LiTtLE mOnSteR mAsH.....

We had our First Annual Little Monster Mash this year!
It was hosted by Duke, Molly, and baby Jack Rush (aka... me and torie) :)
The kids invited a few of thier best friends over to enjoy some halloween treats and some monster mashing!



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We went ALL out!

We had a food table complete with a place setting for each little monster.
We made cake pops, cupcakes, ghostly pretzel rods, pumpkin marshmallows (thanks Crystal), mummy dogs (by Kelly, and several other super cute snacks!!

We made a bucket of goodies for each of the kids to take home as well!

We made a Halloween themed music CD for the kids to jam to, and that they did!

They ate and ate and ate some more with a little dancing in between.

And then we bobbed for apples. This was a first for most of them!

All in all.... it seemed like the kids really enjoyed themselves!
Duke thanked me during the party and wanted to know if this was ALL for them.

It made me feel good to surprise them and their friends.

Torie and I think it was a definite success and will probably begin
planning the 2nd Annual Little Monster Mash shortly! Ha!

Thank you Kelly and Crystal for bringing your little monsters over
and for your help with the food!

a queen and someone from star wars!

For Halloween this year, I took the kids to pick out their costumes and told them that they could choose to be whatever they wanted.
This is hard for me b/c I like to coordinate everything and have them be something cute that kind of goes together.
But, I didn't, I let them decide what they would be.


Molly chose what I believe to be a queen. We went into TJ Max and she found a costume that was a dress w/ a tiara to match. The dress was actually really pretty, but the reason Molly wanted it was b/c it was long and it had the hoop in the bottom which caused it to "flow" and twirl well. This was the determining factor!
She twirled around TJ Max w/ the dress twirling along w/ her.
I was a little worried about it, but of course it turned out beautiful and Molly looked perfect!

Duke chose to be a clone trooper or something from Star Wars. It was a pretty snazzy get up, complete with a gun! And again, it was perfect for Duke!

I joked with Chad by saying that we were "The Clampett's" (Beverly Hillbillies) b/c we had soooo many folks trick or treating with us! Ha!
Our gang included: Duke and Molly- the trick or treaters, and Chad, me, Nina, Papa, Nana, Pops, PawPaw Jerry, and a friend of his- the onlookers! Wow!
It was a good time as always and I thought several times throughout the night about how blessed my babies are to have soooo many grandparents in their lives
who care so much about them!

Thanks to everyone for sharing our Halloween night with us!
These are the times that we will always remember!

the gymnist!

Molly started gymnastics over the summer and she is loving it!

Right now she is going once per week for an hour and a half.
I am so glad that she is getting to do something that is just for her.



For a while, she had to sit on the sidelines and cheer for Duke as he played soccer and tee ball, and she never complained.




But, I see how much she enjoys her gymnastics and it makes me happy to see her doing something she enjoys.