Halloween Party

Cathy had an early Halloween party. She went all out with cotton candy, donuts on a string, bobbing for apples, cookie decorating, and the famous light show. We all had a great time. It was fun to dress up early. Josh was spider-man, Joe was a pirate skeleton, and John a Hawaiian tourist.

Caroline as a Fairy Princess

Me as Princess Leah-haha--Natalie as a Bratz Doll. Her boots make her 6 ft tall. She decided she will dress up as something different for their school masquerade dance--she doesn't want to tower over everyone,

Jake as pointless. :)

Oma and Opa Wirthlin--deck out in Austrian wear.

Pumpkin Patch

In search of the perfect pumpkin..........

A "cursed" Dinner

For Dinner I put a "curse" under each person's plate. Each person had to follow the directions of the curse throughout the meal. Everyone also had to try to figure out what curse each person had. The curses under our plates were:

John: spank anyone being mean

Me: flick water from your glass when someone says someone's name

Josh: answer the telephone whenever Joseph uses his hands to eat.

Natalie: Snort like a pig when anyone takes seconds

Jacob: Say "Oh My" anytime someone puts their elbows on the table

Caroline: Do a curtsey when Dad eats a shrimp.

Joseph: run around the table like a gorilla when Mom takes a drink.

This produced a lot of laughs. I realized I need to go over manners, because Jake never ceased to say "Oh My" and Josh got tired of answering the phone. John kept spanking me because I was flicking water at people. ha-ha I will have to change the curses next time. Also, it almost ended in a water fight because at the end I flick a little too much water at John who then dump the entire glass on me--Luckily most the water was gone from the table. The kids want me to surprise them with this one again.

John's new obsession

Caroline brought home a gourmet caramel apple from achievement day and started John on his new obsession. After purchasing all the necessary supplies and apples (green apples a must) we all made our own custom apple. I think John put so much on his that it wouldn't stick.

Homemade masquerade halloween masks

This fall break a few were house bound--Natalie was recovering from pneumonia and Josh did not want to go in public with his "baby". Caroline and I went to the craft store in search of something fun to make. We came home with plaster gauze used to make masks. The gauze(looks like an ace bandage) was very easy to use--just cut and dip in warm water and lay on the face. (make sure you cover the area of face with Vaseline or you will may have an unwanted eyebrow wax.)

Jake trying to avoid me taking his picture and playing cards to pass the 15 min drying time.
Natalie wanted hers a little smaller so we drew with eyeliner on her face as a guide as we laid down the strips.

Caroline hot gluing embellishments on her mask.
Joseph painting his mask. He painted one side with glow in the dark paint and the other with black and sparkles. Jake decided to do a similar mask, but on opposite sides Joseph. They have fun going in the dark bathroom and watching half of their "face" float around. Josh wanted to make a golden eagle (their school's mascot) but I did not feel like going to the craft store again to buy brown feathers, so he ended up using feathers from the bag of feathers I already had. He formed a beak with the plaster gauze strips and then added it to his mask. This was a fun and creative project. It may bother young children because as it dries on the faces it kind of itches.

Josh's "baby"

Josh drop one of his classes on the last day and the only class left that fit in his schedule was child development. Josh was not too excited about this, but happy when he saw all the girls in it. One of the requirements of the class is to care for a "baby" for two days. Josh brought this robot baby home yesterday. The teacher put on a mechanical ID bracelet on Josh (which he can not take off) that goes with the baby. The baby cries, fusses, laughs and breathing noises. It keeps track and deducts points if it cries too long, dropped, left unattended, etc. Last night I think it woke up 3 times in the night. hahaha Josh is the only one that can meet the babies needs if crying and will cry if Josh (the one with the bracelet) is too far away for too long. I laughed when Josh took "care" of it this morning and then went back to bed immediately afterwards. When he complains about it, I say a real baby is a lot harder. Johnny had colic for 3 months!!! Natalie and the girls fight over the "baby" when it is laughing or just cooing. The minute it cries they hand it off to Josh. Hahaha--This has been so funny to watch and a great learning experience for Josh.

Happy Birthday Joseph!!!

Happy Birthday Joseph!! Joseph is definitely a ray of sunshine in our home. He usually is the first one up in the morning and greets me with a smile and "good morning". He is always happy and can put a positive spin on almost everything. He is very social and loves to play with cousins, friends, and new friends he makes where ever he goes. He keeps us laughing with all the funny things he says. He had a halloween birthday party with all his friends dressing up. We also celebrated on his birthday up at Oma and Opa's house with cousins.
Garage sale Presents:

Since Joseph is my last child, I have a really hard time buying new toys when I know I will get rid of them soon. Also, Joseph already has toys from his older brothers (legos, brio train, action figures, etc). For his presents this year I found all these great things at garage sales. I think the total I spent was 13.50. $5 for 28 chevron car collection. $7 dollars for a playmobile pirate treasure set and viking ship and 50 cents for 2 robots and 50 cents for a beanie baby. Joseph was thrilled will all his gifts and I don't get mad when he loses all the teeny tiny playmobile pieces.:)