Halloween 2019 {2 Carebears, 1 Wonder Woman, and Mario + Luigi}

Our first Halloween in our new town brought a lot of SNOW with it.  To go out and trick-or-treat, my kids had on leggings/long underwear, sweats, t-shirts, sweatshirts, and then their fleece zip up PJ costumes + hats and gloves.  Can someone now tell me I'm a genius for suggesting the children buy fleece PJ costumes for Halloween this year so that they could be warm for once!?  Not a single one of them complained of cold!  One point = mom.

Grandma Num and Papa Curtis came up to spend the evening with us and they kept the littlest Cheer Bear at the house with them while Mike and I took the kids to the square for the Halloween parade.  It was a lot of fun and a solid hour of walking and treats, ending in the mall with movie theater popcorn bags for a treat!  We really enjoyed seeing all the costumes out and about.  It was cold but there was no wind and we weren't miserable, which was nice.  We also got to keep moving, so that was nice - no standing and waiting.

After the Halloween Parade we came back to the house for soup, hot dogs, veggies/fruits, and to have a potty break before round two.  I bowed out of round two (remember, I did Halloween SOLO for 2 days in a row last year!), and Mike stepped up to the plate).  He and his cousin took the kids to a trunk or treat at a church, out to visit a friend of ours, and then on foot to a few door to door houses!  They sure made a whole night of it!  Evie stayed in and toasty with Grandma, Papa, and Mommy.

{my Cheer Bears}

No matter how hard I tried I could not find fleece zip up Luigi PJs, but that little boy was layered all up under his costume - and don't tell him it's not PJs - he's been sleeping in it!

Zayden was not a fan of his mustache but he humored me for a picture.

Sigh - I had big plans to be a fun mom and be a Care Bear, too.  But since our little Care Bear didn't go out I felt kinda silly.  Oh well - fun for a picture.  Natalee was bummed to not take her little mini along, too, but it just wasn't worth it for a little baby who would rather be at home.

Even though she didn't trick-or-treat, this little Cheer Bear sure did humor her mama and take cute cute pictures.  For your viewing pleasure...

Isn't she a sweet little bear?

{while the kids were out...}

Happy Halloween from the Beeler bunch!

Sweet Ev

October 18th

October 20th

October 21st

October 28th

Snow! in October

Toooo early for snow!  Despite mom's dismay, though, this crew was excited to see a white ground this morning. 

Evalynn viewed the snow from the window.

We shall see if the kids are still excited about snow after about 4 months of it, but for today they played hard and were tickled.

We're missing our little sledding hill from Missouri, and mom's too nervous to really let them use this front hill (hello sleds in the street!) but we'll find a new hill soon, I'm sure.

They came in rosy cheeked and dripping snow everywhere.  And so the season begins...

2 Months Old {Evalynn Nancy}

Miss Evie pants is 2 months old today!

This little Evalynn is about the sweetest as sugar baby you'll ever meet.

She loves to smile, coo, and make eye contact.

Her favorite song is What a Wonderful World.

I got every one of the smiles for today's pictures by singing it to her.

She's been finding her hands and is starting to be able to hold toys.  

She hasn't rolled yet, but she could if she wanted.  She's closer to rolling from her back to her front than the other way.

Evie's eyes and eyebrows are so expressive.

We call her beautiful, beautiful girl, Fancy Nancy, Sugar, and Puddin.

She's adaptable, but let's her needs be known.  When she's really upset, she likes mommy best.

Evalynn does not like dirty diapers, she loves to be naked, and she really enjoys bath time.

She's a little reflux-y/gaggy but we're handling it okay so far.

She's getting round (hello chins!).

She loves to look around, has seen her first snow (today!), and enjoys being outside.  Everyone always wants to hold her.

Evalynn Nancy is a bright light in our family, and we are so thankful for her.

School Days

School is off and running and we have almost a solid month under our belts.

Ameliya is working through her Sing-Spell-Read-and-Write language arts curriculum.  She loves it "more than math" she says, I suspect because there are more opportunities for drawing, cutting, gluing, and art.  She's also really excited to learn to read.

While we were playing her pick a sound from the merry-go-round game, Natalee babysat Evalynn for me.

The big kids have started doing their assigned Bible reading together the last few days so that they can talk about it and share the reading.  This warms me allll up inside.

I've also been having them read their stories aloud to me that go with their reading curriculum.

We backed up to do a few review lessons in our math curriculum, so they are going quickly.

Zayden is working on colors, shapes, numbers, letters, and following directions.

Zayden has also taken up the challenge of 1000 Books Before Kindergarten, which is a program our new library sets forth.  He's constantly asking for books to be read to him so he can color in his chart and I think it's the cutest thing ever.

Speaking of our new library, we are enjoying it so very much.

We've had the max number of books allowed on our card the last two check outs, and last week we showed Daddy the library, and let the youngest kids try out the ABC Mouse computer (since I remembered head phones from home!), while the oldest two played a game from the game shelf.
In addition to loads and loads of books, the library has audio books, DVDs, and lots of inviting things to do that say, "come, stay awhile."

Our school days are settling into as much of a routine as you can get with a newborn.  We enjoy having Dad home at lunch and right after work - it takes a lot of load off of me to just have his support, presence, and help.