Halloween 2012

A few months ago I let Lily and Ellie pick what they were going to be for Halloween again this year. They chose to be Tinkerbell and Periwinkle! Periwinkle is a fairy in the new movie Secret of the Wings who happens to be Tinkerbell's twin sister! The movie came out just a week or so ago and Lily and Ellie talked their Dad into getting it for them the day it came out.  

My Tink and Peri

In Iowa we have "Beggars Night". According to a local newspaper: 

 Beggars' Night was created in 1938 by the Des Moines Playground Commission (later the Parks and Recreation Department) because Halloween night had become a night of vandalism and destructive "tricks" such as setting fires and breaking windows. She declared Beggars' Night to be October 30 in Des Moines, and further required that children would only receive their treat after earning it by preforming a trick or telling a riddle. This too is the opposite of the rest of the country, which traditionally provides the treat in order to avoid being tricked!

So not only do you go trick or treating on the night before Halloween but you have to have a joke ready to share! 

The girls had a great time going around the neighborhood with my neighbor Kim and myself.

Then on Halloween we had our church Trunk or treat! Lots of kids with cute costumes and lots of candy! 

Lily aka Tinkerbell

Ellie aka Periwinkle

I had to dress up too- I was Hermione Granger!

Overall a fun Halloween! Now time to get ready for November and Thanksgiving! 

Owe and here is the pumpkin chad took pleasure in carving at a friends party we went too!

 

 

Someday we will laugh...

Lily and Ellie woke up early today. They thought it was a great time to experiment with things they normally don't get to touch.

 Yep. They got into my lipstick. Oh joy. 

They got it ALL over. The main spots were on the mirror-

You can see the lovely kiss marks...

   

                                    

and the counter. 

 I also found in in their room. All over the dresser, the bed sheets, and blankets.

And I'm pretty sure this is not what they mean by putting "lipstick on a pig". 

It's all cleaned up now. I was pretty mad but it's hard to stay mad when they tell you they are sorry and that they love you.  

Don't let the sad faces deceive you. They were smiling but I had to tell them no smiling for these pictures because for right now it's not funny- but someday we will look back and laugh.

P.S. There is another new post under this one.

Fall is here!

We have been enjoying fall here in Iowa.

 To kick things off we had Chad's birthday September 10th! Birthdays are not very fun when you get old- Chad had to work that day. 

 One day we went out to see the pretty trees. We got in the car and drove around. We made a quick stop to let the girls play at a park. Some time I will have to share a funny story from when we were there.

 The colors were super pretty. I love taking drives this time of year!

 This is the view from to top of the Saylorville reservoir. You can see the little downtown Des Moines in the background. 

 Before we knew it the leafs were off the trees in our front yard and getting everywhere. The kids love to play in them...

 Including the big kid...

 Chad is such a great Dad.

 Speaking of Chad being a great Dad- while listening to General Conference Chad did all of our hair in curlers. He has done this for me in the past because I can't do it to myself very well. We also really wanted to see what Lily and Ellie's hair would look like. 

 Ellie's hair was still a little wet so we will have to try it again another day.

 Lily's was super funny. The next day it was really cute because it left her with some great volume! 

 I forgot to take a picture of my hair but it was nothing fancy :)

There have been some pretty cold days already. One morning after I got dressed Lily and Ellie saw I was wearing a scarf and they insisted they needed them also.

What a fun season. The warm weather has held out a little more so we are back T shirts for now. There are still a few fun autumn things we are looking forward to like Halloween! :) I TRY and keep up to date with the blog.

By the Way...

Have I mentioned how much I love these girls? Well it's true- I do, a whole lot.

 

Ellie Jo

 Lily Jean

Preschool!

A week ago was Lily and Ellie's first day of preschool! They have been super excited to go to school for a while Chad went into their room the 1st morning and said "who's ready for school?" they popped right out of bed ready to go! I took pictures and asked them both what they want to do when they grow up:

 

Lily

 

 Ellie

They are such good girls! I can't believe they're old enough to go to school!

Their school is only like 5 minuets away. They go four times a week. Chad drops them off in the morning and I pick them up when school is over. They're there for 3 hours- and I'm still trying to get use to having them gone.

They get to have backpacks and lockers :)

Each morning they go in class and write their name. Ellie is getting really good at it. The only letter she really needs to work on is her small "e". They look like "@" right now :)

On the first day Lily got her paper to write her name and wrote an "A" and told Chad she was done. :)

Their teacher is Mrs. Amy. It was a little confusing for them at first because they know my name is Amy, but they have it figured out now. She is so nice and the girls just love her.

I am so proud of my girls. They are growing up so fast. I'm still not sure I'm OK with my babies being so big though.