Claire's first haircut

Claire's first haircut was actually back in October, but I never had the chance to get the pictures off of my dad's camera until now. Wow, time flies! Claire was sporting a mini curly mullet, so we decided that it was time to take her to the family barber - my mom. Her hair only seems to grow in the back. The front never grows at all, and the sides are wispy. So, we evened out the the back and put some more layers in so that it would be a little bit curlier.

Claire was a champ! She sat still the whole time and didn't say a peep. I will really miss her curls if she eventually grows out of them.

For some reason, I didn't get a picture of the finished product right after the haircut. This picture is from before church the next week. This is a rare picture of her smiling, so cute.

The end of the season

Andrew's first soccer season has come to a close. Although, we were happy about getting some time on Saturday back, Andrew was not happy about the season ending. He thinks it should keep on going year round. I asked if he was looking forward to playing T-ball in the spring, he said, "no, I just want to keep playing soccer". His last game was cold and muddy which was fun for the boys, but not the spectators.

Andrew learned a lot about soccer and improved a lot this season. He started taking initiative and running to the ball rather than waiting for it to come to him.

In this last game, he almost scored! The picture above shows the ball that he kicked crossing in front of the goal. It missed by inches.

At the team party, the coaches cut apart the banner and gave each child the soccer ball with their name around it as a souvenir. They all thought that was really cool.

Even though he doesn't look like it here, this trophy was the highlight of his month. He thinks this is so cool. We could not have asked for better coaches as they were so patient with the kids and really tried to teach them the game. The trophy is currently sitting on our mantel where I'm sure Andrew would like to keep it permanently.

Halloween

We had a really fun Halloween this year. It started with two parties - on one the 24th and one on the 29th. There different friends at each party. The best part was that Andrew got to wear his costume more than just once!

I made these Frankenstein marshmallows for the party on the 29th as well as for my book club. We read Frankenstein this month so I was looking for something to fit the theme. They ended up tasting really good and the kids loved them. This is a keeper recipe!

On Friday night Andrew carved his pumpkin. He did a lot of it by himself. It is hard to let him just start sawing into a pumpkin without wanting to do it for him, but he was really careful.

I just had to post this picture, because this is the type of picture I usually get with Claire. It really made me laugh when I saw it. She is trying really hard to be unhappy, but she really liked her costume, so the frown didn't last long.

She wouldn't stand up for a picture, but I got a sitting one.

The Bumblebee transformer was Andrew's third choice this year. He had a hard time deciding. Also in the running were Jango Fett and Batman. He kept telling me that he couldn't smile in the mask. After we went to the party at the church, we did some trick or treating in the neighborhood. I also took him to his soccer coach's house where they had a haunted house in their garage. He was afraid to go in at first, but was eventually persuaded. From then on it was fun to scare the other kids coming through.

So I made a costume error. Danny's mom bought these wings for Claire a couple of months ago. That is where I got the idea for the fairy costume. About halfway through the party at the church, Danny asked where the wings were. Somehow I totally forgot them!! By the time we got home Claire was too tired to take any more pictures, so I couldn't get a picture with the wings. So after church yesterday, I made her put the whole costume back on with the wings. The picture is above and she is so cute.