Happy Halloween 2009!

Happy Halloween from the McCarthys! We had Mario and Luigi this year, inspired by the Wii game Mario Cart Racing. We had a lovely Mermaid...well at least she started out as a Mermaid. Lauren was a Mermaid for our Pumpkin Patch Express ride in Durango and at the CES Fall Carnival. She was a cheerleader at her class party, and a "mirage girl" for trick or treating. I don't know what a mirage girl is, but the dress she dug up at my mom's was pretty cool! Babies just wore their festive jammies this year. Brian got into the spirit (I unfortunately didn't share the enthusiasm this year...sorry Bri) and was a convict. We had to spend a while convincing Lauren that he didn't really get arrested and the the handcuffs were not the real deal. Below are our friends Mackenzie and Misty dressed as a cat and Dwight from "the Office"...soo funny! :) Also in the pictures, Thomas' ever faithful trick or treating buddy, Clayton and his mom Lisa.

We didn't do our usual larger gathering this year...many people had plans and SEVERAL of you have moved away either temporarily or permanently. We miss you all and hope that you had a great Halloween night! Now the big question is...WHAT am I going to do with all this candy!!!!?

Corrales Pumpkin Patch and Corn Maze 2009

Fall is a busy time of year, but our favorite time just the same. The weather is perfect and there are so many fun things to do. The harvest festival, the pumpkin patch and corn maze, the balloon fiesta, Halloween, the school carnival! This is our second outing this month with all five kids (the babies usually get left at home). So far so good!


Ronan and Claire pose with the pumpkins (a pretty good size comparison) while the others are off on the hay ride.

Lauren's favorite part was the little petting zoo set up at the end of the maze. There were three little goats that reminded me of three other little "kids"...hahaha! Was that cheesy or what?!

Take a look at the view from the pumpkin patch! I love our village!

Pumpkin King!Connor took his time choosing just the right pumpkin, but each one that didn't make the cut was thrown with all of his might. Sorry people who came after us....there were probably a lot of bruised pumpkins out there. Connor took so long in fact, that we left the patch and then heard "MAMA! WAIT!" Oops.

This stroller wasn't really made for the off-roading that the maze required, but we powered through. :)

The gang!

Balloons 2009

5 hats, 5 jackets, 4 diapers, 2 front packs, 3 snacks, 2 baby bottles, 3 water bottles, 2 pacifiers, 2bibs, 1 change of clothes for Con, 1 blanket (oops, we forgot the blanket), and 1 flask full of Bailey's Irish Cream, and we are off to the Balloon Glow! Thomas got us all excited to go to a glow this year. I am so happy we picked a night that it actually took place, and we had a so much fun. The kids ran from balloon to balloon collecting souvenir cards and hoping they wouldn't run up right as the flames turned on. When that happened they would run back to us with their hands over their ears (similar to Thomas' picture in the paper, if anyone caught that). Darth Vader was our favorite this year. Connor of course was enchanted by the giant sports ball balloons. Fiesta is such a great event....we love it every year...it never gets old!

Soccer Saturdays Fall 2009

This is Lauren's first year playing soccer (#6) and she is loving it. Her team consists of Lauren, Laurel, Leizel, two Sophies, Mia, Janelle and Georgia. They are SUPER funny to watch. I got to substitute coach a game along with Georgia's dad, and boy did these girls crack us up! They are like mini teenagers...talking in a little group, hugging and giggling, chatting up the ref. Thank goodness for Mia, who is like Mia Hamm reincarnated. Thomas heads off the field with his loot (snack) after congratulating his bud, Will Daly on his win (Thomas' team, lost to this other Corrales team). Thomas says, "Mom I wasn't trying very hard because I didn't want to beat my good friend!" That's very nice Thomas, but I can pretty much guarantee Will was not thinking the same thing. Ha!

Connor is the #1 fan of the Crew and the Crush. His jersey has #3 and every Saturday when we are getting ready for soccer he says "Where's my number three? Poor guy has TWO more years until he can play himself!!! I might have to fudge the birth certificate for next year.

These uniforms are known for being HUGE on the kids the first year...but yes, Laurens actually fits her pretty well. Especially now that we have washed it a couple of times and we roll the waist of the shorts once. Some of the other little cuties are seriously running around with the shorts down to their ankles, but not our little giants!!

A special visitor...

We had our first visit from the TOOTHFAIRY a couple of nights ago! Thomas Scott lost is right/center bottom baby tooth as he was brushing his teeth before bed. He was so excited it took him an extra hour to fall asleep. He said he couldn't wait to put his name on the chart at school "right on top of Will Daly's name"!

Playtime with Claire and Ronan

Ronan was tolerating Lauren's manipulation a little better than Claire. It looks like he actually liked being put on the pillow and covered with her dolls' blanket. These playgyms are great for babies, but can be down right dangerous when the older kids decide that they can be used as flying saucers etc. Connor like to get under them with the babies and poor Claire and Ronan have taken more than a couple knees to the head.

Hooray for SMILES!!

Tummy time is very limited around here. Half the time it is just not safe to have them on the floor at all and half the time they have just eaten and barf all over the mat when I put them on their tummies. Hope they still learn to roll over and lift their heads eventually. :)

Toads and Lizards

Those of you who know Connor can picture him saying to Lauren "Ca I hol it, ca I hol it, ca I hol it?" over and over again until she handed it over. They found the toad at Grandma's house and brought it over in an old butterfly habitat. Lauren LOVED it and named it Hopper. Lauren and Connor spent the afternoon pretending to be frogs as they chased Hopper all over the grass. Eventually Carrie convinced them to leave him there so he could explore while they came in for a snack. "Run, frog! Run!," I thought, "Run for your life!!" It did, but only to turn up the very next day in our sand box where Connor was delighted to find him. Those of you who know Lauren, know that she is ALWAYS looking for a prince, even at four years old. Maybe she thought Hopper was her knight in shining armor? I just think it is cool that my little girl isn't afraid to pick up a toad (right uncle Tim?). Where is Hopper now? Supposedly living in our fountain somewhere with the two lizards that were captured and then escaped the next day.