We were lucky enough to have Spencer's mom come and visit in mid-October. She helped us kick off our 13 Nights of Halloween festivities with a super-fun (and suuuuper-cold) trip to Schaake's pumpkin patch. It's a fabulous free local pumpkin patch that we go to every year and just adore. (for previous years' How Tall This Fall pictures, go here)
Ezra (just under 6)
An uncooperative Georgia (nearly 4.5) and Daddy (29)
Scarlett (just under 3)
Oak's very first pumpkin patch experience (4.5 months) and Mommy (26)
Ezra showing us how tricky he is
Grandma Lifferth with the mowglis enjoying the hayride down to pick pumpkins
Scarlett in the fields
Playing in the hay-bale maze
Our attempt at a hayride self-portrait
A much warmer, cozier, happier post-trip baby
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On the 23rd we celebrated Ezra's 6th Birthday. It was a day filled with the typical Ezra-esq ups and downs. Regardless, we're so very, very happy he's part of our family.
(warning: in all of these pictures he's in his post-church comfy clothes. I promise I don't normally allow my children to wear such horrendously ill-matched clothing.)
Showin' off the loot
Ezra with his minions
Opening the much-anticipated Star Wars Legos
(Thanks MiMi and Grandad!)
Happy Ezra pre-cake ruination
Unhappy Ezra post-cake ruination
Happy 6th Birthday, Ezra Emil!
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On October 28th Miss Scarlett turned the big 0-3! yay! yay! for an end to the terrible twos! We're so very grateful for the sunshine she brings into our home.
Happy as a clam
Showing off her first present of the day, her chihuahua named Ji-la
(it came in the cutest little purple and leopard print purse for easy toting)
Thanks Auntie Stephie and Fam!
Every girl needs a proper twirly skirt
Thanks Auntie Libby and Fam!
Let's hope those kisses keep missing
Thanks Grandma and Grandpa!
Happy 3rd Birthday, Scarlett Caroline!
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The Sunday before Halloween was filled with all sorts of festivities like pumpkin carving and hand-carved jack-o-lantern jello (made by my fabulous husband :). Spencer had a scout meeting that night, so I was on my own for carving. 4 small beasts + one parent + 3 pumpkins + knives + gobs of seedy stringy goop = an interesting evening.
How cute is my husband? He seriously decided to do this all on his own. He made orange jello, let it set up, carved it out, squirted hand-mixed dark jello in with a syringe, and set it up again.
ps-if I look tired it's because I had been up well past 1:00am working on costumes and with a night owl of a baby for many a night that week.
Pumpkin carving is obviously another nuddy-pants activity at the Lifferth household.
Look Ma! No Hands!
Don't let Georgia fool you. She actually refused to put her hand in the pumpkin lest her fingers get icky.
(can't say I blame her. I'm the type who wouldn't put my hand in the pumpkin either if given the choice. Being the mother, however, I don't get a choice.)
A tiny pumpkin for a tiny girl
I should've gotten a final shot, but in the craziness of single parenthood it got missed. In place of any artistic ability, I just let my kids draw their own scribbles...errr...faces and carved whatever they drew. It made for some...interesting...jack-o-lanterns.
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And now, of course, for the grand finale...HALLOWEEN!!! Man, I love me some Halloween goodness. Gotta say I was particularly pleased with how this year's costumes came together.
Spencer and I in front of the "witch's cottage" for trunk-or-treat (get it? the kids picked the candy off of the cottage like in the story). If you look really close you can see the bread trails leading up to car. Considering we threw these costumes together in a mere few hours, I think they turned out none too shoddy.
Toothless the Dragon
from How to Train Your Dragon
Wings in...
...and wings out.
(The Engineer was the great creator of the mechanical wings. Believe it or not, but they actually get bigger then this but Ezra didn't have them fully extended in this picture for some reason.)
Princess Georgia of Kansas
Elbow, elbow, wrist, wrist.
Wipe a tear and blow a kiss.
Little Miss Lady Bug
Now picture this heavy dose of cuteness and throw red sparkly shoes on the bottom.
I know...too adorable for words.
The Green Pig from Angry Birds
As Oak doesn't naturally have any eyebrows to speak of, I had to draw 'em on.
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Phew! Are you as exhausted as I am? unlikely. Regardless, I'm still super-impressed that you made it this far, so GOLD STAR for you!
Have a fabulous day!
11 comments:
You guys take the cake on October creativity. I love seeing all your costumes and activities. I wish I would have walked over to see your minivan at the trunk or treat and seen you guys together with the car. Because that is SO AWESOME!!
I love "The Kiss That Missed" - it's one of my absolute favorite picture books. Need to get it for E's library.
Ezra's costume is pure awesomeness. He's so lucky to have a dad like Spencer. The girl's costumes are lovely. Such pretty girls!
Love the Hansel and Gretel idea. Pure genius.
You are such an awesome momma! Your kids are so cute and happy, you are making life so fun for them. I love the Halloween costumes and the fun birthday presents, yes a twirly skirt is a necessity.
It's all too cute Whitney! I love your crafty, creative approach to the kids costumes, and you and Spencer's costumes too, for that matter!!!
Yay for Fall Festivities! And Halloween!!!
I'm glad I finally got to see the famous Hansel and Gretel costumes since we missed them in person (Addie was sick). They turned out so cute! And the kids costumes are all great. My nephew would be jealous of the angry bird plush toy. He has been begging for one, haha. You are a brave woman for taking on pumpkin carving solo! We'll have to consider taking Addie to that pumpkin patch next year. I love the cute sign you get to pose by!
I'm coming to your house for Halloween! You do such fun things. I love all the costumes. I also LOVE that fall growth chart. How creative! Wish one of our pumpkin patches would have one of those. Great post cousin!
I love love love your uber posts. But by the end I can hardly remember half of the comments I was going to make. So...yay! super cute! It kills me how quickly those kids grow. It's like I saw them a couple months ago but they already look 3 inches taller! But they are adorable.
Oh, and yes, any reason to make a Lifferth occasion pantless is a good one ;)
Hooray!! I too, love your "uber" posts!! Now for the windfall of a comment. An uber post deserves a large comment. Don't you think?? I thought so. ;) I'll start at the top...
True. So true. Your kids are like weeds. I can't even begin to describe the ache over missing them grow. I can't even believe how big they've gotten. I looked back at the previous years to compare and I thought, that's how I remember them, and then I re-looked at this years and was shocked what I've missed!! They've seriously gotten so big!! Adorable pic of Scarli in the patch, btw, and I love Ez's trickiness in the hay bale maze shot. I also, lu-uv the pic of Oak in his carseat. He looks so beautiful in that blue sweater. So sweet.
Hooray for Ezzie's SIXTH birthday!! Can you believe it?! So big. I love all of his fancy posing, btw. ;) I especially loved his face when he saw the Star Wars legos. Classic. And, I still get a kick outta seeing the (before) and (after) shots of the cake experience. If that doesn't sum up cute Ez, I don't know what does. ;)
What a cutie-patootie Scarlie is. I could eat her right up!! I'm glad she had a fun birthday. that is girl is all smiles, giggles, and spunk. Love it. I'm glad she is loving her Ji-la (ick) and what girl doesn't deserve a twirly skirt?!! I'll have to check out The Kiss that Missed. It sounds adorable.
Good ol' Spence indulging the 13 Nights of Halloween and making such a stellar batch of Jell-o. Big props to him. That whole Jell-o making process sounds too complex to me. ;) Bravo to you for tackling all of the carving solo!! Brave girl!! They looked like they had so much fun. Btw...don't your kiddies always carve nudie?? Yep, I thought so. I think I'm going to start calling their aprons loin cloths. ;)
Yay, yay for your pictures of Hansel and Gretel. Priceless. Who wouldn't want to see a clean-shaven, suspender wearin', knee high sportin' Spence?!! you look adorable, of course. I can see why you went down in infamy with this costume. Well done. btw, I love the trails of bread. Hilarious.
The kids' costumes turned out adorable. Bravo and props to you!! I know it was hard work, but they look awesome!! Ezzie's wings are so cool. My boys would be so jealous, Georgie looks like such a beautiful princess. I'm sure she reveled in the make-up that princess must have. ;) Scarlett is as cute as a bug...literally!! I'm sure she couldn't be happier being bathed in red!! I think that Oak's costume is classic. That's a pic you're going have to pull out for decades. Those eyebrows are hysterical. Love it...love all of it!! Love you guys, too!!
That's definitely a marathon post. As always your family is adorable and the Hansel and Gretel costumes turned out super cute, but then you have that artistic eye that just helps with everything. Ezra's wings are awesome too. When I told Carlin what Spencer was doing he thought it was awesome.
And, my kids are always mismatched in their clothing and wearing the oddest things. Today Samuel insisted on taking a walk in his swimsuit (don't worry, he had a shirt and jacket on with it). I've given up the clothing battle.
So fun, I love the jello pumpkin, such a good idea! I also loved all of the costumes, especially Hansel and Gretel! Good job doing the catch up, it takes time but so worth it!
love your posts, especially the ones with all the pics!! you and spence put us mommies and daddies to shame with your creative halloween-ness
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