And the winner is....

The Shrek Family. Meaning Shrek and Fiona. We went to a costume party tonight at the church. Ken and I won first place!!! The crowd cheered for us, but that really wasn't the best part. The best was when little kids were coming up to us saying things like, "Hi Shrek!", "Hi Fiona!", "Shrek is here for you" (when we were separated) "I think Shrek likes you", "Where is Donkey?" "Why is your baby Superman?" (the answer of course, it's Halloween and that's what he wanted to dress up as, normally he's an ogre). And the teenager who told Shrek he made a good Shrek "'cause he was like big and everything."

Unfortunately Grace and Luci didn't win the costume contest (Grace really wanted to), but she did win a door prise. If you couldn't tell, Grace is Wonder Woman and Luci is Super Why! Super Why is a super reader. He is the star character of a new PBS show SUPER WHY! . HOME PBS KIDS. The girls love it and it is quite educational. Is it ok that Luci went as a boy? I tried convincing her she could be a girl super why and wear a green ballerina outfit. She wouldn't have it, and she loves the the costume. Daniel of course is Super Man...hand me down pajamas through both girls. Is that just cruel?

I had fun making all the costumes (I just the horns on Shrek) and must give props to Grandma Lolly for helping with the capes, downsizing the dress a little, and the great idea to just put socks over Grace's boots to make them red. I used the same trick for Daniel's. Thanks!

The girls had fun. Luci said her favorite part was the line, meaning the little costume parade they had. Grace said her favorite part was playing with Chloe, a friend from preschool. Here are more fun pictures.

I'm frustrated!!!

This is simply a showing of Grace in rarely seen state: the tantrum.The Friday before the Cubs game, Ken and I were going to drive down to Mom and Dad's after work. We were just too tired to do so, but we didn't decide this until after we told the girls to get packed up. Well Grace, suitcase in tow, car pillow wrapped around her neck, didn't take the news too well. She was so upset yelling obscinities for 45 minutes such as, "I just want to go to Grandma Kresl's! Why did you do this to me! Why would you tell me we're going and then not go! I wanted to see if Lauren was going to be where she was! I'm Frustrated!!!"

Lesson learned. Wait until the last minute to get ready for any Grandmas' house in case you change your mind unexpectedly.

That Columbus was a great guy

On Columbus Day we celebrated by exploring what was probably one of the first foods Columbus discovered, the pumpkin. We went to Bengston Pumpkin Farm. The first educational activity was a science experiment. Which is taller, Daddy or the corn? From far away the girls are sure their daddy can easily take on the corn. But a little closer Grace said, "Uh oh," and changed her hypothesis. Ken even tried standing next to the shorter corn in a futile attempt to overcome the all powerful Midwestern crop.

Cubs Playoff

Dad got tickets to the Cubs' playoff game. He's so popular that Wrigley Field called him!!! They were probably hoping he would bring his usual attractive female esscorts (Juli and Jane). Accessible seats were still available. He bought 2 and invited Ken. They were in Ken's favorite part of the park, the bleachers. Despite the obnoxious know it all fan next to them, they had a great time, especially during the electical crowd build up of bases loaded, only 1 out and a 3-1 count. Of course there was the let down that all Cubs fans are used to(why would you swing at a 3-1 pitch into a double play when 2 of the 3 runners were base on balls?), but Ken and Dad experienced it first hand and had a great time.

Apple picking

One of the mothers in the neighborhood organized an apple picking trip for the employee's children. Five families went and it was great. The girls got to hang out with their friends (their favorite thing to do now) and learn lots at the same time. They picked a bag of apples at the orchard, went into a bee house to learn about how helpful bees are, saw how an apple sorter works, tasted cider, fed animals at the petting zoo and bought doughnuts at the gift shop. Grace was the star in the bee house knowing bees eat honey in winter and "nectar" from flowers in the summer. The tour guide was impressed, but not as impressed as she was with Daniel, the 16 month old who knew how to twist an apple off the trees just like the tour guide had demonstrated. (She really couldn't get over that bringing it up at the end of the tour again.) We had a blast. Here are some pics...

"Now you twist just like this"

Can you hear Luci's hysterical laughing? Grace just loved the animals. They were sooo gentle and friendly.

Cubs-Cards

A couple weekends ago Ken and I had some time to spare so we spent it flying south to see the birds and cubby bears. Ken got some last minute tickets at Busch Stadium. The tickets were in a cozy little nook under the score board in center field. We had bar stool seats that looked out onto the field complete with all you can eat and drink, hot dogs, brats, and Cardinal colored nachos, bud or bud light and bottles of pop. Despite the loss, we had a great time.

The view.

The happy couple.
The smorgasbord.Bar stool view.

Ballet

The girls love ballet. They ask almost every morning if they have ballet that day. They have it once/week on Mondays. Four other 4 year olds from Glenwood are in the class with Grace and Luci. Today 2 of their friends were in awe of their outfits and wanted to know where they got them.

Grace was upset wiht the first class because she said they didn't do any ballet dancing, just moves. Today she came home saying they did some real dances and then showed them to us. Luci showed us even more. They are very Swan Lake. Here are pictures from the first day (the lighting was bad in many of the pictures). The whole class.


Leaping over the "puddles"
The Glenwood Friends.
Frog Leaping.
Who has the best pointed toe?
Stretching
Frog leaping

More puddle jumping.
Stretch.