Halloween events with Jen and Elliot

The weekend before Halloween, Jen and Elliot came up to visit and we did lots of fun Halloween activities. Downtown Parkville had its trick or treating for the community, which we opted to check out. One vendor went above and beyond, and had face painting, cookie decorating and pumpkin painting for the kids. 

Maddie was a bit suspicious of trick or treating at first, but quickly realized how great it was to go up to everyone and get candy! Then she was a convert, and made sure to get a piece for each hand as often as possible. 

After naps, we headed to the Y for their trunk or treat. It was going to be a bit cooler, so Maddie wore her Cindy Lou Who costume. 

They had a great turn out, with lots of vendors and activities for the kids. We were running low on time before bedtime, but the kids had fun. 

On Sunday we decided to hike the nature sanctuary. Jen challenged Elliot to climb the back of the Riss Lake dam, and Joseph wanted to go too. None of them realized how difficult it would be- especially Elliot, who ended up carrying Joseph on his back all the way to the top!

Maddie thought about going after them, but we managed to convince her to stay behind. That's Jen and Elliot at the top of the hill, so far away!

We are so glad they came to visit us!

Joseph's Pre-School Halloween Party

Joseph had a great Halloween party at school. I helped execute the craft and drink, which were a hit. 

The kids praying before snack. After snack, they got to play some games, including ghost bowling and pin the tail on the zombie (or something along those lines).

So fun!

Random October pictures

Joseph really enjoyed playing flag football this fall, but the highlight for him was having some Chiefs cheerleaders show up to his last game. 

Maddie had her first visit to the dentist and it went great! I was really surprised that she didn't want or need me around at all, and let the technician clean her teeth too. The dentist have glowing reviews and said to keep up the good work! 

High Fives

In mid October, Joe ran the Kansas City half marathon. The kids and I joined Scott and Tricia at the High Five station to cheer for the runners. 

It was really chilly that morning and the kids weren't quite ready to be outside. It took a while before we saw many runners, so the kids just hung out eating breakfast and drinking "warm cocoa". Cause who likes hot cocoa? Not these two!

After a bit we finally got to cheer on lots of runners and Joseph was having fun giving high fives. Maddie wasn't too sure of what all was going on and generally hung by my side and watched. 

Joe passed us looking good, and Joseph was happy to give him a high five. 

Maddie, well, not so much. Better luck next time!

Batteries

Maddie is keenly aware that many of her favorite devices have batteries that need to be replaced or recharged. Frequently. And she is used to hearing that something is "broken" because it needs new batteries. Usually she just accepts it and moves on, hoping that the batteries get replaced or recharged soon so she can play again.

Last week as I picked her up from PDO, her teacher made sure to tell me that all of the 2 year old teachers had quite the laugh at Miss Maddie. She apparently wasn't listening very well to their directions. Finally, Miss Amy asked Maddie to turn on her "good listening ears," to which Maddie responded she couldn't, because they were broken and needed new batteries!

This kid is definitely going to give us a run for our money!