An Indecisive Halloween!

Oh boy!  This year choosing Halloween costumes was quite the ordeal with the three big kids being very fickle!  Actually, Abby and Haley were fickle from the beginning, and Seth only changing his mind a couple times, but once was about an hour before we were going trick-or-treating!  Ugghhh... at one point I was so annoyed that I actually threatened to never let them pick costumes ever again!

When the kids first started talking about Halloween in July, and at that point Haley was going to be a pirate princess, Abby was going to be a bald eagle, and Seth was going to be a Ninjago character.  Haley was the most fickle going from the pirate princess to Annie (the orphan), Matilda (from the Roald Dahl book), Laura (Little House on The Prairie), Punky Brewster, and finally, an ice princess!  Abby moved from the bald eagle idea to a bird watcher, Elsa, Margo (Punky Brewster's friend), and finally, Super Sister!  Seth stayed with the Ninjago idea for quite some time, but around the beginning of October changed his mind to a Storm Trooper.  He wore the Storm Trooper costume to school this morning and then, about an hour before we were ready to trick-or-treat he started digging through his dress up stuff and decided to wear some super hero stuff and be Super Brother!  Sheesh!  Through all the changes, Carey, Kacie and I stayed consistent (well, Kacie had no say, really) with Carey being Olaf, Kacie as a mermaid, and myself as a referee!

We didn't make it to a pumpkin patch this year, but we did make it to Trader Joes (where the pumpkins are only $2.99!) and as soon as we got them home, Seth was dying to carve them.  I was really trying to get all the kids to wait until closer to Halloween, but when the soccer games the week before Halloween were rained out and we had a free Saturday, they talked me into it.  I think we broke about 5 of those weeny little pumpkin carving knives in the process, but all of the pumpkins got carved, and Carey even roasted some of the seeds.  The finished products were darling, but were definitely looking sad and droopy by the time tonight rolled around (in fact, Abby couldn't handle hers any more and threw it in the greencycle yesterday)!

Pumpkin carving fun:)

It's really the only good time to be a mermaid...before you can walk!

A mermaid, ice princess, Super Sister and Storm Trooper, ready for a fun day!

My name is Olaf and I like warm hugs!

Webber girls ready to watch Seth's class in the Halloween parade.

Super Sister and Super Brother

Ready to trick-or-treat with some of our neighborhood friends.  The rain wasn't stopping us!

Fair Time

We love the county fair.  The kids ask me all year long "when is it time for the fair?"  This year I finally got it together to enter some of their art in the fair, and let me tell you, it was absolutely THRILLING for them to see it there.  We had a great time seeing the dog and bird show, as well as the turkey and pig races. 

Haley's penguin vegetable creature got a blue ribbon.

Seth made a "drill tractor" vegetable creation and got a white ribbon.

Abby made a dragonfly and got a white ribbon.

Abby and her wolf pastel

Seth's whale painting

Haley's blue heron painting

Abby got to be a volunteer in the bird show.

She threw some mango pieces to the toucan!

Can't go to the fair without enjoying delicious food!

4 Months

 As babies do, Kacie just keeps growing and growing!  She turned 4 months old at the beginning of this month.  She's seriously the world's best baby.  I think she has cried 4 times in her life.  Literally.  She will fuss a little to let us know she's bored or hungry, but very rarely cries!  She is quick to smile and freely gives out laughs to her mommy, brother, and her sisters.  And the love is so mutual.  They absolutely adore her.  It's really sweet.  I can't even believe what an amazing addition she is to our family.  She has brought so much joy and peace.  It's really like she has balanced everyone out.  Here's some pictures from her 4th month of life.

Sister love!

Hanging out with Papa Phil at the county fair:)

Ready for Seth's birthday party!

Auntie Melissa came home from Seattle for a visit:)

This girl is such a happy little Webber!

Six Year Old Seth

Oh my goodness; my little boy is 6!  That's closer to 10 than newborn!  Aggghhhh!  Seth brings us so much joy and laughter, and has been such a surprise.  In the last year he has gone from being so shy and nervous to being out-going and a total entertainer.  He's so funny (the kind you laugh with, not at) and witty and loves to dance, dance, dance! 

Like the vast majority of 6 year olds, Seth is currently a big fan of Legos, and, being the little smarty pants that he is, he figured if he had a Lego themed party, then people would buy him Legos as gifts!  So, a Lego party it was, and, thanks to Pinterest, it was super simple and easy to do.  The day of the party turned out to be extremely hot (for us Santa Cruzians), so we kept the boys cool with an inflatable water-slide (thank you to our wonderful friends/neighbors, the Campbells, for letting us borrow it).  Everyone had a great time, and, Seth's plan worked out well and he got A LOT of boxes of Legos!

He was THRILLED to play on the water-slide!

Pin the head on the Lego man!

Seth drew all the Lego faces!

3 Months

 Kacie is already three months old.  How does that happen so fast?  She's already about 13 pounds and is cute as can be.  She's a happy girl, freely giving out smiles to anyone who stops to say hi!  She loves her sisters and brother, and the feeling is mutual.  She really likes her play mat, watching the laundry in the washing machine (it's a front loader), and her elephant buddy that hangs over her car seat in the car.  She started laughing about a week before she turned three months, and it's the cutest thing ever!

First Day Of Kindergarten (and Days Of 3rd Grade)

Yesterday was Seth's first day of kindergarten.  Yikes!  How did that happen?  It's going to feel like tomorrow that it's Kacie's first day of kinder (that was terrible grammar but I'm too tired to fix it)!

Seth has been beyond excited to start kinder, and he was even more thrilled when he found out that he got the teacher that he was hoping for.  Despite the fact that most of the younger siblings we know were hoping to get the same teacher that their older sibling had, Seth kept telling us that he was going to be in Ms. Heichel's class, and he was right.  Of the three kinder teachers, she was the one that neither Abby or Haley had!  That's who he wanted, though!

The morning of the first day of school, I told Seth that the parents get to stay for a few minutes during kinder drop-off, to which he replied, "No, you can just leave."  Sheesh!  I told him I was going to stay whether he liked it or not:)  Once we got in to the classroom he did a couple puzzles and then gave me a big hug and kiss and sent me on my way!

When I went to pick him up I stopped in the office on the way to his classroom.  I saw the principal in there and she told me that she had been in his class earlier and that he had been all smiles:)  He came out of class looking very happy, handed me a giant packet of papers and said "Mom, you've got A LOT of homework!"

All ready to send our big boy off to kinder:)

Walking to school for the very first time!

Big sissies were so excited for him.

While Seth is just starting at Main Street, both Abby and Haley are homeschooling this year.  We are coming up on the second full week of 3rd grade for them.  Homeschooling is definitely a challenge for all of us, but I really like to have my girls at home with me (for the most part)!  We're still trying to find a groove, but I think we're figuring things out a little at a time.  At this point we are taking everything year by year, but for this year, I am happy to have my daughters at home, but still get to be a part of the wonderful Main Street community.

All ready to get started with our homeschooling

Notice that I'm teaching holding a baby and neither of my "students" are paying attention!

2 Months Old

A couple weeks ago Kacie turned 2 months old and she is such a wonderful baby.  She's a happy girl with lots of smiles and gurgles!  She loves to watch her big sisters and brother and is always happy to have them carry her around, too.  She does a really good job at tummy time and is getting so strong.  This last month she's had to go through a lot of blood tests due to prolonged jaundice, and has been such a trooper.  At this point her color is great, and we've hopefully done our last blood test.

I love this sweet girl and can't get enough of her:)

Tummy time champ!

Look at those sweet, smooshy cheeks!

Important conversations with Poppa Phil:)