We’re going to start with Halloween because, even thought it’s not technically Halloween yet, Halloween has certainly started in the Land of Cheltenham.

I had grand ideas that Steven, Sammy and Amaya would dress as Millie, Geo and Bot from Team Umizoomi this year but they definitely had ideas of their own and honoring those choices is as m uch fun, maybe more, than anything I’d come up with.

I present Steven the Bumblebee, Amaya the pink, blue and purple elephant and Sammy the croc.

Steven’s was the easiest costume to pull together. I got a yellow unitard and a bee costume. Easy peasy, and he’s adorable! For Amaya, I found a purple unitard, a pink elephant costume and I ordered some blue furry fabric for the spots. A little effort but not bad, and she was very specific about including those three colors. Then there’s Sammy, lol. A croc! I have no idea where he came up with this idea but he said it more than once and I was determined to make it happen. He originally said an orange croc but foammart.com didn’t have orange so he landed on green. (Yes, foammart.com! There’s a website for everything! This one is out of Burbank, CA which makes sense since this foam is regularly used for costumes.)

Here’s the evolution of making the costume, starting with measuring Sammy.

Jason drew the outline for me on tracing paper which I taped to the foam and cut.

I tried to use scissors to the cut the holes but the lines were really jagged and a box cutter didn’t work, either, so I ended up ordering a foam cutter to do the job. You need ventilation for the fumes so I set up shop in the garage.

Constructing the shell. For this, I used neon green gaffers tape.

Checking the fit!

A happy, happy customer. (Rounded out with a black unitard.)

So, starting on Saturday (yesterday), Sammy woke up and asked to have pancakes at a restaurant. Jason was going to be working in the basement all day so I liked the idea of getting out of the house and I was able to rally Steven and Amaya. I even let the kids go in their pajamas.

When we were leaving, we realized that there were a ton of people dressed in Halloween costumes heading toward the center of downtown Northville. Turns out there was a big trick or treat event going on! We tried to walk down to check it out but we weren’t dressed for a walk in the 36 degree weather and had to turn back. Everyone really wanted to go to the Halloween party, though, so we decided to go home, quickly put on costumes and head back!

What a great idea! It was SO much fun!! Steven loved seeing all of the costumes. “I see Iron Man!” “I see another bee!” The kids were excellent listeners and loved getting all of the candy! At one point I called Jason in tears and told him that this was everything I ever wanted. It really is. Such a magical morning.

Steven’s face. <3

Steven was thrilled to see Captain America and Sammy was proud to have asked him how he holds his shield.

This guy put on his talking wookie mask for Sammy. They loved it.

Showing Daddy their stash!

Sharing a lollipop with Baby Jenna.

Backing up to Monday… Sammy and I got back from NY around 9:45pm on Sunday night. I woke up Monday morning to Amaya saying she felt sick and like she was going to puke. She looked terrible so we were really lucky to have Grandma Sunshine at the house to stay with her while I took the boys to school.

By afternoon Amaya was back to herself but we still got in some extra cuddles.

Making herself comfortable with a book. 🙂

This is a 9-12 mo sweater that we keep ion a stuffed puppy. Steven was determined to put it on!

After sleeping in the sweater, lol, Steven woke up early, early, early. Everyone was asleep and I didn’t want him to wake up Sammy so I let him draw on my iPad while I got ready for work. It was really nice morning quiet time! Oh! And now I remember why I wasn’t getting him dressed for school. On Monday night a local pipe burst and we had no water! School didn’t either so Megan came in to work the full day and the kids stayed home. They had a full day with Tiny Town and a picnic lunch at May May’s mommy’s house.

Showing Sammy his football socks.

“Who woke up Daddy last night?”
“I did!”

Breakfast with Taco!

Steven put on a pair of Sammy’s new underwear. Still not interested in wearing them under his pants, though.

On Wednesday afternoon Megan had a dr appointment for Taco and Jason was on vacation so he took Steven, Sammy and Amaya to dance class! What a treat!!

On Thursday Megan was sick so I took the kids to school. The routine is to drop off the kids in the appropriately named “drop-off room” and then sign-in downstairs in their classroom. I got the kids to school later than usual so, by the time I was leaving their classroom at 8:40am, they were already on their way downstairs. Sammy looked at me and said, “Mommy! I didn’t expect to see you here!” So sweet.

The boys’ dresser (which used to be everyone’s dresser), still has magnetic locks that we put on as a safety precaution back when the kids were first mobile. The magnets are pretty strong and Sammy loves making one magnet move with the repulsive force of the other. We’re having some pretty neat conversations about magnets!

Megan was still sick on Friday so I left for work in the morning to the sight of my four favorites at the breakfast table. Still dark out, too!

Friday afternoon, “The Brothers” were serenading their sister. The kids are playing so many fun games together lately! They make up rules for their games and can play so well together when they want to. I love sitting and listening to their conversations.

We already talked about our awesome Saturday which brings me to Saturday night. Back when the kids were about 18 or 19 months I got backpack leashes thinking maybe we’d need them when everyone first started walking. We never ended up using them but the kids love to wear the animals around the house. They clip in front and, Saturday night, I clipped Steven’s skin in the buckle. 🙁 He’s such a tough guy! I felt awful!!

By morning he was feeling fine and showing off his bruise. Sorry Steven!!!!

Today was our 3rd Annual Triplet Family Halloween Party! We took it easy at home while we got the house ready. Here, Tiger Steven is taking a nap on his tiger bed.

Everything old is new again! SSA have rediscovered these foam blocks that we were gifted about a year and a half ago. Amaya sat for ages carefully building with them.

So proud of her creation!

And then it was party time! We had 6 families join us – 21 kids in total and 10 adults. All of the kids were born in 2014 with the youngest of the bunch turning three in November. The kids were amazing and played so well together! The grownups actually had a lot of time to talk!

Trying to wrangle 21 three year olds for a photo is a special experience.

Happy Halloween!

Our 2016 photo

Our 2015 photo

Lunch time! Thanks to Daddy for, once again, manning the kitchen and griddle so we could all eat!

And as soon as everyone got there, it was over! So much fun!! One friend stayed with her kids to help clean up which was very, very helpful. And, by 1:30pm, you’d never know we’d just had a 2 pre-school classes worth of three year olds in our house.

Here’s Steven helping Jason with the last touch – putting the coffee table back.

Tomorrow is trick or treating at my office and then, of course, trick or treating on Halloween night. I love this holiday.

Have a great week!