We love Halloween - BOO!

 Sunday Alice woke us up too early and was grouchy all day. Grace did well quoting her scripture in primary. In the evening, we carved our pumpkins.

 Alice used a melon baller, but was still pretty grouchy. She was starting to get sick.

 Grace and I cleaned out guts with ice cream scoopers.

 Paul helped Grace with her pumpkin.

 I carved Alice's.

 The finished product: Paul carved his, I carved Alice's, Paul carved Grace's, and I carved mine. They were all freehand this year.

 Monday was spent checking the internet all day for Hurricane Sandy news. I read Alice a bunch of Halloween books, and she would say "Happy Halloween, Mommy!" after each one. Then I turned on some music, and she asked me to dance with her. So cute! In the afternoon, we took the bus to get Grace from school. It was so hot! Grace read her Lizzie McGuire book after lunch.

 After Alice's nap, the girls played together and did chores together. That evening, I taught FHE on having the Spirit in our home, and I cut Paul's hair.
On Tuesday, it was really foggy in the morning. I took Alice to library story time. She was very grouchy and screamed/cried a lot when we went to pick Grace up from school. Grace's friend, Laeti, came over for a play date later. That evening, we got a box of cute clothes for Charlie from Grandma Lu, including some cute BYU stuff! Paul and I watched "Space Children" that night.

 On Wednesday, Alice woke up early, so excited for Halloween! Paul dropped Grace off at school in her Little Red Riding Hood costume. I eventually got Alice into her costume, and we took the bus to Grace's class party. People couldn't stop commenting on her cuteness!

 It was raining, so Alice wore her hood. It's hard to hold an umbrella and a toddler's hand at the same time! On the bus, Alice kept saying, "Mommy, I'm excited for Grace's party!"

 We got to the school in time to help Grace get her cape on, then they had a parade. I think Grace was a little overwhelmed by it all.

 Things were a little calmer back in the classroom. We followed Grace to each of the centers. First was playdoh and Halloween books. I even got to read one!

 Then pumpkin painting. Alice just had to watch because they didn't have enough.

 Then they decided they DID have enough! She loved it!

She may have gotten paint on her dress, apron, and hair.

 Then body painting.

 The next center was snacks. Grace LOVED the witch fingers made from carrots and olives. She kept asking for more and more olives!

 Alice liked the rice crispy treat ghost.

 Spooky ghost banana!

 Then Grace did "pin the nose on the pumpkin".

 Arm art.

 She also made a mask.

 Then they got to play on the playground before taking a class picture. Grace and her friend Ellie.

 Alice sat away from the group to stay out of the class picture.

Grace's class in costume.

Then we walked back to the bus stop. Alice is doing better with holding hands, especially with Grace. We were all worn out when we got home, so we had a lazy afternoon.

 Alice was cuddly when Paul got her up from her nap.

 Then we put our pumpkins out. We didn't do it sooner since we have so many squirrels and raccoons around here. The girls were in their pajamas between costume events.

 We ate pizza while watching Scooby Doo, then Paul took the girls trick-or-treating around the complex.

 I stayed home to pass out candy. The girls only lasted half an hour or so, and were in bed before 7! Paul and I watched some Alfred Hitchcock and Twilight Zone episodes, and ended the evening with Nightmare at 20,000 Feet (the Twilight Zone episode starring William Shatner where he sees a gremlin on the wing of the plane). Classic!

 On Thursday, it rained a lot. Our pumpkins grew mold quickly.

 Pretty gross. I went to the doctor that morning and scheduled my induction for Tuesday morning!

 I made homemade butternut squash soup for dinner.

 It was a hit!

 Then the girls took a bath, and we put away the Halloween decorations. Of course Daddy's cowboy hat needed to be worn one last time.

 Or two.

 We put up our few Thanksgiving decorations, had a daddy/daughters wrestling party, read books, and put the girls to bed. Paul and I had a nice talk that evening in the midst of on-and-off contractions.

 On Friday, Paul put me on bedrest due to the contractions I'd been having, and because our friend had an emergency c-section in the middle of the night. Scary! I watched a lot of TV, folded laundry etc., while Paul did tons of homework, took Grace to/from school, and did the heavy lifting of the laundry. Both girls were getting sick, Grace with a sore throat and hoarse voice, and Alice with a runny nose and cough. We watched Jungle Book 2 that evening.

 On Saturday, Paul got up early to do homework. He's been working super hard this week to get ahead before the baby comes. When the girls woke up still sick, we had cocoa and toast for breakfast.

 Alice has been sucking/chewing on her fingers and hands all week. Gross.

 Cute little sicky.

 We wanted to get a lot of housework and organizing done before the baby and visitors come. I hadn't had contractions in a while, and Paul had his homework all scheduled so that he could take some time out to help, so we went for it. We spent the morning upstairs cleaning and reorganizing and rearranging everything up there. The girls (especially Grace) were such good helpers that we took them to get Happy Meals for lunch, even though we had to get past the protesters outside of McDonald's!

 Grace and I kept cleaning in the afternoon while Alice napped and Paul did homework, then we all got back to work on the downstairs. The girls loved helping wash the glass door! Paul cleaned the kitchen while the rest of us ate dinner (he was fasting), then he bathed the girls. We had an extra hour due to Daylight Savings, so we made Thanksgiving figures out of toilet paper rolls, played and read with the girls, and put them to bed. Paul and I read Dad's personal history of 2007.

 Here's me, the day before my due date. Huge!

Today, Alice was as sick as ever. I had a lot of cramping in the night, so I decided to stay home with her. She cried for about 2 hours straight this morning! Paul and Grace went to church, and Alice is finally down for a nap. Mom comes tomorrow, and then Charlie on Tuesday! Yay!

Alice quoting "Five Little Pumpkins".