The Best Toys Aren't Toys At All

Matt and I have (FINALLY) moved out of the attic bedroom and into our own room in the basement. We still have a long way to go before the basement is finished, but it is done enough for us to be down there. We're working on making the attic a great girls room, but first we have to move our stuff out of there. Our bed was on top of three large boxes Matt made since the box springs wouldn't fit up the stairs (oops). Charlotte had a great time playing with them while they were in the family room. Matt put her inside and she was so sad when we moved them downstairs. Sometimes I wonder why we buy her toys at all.

Sick Day

Charlotte had a sick day a week or so ago, so Matthew stayed home with her and Audrey. She started off the day pretty pathetic, so we set her up on the couch with Star Wars. She loves to watch this movie when she's sick. Kind of weird, but whatever.

Then it turned into an Audrey photo shoot...

Which Charlotte wanted to join in on.

At which point she started to look decidedly not sick.

Little Miss "Sick" went to school the next day. So did Daddy.

Happy Halloween!

We took Charlotte out around the neighborhood for the first time. It was a lot of fun. She was super cute. It took her awhile to get used to saying "trick-or-treat". When we asked her "What do you say?" she'd respond "Please?" Precious. It later evolved into "Treat, please". Pretty darn cute. My parents came over and manned our door, plus ended up watching Audrey. She fell asleep during dinner and didn't make it out. Just as well. It made it that much more special for Charlotte.

Tigger and Elmo

Elmo before we left.

Waiting patiently for treats.

A scary house

"Treat, please!"

Going through her haul.

Dumping it out for a better look.

Look at all that candy!

Searching for the best ones.

Four months old!

Charlotte Jean at 4 months:

Audrey Isabel at 4 months:

Charlotte wanted in (again) on the picture action.

Audrey weighed in at 13 pounds, 8 ounces at her 4 month appointment. I think she was around 24 inches long, but I don't remember. I only remember she was about the 75th percentile for height and 50% for weight. She checked out great! Another healthy little girl. We are so blessed!

Block Party (and a 30x30 update!)

This past Saturday Matt and I planned a block party with the help of our neighbor across the street, Sharon. She brings us food all the time and has quickly become one of Charlotte's favorite people. She sees "Howie" (Mrs. Howard) and knows a treat must not be far behind. We had a great time, although the turnout was a little small. We had a chili cook-off as part of the deal and actually had 10 different chilis entered. We were worried about not having enough food, but that was DEFINITELY not a problem! We needed more people to eat it all!

Our neighbor, Dan, has a pet turtle, Bumphrey Hogart. He escapes occasionally, but tonight Dan brought him out voluntarily. Charlotte was fascinated, as were the other neighborhood kids.

He'd follow the apple on the stick anywhere. Our neighbor Will had a great time leading him up and down the street.

The small early crowd. It got bigger as the night went on.

Chili!

Darlene and Dan. They took first and second in the chili cook-off, respectively. Definite bragging rights for Darlene.

Another neighbor made this super cute cake. Charlotte stole the pumpkins that are missing from around the side of the cake. I just missed snapping a picture of her little fingers pilfering the candy.

One of the families came dressed as the "B-52s". It was cute and easy to tell who the kids belonged to!

Matt brought out our fire pit so the kids could roast marshmallows. It was a huge hit, but it did require some parental policing as the kids decided to throw stuff into the fire. "Will the walnuts burn?" "I don't know, but these leaves and small sticks sure will!"

The kids loved that the street was blocked off and they could ride their bikes without worrying about cars.

Good times with good neighbors.

And a 30x30 update. Since "Plan a block party" was on my list, I decided to go ahead and post a little progress report. I'm doing pretty well, I think!

Trunk or Treat!

Every year at my parent's church they have a trunk or treat. One of my last Halloween's before I left home I was on the activity committee that planned it. I had so much fun planning it and, if I do say so myself, it was pretty sweet. I like to go now that I'm not in that ward anymore to make sure they're keeping up. :) This year I took both the girls. Matt couldn't go since it was Parent/Teacher Conferences, but we had a good time anyway. None of us liked that it was on a Thursday, but next year my parent's ward has dibs on the Saturday date, so we'll all go then. It was nice for Charlotte to practice her "trick-or-treat"!

Eating chili before the fun.

At Grandpa's trunk after the trunk-or-treating. I couldn't get any pictures while trying to corral an Elmo and hold a Tigger. I like this one, though!

The best group shot I could get. Charlotte was running out of steam.

Playing the piano in the nursery before we went home.

Best Buddies!

Charlotte loves playing with her friend Abby and since she hadn't seen her in awhile, we invited her and her parents over for dinner the weekend before Halloween. The girls played so well together! They just jumped into playing. There were very few fights over toys- they both shared so well! It was adorable.

Playing bubbles before dinner.

Aren't they the cutest?

Best buds

Dessert was Halloween cupcakes. I didn't take pictures of dinner, but it fit the Halloween theme, too. Mummy dogs and cauldrons of mac and cheese. It was definitely intended to be geared toward the kiddos, but they were having too much fun playing to actually eat.

Spider web cupcakes.