As our family prepared for a spooky Halloween night, we shared with friends at the gym with a Dia De Los Muertes themed practice followed by a Trunk -or-Treat party. The girls looked amazing and the trunk or treat was a nice way to practice for Halloween!
Halloween night brought not only a full moon, but a silly Captain Hook Pirate and a mesmerizing Fortune Teller...
Our good friend came over to trick-or-treat with us... and the girls tried their best to be "creepy".
Daddy helped to chaperon the festivities and tried to reach the Candy GOAL of 500 pieces by night's end.
The loot at the end of the night... the Fortune Teller, Princess, & Pirate reached their goal! They actually came home with 528 pieces in all!
This was definitely the best treat of the night though! Or was it a trick?
Cashlin and Rebel have been working on their wicked gymnastics skills- Rebel with his remarkable handstand while watching Jake and the Never Land Pirates and Cashlin with her fancy "press to handstand"- both showing off their amazing strength.
Incredible!!
Cashy has officially lost tooth #2 and she was a beast! She asked Daddy to help pull it out and they found success! The Tooth Fairy left $5 whole dollars for that itty bitty tooth!! Cashlin was quite excited to use her cute "baby dragon" tooth holder that she received when she was a baby.
Rebel has begun potty training... oye vey! His Mickey Mouse and Jake undies are a big hit, but he's pretty set on continuing to play, even if he has to go potty. Boo! Just tonight Daddy and I dangled a Captain Hook- hook hand and toy sword for potty rewards- he's definitely focused now! :)
Finally, we welcomed a new football season ringing in the year with Texans support of J.J. Watt, a shaving cream race car track and a series of gorgeous days that allowed us to play outside with our good friends.
Our wild boy- running free... love this silly boy!!
Cashlin and Rebel were graced with the time to meet, enjoy, and love their Great- Grandfather. All of our trips to the Blueberry Farm and his house in upstate NY were memories that I not only hold dear, but I am so thankful that our children now have a chance to cherish that place in the same ways I did. Cashlin already holds treasured memories of her times there, and we have many pictures of Great Grandpa and Rebel sharing sweet moments too.
On the 24th of July, 2015 our beloved Grandpa the Great passed away, his loss unexpected as it was, was also an inevitable event... he was 98 and a half (he deserves that half year) after all. We celebrated his incredible life (I can only hope to live it half as full as he did) and his eternal love of Bills Football (as evidenced by the divine intervention ruling on Tom Brady after Grandpa died). :)
We considered permanently postponing this blog feed after his death because it was originally crafted for his enjoyment and to update him since he was so many miles away; then we realized that the love and spirit that is shared through these silly children's adventures on this blog has, like his love, rippled out to many, many friends and family who touch base and check in through the posts.
So... this blog is a shout out to Grandpa- The Great and a huge thank you for being an amazing influence to me, Lee, Cashlin, and Rebel. We certainly hope that he continues to visit all of us in his new butterfly form- as Cashlin says "when I see a butterfly I know it's Great Grandpa saying hi".
July has been a super snazzy month so far- lots of new learning going on! Cash and Rebby learned how to change the oil in the car. Cash temporarily changed her vocation to a mechanic... then reconsidered the amount of dirt on her hands and went back to her original choice of a doctor. :)
Rebel learned how to be a good helper at the grocery store. What Daddy and I realized when we checked out is that neither of us actually had orange peppers on the list, so basically, Reb just helped himself...Peter Piper style.
Rebel also learned to conquer his dog fear. He and Bella are great friends now. She watches over him and he loves on her. He feeds her daily too... maybe that's why she loves him SO much!
Cashlin learned her best skill of all... a nocturnal bat pose. We studies about bats recently and she also wanted to infuse her new love of YOGA! :) She's been going to yoga classes this summer (in between gymnastics of course) and she just loves it- besides I think it will be good for her to relax a bit!
Last week Cashlin had a momentous occasion- she lost her first tooth! It was less traumatic then she anticipated- although the unexpected was equally as scary! She pulled it herself!
The Tooth Fairy also pays good money these days... maybe the $20 he left was a down payment for the next 10 teeth.
The best part was that she lost the tooth with her good friends near by, so we've learned that a support system is KEY! :)
Rebby had some firsts too- he's pretty car crazy, so he practiced some driving with the golf cart...
only before we found him under Daddy's 'fast car'. He was "fixing" the undercarriage- resulting in a very happy, but very, very greasy and dirty boy.
After a bath and some good scrubbing, he found that our newest family member- Bella the German Shepherd, is really a protective and sweet friend who LOVES bubbles too!
Lessons Learned this week:
1) Having friends around help to alleviate all extra drama
2) Engine grease is difficult to get off tiny hands and faces with baby wipes (opt for a bath instead)
This week has been a tremendous week of growth for our little munchkins (and it's only Saturday)!
Sunday we celebrated our friend's birthday in crawfish style and Cashy and Rebel tried the mudbugs for the first time! Cashlin was hooked, Rebel not so much- he more preferred to play with his buddy; but Cashlin also found the peeling process to be equally as intriguing. Luckily, we were able to bring extra "bugs" home and she got lots of extra practice towards perfecting her peeling abilities.
On Monday Cashlin came downstairs saying "it feels like there's a weird tooth in my mouth" and as I looked in there...low and behold- an adult tooth is creeping in and a little baby tooth is quite wiggly!
Then, on Thursday at gymnastics, she mastered her round off back handspring and beam walkover (all in one day!). She's doing so well and all the hours she spends at the gym are resulting in so much success, strength, and confidence.
(Cashlin with her TOPS team members- she's on the far right)
Saturday has arrived, and in a break of rainfall, Cashlin and Daddy decided to venture out and give bike riding (without training wheels) a try... Daddy timed her training wheels riding to solo riding at just over 4 minutes.
Meanwhile, Rebby practiced his counting skills with the pile of change he found in a parking lot (he's the second child you can tell).
