First (real) Bath

 Britt'a first real bath came a bit later than her siblings ever did.  (She'd previously only had sponge baths.)  Maybe it was because she's the fifth child and we were super busy.  But, I mostly held off because I wanted to make sure she was big enough for a bath and it would be a pleasant experience for her, rather than scary.

And, it did turn out (and continues) to be a pleasant experience!  Of course, our resident Little Mother, Kari, was right there to help out.  So cute!

We love nakies and bathtime!!

Pretty Little Dancer

Kari is continuing in dance this year.  She is such a pretty little dancer!  I got to go to visitor's night in November and watch her and her little class.  So cute!

 Kari has such pretty turn-out and pointed toes!

 STRETCH!!!

 She had her very own cheering section.  Juliana sat soooo still (a BIG change from last year) and it was also Britta's first time to dancing too :-).

 Kari's teacher, Mary Lorraine (also the studio's owner), does a wonderful job of engaging the girls and showing them what they need to be doing.

 Keeping the attention of all those little 3-5 yr olds is a lot of work!

She smiles!

At the beginning of November, Britta started smiling!!!  Thus, all of your hard work begins to be rewarded because no matter how hard and long your day has been, once you see that little smile, it's all worth it.  They are THAT wonderful.

Switch Witch

What do you do with all of that Halloween candy??  Technically, we could let the kids eat it (or, let's be honest, be sneaky and eat most of it yourself.)  But, having seen what the sugar rush does to my kids' behavior and, having just had a baby and wanting to lose weight, we had to get the candy out of our house FAST.  Enter the Switch Witch.

See, the kids all pick out their 10 favorite pieces of candy.  Then, we put the rest in a bag on the front porch a night or two after Halloween.  Then, the "Switch Witch" comes and takes the candy and leaves a toy for each child.  Now, when I first broached this idea with the kids, I was sure they wouldn't go for it.  Boy, was I wrong!  They jumped all over it and were so excited.  Even Christian, who hoards his candy and still has some from LAST Halloween.  (Never underestimate the power of a new toy!)

So, the kids were very excited the next morning.  The Switch Witch was smart and brought craft-type toys to keep everyone occupied most of Sunday morning.  (Cue the heavens opening and the Hallelujah chorus.)

We will definitely be taking the Switch Witch up on her offer next year!

Halloween Havoc

Christian's soccer team played in a BIG soccer tournament the weekend before Halloween.  Teams from all over Nebraska came for the fun--it was incredible!  (And the weather was incredible too so that made for an enjoyable Saturday for all!)  In keeping with the Halloween festivities, many of the kids, Christian included, painted their faces and spray-painted their hair.

Christian's team, Galaxy.  He's the last one on the right.  His best bud, Sullivan, is next to him.

Christian and his biggest cheerleader, Kari.
(She was a tad sad bc she wasn't allowed to be in the above team picture.)

 Here are some "action" shots.  Christian does very well at goalie!

Taking a big warm-up kick!

 The pictures below are of the other team taking a shot on goal (with Christian playing goalie).  He made the save!

Here's a cool shot of Sullivan (with Christian in goal).

 The team played well and the kids all had fun!  We love watching Christian play and improve his skills.  Go Evolution!

"Juliana's" Halloween Party

Juliana and Miss Mary, the story time librarian

 Juliana had been hearing so much about the big kids' school Halloween parties.  So, when I told her that we were going to the library for a special story time and trick-or-treating, she was super excited to go to "her" party!

Our library does a wonderful job of planning this event and a LOT of people show up.  After the story time, the kids all trick-or-treat through the library and then head outside to go trick-or-treat at the local businesses in downtown Papillion.  Sooo nice--we're so lucky to live in such a great town!

Here's our beauty doing the "Itsy-bitsy spider"

And here she is doing, "Slippery Fish," one of her favorites.

Trunk-or-Treat and Halloween 2014

I'm only a month (or so) behind!  Not too shabby considering how crazy things have been (and how tired I am at the end of the day and not having any energy to even get onto the computer!)  So, I'd better get this post completed before Christmas comes and goes too...

Halloween time this year was great!  We had a beautiful fall and all of the kiddos had fun dressing up and heading out.  Emily was a "fancy vampire."  Christian was a Creeper from Minecraft (and yes, I made his costume.  *Thank you, Pintrest!)  The little girls were, of course, Elsa (Juliana), Anna (Kari), and Olaf (Britta).

First up was our ward's annual chili cook-off and trunk-or-treat!

A good time was had by all...

Ju Ju is full of spunk!

Once the band started playing, Kari found the music entirely too loud for her liking.

Emily was so busy running around with her friends I hardly saw her long enough to snap a picture!

The music did not phase Britta, who slept through it all.
She also won "funniest" costume.  (Thank you, Pintrest!)

Juliana LOVED dancing to the music.  She found no shortage of friends and family to dance with...

Still too loud, says Kari

Christian won "Best" costume!  He was thrilled!

Cubby grew a little mustache and also dressed up like a "creeper" (just a different kind ;)!)

Next up, Halloween!  Our wonderful neighbors, the Hofers, had everyone over for a potluck dinner.  Here's the crowd this year!

The weather was a tad chillier this year and so Britta and I opted out of trick-or-treating.  The gang went out and had a great time.  Juliana refused to wear a coat stating, "Elsa doesn't get cold.  She has powers."  Hmmm...her logic is solid....

 Britta and I went over to Gma and Gpa's house instead.  It was her first visit over there and we had a fun (and stayed toasty!) time.

 After trick-or-treating was over (and Juliana was sufficiently "Frozen"), everyone came over to Gma's and we played for a bit longer.  Halloween was on a Friday this year so it was nice not having to worry about school the next morning!

 There you have it!  Our Halloween celebrations in a nut-shell.  Whew!