Happy Halloween and more....

This weekend was a typical Kolb family weekend, started with a party and ended with Casa Del Rey~just the way I like it. For about a month, I have been painstakingly planning the 101 Classroom Fall Party. Cupcake decorating, candy corn relaying and eating doughnuts off of strings hanging from the ceiling.... filled our hour together and I do believe all of the children went away having sufficiently celebrated Fall. While on my Saturday morning sojourn to Walmart, I stumbled across a pre-assembled cookie haunted house just waiting to be decorated on the clearance rack. I knew this would be the perfect activity for my crafty-minded daughters and they were thrilled when they laid eyes upon it and wanted to immediately begin the decorating. Ella and Lily each added their personal touches and then soon lost interest as the legos and building blocks were calling their names from the living room....

Grace and her neighborhood bestie, Carly, were more than happy to take the project to completion on their own and were quite pleased with themselves and their masterpiece....

Before we knew it, dusk was upon us and it was time for trick or treating. The girls donned their costumes....

and with their dad in tow, set off in search of the best treats in the neighborhood while I stayed home on candy handing out detail.

Before I knew it, my candy bucket was almost empty and Wonder Women, The Wicked Witch and Dorothy were home with bags laden with the stuff kids' dreams are made of...

Not quite willing to let Halloween come to an end, we hopped into the car and took off for a Halloween party we had been invited to. Now this party was so far out of my comfort zone that I had to resort to telling Mom and Josh that I was going just so I could not back out last minute. The party was being hosted by our school's PTA President. She and her husband have an annual Halloween soiree and this was the first year, we had been extended an invitation. Of course, we had nothing else going on and it would have been rude for us to not attend but I was quite certain we would only know a handful of people and would only know those people just barely. I persevered though and was pleasantly surprised. People didn't point and laugh at me as we walked in, nor did they ignore me or act as if I didn't belong. After a few awkward moments of Jason and I discussing, under our breath, where we wanted to plant ourselves, we found an open spot in the living room and before we knew it, were involved in conversations with other party goers~just like grown-ups. It was so exciting. After a couple hours and a few blue yummys, it was time to take our very tired children and tuck them into their beds. I was very pleased at myself for going to the party and had a good time. One of these days, I'm going to be able to accept an invitation like that without one moment of hesitation and I will finally be a real live adult.

Sunday morning came an hour late which was great and after a leisurely morning and a delicious lunch of grilled steak, compliments of Chef Jason, we were off to Mass. Casa Del Rey was on the radar for supper but since it was a little early for eating again, we headed home after church to watch the Vikings rule over the Packers. Finally, it was the moment I had been waiting for all week~original chimichanga with mole sauce on top and sour cream on the side time. It has been a couple of weeks since we have graced the fine folks at Casa with our presence and I figured we better show our faces so they didn't worry about their favorite customers. We were met with a hearty, "Hey guys, where have you been lately?" and I knew we had made the right decision. Chips and salsa and chimichangas~this was my best Halloween treat, hands down!

Now on to the week we have all been counting down to....wedding week. Saturday is Kristin's wedding and we couldn't be more excited. Ella and Lily are first time wedding participants and have been practicing their smiles and walks for weeks now. Grace and I are old wedding pros and haven't needed any practice but are no less excited than the first timers. Nails needed to be painted, the gift needs to be wrapped, hair needs to be coiffed and we will be ready to rock! Saturday can't come soon enough!

Pumpkin carving fun....

Last night it was time for our annual pumpkin carving extravaganza. Of course being the top notch mother I am, I waited until Sunday to let the girls choose the canvases for their masterpieces. Waiting until the last minute for this all important choice caused me to come to two different conclusions:

a. We spent much less time picking through piles and piles of orange orbs searching for the perfect size, shape and color

b. We ended up with three relatively Charlie Brown type pumpkins.

Either way, the pumpkin selection portion of the event out of the way paved the way for the big night.

Here are the girls posing with their final selections....

With the pumpkin carver extraordinaire at the helm...

the carving commenced. As the girls dug into the gooey, slimy innards I saw the gamut of emotions flickering across their pretty little faces. There was intense determination....

immense satisfaction....

outright glee...

and mild disgust.

As Jason began the intricate process of carving, Grace and Ella manhandled the yuckiness.

and Lily and Ella marvelled at their dad's talented way with a knife.

Of course, Lily, our comic in training, had to goof around a little bit...

I wonder where she gets it from????

At last the work was over and the masterpieces were unveiled....

The girls were happy with the final results and are not excitedly looking forward to their Friday Fall parties at school and the main event on Saturday.

Weekend fun, again....

There are not many certainties in life but I did discover one on Friday. If your weekend begins with your husband getting home from work early and a supper of scrumptious, lip smacking, wondrous Jake's Pizza, it is certain it's going to be a great one! Another trek to good ol' Minnesota was in store and we were ready. Arriving in STJ at suppertime we had the difficult decision of Subway, McDonald's or Jakes for supper. Hmmmm....tough choice. Unbelievable how great that pizza is. Someone should open up and store and sell it~it's that good! After supper and some riveting conversation with Mom and Dad, we went to bed and promptly fell into a pizza coma, only to awaken Saturday morning and fall head first into a big pile of heavenly Schmidt's doughnuts. It occurred to me that it would be dangerous to my health if I lived in St. James. It would be a strict diet of Jakes and Schmidts and it wouldn't be good.

Anyway, after our uber-healthy breakfast, we hopped in the Expedition and were Chanhassen bound. As soon as we walked into Jeremy and Sheila's house, it was time to eat again. (Yes, eating and playing games is pretty much all we do.) Since we were so near the Mall of America, Jason and I thought it would be fun to take the girls to the American Girl store. Lily opted out of the trip because as you may remember, "shopping makes me feel like I'm going to a funeral" and decided it would be more fun to stay back and play. Off Jason, Grace, Ella and I went and remarkably we found our destination with absolutely no problems at all. As Grace meandered around the store checking things out, Ella forlornly looked out the window silently wishing she were in Nickelodeon Universe instead. So close yet so far away! Discovering there was an escalator in the store perked Ella up and we checked out the second level....
Ella thought this cowboy hat was pretty sweet.
And Grace located the doll that she has been coveting in the catalog.
They both posed in front of the wheelchair and crutch set they both think would be awesome to have~for their babies, not themselves.
It was time to exit American Girl with empty hands but heads full of wishes and stumbled upon Ella's favorite store in the whole world, Claire's. Grace tried on a pair of sunglasses that she thought might amp up her street cred a little while Ella checked out all the fine jewels.We made it back to Jeremy and Sheila's as easily as we found the mall. This is quite an accomplishment for Jason and I and I think we kind of impressed everyone with our directional and navigational prowess. Hold your applause. We had a some time for a few rousing rounds of Sequence and then it was time to head to "Pump It Up" for the main reason for our trip, Emma's 6th birthday party. The kids all had an awesome time....

but I think the adults may have had even more fun....

Lily happily bounced from slide to basketball court to obstacle course...

to Uncle Joshy.

It was then time for Josh to bid us all a fond adieu.

And then after a quick glamour shot for Jason and I....

we proceeded into the party room to celebrate the birth of Princess Emma.

We enjoyed yummy pizza and cake....

and snapped photos of everyone on the huge inflatable throne.

Overall, it was a weekend fit for a king or a queen!

Happy Birthday Emma! Thanks for inviting us up to celebrate with you and thanks for being born. We love you.