Amazing Grace and a Safe Haven: Fall Is Flying By

We have 3 birthdays in October. Mine, Haven and Katriel. They happened a couple of weeks ago, so I figured I'd better get some birthday pics and stats up before it turned November! And then all of a sudden it was November already. Uggggg! Where is my Fall running off to so quickly?

I turned 45 this year. I'll have more to say about that in another blog post.

I'm sure I've mentioned it before, but strangely, Haven and Katriel share the same birthday. Haven turned 5 and Kat turned 2. So right now in my house we have a 6 year old, a 5 year old, two 3 year olds, and two 2 years olds.

My Haven is now a big boy. He is so funny and handsome and temperamental. He makes me laugh everyday and also sets off my blood pressure like nobody's business. He is so sharp and athletic and did I mention temperamental!!! He LOVES dancing, baseball, practicing his letters, and anything made with a potato. He adores his best friend Grace and his little sister, Kit Kat. He's right in the middle of his height and weight range. He's healthy and happy and doing swell! He does have some sort of odd sleeping habits.

Haven sleeping like a baby...

...in his toy box.

Katriel is is now two years old and boy howdy have the "terrible two's" hit her like a ton of bricks. She is still HUGE. She's still in the upper 90th percentile in both height and weight. She is wearing 4t shirts!!! She is one super smart 2 year old and seems to have a better grasp of language than any of her siblings did at this age. She doesn't necessarily talk more or clearer than the others, but she understands everything you say and can follow very detailed and multi-step instructions. Kat LOVES to eat, scream, laugh, steal things away from Louise, bite, scream so more, cuddle her baby doll and cuddle with Mama and Daddy. She's still our baby!

Our girl is all teeth!

After our October birthdays we landed right in Halloween. This is my least favorite holiday. It's not a big religious thing. I just hate having strangers show up at my house, I hate dressing six kids up in costumes, I hate the candy crash that comes the day after our kids gorge themselves the night before. I hate all the blood and guts and gore associated with the holiday. Just not my thing. But I have a house full of dresser-uppers, so I had to go with the flow. Below are pics of the day before as we prepped our costumes and then some of Halloween night.

I did have a surge of creative genius when it came to JoJo's costume. As you can see below, he wanted to wear all the costumes. All at the same time. So I had to tone it down a bit for actual trick or treating. We settled on a "court jester". It seemed appropriate. But when I got ready to decorate his face I couldn't find a drop of make up in our house. Those of you who know me in person know that I don't wear make up. Ever. So I hunted around trying to find an alternative. I spied a bottle of calamine lotion and that did the trick.

Hope you holiday was filled with treats as sweet as mine!!!