October Recap

 October went by in such a blur, I'm having to rely on the few photos I took to remind me of what we did. . .

Oh, now I remember.  We completely demolished both of the bathrooms.

After much discussion on just how we were going to manage this "two for one" bathroom remodel, I offered to take the kids to my parents' house over the UEA break.  We left just as Jared was taking a crowbar to the drywall in the main bathroom.  He proceeded to gut both bathrooms from wall to wall, floor to ceiling.  Literally.  When he was finished with the demolition you could look up and see the inside of the roof, and look down and see the cement floor in the basement.  When we came home three days later, things looked like this:

 

Functioning toilet?  Check.  Running water in the tub?  Check.  It was primitive, but even that much gives us a better arrangement than about 98% of the world's population.

The box from the new bathtub became a new favorite toy--the girls even slept in it one night.  We showed them how to do a magic trick with it by propping it up on end, then going in the front "door" and "disappearing" through the back.  They loved this, and a few days later they set up a magic show in the living room.  "The great Lizlina" performed for a full house.

We did manage to get outside a bit.  Uncle Joe wanted to take Yvey to a real pumpkin patch this year, and luckily for him, we knew just the place.  (In case you're wondering--yes, the girls did dress themselves!)

 

 

 We grew pumpkins of our own this year, but I still let the girls pick out some bigger ones to carve. . .

Elizabeth suddenly loves to ham it up for the camera. . .not sure where that came from.

Anna still prefers a demure smile.

 

That's Anna's bunny pumpkin in the center--she's been obsessed with bunnies lately.  She sleeps with a stuffed bunny, asks for a pet bunny on a near-daily basis, and decided to dress as a bunny for Halloween.  Elizabeth wanted to be something "scary, but not too scary".  She settled on a bat--not a vampire bat, just a cute little black Halloween bat.  And Ben just got whatever Mommy could throw together with minimal time and effort:  a cowboy.  (That adorable handlebar mustache lasted only until he got his hands on a Hershey bar--it was then replaced by a full chocolate goatee.)

We hit up the school carnival and also went trunk-or-treating at Grandma & Grandpa Olson's ward, so by the time Halloween actually arrived, the girls were happy just to trick-or-treat a street or two and call it quits, despite the beautiful no-jackets-needed weather.

And that was our October. 

Oh, I guess technically I did turn 31--but since there's no photographic evidence of it, I don't have to count it. . .right?