Tyler was really excited about seeing Santa. We went too early and Santa wasn't there yet, so we had to go home and come back later, and you would have thought we were the meanest parents ever, to not let him see Santa when we said he could.
He said he was going to ask him for some candy for christmas. Lucky for him that black bag on the bench was full of candy--and not just candy canes, it was the good stuff like candy bars and suckers. He grabbed a humongous handful, and was quite disappointed when we made him put most of it back. I asked him what he asked santa for and he said, "This," indicating his candy.
Joey has some serious doubts about Santa, so it's not quite as exciting for him anymore. It was a little suspicious that he had an english accent. He sounded American last year. Just like last year Jason refused to get out of the cart. He was sad when his brothers got candy, so I went with him to ask Santa for some. Really, I dragged him while he protested strongly. But I knew he'd be happy after he had the candy. And he was. He'll have to write a letter so Santa knows for sure what he wants (a nerf gun thing that is supposed to be a fire hose that shoots out blue balls that are supposed to be the water when you pull back a crank). Luckily Santa has insider information and has already got it for him. Good 'ol Santa.

Halloween

We made it to the pumpkin patch this year, but of course forgot the camera. Maybe it's for the best anyway, since we would have captured 2 sad, crying kids. Jason got car sick on the way and Tyler fell asleep and woke up really grumpy. They had this cute little maze made out of hay bales there, and cheered up after playing in it for a while.

Tyler was disgusted by the inside of the pumpkin. He was really careful not to touch any of it. Joey actually helped get the stuff out. I think he kind of liked it.

Tyler didn't like Joey's (the big one) and cried and made us turn the lights on. Too scary, he said.

Trick or treating was fun, and I was really grateful that we all got to go, since all of us had been really sick for several days before Halloween and I was afraid someone was going to miss out.

Joey is Darth Vader, with this helmet that was really awesome but unfortunately made him blind as a bat out in the dark. He ditched it after awhile. Jason is Jango Fett, a bounty hunter from Star Wars. I didn't know who he was until my boys got obsessed with the movie. Now I know more than I ever wanted to know about Star Wars. Tyler is R2D2. His costume turned out really cute, I thought. I'm starting to really hate all of his dang buttons and things, though, after making a cake and now a costume.
It was a great Halloween, with plenty of fun and candy for all.

What?

Jason is 5

I'm very proud of the R2-D2 cake I made, even though it's a little stubby and gloppy. I always make the cake the night before because there's no time on their birthday, and it usually happens late at night, after they're in bed because that's the only way I can have any uninterrupted length of time. But I think they're starting to think there's a "cake Santa" or something. After he saw it Tyler ran to get me and show me. "Look! An Artoo cake!" Like I had nothing to do with it. He got two very cool star wars ships, and check out that look of delight over a pack of gum!

When Joey busted open the pinata with one wack Tyler said "Oh! A sock!" Indeed, a dirty little sock had burst out of the pinata along with all the candy. There was also a hotwheels car and some legos. He had added a few "extras," unbeknownst to us.

End of Soccer

They are so proud of the medals they got. As much fun as it was, I'm really glad it's over because we will have 3 more free nights a week now (yay for me, they can get their chores done for once, too bad for them), and because it's getting really cold; those last two games were miserable! Fortunately I thought Joey's was at 6:30 (it was really at 6:00--oops!) so we only had to sit huddled together in the cold for half an hour.

Soccer Mom

Joey plays soccer nearly everyday at recess, so we though he'd love to play on a real team. But it turns out he pretty much hates it. He's counting down the days until it's over. He gets confused about the different positions (I don't blame him, so do I) and I think he doesn't like the pressure of competition, and he says the field is too big. Too much running. Oh well. We'll try something else next year. He sure is a handsome soccer player, though.

Jason LOVES soccer and asks everyday if it's a soccer day. He also wears his shin guards nearly everyday and sometimes sleeps with them on. Preschool soccer is one of the cutest things I've ever seen. There's a lot of laughing, hugging and falling down. There's a lot of crying because they fell down or never get the ball. They chase the ball around in a little clump, and Jason runs around at the back of the group, never getting near the ball, having the time of his life. The warm ups are really entertaining.

Everyone??

I got these little bottles of Martinelli's sparkling apple cider on clearance and I thought the boys would love them. They didn't, which was fine with me, as that meant I got to drink it all. They did love the bottles, though, and used them as weapons, of course. When he first saw them, Jason said,"These kind of look like beer." Now, I'm pretty sure he's never seen any beer before, in his short lifetime. I said, "Beer? How do you know about beer? Did you see it on TV, or hear someone talk about it?" He said, "No. Everyone knows what beer is."