Halloween and other fun pics

Here are our Halloween pictures and a bunch of other fun shots:

a family snuggy

visiting Cox Farms with Grandma to get ready for Halloween: farm animals, apple cider, pumpkins, and...

huge slides!!

The ladybug! (Yes, Anna is taking her antenna off. This is actually the only picture I got with the antenna because she really didn't like that part.)

Yes, the back of the costume is more interesting than the front :)

At playgroup Halloween party. Anna actually sat nicely in that chair for about 10 min. while other toddlers where continually replaced in the picture so we could attempt to get a shot of everyone. I think this includes everyone at the party, but I can't say for certain.

ummm, which one should I choose?

romping in the leaves with Daddy :)

Anna was Cookie Monster on Halloween night - a much better costume to be outside in. Here she is posing next to her favorite Teddy Bear...wait, no, that's Liam!

Halloween night was very rainy, but Anna still loved trick-or-treating. In the days leading up to Halloween she had been playing a game where she knocks on doors and people open them for her. So she was quite prepared. Anna caught on after the first house that she would be picking up treats at each house and was a little disappointed when it was time to go home.

Showing off her loot after a successful trip around the neighborhood

Anna doesn't really understand that her Halloween treats are edible, but she enjoys carrying them around and moving them in and out of her jack-o-lantern.

Just enjoying a nice fall day with Mommy

Cookie Monster or a lady bug?

A while ago I decided I was going to try to make Anna a lady bug costume for Halloween. As of a week ago, I still had not started the sewing so when I saw a cookie monster costume available to borrow at a mom's group, I snatched it quick. (Cookie is Anna's second favorite Sesame character after, of course, Elmo.) I think having the backup costume gave me the confidence to actually take a stab at the lady bug, which I have since finished and I must say, it came out quite good. So now Anna actually has two great costumes for Halloween - both of which she likes talking to, playing with, and moving around the living room and neither of which she really likes having ON, but I was able to snatch this shot when I was making sure the Cookie Monster would actually fit:

Old-fashion popcorn

A couple nights ago we made "old-fashion" popcorn. That's right, plain kernels in oil on a saucepan in the stove. I had actually never done it like that before (well, at least that I remember). I do remember making popcorn in a hot air popper, which is a favorite memory from visiting Grandma Jane as a kid. Fortunately, Dad remembered making popcorn like this as a kid so he served as the expert. It was fun and everyone liked it! A perfect treat to eat during a Yankees playoff game!

Go Giants!

Uncle Pete and Anna sporting their matching Giants jerseys before the Giants v. Raiders game:

Happy Birthday, Nana!

A couple weeks ago we headed to Albany to celebrate Nana's 60th birthday! We had a great time celebrating with her and spending time with family. Here are some shots from the party:

Aunt Becky, Liam, Uncle Jeff, Nana, Daddy, Anna & Mommy

Aunt Andrea, Nana, and Melissa

Sofie and Scott

Sam and Anna

Aunt Anne and Grandma Ginny

Daddy, Anna, Uncle Jeff, and Liam

A budding architect?

For the past couple months Anna has taken a great interest in building with blocks. Here she is busy at work on one of her creations:

So long vacuum cleaner...

Today Anna found a new game she likes to play. She walks around the house looking for small pieces of garbage (a piece of lint, piece of a leaf, ect.). She then picks it up, walks it to the garbage can, lifts the lid, and pops it in. The only problem is that she's not that good at finding the garbage so mostly I have to point it out to her. Although she did do the cutest thing to look for it: bend over and put her head right to the floor - as if the little pieces of garbage are so small that that is the only way she will find them.