Halloween

As you can see from the above picture, Seamus, aptly, was a little cow for Halloween and Ava was a ballerina. Beth and Alex joined us for trick or treating, with Johnny as Mickey Mouse. Beth's mom made the costume, along with a Minnie Mouse costume for Beth and her brother when they were kids. Beth's mom sent them both down for John and Ava to wear, though it turned out that the Minnie Mouse costume was too big for Ava. It was adorable though and we took pictures in it before putting her in her ballerina costume and going out.

We had a lot of fun, Seamus fell asleep shortly after we started trick or treating, and Ava was actually an angel. She had such a great time, and was really good the whole time. We went to one of the larger neighborhoods in Ave Maria and did one block. It turned out to be a pretty good time for Stephen and I as well, since a few of our professors happen to live on this block and one of them invited us in for a beer.

Small town, where EVERYBODY knows your name...but hey, I'm certainly not complaining..who complains about a free beer? :)

So the night wrapped up with us stopping to trick or treat at our dentist's/my boss's/our friend's sister's house. She came out to give Ava candy and was telling us how her candy bowl was actually broken because the skeleton on it usually says something along the lines of, "You don't want that candy, it'll rot your teeth out!" Needless to say we were pretty glad it was broken. I think that would have freaked Ava out.

Here, I need to stop and say that after reflecting on the evening, it all does seem a little creepy. But it really was a good time, weird though it may seem in the re-telling.

Ava loved having a pumpkin full of candy! It worked out as a good bribing tool to get Ava through dinnertime. The candy is almost gone alas, and while that may be a sad moment for our little ballerina, it was most fortunate for Stephen and I who are the ones eating most of it. Yikes.

The day before Halloween we carved our pumpkins at a pumpkin carving party in our neighborhood. I have to give a shout-out to Stephen, the designs on these pumpkins are all him, I just scooped out the yucky junk. Here are some pictures:

Ava and Mommy looking at design ideas for the pumpkins.

Daddy carving the pumpkin, post yuck removal. See Seamus laying on a blanket in the background?? Ava was working on scooping out the pumpkin.

This was Seamus' outlook pretty much the entire time. Sort of a: "Ummm, okaaaaay, so what's going on here, exactly?"

Our fall themed front porch. The small pumpkin says boo, the big one is a skeleton and Ava wanted a "happy face" on her pumpkin, which is the medium sized one.

Pumpkins! Sadly, they lasted about two days before becoming bug-infested and moldy. Yay Florida!

Below are some pictures from Halloween.

Mickey and Minnie Mouse!! Johnny's costume was super cute!

The three trick or treaters!

The shine you see on Ava's arm was the bug spray we had to put on to keep the mosquitoes away. Yes, on October 31, it was still hot enough for Ava to wear a leotard and here in the swamp, we still needed bug spray. *Sigh* But how cute are my babies?!?!

Sweet haul!!!

On a last note, I started work this past Tuesday and Ava and Seamus started school. Everyone has adjusted nicely and we all seem to be having a great time! I get daily reports of Seamus' activities from his teachers and he seems to be a happy baby for them, so that's good. Ava is staying out of trouble and quiet, which I know since I can't hear her screaming from my room next door :) She seems thrilled to be back, which is reassuring. We're all doing well!!

Annnd tomorrow is Ave Maria's Marine Corps Birthday Ball. Should be interesting. We'll be sure to take lots of pictures and I'll be sure to post them :)

Oh and last, last thing: congrats to the Frain Family!! They found out today that they are expecting another little boy!! Please keep them in your prayers!

More later!