into that sentence.) So, he did, and he did a really good job!

Now they are all done! Now we just have to wait until tomorrow night to light them up! (I buy light sticks to put in them, so we don't have to use candles, and they are cool colors!)

Halloween Party!

The boys have really, really wanted to have a Halloween party. I gave in this year. They invited a few friends from school, and have been really excited about it all week. This afternoon, the boys helped me to decorate the house and get all of the yummy treats ready.

We started out by having the kids make a fun picture with Halloween foam stickers.

When the pizza arrived, we headed into the family room to watch "Monster House".

After the pizza was inhaled, the kids dug into the treats! This was Lily's favorite part. =)

Then we played Pin the Nose on the Jack-O-Lantern. Zach and Riley were really good!

Lily started out well.....

....but then decided to cheat at the last second! =)

Next was Halloween Bingo! These are some of the kids with the vampire teeth they got for winning.

Then it was time for DANCING!!

After everyone left, I was EXHAUSTED! Then Zach came up to me, gave me a big hug, and said, "Mom, this was the best party ever!!!" For that, it was definitely worth all of the work. =)

Halloween Street

There is a street in Wichita that is known as Halloween Street. Most of the houses on two blocks of the street have the greatest decorations. We usually take the kids a few days before Halloween to see the houses. We do not go on Halloween. This street gets up to 4,000 kids on Halloween, and I don't feel the need to walk around in the dark with my three little ones with that many other people. Poor Jeff is still sick, (getting better though!) so my sister Amy agreed to go with me. (Thanks Amy!!!)

Here are some pictures from the houses on this street. It is much better in person, but you get the idea.