Fads and Fun

Here in St. Louis the big fad of the fall is rubber-band bracelets and necklaces.  I didn't realize how big the fad was until I went and helped out at Owen's class one morning.  I was reminded of boondoggles, POGs, and Chinese Jump Ropes from my own school days. So when the kids and I were at the dollar store last week and Owen chose to buy a bracelet making kit with his own money instead of a toy or candy I was proud of him for realizing that it wasn't Mom & Dad's job to give him what all the other kids had. We brought the kit home and had fun making a couple of rubber-band bracelets together (the blue ones).

The next day Owen went to a birthday party for one of the kids in his class and was given another bracelet kit as a party favor.  That afternoon we made a rainbow bracelet and a necklace for my cute little boy.

Owen was happy to have bracelets like the other kids and I enjoyed making them with him.  My little boy is getting bigger every day and I love him sooooooooo much!

Pumpkin Decorating and Costume Parades

Our week of Halloween fun ended very well.  On Tuesday night the kids and I decorated two more of our pumpkins. Here is Owen posing with the first pumpkin we decorated, and a couple of pictures of MayLynn keeping herself happily entertained while Owen and decorated the pumpkin.

Here we are decorating MayLynn's pumpkin.  I tried to get her to help me take out the seeds, but she wanted nothing to do with it.  She also was fascinated with the way that the top could come off of the pumpkin, and since I broke down and got electric candles this year (turned out to be a very good thing because of all the rain) I didn't have to worry about her burning herself while enjoying a lit pumpkin.

On Wednesday night, Daddy and Owen decorated our final pumpkin.  MayLynn wasn't involved too much, but she had fun exploring and keeping everyone entertained.

And finally, here is our family of pumpkins guarding our front door on Halloween night:

Yesterday we had a fun and busy day as we enjoyed a rainy Halloween.  In the late morning MayLynn and I went to Owen's school to see his costume parade.We started out in Owen's classroom and managed to get a picture of Owen's class in their costumes.

We then went outside and watched Owen's class as they paraded past (luckily their was a several hour break in the rain during they day - I can only imagine the chaos that would have ensued if they'd had to have their costume parade inside the school).  MayLynn wasn't too thrilled to just sit and watch, but she was a trooper as we waited for the kids to parade past in their costumes.

After Owen got home from school, we went to the mall to do a little bit of Trick-or-Treating inside at some of the stores that had treats for kids. We then went to SLU and took some pumpkin cookies to Bryce and his students. After MayLynn went to bed last night, Owen and Bryce braved the rain and made a quick loop around our neighborhood to trick-or-treat one last time. Both of our kids have had a lot of fun with Halloween this year, and while I've had fun too, I'm ready for life to move on and settle down for a day or two. So, with one final picture of a cute little fairy princess, we hope that you all had a good Halloween, because we sure did.