"Coach called me a queen!"

This weekend marked the end of the soccer season.  If Sarah's interest in soccer continues the way it did throughout her first season, it may well have marked the last soccer season in Sarah's life!  It may have been her team (there were just not enough players willing to play, so the poor girl had to be on the field a LOT).  It may have been the weather (it was super cold, then super hot, then super cold again).  It may have been her desire to quit playing soccer two minutes into her first game.  Who knows?

Regardless of her level of enthusiasm, this girl earned her first-ever trophy.  And boy, was she proud of it!  It actually rode around with her in the backseat of my car for almost a month - just so she could admire it from time to time!

Notice how she can't stop admiring the faux gold finish of the stars and the shininess of the soccer ball long enough to look at the camera?  Poor kid.  It may be the only soccer trophy she ever earns...

At any rate, the only thing she loved more than getting a trophy was her coach calling her the Queen of the Throw In when he handed her the trophy (her job was always to throw the ball back onto the field since it didn't involve her having to run anywhere).  She came running back to me and said, "Mom!  Coach called me a queen!" 

Wow.  A trophy and a royal title all in one day.  Not bad in the eyes of a three-year-old!  (But not quite enough to make her want to play soccer again, either, I'm sure!)

Halloween 2014

On Wednesday night, we carved our pumpkin.  Sarah requested that he have "eyes like ours" and "three and a half teeth - because I'm three and a half."  Hmmm.  Interesting ideas.  I tried my best, and this is what we came up with:

Sarah really loved having him lit up on the kitchen table.  She spent most of the night reading books and playing on her iPad at the table with the lights out so she could "sit by Mr. Pumpkin."  It was super cute!

On Friday, all of the Archer girls wore their costumes to school.  Mommy was a cowgirl, Kate was a ladybug, and Sarah was Queen Elsa.  See how regal she is?  An absolute princess, right?

That night, we put on our "real" costumes.  Sarah was one of 5 million girls (and probably more than a few boys!) who dressed up as Queen Elsa. 

 We originally thought it would be fun to have Sarah be Elsa and Kate be Ana, but alas, there were no Princess Ana costumes in a size 6 month to be found anywhere!  I could have been Crafty Mom and made her a costume, but I knew she would need to be able to sit comfortably in the Baby Bjorn for trick-or-treating, and a dress would make that hard (plus, you know, I currently have neither the time nor energy to make a costume!).  And so Kate went as Olaf the Snowman...

Here are the girls together on the front porch before it became uncomfortably cold outside.

For Halloween night, we had some friends and neighbors over for our now-traditional Halloween Tailgate party in our driveway.  Tom made chili, I made some spider cookies, and everyone else provided drinks, cornbread, fruit, chips and dip, and pumpkin cookies.  YUM.

There were, of course, Halloween treats for the neighborhood girls!

We watched some TV, adjusted our crown (a lot) and practiced sitting up while we waited for our friends to arrive.

Soon, everyone arrived dressed in their Disney finest. (We did have one Barbie and one Spiderman, so I guess Disney lost out on THAT money!)

Eliza was Tinkerbell, Leslie was Belle, and Sarah and Grace were both Queen Elsa.  Michael and Kate were both Olaf.  Delany was Barbie, Katie was Snow White, and Kaiden was Spiderman.  They were all adorable...

Everyone ate some dinner and then went outside to play the beanbag game Mr. Mike had made.  Everyone got one piece of candy from the guys regardless, but then they could try to win more candy by throwing the beanbag through the holes in the pumpkin.  The kids all gave it a shot!

Then it was time to trick-or-treat!

Sarah hit about 5 houses and then wanted to eat her candy.  I explained that she couldn't eat candy until she was finished trick-or-treating, and she promptly decided that she was done for the night!  I took Sarah and Kate home while the rest of the group headed up the street (to get more candy, Sarah!). 

Kate fell asleep.  Sarah had some candy.  Then she talked on the phone.  With her sunglasses on.

Happy Halloween!

Trunk or Treat

Tonight we went with the Talboy clan to Sarah and Kate's first Trunk or Treat.  The kids at Shawnee Mission North High School decorated their trunks and dressed in kid-friendly costumes.  More importantly, they handed out candy! 

Sarah wore her Little Mermaid dress for the event.  Kate rocked her pumpkin hat.

Sarah and Grace were super thrilled to see Ana and Elsa!

They even played "Marshmallow Toss" with the princesses!

As if that wasn't enough, Elsa was handing out CHOCOLATE!

Sarah loved getting candy...

Kate just loved playing peek-a-boo with her hat!  Next year, kiddo, Halloween will be so much more fun for you.  I promise!

25 Weeks Old

October 22 - October 28

Kate's big obsession has become her feet.  Namely, eating her feet...

When she's not gnawing on her toes, she's working on her core strength.  She's a pro at rolling these days, and we really have to watch her to make sure she doesn't roll across the room and into the fireplace or something!  Good thing she's cute!

This week we took advantage of the beautiful fall weather and got in one last trip to the zoo before it gets well and truly cold.  Kate rode in the Baby Bjorn for about 30 minutes, but then both of us got too hot and sweaty in the 80 degree weather!  She spent the rest of our time at the zoo rolling in the stroller.

I love how these girls love each other!