Long time, no blog

Sorry it's taken me forever to post. We've had a family cold the last week and a half that took out all four of us. Reed and I had the worst of it- mine turned into a sinus infection, and Reed suddenly got a high fever yesterday after we thought we were all better. He went to bed at 5:45 last night, and took a record 6 and half hour nap today. You read that right - he slept from 9:15 in the morning to 3:45 in the afternoon. And still went to bed at 7:15. Anyway, we're pretty much back up and running now, though.

So what's new with us? Not too much. Rachel is enjoying her little neighborhood preschool twice a week. She's growing up so fast! She's so talkative and so imaginative. She plays pretend with, and makes conversations with, everything. It's so fun watching her play. Oh! And I think (knock on wood) that she's pretty much potty trained now! She's been doing really good the last couple of days, I just hope it sticks. The key to her success has been lots of praise, and Squinkies. Little tiny rubbery toys that she just adores. Every day she stays dry the whole day she earns a Squinkie. Also, it's fun to hear her say the word "Squinkie".

Reed is, as always, our crazy active little guy. He climbs and runs and falls and gets right back up. He's starting to get a little attitude too- if he wants something, he really lets us know with grunting and pointing, and if he can't have it, he throws a little tantrum. But it's so fun watching him grow, and he's starting to say more "words" all the time.

So here are a few pictures from the last month!

Putting the kids to work cleaning the window. :) They thought it was great fun.

I know, I'm so late about posting Halloween, but here it is. Pumpkin carving FHE before Halloween. Which basically is Mike and Nick carving pumpkins and the kids watching for a while before getting bored and wandering off. Rachel thought the lit jack-o-lantern was really cool though.

Rachel was very opinionated about what kind of face the pumpkin should have. "Make a mean face, Daddy."

Rachel in her Minnie Mouse costume. She loved being Minnie Mouse.

Rachel in parts of Daddy's army costume.

Reed the monkey. Which you may remember from last year. Yay for reusing costumes!

Post trick-or-treating haul.

I went blond(ish). I think I like it better than the super dark I've been doing for years, so I'll probably eventually settle on a light brown. The upkeep to stay blond is crazy expensive. 

I was taking pictures of my hair while holding Reed, and apparently my smiling was contagious. :)

Playing in the leaves.

The kids had so much fun while we were winterizing the yard.

More leaf action.