Pushing through (Halloween)

I'm tired and not at all in the mood for blogging, but I've got to get Halloween out of the way before a mountain of pictures start piling up all waiting to be immortalized on the Internet.

We kind of waited until the last minute to carve pumpkins this year, but the kids didn't seem to mind as long as it got done.

Laila tried her best to get in on the action.

Every year since we've been in Michigan we buy tickets to the Zoo Boo. It's always so cold and I don't really look forward to it, but this year we went a little earlier in the evening and it was surprisingly pleasant. The kids look forward to it every year, not only because of the extra candy they get, but because it gives them another chance to wear their costumes.

Samm was a pink leopard this year. She wanted to be a cat, but the cat costumes in the kids section were kind of dumb so we looked in the adult section. The full pink leopard costume involved a leotard and fish net stockings, however we opted for just the ears, collar, and tail, and Samm was thrilled!

James wanted to be a ninja again. Too bad his costume from last year didn't fit still!

Macy originally wanted to be a ballerina witch, but Josh talked her into being just a witch when we found this costume on sale. I personally think the pink cowgirl boots make the whole costume!

And Laila HAD to be a lady bug because she is our Laila bug...get it! That's what Macy told every single person she talked to, including but not limited to, friends, family, checkers at the grocery store, pediatrician, random man at the grocery store, and fabric cutter at Jo Ann's.

Laila was not too thrilled about being a lady bug for the Zoo Boo!

Costumes always seem to change a little for us by Halloween night. Macy ended up being a glow in the dark witch, although it never got dark enough because of porch lights for her face to actually glow. And, because of some boy in James' classroom who told him his ninja costume was lame, he ended up being a zombie vampire ninja. Actually, what happened was when it came time to trick or treat James was in tears because his costume was not scary (ie, lame) and he wanted to go as just a kid. Now, what I wanted to do was yell at him that we paid money for his costume and I didn't care one bit if he thought it was lame, he was going to wear it! I didn't though. I actually remembered that we had a vampire makeup kit in out Halloween bucket that I'm pretty sure we bought on clearance after Samm's first Halloween, and we did a little modifying. He loved it so much that he has been wearing the teeth for the last 3 days and even asked to put more of the blood on his face today. And Laila actually warmed up to the costume!

Towards the end of the night Samm pooped out so I took her and Laila back home while Josh kept going with the other two. When they showed up just twenty minutes later, Macy's treat bag was busting at the seems. Some man said he was done for the night and just emptied the rest of his bowl into her and James' bags. I realized as Josh was telling me this that right before we split up, he emptied Macy's bag into the stroller because it was getting too heavy and James who had opted for just a grocery sack sent his home with me and started using a new one. The guys must have thought they just started and weren't gong to get much candy since it was getting late. Josh weighed Macy's bag as soon as they got home and it was 8 pounds!

Between the 8 pounds of trick or treating candy, the trunk or treat candy from church, and the zoo boo candy, I think we could distribute candy to a small country! I know everyone does candy differently, but our mom always just let us have out treat bags to eat until it was gone since we earned it, so that is what we do. All three of the older kids have about 10 years worth of candy sitting in a special spot in their rooms. The funny thing is that they usually ask first if they can have some even though I've never told them they have to.

Laila didn't get a treat bag to fill this year, but after watching the kids go down the first street she started screaming until I got her out of the stroller and then she headed straight for the nearest porch with her hand held out. It was so cute I had to let her walk up and get a few treats of her own.

Our Son the B Boy



Never in a million years would I have ever guessed that James would do anything other than play sports. I always assumed that he would be a football player like his dad. It's not that I was against him pursuing other interests, it's just that Rollins boys play football. Plain and simple.

 

It has also been pretty evident for some time though that he takes more after me in his physical makeup than he does Josh, which doesn't exactly scream football player. He also hasn't ever really showed an extreme interest in sports outside of playing in the backyard as a family.

 

About a year ago he started doing head stands All. The. Time. He got so good at them that we suggested he try spinning on his head just to challenge him a little. One day after he had become pretty good at spinning in a complete circle we decided to look at break dancing videos on you tube so he could see all the cool stuff that they do. James was hooked. When we told him that we had found a place that offered break dancing classes for boys he went right up to his room and changed his clothes because he wanted to start right that second.

 

Unfortunately we didn't have the money for it right then but told him that when we got our house sold we would look into it.

 

Three weeks ago was his first class and it was so cute how excited and nervous he was all at the same time. We actually just went to check it out on the first day and told him that he could decide whether or not he wanted to sign up. After class he came running out with the biggest smile on his face and said "I want to sign up right now!"

 

We are absolutely thrilled that he finally found something he loves other than video games and I can already seen the change that this has made in his confidence. Most of the other kids were still learning how to do head stands when he started so the fact that he could already spin on his head made him feel really special. Then, just this past Monday he told me very excitedly on the way to class that they were going to learn how to do back flips! Honestly, I was thinking there was no way they were actually going to be learning that but I didn't say that to him.



 

So, they were exactly learning back flips, but I was shocked that he really was teaching them back hand springs. James once again was the best one in the class because he has absolutely no fear. His teacher explained to him what he was going to do and then James said "OK" and jumped backwards. Then his teacher had him do it again several times in a row so that the other kids could see exactly what to do. I know it seems silly, but I was so proud of him!

 

 

Laila loves his break dancing class too. She hears the music start and heads straight to the door to watch and pretty much stays there for the entire 45 minutes.

 

And you should know that I already have big plans to see my B Boy James on So You Think You Can Dance someday!

Picture attempt 2012

 

As it turns out, taking pictures of four children is a lot harder than taking pictures of just one uncooperative baby. Especially when one of the four children is the uncooperative baby!

 

This photo shoot was not quite as bad as Laila's since no one was maimed in the process, but oh my goodness, by the end of it, if I heard "I'm bored!" one more time I think I would have got in the car and left them all with the ducks. Really not the most fun I've ever had!

 

My goal however was to just get at least one good group shot that can be turned into a Christmas card and one shot of each individual that can hang on the wall, so in that regard it was a success. I spent a lot of time making and putting together their outfits though so I was really hoping for some amazing pictures, but when it comes down to it, I'm just not a photographer, so maybe my expectations were a little too high.

 

I keep promising myself that someday I'm either going to really learn how to use my camera, or stop being too cheap to pay someone to take pictures for me. Until then, we make due with me as the photographer and the camera on auto.

 

 

 

 

I love this picture! Josh was trying to get her to hold her hand out and let the ducks take the bread right from her and she became hysterical.

Aahh, done for another year!

Fall time with Friends

We had a couple extra kids for a few days last week, and one day of gorgeous fall weather. There was no way  I was going to let them sit in the house playing video games on such a perfect day, so I shooed them out, intending to do something productive inside, but Laila just stood by the back door watching them and I felt so bad that we went out to join them.

 

I love fall when it's warm! Fall when it's cold just reminds me that winter is right around the corner.

A decade of silliness, drama, and love...

That is what she has given us. I'm the luckiest mom in the world!

 

Ugly birthday cupcakes is what happens when you suddenly realize an hour before the party that the only muffin cups you have left are Halloween ones and your homemade frosting looks like dog poop.

We added m&m's on top to help them out a little bit, and she didn't seem to mind

After the presents were opened and ugly cupcakes consumed, a dance party ensued.

She's probably not going to love us so much one day for putting this on the Internet.