Happy Halloween from our Three Little Bakers!!!

Halloween Through The Years

Grace's First Halloween

Ladybug

October 2007

Grace's Second Halloween

Dressed as Ella (Grace's elephant lovey)

October 2008

Grace's Third Halloween & Jack's First Halloween

Cowgirl & Cowboy

October 2009

Jack's First Halloween

Cowboy

October 2009

Grace's Third Halloween

Cowgirl

October 2009

Grace's Fourth Halloween & Jack's Second Halloween

Giraffes!

October 2010

Jack's Second Halloween

Giraffe

October 2010

Grace's Fourth Halloween

Giraffe

October 2010

A Sneak Peek....

Here is a little peek into our Halloween costumes this year! I will be posting pictures of Grace, Jack and Eve wearing their full costumes tomorrow.

Maddy made Grace, Jack and Eve's Halloween costumes this year -- everything from head to toe -- and they are beyond spectacular! I can't thank my Mom enough for the time, planning, thought and love that went into every stitch and detail. Grace, Jack and Eve look absolutely adorable wearing their costumes. We have had the best of times over the past few days wearing these costumes to several Halloween celebrations!

P.S. Maddy made each child their own special treat bag that goes along with their costume. One bag says, "SWEET," one bag says, "SAVORY" and one bag says, "SPICY." My Mom and I were laughing because we said that the bags could be interchangeable among the children at any given time depending on the moment!!!! :)

Our Happy Halloween Cards

*ghost footprint cards from left to right -- Grace, Eve, Jack*

Every year for Halloween we make ghost footprint cards. This year Grace wanted "Happy Halloween" written on the top of her cards. On Eve's ghost footprint cards we all thought it would be cute to write "Peek-a-boo. Jack thought long and hard about what he wanted on his card. Grace and I gave hime several suggestions but in the end Jack decided that "Trucks" would be best. He declared that everyone would LOVE having a Halloween card with "trucks" written on it. :)

The First Snowfall of the Season!

We received our first snowfall of the season yesterday. Oh my! The last time I recall snow falling in October was during my freshman year of college. We only received a little dusting yesterday but I don't think we'll have to wait too long for some more snow to fall. We are preparing for a "historic" October snowstorm tonight and into tomorrow with up to a foot of snow expected to fall. I know three little ones here who think that this would be the absolute best Halloween treat of all!

Grace and Jack were the first ones up yesterday morning. I told them that there was a big surprise waiting for them outside but that they would have to wait until the sun woke up in order to really see it! Once the sun rose we quickly bundled up and headed outside. Grace and Jack couldn't believe their eyes when they walked outside. They kept picking up handfuls of snow to examine it and they had the best time playing in the snow together. Eve woke up a short time later and she was very excited to experience a whole new world outside too! What a fun winter it will be with our snow loving Grace, Jack and Eve.

Peek-a-boo Pumpkin Masks

Thank you to Jack for painting our pumpkin masks orange! Grace helped me cut out all of the eyes, noses, and mouths for our jack-o'-lantern masks. Grace, Jack and Eve each made their own pumpkin mask. Grace and Jack really wanted Eve's mask to have three teeth --two on the bottom and one on top, just like Eve!!! Grace and Jack made similar masks last year and had a great time with them. They were very excited to make masks this year so they could play peek-a-boo with baby Eve!

Once Eve was done making her jack-o'-lantern mask I used it to play peek-a-boo with her. I took this picture of Eve when I removed the pumpkin mask from my face. Eve's favorite game right now is peek-a-boo so she really loved playing with the pumpkin masks. :)

Peek-a-BOO!

Creating the Perfect Pumpkin Orange!

One morning earlier this week while Grace was at school and Eve was taking her morning nap, Jack created the perfect pumpkin orange paint color for a Halloween project. We had run out of orange paint so Jack asked to make it himself by combining red and yellow paint that we had on hand -- what a clever boy! When Jack was done he declared, "It's pumpkin orange!" Jack used his pumpkin orange to paint paper plates so we could make peek-a-boo jack-o'-lantern masks for Eve. Pictures to come!

More Apple Orchard Pictures

I'll be back on Thursday with some pictures of our Halloween activities!

Apples!

After Maddy and Poppy left for Vermont yesterday morning, we went to an orchard near our home to pick apples.

I love this picture of Jack, Eve and Grace eating their apples while sitting inside of a large apple crate in the middle of the orchard. I especially love how Jack and Grace are looking at Eve as she tries to take a big bite of her apple!

A Special Weekend

*Maddy, Poppy, Grace, Jack & Eve*

We spent a beautiful weekend with Maddy and Poppy. We had the loveliest day on Friday at Grace's Waldorf school where we celebrated Grandparent's Day. It was wonderful to have Maddy, Poppy and Memere all together to learn what the school has to offer. Sadly, we missed seeing Pepere but we are looking forward to seeing him in November!

We are all really missing Maddy and Poppy today but we can't wait to see them again at Thanksgiving. They left yesterday morning but surprised us with this sweet message written in chalk on our driveway. Thank you to Maddy and Poppy for the special weekend. You left us with so many memories. We love you.

Sorry for the lack of posts so far this week but we have been quite busy. I'll be back some time over the weekend to catch up on my blogging.

We are so excited to see Maddy and Poppy tomorrow and Memere and Pepere on Friday. They are coming to Maine to participate in Grandparent's Day at Grace's school on Friday. Hooray!

"Neptune is Blue!"

*I love Grace's two little pigtails sticking out from behind her book!*

One Saturday morning a few weekends ago, Grace was the first to wake up. Bob and I quitely went into Grace's room to read with her until Jack and Eve also woke up for the day. As soon as we sat down next to Grace she had a very big smile on her face and in one breath quickly said the following:

"Did you know birds clean themselves with their beaks and claws...they also spread oil on their feathers to keep them dry. The planet Mercury is not really the hottest planet even though it is closest to the sun...Venus is actually hotter because it has clouds. Oh, and Venus is smaller than Earth. Mars has two tiny moons and it is actually the red planet because it has red soil and rocks. And did you know that it is very windy and stormy on Neptune and it is blue!"

Bob and I sat there stunned. We looked at each other in disbelief. Grace then said,

"Mommy and Daddy, did you know all of that?"

To be honest, I really did not know half of what Grace had just said. I thought that Mercury was the hottest planet since it is closest to the sun and I had no idea what the weather was like on Neptune. I can barely keep track of what the weather is like here in Maine never mind Neptune! :)

How oh how had Grace learned all of this information. Then it occurred to me...

Every night I go into Grace, Jack and Eve's room to check on them one last time before I go to sleep for the night. I typically check on Grace last because I never know what I am going to see when I walk into her room! I can, however, always count on getting in one last smile before I go sleep for two reasons. First, I typically find Grace asleep in her bed dressed in tights, two pairs of pants, two skirts, a long sleeved shirt (or leotard) with a short sleeved shirt over that. Hmmm....when I put her to bed each night she is only wearing one footsie pajama! Secondly, Grace's bed is always covered with just as many books as there are layers of clothing. I find books scattered all over her bed. I always know what the last book Grace was reading before dozing off because it is usually closest to her. For several nights in a row I noticed a book called "Amazing Questions and Answers" closest to Grace. I also noticed on those nights that Grace kept her reading light on much longer after I tucked her in for the night and closed her door (I love walking by Grace's room at night and seeing her reading light shine through the cracks of her door. I can picture Grace in her bed with her many layers of clothing intently reading). It must have been on those late reading nights that Grace was reading "Amazing Questions and Answers."

I am and always will be amazed by Grace's reading skills and by her ability to read so fluently. Grace can pick up any book and read it out loud just as any adult would. Since that unforgettable Saturday morning, Grace has continued to teach me so many new facts about dinosaurs, spacecraft, reptiles, insects, birds, whales, primates and even more about our solar system. At our home we definitely learn something new everyday. Thank you, Grace, for always teaching us and for your insatiable love of reading and learning. Oh, the places you'll go!

Wheeeeee!

We have this tiny sized push wagon that Grace and Jack have been enjoying playing with on our driveway. One day we realized that it was just the perfect size for our little Eve! Eve LOVES going on wagon rides and the faster the better! Eve reminds me so much of Grace when she was a baby. Look for an upcoming post on how much these two girls look alike as babies too! :)