2.5

Topher turned two and a half this week. For some reason two and a half has made me more nostalgic than his second birthday did. I spent a little time going through pictures of the other kids at this age, looking at who looks the same, who looks like another sibling, remembering their temperaments and personalities at that age. And then I compiled those pictures into an album that I shared with the four big kids. They've had fun this week looking at how adorable they all were.

And of course Peter's observation was that Bryan and I definitely look older. He's not wrong.

It Adds Up

When one has been consistently waking up too early from one's nap over the course of several days, one might use one's playtime to set up a cozy bed in a big comfy chair and then stare off into space, because exhaustion is cumulative.

Sisters and Brothers

 

A Little More Than a Trim

We've now been at home and social distancing so long that I've cut my hair for a second time. And, much like the first time, I really love the outcome. I guess this goes on the list of Things I Never Would Have Tried If Not For the Pandemic. Huh, I wonder what that list would actually look like...

Soak Up the Sun

Last week the afternoons warmed up to the high sixties and low seventies! For early November that's glorious! We took advantage of it by going on walks after naptime and playing outside for several hours on Saturday. It's supposed to rain most of next week, so I'm extra thankful that we enjoyed the beautiful weather.

Bright and Shining

We love our online school. The teachers do a great job of engaging the kids and tailoring to their needs. That's pretty impressive considering the classes are enormous. Phoebe and Sophie have about sixty kids in their classes and Peter and Cooper have more than a hundred kids in some of their classes.

Those class sizes make it extra impressive that Phoebe was the first student of the month for her class, or BRIGHT Student as they call it. This is what her teacher posted in their class announcements at the beginning of October.

I'm proud of her too. And I love that her teacher recognized so quickly how amazing Phoebe is. I wonder if her teacher knows that the name Phoebe means bright and shining. Our girl definitely has the right name.

Book Bird

"I'm a bird. This is my nest. It's so cozy!"

Halloween, Round 2

Phoebe excitedly planned our family Halloween party for months before the actual holiday. She had several activities planned and even delegated some of the responsibility to her siblings, a hard and generous move for our type A girl.

On Friday night she and I stayed up late and decorated for the next day.

We started the night with homemade pizza, jack-o-lantern clementines (courtesy of Phoebe), and the beginning of Hocus Pocus.

When we had had a sufficient amount of pizza, we paused the movie and got ready to trick or treat. This is when we took the picture that I posted on Monday.

Topher loved the excitement of it all. He thought the decorations were amazing. He started the day by saying "Happy Halloween!!!" to anyone that would listen. By the time we had the party he had shortened it and was saying "Hapaween!!!" which was adorable.

Here's a bit of detailing on the Bacon Man costume. Don't worry, it's not real bacon.

Bryan and Peter took turns handing out candy. They traded off which doors they stood at and would run ahead of us so they could be at the next door on time.

The temperature outside while we were doing this was in the high 30s, so not only did I enjoy running with the kids all over the house and watching how much fun they were having, I was also incredibly thankful to not be outside trick or treating in the cold.

After trick or treating we moved onto the games. Sophie was in charge of Pin the Tail on the Cat. She and I spent some time on Pinterest and found this cute printable. We used streamers for the tail.

Also, face masks are multifunctional.

Then we all took turns guessing the items in Cooper's mystery boxes. 

They included teeth (unpopped corn kernels), dry skin (onion peels), vampire vomit (cold lettuce in water), chunky ear wax (black beans in water), and witch's eyeballs (maraschino cherries). He did a good job making it gross but fun.

-

Phoebe provided coloring pages while we waited for people to make their mystery box guesses.

Then we enjoyed Halloween candy while watching It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown, as is our annual custom.

We ended the night with these fun cupcakes Phoebe made and decorated and the rest of Hocus Pocus.

This Halloween was definitely different from what we've done in the past, but it was wonderful and so much fun. Phoebe is a natural party planner!

The holiday certainly had an impact on Topher. When I got him out of his bed yesterday morning he looked down at my shirt that I had just put on for the day and said, "Oh, I love your costume."

Vote

I decided to bump the Halloween post to tomorrow, because today is an important day.

Have you voted yet?

Bryan and I had already decided to vote by absentee ballot, we requested them several months ago. In Pennsylvania (and other states as well) you had to drop off your own ballot, or sign a note saying you were giving someone else permission to turn in your vote. So we grabbed our masks and did just that. Bryan and I took a rare date one afternoon last week to drop off our completed ballots in an official drop-box. 

If you've already voted, wonderful! If you haven't yet, quick, go vote!

Happy Halloween at Home

We had a very fun Halloween at home. Peter kind of wore a costume, and kind of just threw on this cloak so he wouldn't have to be photographed, so maybe he's a vampire? Cooper was Bacon Man, because bacon. And the other three stuck with their costumes from last week. Phoebe planned and executed a great family party, which I will post about tomorrow...