Halloween has become a big deal at the Hart House. I'm not sure what started it all....perhaps Sydni's DeeDee Doodle costume, but each year we try to out-do ourselves. I've always let the girls pick what they want to be, and so far they've impressed me with their choices. They pick stuff that I would NEVER think of them being, but it's been costumes that end up being sold out AFTER we order them in August. Thank goodness we plan early for this event. Donnie is meticulous about details, and even though people give me props for my face painting skills, he's the one who pulls the entire outfit together. For example, he was scouring the toy stores today trying to find Syd plastic, toy bolts for her Frankie Stein neck! Painting bolts just wouldn't do; he wanted them looking REAL. :) It's a team effort, this Halloween show we put on every year.
After going through the Halloween Express magazine this year, Syd and Mak both came to me with the Monster High Girls pictures. I had no clue what in the heck a "Monster High Girl" was. I was then directed to the Toys R' Us website and made to watch this video.
Now that you are schooled on what exactly a Monster High girl is, here are Syd and Mak's attempt to become their favorite ghouls for Halloween, 2011...
I love living in Lubbock for many reasons, but the dirt storms would definitely NOT be reason to love this place. Monday, I left school and picked up a few groceries at United before heading home. It was windy, and a bit dirty, but not like it can be in terms of dirt in Lubbock. However, when I pulled into the driveway and proceeded to unload the back of the Yukon, I noticed THIS heading our way...
OMG...it's the end of the world!
I ran into the house to tell Donnie and the girls about the wall o' crap that was about to pummel our neighborhood. Within seconds, our house was ensconced in dirt and debris. The sky darkened and the wind howled and beat nastiness against our windows. It was so dang dark that the street lights came on! When it finally blew over, everything was covered in a layer of fine, red dirt. Lovely. The next day, Lubbock made the national news and below you can see an aerial view of the craziness:
I've slacked on documenting my belly, but it seems to be around the same size as of late. Brinkli seems to just be filling up the cavernous bulge instead of the bulge itself growing. We have another sonogram on the 3rd, so I'm excited to see how she's measuring up. Makenzi, Donnie, and Granny Deb have all felt her kicking, but for some reason when Sydni tries to feel, Brinkli just lays there. I wonder if she's already antogonizing her sister? It's driving Sydni NUT-SO that she's out of the loop on feeling her sister wiggle and kick. I'm sure it's only a matter of time before Brinkli relents and gives her a good kick, but it's funny to watch Sydni try to cajole her baby sister into messing with her.
Week 20 - I take the pictures in my classroom because when I'm home, I really have zero time to contemplate the size of my belly. At school, however, I'm acutely aware of my growing abdomen. When you are on your feet ALL DAY LONG, and you have lovely 7th graders pointing out how large you are becoming, it's hard NOT to notice you doubling in size. :)
Week 23 - My butt seems to be growing more than the belly. Notice how she is still directly under my chest. I can't even walk to the copy room without breathing hard! I sound like a mouth-breather no matter what I do!
Donnie and Syd had a great time at the Tech game last weekend. He decided to have a "Daddy-Daughter Day" with her, instead of asking a friend to take my place in the stands. She watched the entire game, and asked Donnie questions about football. She particularly loved the announcer saying, "For another Red Raider FIRST DOWN!" and had a ball shouting "RAIDER POWER" with the other fans. We both have agreed that we need to carve out alone time for both Syd and Mak, so while Dad and Syd were having fun at the game, Makenzi and I decorated the house with our Halloween stuff and watched Harry and the Hendersons with some yummy popcorn with parmesan (Mak's favorite). She also had to have her nails done, so we had a manicure session in between. I hope we can keep up our special time with each of them after Brink arrives, because I know how important it is to them and to both Donnie and I!
Granny Deb always claims that she's "not creative", but how many posts have involved something cool and crafty she's done for the girls? The evidence below negates that "I'm not crafty" comment I've repeatedly heard coming out of her mouth. I mean, really, we were tiger tamers and tigers for the last golf cart float she concocted for the Wolfforth parade! For the Fall Festival at Buffalo Springs Lake this year, Granny decided to enter the girls in the Golf Cart Parade. She and Pop went as farmers, while the girls were sunflowers, and their buddy, Ellory, was a scarecrow. (And Ellory's costume was created on a whim by Deb...Ellory was over playing and the girls wanted to include her in the parade, so below is the costume that she "threw together" in a matter of minutes. Pretty dang cute for being thrown together, don't cha think?) Deb MADE the sunflower faces and pulled the entire outfit for the girls' costume together, and had her cart decorated in fall theme for Saturday...all we had to do was show up! The girls had a ball tossing candy and playing games at the festival afterwards. It was such a fun day for them, and thanks to Granny Deb and Pop, we have some more great memories to add to our files.
Those are seeds on their faces, btw. They LOVE dressing up and doing stuff like this.
Their adorable friend, Ellory, in her scarecrow costume that Deb threw together. So cute!
They are so shy....
Ready to hit the streets.
How cute are they? Pop just goes with the flow and does what Granny says to do. Anything for the girls!
...and this is what resulted after a day of fun in the sun! One tired chick! (Notice that Syd is still going strong, and pestering Pop.)
Donnie and I met on August 24th of 2000, and since that day, we have had a whirlwind of craziness encompassing us! Two little girls, a few moves, and two weddings later, we are happy, healthy and thankful to God for the blessings in our lives.
