Christmas is Coming!

Note, this WAS actually begun in early December . .. Christmas stuff to come . . . :)

The back of one of two Thomas the Train books Gavin has memorized. And yes, the print is really frigging small. He is amazing.

Where to begin? Curt has been in the last stretch of the semester and the boys are getting their first taste of a real Iowa Winter. In early November the boys really took off with their interest in letters and sounding out words. I would say Brady and Gavin are the most interested in sounding things out at this point, but Aidan loves making letters out of random things. For instance, he made an H out of the toothbrushes tonight, and will often bite his sandwich into various (vague) letters. It's pretty great. Brady has really made sounding out words his thing, but he and Aidan both are really clued in to the idea of the picture in the book being explained by the words on the page. Lately our naps have consisted of the boys going down and then someone having to be moved into another room, then resulting in most everyone sleeping. Aidan (who used to need sleep the MOST!) seems to need his naps the least and I often come into the room to find a dozen or more books he has been "reading" scattered on his bed or all over the floor while his brother(s) are sleeping. It is awesome. Today he told me he was being quiet "but the pages sometimes turn loud". Oh. My. Goodness. Do you not want to just KISS him??? 

Gavin on the other hand has memorized several books WORD FOR WORD. His capacity for this is astounding. Take the book above. We have two of them, but there are some different trains on the backs (some are repeated). Gavin spent the better part of a week carrying these books around and studying these little pictures intently. He would spell out the names on the back while I was cooking so I could tell him the names of each of the trains. He knows the exact location of each train's picture without really having to look for it. He has memorized what each train looks like and why it is different from the others. For example, in this Percy book, there is a caboose that resembles Toby. When Brady commented that was whom it looked like Gavin says "No, Toby has a black smokestack and . . .etc". When I suggested we look at the back to see what Toby looked like, he flips the book over and points to the picture without even glancing at the book. And he was right. To a T. Amazing.

Brady spontaneously gives his brothers a hug (ABG) - Melt my heart!

Gavin REALLY did not want to try the tuna fish salad sandwich. "I don't like the green and white stuff!"

 About a week before Thanksgiving, I was talking with the boys during lunch and they were talking about what they to ask for from Santa for Christmas. This is the first year they have really started to "get" this, and so far it's pretty fun. At one point Gavin mentions for the millionth time he wants a "remote control James train!" and I say for the millionth time "Gavin, I think Santa knows we already have a really cool remote control train set, so I don't know that he will be able to get you another remote control train." After a half second pause Brady says "Mom! Don't tell Santa we already have remote control trains!" I nearly died. The good news is Gavin has been consistent on this. It's like A Christmas Story in his dead on message of what he wants for Christmas. Over Thanksgiving we went to the Festival of Trees because Jadyn was performing with her dance class and there was a Santa's Helper there your kids could talk to and you could take pictures of. Here are the three samples of how each boy reacted:

Brady wanted to go first but froze. He was like the kid in A Christmas Story who forgets to tell Santa he wants a Red Rider BB Gun with Action Shot . ..  even though that is all he has wanted for 6 weeks. He finally told Santa he wanted a parking garage for cars. We already have one. And yes, he told me to not tell Santa that too.

Gavin went next and was on message the entire time. He also managed to grab Santa's beard in the first 5 seconds. To check if it was real or not, I guess. Remote Control James Please!

Aidan appeared to be in an in-depth conversation with Santa. As though it had JUST occurred to him he could request ANYTHING. He ended up requesting Army Men and a remote controlled Jeep. Oh Boy. :)

We also recently purchased the book The Polar Express. Now, neither Curt nor I had read it before, but we had always heard it was sort of the quintessential Christmas book and we should have it in our collection. Well, we had the boys open it one morning before school as a way to help them enjoy the festivities. Curt was reading it as I was prepping breakfast in the kitchen. I was struck by how well the author put the story together. And then, the kicker. It's literally the LAST TWO or THREE SENTENCES and I can see what is going to happen and my throat clenches up and I have to turn my back to them because I am in full blown emotional outpouring at the beauty of this book. I hear Curt get choked up and have to stop reading. The boys are patient and then sort of like "Why aren't you reading Daddy?" I turn and see Curt too is completely choked up and can't go on. I come over and finish the book through tears and the boys are COMPLETELY baffled as to why we are both crying but seemingly happy. I will say this, if you haven't read this book before, go out and buy it now. It is one of the most beautifully written, creative, smart children's stories I have ever read. If you have already read it then you know what I am talking about and are probably like "It didn't win the Caldecott medal 25 years ago for NOTHING you dummy!" This book and the Spirit of Christmas (from Donna Slabas - thank you!) just SLAY me when I think about our kids. I don't know why they both make me so emotional, but they just do.

Aidan crawled in for a snuggle with dad one morning

 One thing I just love - the boys asking to snuggle before we get ready for school. It's gotten to the point they will just come into our bed after we have woken them up (or if they are up on their own and hear us up) and will immediately say "I want to snuggle!" I can set my watch alarm for 3 minutes (or whatever time we have) and they will tuck in and enjoy it and then when the alarm goes off - they are up and relatively following instructions for getting ready. I think about the blogger who is far more eloquent than me who said that she always memorialized the milestones of the "firsts" but wishes she was able to know the "lasts" - the last time her son would let her kiss him goodbye, the last time her son would hold her hand as they walked somewhere. I think about these snuggling times and wonder if we will be able to hold on to the "last" time they are asking for this . . and would I want to know it was the last time? I might not let it end . . . :)

Then Brady . . .

Making Dad red velvet cake for his birthday! (BAG)

Happy Birthday Daddy! We Love You! (BAG)

Over Thanksgiving we got to relax a bit with the Kenoyer grandparents, and even have a night out! Brady informed me that Christmas is where you get presents and Thanksgiving is just where you eat a lot. Children are sages in what they notice, huh? The gift for me was in seeing the boys as they are developmentally more ready for new games and interactions. Aidan was the KING of matching games and puzzles. He was so patient, and he would even point out where matches were for his brothers if he could see they were getting frustrated. How "oldest child" is that?! Brady on the other hand was really into the strategy games and "beating" others. And not being beaten himself. Uh huh. Gavin's love for Legos was turned on and he ADORED having people build things for him. I am certain that will change as his dexterity improves (he's started buttoning his own jeans from time to time! YEAH!), but he would just sit there right with you putting pieces in front of you and telling you what he wanted as long as you were willing to sit with him.

A little snuggle time with mom and Gavin

Hiking at the Coralville Reservoir (GBA)

Enjoying the lake and boats (BAG)

We turned around to see Aidan had picked up like 7 sticks. Awesome. :)

Mom and Gavin

Two weekends before Christmas we went to Omaha to celebrate our nephew's birthday. It had been several months since the boys had seen their cousins, and to see them just so dang excited to play with their boy cousins was adorable. They also loved all of Gabe and Noah's old toy trucks and trains (A LOT) but I couldn't get over how much they wanted to BE like them. Brady asked me if when he turned 5 or 6 if he could have shoes that TIE (like his cousins do). More recently he told me he would have bright orange shoes when he got a bit older (since neon is all the rage now). I love how much fun my kids have, but also how much fun my nephews seem to have with the boys. Makes my heart melt a little.

Snuggling in Brady's bed (ABG)

Halloween and More!

Brady just wanted me to take funny pics of him.

Well, we have certainly been busy lately. About 2 weeks ago, we had a pacifier incident where the boys had all had them taken away at bedtime for not settling down and going to sleep. At 5 AM, Brady had woken up and was having a bad dream. When I took him back to bed he asked for his paci and ALL HELL broke loose when I told him no. He began WAILING, woke up his brothers, his dad, etc. It was NOT a good scene. His brothers also asked for their pacifiers after being woken up by Brady, but were cool with going back to sleep. Ultimately, I took him and his blankets and stuffed animals and we both went to the basement to sleep in the guest room. Brady cried and cried and cried. Sadly for Curt the guest room is under our bedroom, so this didn't do much to help him get back to sleep. Finally around 545, I lost my temper and after continued whining said "Brady, SHUT UP." Now this came from a VERY dark place and I think it shocked us both because Brady 1) immediately shut up 2) then said "Mom? where did you go?" Even though he was still laying on me in the bed. Maybe he meant it metaphorically as in, "where did my loving, caring mother go?" :) At breakfast that morning Curt tells the boys that the paci problem has become a family problem after the debacle that morning and that they are old enough to go without them, that they have slept without them often enough that their biggest problem giving them up is knowing they still exist. He suggests that we allow them to snip off the tip and then they can throw them away. Aidan immediately says "But we were going to give them to babies!" So I tell him, "OK. We can bring them to the nursery around the corner after school today."Well, they were NOT expecting THAT. 

While they were at school I called the day care of a friend of ours and shared our story. They laughed and said parents do that all the time and we were welcome to come in that day. I let each boy carry his paci into the La Petite Academy and the director was SO GREAT! She even took us to the baby room so they could see the babies the pacis would go to. Here comes the hilarity. So the boys start stalling, big time. They start saying things like "I want to give it to that baby! No, that baby!" pointing at various infants. Gavin begins to line them all up on the counter in a SPECIFIC way. Brady turns to me and says "some babies already HAVE pacifiers" as in, "Why the hell are we giving them ours?!" The director CLEARLY knows her stuff with kids, so as she sees them stalling to give the pacis up, she takes them off of the counter and says "OK, we will put them in the sterilizer and give them to the babies when they are all clean" and hides them. Brilliant. While the boys began taking CRAPPY naps after that they also began sleeping through the night WITHOUT A PEEP. I haven't had to get up once in the middle of the night for a lost paci, or crying over a paci in two weeks. Bliss. The nap thing is sort of a killer, but if they are separated, everyone is sleeping for about an hour, which is good enough for me for now. :)

ABG about exploded to see Herky in the flesh at the women's field hockey game. Just think, it was 13  years ago Curt and I had an unofficial date at a women's field hockey game at Iowa . . .

In other developmental news the boys are graduating to peeing standing up. I don't know if i'm that excited about it, but they certainly are. Everyone has done a decent job of hitting the bowl, but MAN they can't get distracted for a SECOND. needless to say, I don't encourage it unless dad is home and he can offer them some "tips". 

The pumpkins the boys didn't help carve. GAB

Halloween was lots of fun. Dad took the boys out and I stayed home to read and pass out candy. Some of our neighbors went out of their way to do something special for the boys which was very sweet. They got little baskets with some treats, a little money (for their new savings accounts!), and stickers, pencils, homemade knit bags, etc. Too cute. The boys have been really good at sharing their candy with one another, but this past week before swim lessons was a bad situation. Aidan had chosen a tootsie pop and the boys have been allowing brothers to lick their lollis or to have a small bite or piece of their candy. I even showed them the old commercial where the little boy is asking the animals how many licks it takes to get to the center of a tootsie pop and the owl who bites it after a few licks always made them laugh. Well, after offering Gavin and Brady several licks, Brady must have felt a little owlish because he frigging BITES AIDAN'S SUCKER! At first I thought he had bitten Aidan's finger off the way he was crying! And of course this is as i'm trying to get everyone to the bathroom and in the car so we can get changed at the Rec Center in time for swim lessons. After letting Aidan know that 1) he has no obligation to share his candy and 2) yes, he still has plenty of sucker left, i let Brady know that if I were Aidan i would never share candy with him again and that I had told Aidan he didn't have to. Well, that got his attention. Brady was so apologetic you can not even BELIEVE. And a few days later when Aidan was offering to share again (fool me once . . .) Brady immediately says "I won't bite it!".

Gavin the construction worker!

Brady the soccer player!

Aidan the spider!  (I have to say i'm most proud of this one since it took a little ingenuity)

Halloween night - Mom and ABG

Their booty! - BGA

One of our neighbors had knit them these bags that they decided were hoods. Dorks. I thinks it's BAG.

Aidan celebrates Movember with his spaghetti mustache.

The weekend we went to Des Moines so that Curt could focus on some big projects, we also went shoe shopping for the boys. Gavin had been complaining about his shoes hurting that week, so I figured we may as well hit up the Stride Right. Good thing we did, he went up A SIZE AND A HALF for his width - he's now a 12.5XW! Poor kid! Well, poor Brady and Aidan - I wasn't clear that they might not all get new shoes, that we would have to see what the nice lady said, blah blah blah. So when she agreed Brady could wear Gavin's old shoes (but not for long and no, she didn't recommend it!) and that Aidan could wear Brady's old shoes, they were both pretty upset. Aidan tells me his shoes "aren't fast enough" since she had told Gavin his shoes weren't fast enough any more.  Oops. And Brady was JUST distraught. He pouted for quite some time. By the next morning he is able to process it and tells me "Mom, I was sad I didn't get tennis shoes yesterday" I told him I could tell he was upset and asked him why and he says "I was just HOPING to get new ones. I was disappointed." I just wanted to SQUEEZE him for being so sweet and for being able to have this (eventual) reaction. I don't know, do most 4 year olds have this reaction about stuff like this? So we talked about how we would probably need to go back over either Thanksgiving or Christmas and he would try on shoes then. That made him happy. The week after the kid was eating 2 and 3 helpings of nearly everything. Finally one day I said "Brady, you have quite the appetite. Are you trying to outgrow your shoes?" and he looks at me dead serious and says "Yes." So he has the eat-grow connection clearly understood . . .

We were banished to Des Moines so dad could work on two papers and a group project for the weekend. Luckily Kevin Carroll came over to fill in (BGA)

Grandpa K has some good helpers to get those leaves bagged up. Gavin stuck with it for pretty much the whole backyard (ABG)

Last week I was at Joann Fabrics with the boys and as I am getting them back in the car and Brady is spelling every word he can see and trying to sound it out (yes!) Aidan practically jumps into the front seat and yells "She has a pot on her head!" as he points at the window of Joann Fabrics. I turn to see the back of an Amish woman walking away. And I began laughing. So I was talking with them about what he saw and what else she was probably wearing and where they have seen other women dressed similarly and how that is part of their culture.. Brady says "What is culture?" Whew! So I try to explain that culture is how someone dresses and what they eat and their faith and their music and art and how they spend time with family, etc. Then, to connect with our time in Doha I talk about the men and women we knew who were Qatari and what they wore for their cultural dress and what everything is called. It is quiet for a few moments and Brady says "We didn't like those people." as though he and his brothers had discussed it. Oh my, WHAT!?!?!?!? So after some more questions about why and how he felt when we would spend time with our Qatari friends it basically came out that they weren't used to seeing people dressed like that (if that tells you how westernized Qatar was in many ways) and that Dad and I didn't wear it and it just made him feel uncomfortable. Well, i was able to share that it is OK if he felt uncomfortable since it wasn't what he was used to, but that that is NEVER a reason to dislike someone and that we had many good friends who dressed differently, but they didn't dislike him because HE didn't wear the same cultural clothing. What I think it comes down to is that often when we would go visit with dad in the Student Center, the boys would get SWARMED with local nationals, (students and staff) who just LOVED KIDS and thought they were cute and that it was overwhelming for them. Then that happened often enough that they may have begun to associate that overwhelmed feeling with people who wore national dress. I could be wrong, but I have a pretty good hunch that played into his comment.

Last week I got to see David Sedaris at the IMU (thank you Curt!!!) with a good friend whose kids are a bit older. It was a fun night out and a great chance to connect with a good friend. As she and I were talking I was telling her about some of the types of questions I seem to field on a regular basis. At one point she said her kids never asked questions like that which made me think maybe I should be writing some of these down! Most of the time these come from Brady, but Aidan and Gavin also give me a run for my money A LOT. We have already fielded how they were made and my answer of "Mommy, Daddy and God" is now not enough. At one point Brady and Aidan told me I ate them and that was how they got in my tummy. Uh, no . . . Brady then asked how Daddies cut Mommies open to put the babies in their tummies . .. uh, no. All of this before he was FOUR. This seems a little young to me for this type of stuff . . . Well, after my explanation that mommies and daddies are in love and decide they want to try to make a baby so the mommy carries the baby in her tummy until it is ready to be born, Brady says "so what does the daddy DO?" like - what else IS there to do? he now knows that mommies have eggs and daddies have sperm and when they are put together they can make a baby. Giving the dads a job seemed to satisfy him for now. He did tell me that vaginas are too small for babies to come out of - truer words were never spoken . . . :) I think I need to warn his preschool teacher.

I do also get questions like "How do cars burn gas?" "How does that thing (the MPG estimator on the dashboard) work?" "Who is God?" "Why did God make everything?" "Is God a boy or a girl?""How does the TV turn on and off?" "Why do trees lose their leaves?" I tell you, some days it is EXHAUSTING. But I also LOVE the natural curiousity they have and how they won't settle for answers they can tell are dummed down or don't offer the whole picture. I guess this is where my trivial knowledge comes in handy . ..

Additional Fun Pictures

Gavin enjoys a picnic lunch at the Old Capital with dad

Dad and his boys checking out the west side of campus - love those cranes!

The sun was really bothering G's eyes, thank goodness for grandma K's glasses!

Aidan the dentist, Gavin is a good patient!

Brady enjoying his first puppet show at the ICPL far more than he thought he would at first (A in back)

Gavin just chilled on my lap the whole time

Hawkeye Homecoming! AGB - Go Hawks!

Gavin looking just plain adorable

Brady was NOT down with the cheek tattoo, but he loves his Hawks!

Aidan trying to figure out a way to sneak under the parade rope to get closer to candy

Apple picking at Wilson's - looks like we got SOME fruit in there, just not sure it's apples . . . (BAG)

Happy Family after our tractor ride (BGA - it was REALLY sunny!)

Slacking Again

This Angry Bird caught an "angry bird" - thanks Aunt Pam and Brady for the new hairstyle!

A little snuggling before school (BA and G)

Well, look at the time! Where has it gone? So I really think that when I was working out of the home and had far less free time, I was MUCH better about writing on our blog - I think it was a form of release for me. :) What have we been up to these last 6 weeks? I can hardly say. Fall has truly arrived and while the boys are enjoying the weather and seasonal delights Brady and Aidan especially are concerned that the trees will never have leaves on them again. I have assured them this is normal and they have seen trees in the winter with no leaves (OK, so they were 15 months old), but they are still pretty worried. :)

Our first leaf piles to jump in! (A&B)

Cutie boys (AGB)

A walk with grandpa K (GBA)

My life at home has been fairly even-keeled. We certainly have our moments, but my re-entry to life in the US is far easier than Curt's right now. We have found two babysitters who 1) live across the street - nice feeling that parents are there 2) the boys seem to like! So barring the sheer expense of hiring someone to stay with "sleeping" kids while we go out for a couple of hours, we may actually be sort of set to be able to have a date night at least once a month! :)  Woohoo! I have to say, the boys are just so delightful most of the time. We watched the wedding video last week and they were pretty much mesmerized seeing cousins and aunts and uncles and grandparents they know, but couldn't figure out why THEY weren't at the wedding. Brady asked me at one point, "Mom, why are you uncovered?" I asked what he meant and he said "You can see your skin." "Oh, you mean why am I wearing a strapless dress? Umm, I just liked that style" Clearly he is used to me being quite covered from the cooler temps and for having lived in Doha for 5 years. :)

All trains, all the time (clockwise from top: BAG)

We had our first camping trip out at the Coralville Reservoir on the first day of fall - it was GREAT fun! It was also one of the coldest nights we had had yet, so a little bit of a challenge for us. We were pretty sure the boys would not be down with sleeping on their own, so the 5 of us snuggled in to the tent. I think Curt and I slept about 8 minutes, but it was worth it. Having the fire, both at night and first thing in the AM thanks to Curt, roasting marshmallows, hotdogs and having hot chocolate and the quiet cold air was refreshing. No one fell in the fire or got eaten by a wild animal and the boys thought peeing in the woods was great fun (we were the only ones within an 8 tent area)!

Our first camping trip! (A&B)

Our little campsite

Brady helps roast hotdogs while Aidan eats chips. YUM!

Those are chips, not colorful leaves, Gavin is holding - we love camping food!

BAG (clockwise from top)

G and A try to cheer Brady up. He's not having any of it in my lap.

The morning after - we didn't freeze to death! (BAG)

I finally got up my nerve to ask some parents of the children the boys have been talking the most about if they want to come over for a play date after school. So far all have gone well and I've had a chance to talk more with several very nice moms. We have had 4 kids (2 boys and 2 girls over) and the change in the tone of the play times is tangible. Boys are just different than girls. Luckily my boys seem to like to do things with both genders, but the kids who seem to have only played with a single gender were a little shocked by the sheer boisterousness (which should be spelled BOYS-terousness)and by the willingness to sit and draw or play trains quietly of my kids. The boys are all taking a huge interest in how things are spelled and our dry erase board in the kitchen is filled with people's names and other words with us underlining letters they have in common with the boys' names, letters that make similar or different sounds (hard and soft sounds, for instance). I LOVE seeing them on the road to reading. It is so exciting seeing them piece it together and seeing their sheer joy of achievement and understanding is awesome.

Helping mom cook waffles (BAG)

A & B help dad make banana pancakes!

Gavin decides just to wait for them to be served. :)

Brady has become very concerned about things blowing away. Last week our neighbor was hanging a tent over our fence to air out and the next thing I know Gavin is dragging it around inside our house. When I ask him why he brought it inside, he says "Brady didn't want it to blow away." I take it BACK outside to hang it up and Brady is VISIBLY distressed that her tent might blow away. After trying to reassure him that 1) it wouldn't and 2) if it did, it wouldn't get very far and 3) it's not our problem if it did I left him to his watching. He stood holding onto the tethers for about 15 minutes while Aidan and Gavin played soccer and our neighbor happened to come out to get her tent. I think we would have had a problem had she not come and gotten it before they had to go in for nap time. A few days later at school, Curt and I were picking them up and we were a little early, so we sat in the car watching them on the playground. Brady was sitting on the basketball court by himself while A&G were running around with other kids. Turns out Brady told me later that he was worried the COATS he was sitting near would blow away, so that was why he stayed with them. Whew!

Grandma does some reading (A&B)

A good friend of ours from graduate school had an Oktoberfest celebration up in CR at the beginning of the month. It was CRAZY busy - tons of kids and, get this, PAID BABYSITTERS ALREADY THERE! So we could actually sit and talk with other adults. If we ever have a party, we will DEFINITELY do this. Such a luxury. It was at this party that we met the most amazing parents ever. They are parents to 5 adult children. A girl and identical QUADRUPLET BOYS who are now 19. They had the girl and when she was about four they found out they were pregnant with triplets and then at about 28 weeks, found out they were having Quadruplets. WHAT????? and 6 weeks after they found out she was pregnant with 4 babies, she gave birth to them. CRAZY. Anyway, they were delightful people and we found we could relate on so many things (duh), especially in those early days when you are just attempting to stay alive, no higher goal than that. The boys got to try rootbeer for the first time(were actually sort of weirded out by the bubbles), and then after we got home that night, Aidan got another trip to the ER. He was trying to take his sweatshirt off as he walked into their room and he tripped and fell on the foot of Brady's bed and split his lip WIDE open. I think the first thing he said once he realized he wasn't dying was that he was really tired. Poor kid. We did go to the ER b/c we weren't sure if it would need stitches (it bled A LOT), but luckily for him it did NOT need anything other than ice, tylenol and neosporin.

Aidan's lip - and don't worry about his nose, that is from Gavin throwing a clipboard at him during gymnastics that week. Nice.

In other news I took the GRE at the beginning of the month. I killed the verbal and the analytical writing sections. I was massacred by the quantitative section. I am like a low functioning 7th grader. But that's OK. if the program I am considering won't consider me because I can't remember geometry, even though I have already completed a Masters degree successfully, well, so be it. It is good to not have that hanging over my head, I tell you.

Gavin's favorite place in the back yard. Other than the dirt.

Daddy airplane ride (G)

This week Gavin and I had one of our first conversations where I felt like we were truly having a back and forth and he was truly listening and engaged. It was a good feeling. There are many times we will ask him a question and he will go off on a tangent telling you about something, but not necessarily anything to do with your question. We were in the laundry room and his brothers were playing upstairs.  He had come in to ask me if I would play trains with him and after telling him I would when i was done, I said "Gavin, what's your favorite toy to play with?" and he looked right at me and said "At school?" with this sweet smile on his face. I told him "Sure. What's your favorite toy to play with at school?" and he proceeded to tell me about this truck and all of the colors on it and what he does with it. Ordinarily I would expect him to tell me about the toy he is playing with RIGHT NOW, so this was pretty awesome. Unless you have experienced these communication challenges with your child, it's hard to describe the glow I felt all afternoon, but it stayed with me the rest of the day. Heck, i feel it now as I type this. :)

I love this one - they are going through a toy catalog page by page. GBA

And on to Halloween. I think i understand why parents just tell their kids what they are going to be. I would love to be that mom who can make all of these creative costumes, but I know that 1) that will require a lot of time for 3 kids and possibly a sewing machine, which I may not be able to swing (time) and I do not have (sewing machine) and 2) the boys actually sticking with the costume they say they want to be seems unlikely. I DO NOT want to go out and buy them a pre-fab one just yet. I'm sure that day will come and I still remember LOVING the snoopy mask I wore for my Halloween when I was 4 (which I reused for later costumes), the smell and taste of the cheap plastic is one of those deep memories for me that always makes me smile. But anyway, I think we have our three costumes. Gavin seems really happy with the idea of being a construction worker with the toys and hats and stuff we already have around. Brady seem SUPER happy with being a soccer player with the jerseys we have around. and Aidan wants to be a rock star. or Spiderman. or a bat. or a soccer player. or . . .  so, yeah. I'm hoping at least two will stay on point for their costumes and we can at least narrow Aidan down to something do-able at the last minute. :)

Aidan is a fireman here. The mask and the blood pressure tube are for him to be able to breathe and the girl scout vest is to protect him from the heat. awesome.