All Aboard the Birthday Express!

Some might be thinking "Wasn't Cole born in December?" Yep, we received a huge "lump of Cole" for Christmas (almost 9 pounds!). Last year, no one could come to his party due to lots of Christmas party commitments. I never intended to have a Christmas baby--My friend has a refrigerator magnet that says "We plan, God laughs." That is exactly what happened. I feel bad for Cole to have his birthday so close to Christmas, so we decided to celebrate a month early. (I'll post some baby pics on the actual day, Dec 16, like I did with Alyssa's birthday.)

Cole's party invitation I created.
A couple of people asked what he is holding. It is a wooden train whistle. We had one when I was a kid. I think they are so fun, so we got them to give out as party favors.

He was pouting a little when I was taking his pictures. He wanted to "drive" the train, but was a little intimidated of how big the train was when I stuck him up there.

I love this one.

The cake.
I almost didn't make it. I kept thinking cupcakes would be easier. I am glad I did make it though and it turned out not to be too hard or time consuming. Cole absolutely loved it and it was a great way to use up some Halloween candy.
This morning, Cole came and woke me up and said "Mom, here I am. People ate my train cake."

With lots of help from the other kids, he tore through all the presents so fast. I had a hard time keeping track of who gave what. Its hard to manage that when you are behind the camera. It was a great party though. We had lots of family and lots of yummy food. Big Thanks to all who came. He is having so much fun today, playing with all his gifts and talking about his choo choo train birthday. We sure love our "lump of Cole", even though he came different than when we planned. He has the funnest personality and is a great addition to our little family. I can't believe he is 3, well, almost 3.

Halloween Fun

Trick or Treat

Scarecrow-Cole Makai
I made his costume without a pattern. I was happy with how it turned out, and even more happy that he wore it. I was kinda worried, because as I was sewing it and needed him to try it on, he would kick and scream. Once he had his pumpkin bucket in hand and knew he was going to get candy, he was okay with wearing it. (I made sure to have soft fabric under the straw so it wouldn't itch)

Dorothy-Alyssa Joelle
We got this dress in a bag of hand-me-downs. I found her ruby slippers at Target and Alyssa had to have her hair colored brown. I found a wig, but I think they are itchy and don't usually look that good. I got some color at Sally's that they promised would wash out. (She was a blonde again at church, so it did wash out-Phew!) We already had the dog and found the basket for $1. I was happy to have such cute costumes for such little money spent-yeah!

I just thought Cole was so cute and so did everyone we ran into. My kids totally won the Costume contest BTW-Yeah! Truth said, there wasn't a costume contest anywhere we went, but had there been, My kiddos would have taken home the prize. We rented the movie Wizzard of Oz for the kids to see, so they would understand who they were for Halloween. They have watched it several times and love it.

The fire truck came to our Trunk or Treat. Cole was thrilled.

Mark worked Halloween night, so I wore my witch outfit. Can't you imagine Mark in this pic as the tin man???

The Hitz Grandkids. Cole, Alyssa holding baby Creed and Bridger.

Alyssa thought Grandma Rhodehouse's landscaping looked like the yellow brick road.

The Taylor Grandkids get to Trick or Treat with Grandma Sherrey every year at Melaleuca.

Cole Makai, Paige, Cole Richard, Bailee holding Crew, Alyssa, Jordan, and Elly.

Sitting in the mail room, where Grandma works, checking out their loot.

Friday night, we had Alyssa's school carnival. I really wanted Mark to be the tin man, but he wasn't feeling it. I had it all planned out. I was going to put dryer vent hoses on his arms and legs and tie a funnel to his head, paint his face silver.....we ended up borrowing jailbird costumes from my parents. Mark was happy there was a costume plan B.

Feeding the elephant.

Alyssa had a Halloween party at school on Wednesday. They weren't' allowed to wear their costumes, so the night before I whipped up this Halloween shirt so she'd have something festive to wear. I used some left over fabric scraps to shape into a witch's hat with that sew-able iron on facing and zig-zagged around the edge. It turned out pretty cute.

The kids had fun and got tons of candy. So much, that Alyssa stayed home from school today with a sore throat. I tried to limit how much they ate, but as fast as it goes into their trick or treat bags, they sneak as many pieces into their mouth as they can. We didn't carve pumpkins this year, I was hoping the kids wouldn't realize, but Alyssa just brought our pumpkin inside and wants to carve it. Darn.