Sweet Treats, No Tricks

Trick-or-treating this year was so much fun for all of us. Before we went trick-or-treating we had a Halloween-themed dinner with a few neighbor families. Everyone brought Halloween food. We brought hot dog mummies (pigs in a blanket wrapped with long, thin pieces of dough and mustard eyes peeking out). They were a hit. Other people brought: oranges carved into jack-o-lanterns and filled with chopped fruit, eyeball cookies, eyeball punch, and spider cupcakes.

Then we got our costumes on.

Ellie the Bee and Cody the Turtle running around while we get packed up.

This is the gang after we went to one house and got candy. All of a sudden they caught on to the fun and took off running to the next house.

Tons of people gave out full-size candy bars.

Kylee couldn't wait to get to the next house. She had so much fun getting candy.

Our group of trick-or-treaters was more than most of the people had seen trick-or-treating all last year. They loved us!

This is at the bottom of the street. Gradually the kids started slowing down and wearing out. They covered a lot of ground.

On our way back to the house Kylee pooped out on my shoulder. Perfect timing!

We had so much fun. That night we felt very grateful for our great neighbors and friends.

Family Picture Day

Our friends invited us to take family pictures with them today. It is going to be the only sunny day for a few weeks. If we would take a few pictures of them they would make us dinner, buy us ice cream, and take a few pictures of us. We figured that was a pretty good deal.

I like pictures of kids crying. It gives a more accurate depiction of family picture time.

Cody is a good brother. He always takes care of Kylee.

Not only do we look really good in these pictures but dinner and ice cream was amazing as well. We need to make more friends like these.

Friday is Garbage Day!

Garbage Day is a big event around here. Cody and Kylee are standing on a stool with their noses pressed against our bedroom window at 7:30 in the morning waiting for the garbage truck to drive down our street.

It's too dark to tell but I was trying to show you that Kylee is standing on her tippy toes on the stool just to be able to look at the truck coming down the street.

The garbage men here are so nice. They always wave at the kids when they are at the window. It amazes me that they even notice them, let alone wave.

Computer Parts for Steve

Last night Steve opened a shipment of computer parts and started putting them together. I'm glad the camera worked this time. He's so excited to build his own computer!

Cute Despite the Runny Nose

Cody took this picture of Kylee before church a few weeks ago.

Kylee loves to dress up already. Anytime she finds glasses she loves to wear them while she plays. Too bad her little nose was running like crazy.

So I wiped her nose and then took another picture. And this is what I got!

And this is me testing out the camera after pushing buttons and pounding the camera to see if I could get it to work. Nope!

A Spooky Family Home Evening (and I don't mean the cookies)

Last Monday night we decorated ghost and cat cookies for Family Home Evening. Cody and I made the sugar cookies earlier that day and he was SO excited to frost them that he could hardly wait. I guess we never really make sugar cookies...we like the kind with chocolate chips and no decorating needed for instant consumption. As soon as Steve got home and dinner was over we got to work.

Cody wanted red frosting. Steve wanted chocolate. So we had reddish chocolate frosting to compromise. Gross! I wanted plain white frosting (you know, the real color of ghosts!) but I guess that would have been too normal.

Kylee really liked eating the cookies. She was really good at it too.

I told Cody he couldn't lick the knife so that we could keep using it to spread cookies. So for the picture he decided to pose like he was licking it. "Mom, I'm just pretending to lick it."

I kind of like my sugar cookies plain sometimes. But, when the frosting is reddish brown I ALWAYS like my cookies without frosting. Yum!

And then here is the sad moment when the camera went crazy. Now, here's the SpOokY part. Sometimes it will take normal pictures and sometimes the pictures turn out like this. Last night the camera was working again. But then this morning it was doing this weird red fuzz thing again. BUT, the camera still does movies no problem. SPooKy? I think so. And you know what? Now that I think of it. That weird frosting is about the same color as these wacky pictures. The only conclusion is that we have been cursed by the weird frosting.

Should've stuck with white. Should've stuck with white.

R.I.P.

Our camera died today! All I can get are red and white fuzzy pictures! How crummy is that? I guess I'll have to start sketching our memories and then sending them out on weekly mailers until we can save up some money to buy a new camera. So, be checking your mailboxes for the next update. :)

Zoo Boo

Today we went to Zoo Boo (the Halloween festivities at the Zoo) with our friend's the Westover's and had a lot of fun despite the cold, wet weather! The kids wore their costumes, got lots of candy and treats, and watched some scuba divers carve a pumpkin with the fish.

Here is Cody the Turtle and Kylee the Ladybug all bundled in a million layers of clothing and ready for some fun! Cody's shell was on the outside of his coats. The warm clothing always seems to ruin the effect of costumes doesn't it?

After you go through the main entrance you come to the steepest escalator ever! As I have said before: the hills are crazy here! So you either have to take this escalator or an elevator to get from the main entrance to the actual zoo.

While we waited for our friends we rode the escalator because Kylee didn't want to get off.

Inside the Aquarium there is an open tank where you can pet the Sting Rays. Steve and Cody and Kylee were hanging around the tank waiting for a Sting Ray to get close enough so they could touch it. Sometimes they are on top of the water and sometimes they are down in the water and you have to reach down to touch them. Finally, a Sting Ray was swimming at the bottom of the tank right past Cody. Without thinking he quickly reached down into the water to try to touch it and got all 3 of his warm clothing layers soaked up to his elbow. It was pretty funny.

A First For the Whole Cramer Clan

My sister and brother-in-law found out yesterday that they are having a baby boy! Can you imagine the excitement at our house? This is our first cousin/first nephew ever! I get to be an aunt!

P.S. Any ideas for baby boy gifts? I'd love to hear about them! I want to do this aunt thing right :)

She is Definitely Ours Because...

...she likes oatmeal chocolate chip cookies as much as the rest of us!