Special Visitors

I'm so behind on posting; we've had such a busy fall and I have so many pictures, but in lieu of wading through those tonight, here are some pictures from our combination potluck/baby shower last night for Marcie & Lee and their son, Nicolai, who are back from Hungary for a visit over the holidays. It was so good to see them and finally meet 4 month old Nicolai !!

Two of the guests of honor ^. Don't know how it happened, but somehow we failed to get a picture of the proud dad----oops ;>)

Such a sweetie, although an exhausted little sweetie ! There's quite a time difference from Hungary to Tennessee.

We had a very good turnout and lots and lots of food.

Samuel's found a new friend in Melanie----although anyone who'll play cars with him automatically qualifies!

High fivin' with Lauren.

Shane took his turn with both Nicolai and Benjamin.

(1) Any guesses which baby spit up on Shane ?

(2) Any guesses what Shane did after that?

If you said (1) Benjamin and if you said (2) "gave him back", you would be correct ;>)

In addition to Shane, there were several "babysitters" helping me out, which was nice. I think Joe dazzled Ben with his orange.

I like to think Ben is laughing because he's thinking "how can anybody wear all that UT orange THIS season" ;>) I'm sure Mark appreciates that caption ;>)

Happy HalloweeK !

The scariest thing about Halloween.......;>)

"Peace, man !" ....... But hey, we won the best costume prize.......all the credit probably goes to that 'fro ;>)

Our Halloween turned into HalloweeK; we seemed to be on the run all week with various Halloween activities. It was a lot of fun, but glad this is just once a year ! Although I wouldn't have believed it when I was a kid, I think watching our kids do these things was more fun than when we were little and did it ourselves.

Couldn't resist a shot of Benjamin in the leaves with the pumpkin that Samuel finds SO scary (if any of you remember from last year's post). Maybe Ben will feel differently about it next year. We couldn't even get Samuel to come out of the garage when we got this pumpkin out !!

We went to visit Mrs. Robertson earlier in the week. We decided to "let" Samuel wear his costume, both as a trial run and because we thought Mrs. R would enjoy seeing him in it. "Let" implies he wanted to wear it; "forced" would be the more appropriate word. He was so pouty when we got there, but she brought him out of his shell. He took the costume off after we were there a little while, but she even convinced him to put it back on when it was time to go !! We decided maybe we should bring her to our house Halloween to get him dressed ;>)

We also did some Halloween activities with Samuel's friend, Will, in the week before Halloween. At the Halloween party he went to the day before Halloween, Samuel was perfectly happy to wear his costume.

They made these shirts by dipping one foot in white paint and putting it upside down on the shirt to make a ghost. Of course, my child was the only one shrieking about having to dip his foot in paint ;>)

They also went trick-or-treating at the little party. Samuel and Will make cute penguins and giraffes, don't they !


That same night, we went trick-or-treating at the grands and at some friends. Unfortunately, Samuel was back in "anti-Halloween" mode and it took quite a while for him to warm up, but he finally did.....

He's starting to catch on that that penguin suit = CANDY !

Ben was a little pumpkin, both figuratively and literally !

Grandma's got her orange on too

With Grandpa

We also went to visit Aunt Renita and Uncle Norm. Just like at the Grands, Samuel got double handfuls of candy. His pail was full after just 2 stops !

Okay, now for Halloween day. For the first time since we've been together, we had a chance to dress up for a Halloween party. It was really a lot of fun both for the kids and for us.

Believe me, I am SO glad he's a better dresser and goes to the barber in real life ;>)

We stopped by to trick-or-treat at the Duggins on the way to the party. I think we were their entertainment for the week ;>)

This is Prince Charming and one of the seven dwarfs; Sadie's so content whenever I've seen her, she must have been the dwarf Happy.

The sweetest skunk ever with his grandpa

Wicked witch Jessica needs a nose job, don't you think! She reminds me of that hilarious "I Love Lucy" episode when Lucy has a fake nose. Shelby made a sweet Snow White.

Thing One and Thing Two

Our fun hosts, Tiger, Pirate, Ladybug, and Skunk......

If you notice, Adam has a big earring in one ear and I had big clip-on earrings too, so we were commiserating on how sore our ears were, which is not a conversation I ever thought I would have with Adam ;>)

Snow White and Prince Charming. They got my vote for best costume. Lindsey looked so authentic, I could just imagine the cartoon bluebirds and butterflies around her head. I think the other Snow White (Shelby) thought this Snow White was the real deal !

King Tut and the missus (Adam's parents got Mark's vote for best costume)

"Jimi Hendrix" teaches Samuel & Will how to play the guitar

"You want me to go up WHERE and do WHAT ?" Samuel was a reluctant trick-or-treater at first, but quickly got the hang of it and was soon knocking on doors with the rest.

Once he figured out there was loot (candy) involved, I think he'd do it everyday!

The whole bunch of little monsters

Adam and Rosie had fun stuff for the kids to do----you'd think a penguin wouldn't need a pole to go fishing ;>)

Cleopatra helps Samuel paint his pumpkin

Will seems to be trying to copy Mom's hair ;>)

Samuel's trying the Jackson Pollack method of painting----just throw it anywhere !

Ben says "boo" (or his feet do ^)

Just like in the Disney movie, all the creatures fall under Snow White's spell.

The "wicked witch" after her nose job with our sweet little pumpkin ;>)

Jessica got our little penguin to eat grapes, something we've not had any luck with !

Prince Charming also worked his charms on Samuel and Ben; of course, WHO could resist a guy in crushed velvet and a cape ;>)

Thanks to Adam and Rosie for a fun evening and some wonderful memories !