Happy Halloween!

Two of my Little Superheroes

We just had to try on our costumes to make sure they were ready for tonight.  Add pants, and these are trick-or-treat ready!

I came home from trick-or-treating to find I had taken 65 pictures in 1 hour.

It was a great evening with my Superhero Family!

Superhero Dad lighting the Jack-o-Lantern

My Precious Superheros

Showing off their Superhero Moves

The 3 Bigs

The Three Littles

Such power ...

The Superhero's job is serious stuff.

Sweet R was all into the festivities.  As his bag got full of candy and pretty heavy, I tried to help him carry it, but he refused.  He wanted to carry his bag by himself.

Even Superheros need to recharge their power.

Happy Carving

The Artist at Work

"There's one eye!"

Finished Product

They wanted to take their picture with the pumpkin.

Full as a Tick

R decided to kick back and relax a little after lunch.

Check out that boy's tummy!

Sick

You know it's bad when the medicine box stays out all week.

We have been fighting the colds something fierce.  One child will knock it out just long enough for it to attack another.  Then Mom and Dad get to play too.  It's been rough.

I'm hoping we're done with this battle, and on to better days soon.

Nice Day for a Swing

 R had fun swinging this morning.

He was on the swing while it was still damp with morning dew.

He's such a cutie, but we've really got to work on his "cheese" face.

Kings

King of the Mountain Recliner

Big Boy at the Table

Day by day, meal by meal, R has been growing less fond of his high chair.  He refused to eat this morning until he sat at the table with everyone else.  It's official ... we need a bigger table.

Little Readers at Home

My little readers ....  

You would have thought they posed for this shot, but no, they were just snuggling down with a good book.  They love doing school at home, and I love having them here in our home with me.

Thank you God for such an amazing life.

Jeep Jaunt

 Jeep Jaunt is a fundraiser held annually in Acadiana.

Jeeps meet at Celebrity Theater, then travel to another location.

Since we are at the theater at the same time, we take advantage of the opportunity to show God's love by offering free refreshments.  Each year the kids look forward to the extra excitement.

M helped Dad as he was passing out postcards.

A helped hold the door open.

Day of Rest

And on the 7th day, the Manning family rested.

We're pooped and so thankful for a day of rest!

Buddies

A and E are becoming such good little buddies.

They get to spend at least 3 hours together each morning while I do school with the big girls.  They are either outside in the backyard, or in the playroom.  R is usually around too, but he's still at the age of playing alone.  He's not really into buddies yet.

The other morning, it seemed a little too quiet so I went to investigate.  I didn't find them in the playroom.  They were snuggling in A's bed.

Yuck!

Do you know what your nose does?

Well we do!  We learned all about it today, and I wasn't grossed out until M shocked us with her confession.  After learning that the slimy, sticky substance in our nose helps trap dirt and germs, M piped up.

"Oh wow.  I didn't know that Mom.  I'm never eating my snot again."

Lesson over.

First Night of Footies!

Last night was the first night of the season to wear footie pajamas, except for sweet E.  Potty trained children are not allowed to wear footie pajamas until they can disrobe, potty, and redress unassisted.  Footies are great, until you need to potty.

Brrrr...

It's that time of year.

We're anticipating some cooler weather, 

so we had to drag out our sweaters to see what still fits.

We're ready for a cool breeze!

Transition

 Andy got a promotion at work and started today.

We're really excited about this new opportunity, except for the transition part that's shaking this family up a bit.  Not only is it a new time, which we are thrilled to sleep an hour later, but it's also new days.  So everything is shifting - work, school, chores, laundry, yard work, grocery shopping, errands, etc.  It's a whole new life around here that will take some time to get used to.  Thankfully, my students jumped into the new routine like nothing had changed.  

If only I could handle transition as easily as they do.  

I need to learn a few things from my kiddos.

Mom Son Night

 While Andy was out treating the little girls, I got to spend some time with my little men.  So what can even come close to an evening at Chick-fil-A?  What about a quesadilla Mom/Dad date night leftover quesadilla, way too many cheese puffs, and chocolate milk?  Yes, yes, and yes.  Poor R missed out.  He's young enough to be thrilled with food, any food.

After that yummy dinner, I asked A what he would like to do.  He answered, "Oohh ... vacuum.  Can I vacuum Mom?"  Um, yes, certainly.  So we spent the rest of our time cleaning the house.  I was expecting to watch a movie, or play with good guy-bad guys, or leggos.  But I was stuck cleaning house.  Oh well, it needed to be done anyway.  And it was a lot more fun with my little man.

Daddy Daughter Date Night

A couple weeks ago we heard about Daddy Daughter Date Night sponsored by Chick-fil-A and made reservations for Andy and his four little ladies.  We kept it a surprise and didn't tell the girls about it until they were in the truck, heading to the mall.  

They were super excited!

But after getting to the mall, they were told there was a big miscommunication.  For some reason, the mall had no plans for the event, but Andy had his printed invitation.  The Chick-fil-A manager was so sorry for the confusion, and totally rolled out the red carpet.  First, dinner was on the house.  Chicken, fries, juice, dessert, shakes, whatever they wanted.  Second, prizes were over the top.  Balloons, stuffed animals, Pez dispensers, CD's.  Third, special helpers were needed.  C, M, J and E were escorted behind the counter to watch the shake machine.  They even helped put whipped cream on their peach shakes.  Yum! Yum!  Andy missed out; he had to stay behind with all the loot.

Thanks Chick-fil-A for an over the top experience.

A major mishap turned out to be better than planned.

 

Third Bath

 From R:

Hey Mama.  Can you please give me a bath?  I know, I know.  It's the third bath of the day, and we haven't even had lunch yet.  It's just been a dirty day already, and it's not all my fault.  I didn't mean to dirty my diaper quite that bad.  How was I supposed to know all that was going to come out and run down my legs?  And then ... the grits.  Come on Mom.  You know better than to let J feed me grits.  Bad idea all around.  And now, well I guess I am responsible for the dirty face.  But what did you expect?  You let me go play outside.  So yes, I need yet another bath. 

My Little Ladies