Halloween 2010: A Party, A Princess and One Lucky Duck

Halloween kicked off yesterday with an old-fashioned party at the Eakins. Pumpkin carving, donut eating, sack racing, apple bobbing--they had it all!

Here's the apple bobbing: Tyler H., Lily, Tyler E. and Maddie go at it!

And the donut eating contest, a crowd favorite:

First things first: Maddie and Dada got to work on Maddie's pumpkin. The main requests were a "really, really, REALLY big smile and eyebrows." Maddie was a super helper with scooping out all the gunk.

The Eakin boys jumped together for quick brother shot:

Even Sam got in on the pumpkin carving (with a look of consternation because I wouldn't let him play with the carving tools).

Every time I turned around, Sam was holding a different snack. Here he is munching on a chocolate-dipped pretzel "finger."

All along we had planned to send Sam out as Justin Beiber for Halloween, I mean, look at the kid's hair. It's perfect! But a few days ago our friends told us about a very cute Donald Duck costume. When they handed it off at church today, I just couldn't resist.

Here's Sam checking himself out in the mirror:

Maddie and Sam in front of their pumpkins:

Best buddies Maddie and Nicole, at it again:

Maddie says to Nicole, "Hey Nicoley, let's laugh really hard, okay?" Here's mid-laugh:

And then there was our little ducky, who just stole the evening with his cheery disposition, fists full of candy, and waddling booty. Hilarious.

We ended up hitting a lot of houses, much more than I planned on. The kids were troopers! Even Miss Maddie, with her "glass slippers" managed to walk many, many blocks. It wasn't until the end that she let us help her out.

Enjoying his fourth (!) and final candy of the night.

I was kind of a scrooge about Halloween this year. I'm not a big fan of commercialism, feeding my kids full of sugar, or supporting the child trafficking trade by consuming so much chocolate. I really wanted to boycott Halloween. But looking back on tonight's pictures, it's pretty hard to top the sweetness and cuteness of a princess and her ducky walking down the sidewalk, happy and full of joy.

Sabbath Adventures: A Hike in Las Trampas

We spent our Sabbath morning hiking as a family in Las Trampas. Maddie woke up in one of her famous (or should I say infamous) moods, so we weren't sure if she would be up for it. But Maddie made it up the mountain with just a teensy bit of grumbling and pouting, putting all that energy to good use!

At the top (or really, half way up) we took a turn and checked out the ponds. Sam found some sticks perfect for throwing in the water.

And when I stooped down to snap a picture of his extreme cuteness, he was off:

We found Maddie and Dada hard at work building a house out of adult-sized lincoln logs (old fence posts tossed in a pile). The kids were WAY into it:

And just like that, the mood was lifted! Hooray for outside creative time!

Maddie and Sam worked hard together:

When to my right, I noticed the slightest movement and was surprised to find this little guy, popping up and down as we played not a few feet away.

Maddie was especially tickled by his cuteness and realllly wanted to hold him.

As tickled as we were by HER cuteness (look at that face!), we said no. Those were some nasty, sharp teeth.

Just to show you how close we were:

After saying goodbye to "Silly" the gopher (named by Maddie), we headed back down the hill. Big sis wasn't thrilled about posing, but the fellas got a good shot in front of Mt. Diablo:

We hiked back down, throwing rocks (Sam) and finding treasures (Maddie) along the way. It is hard to top the views from Las Trampas. A beautiful Fall day, perfect for a hike, and a fun morning for the Joyce Fam!

feels like I'm falling for Fall

Maddie watching Mary Poppins for the first time

I needed today

Yesterday was one of my roughest days EVER as a mom. Let's just say it included the following: sassy sauce, longest (sobbing) time out in the history of consequences, brother-hitting, persistence and then some, no nap, house guests, soul-searching, more sobbing and exhaustion.

But today? Today was good. Today was like a deep, soul-cleansing sigh.

This one was helpful and kind and playful and sweet:

This one was full of laughter and life (and drool):

We played outside.

We drew with sidewalk chalk on the driveway.

Me: Maddie, what are you drawing?

Maddie: a potato with legs!

We collected berries and sticks.

We threw pebbles off the bridge into the stream below.

We talked. We laughed. We hugged.

It was a very good day.

*Thanks, God.

pretty little things

Thing one:

Thing two:

Thing one and Thing two!

And speaking of pretty little things, isn't this the sweetest little package?

I found Trish's shop through Blessed Little Nest last week during their big giveaway.

(Mel's goods were part of the giveaway!)

Anyway, when I saw these little blue beauties I just had to have them!

Best part: 10% of the profits go to the homeless! Maddie is so glad!

(Speaking of Thing one, I wish I had a picture of the darling peach box wrapped in its robin's egg blue satin ribbon, but shortly after I tore through the packaging, Maddie had run off with the ribbon, for some project, I'm sure!)

And as a special bonus, Trish threw in a few handmade hair ties because I found her through the giveaway.

Check out Trish and all the other amazing shops on etsy. What a great way to shop for Christmas. Hooray for pretty little things!

impromptu dessert trip downtown

Dada & Sam

double-spooning it, as fast as he could go

pumpkin fro-yo

happy girl

lights

classic yearbook shot: peeking around the corner of a pole

happy and full of sugar!

anyone out there know where we went?

three scenes from the park

Maddie

Roses

Sam

P.S. Dear 50mm lens, it's been too long since you and I had a rendezvous in the park. Mmm. Thanks for the fun times.

10 on 10: Special 10/10/10 Edition!

Maddie and Sam playing "night night" on the living room floor

butternut squash, ready for a recipe

helping Dada collect seed pods

Dang it feels good to be a gangsta

little bunny Kayla

T & T workin' the stage

Maddie (aka Surfer Ty) joins the dance party

Gregg's not above breaking out the sprinkler, donning bunny ears

Ty breaking it down (photo by Kelly)

Suz with my little man (photo by Kelly)

Praise the Lord for good friends to pass a Sunday afternoon!