Halloween and Happy Birthday Jenna!

Here are the kiddos on Halloween night. Annie has been a witch for the past couple of years. She insisted on a green face this year, which definitely adds to her scariness, don't you think? We even bought a scary black wig that became the obsession for a few days. She decided to abandon it at the last minute because it became so tangled that she declared it was TOO ugly, even for a witch. Jenna wanted to be a queen and was overcome with excitement when she received her birthday package from Nana and Papa. In it was this gorgeous queen dress! She received many comliments. What a beauty. Collin man was perfectly satisfied with being an elephant again this year. I really do get a kick out of this costume because the trunk looks rather odd sticking out from the top of his head. He's very much into dress-ups, thanks to his older sisters, and this costume has been added to the dress up bin as an alternative to the fairy wings and princess dresses he usually asks for. I know what is on his Santa list (whether he asks for it or not). We had an especially fun time trick-or-treating this year because all of them understood what to do and were all very adorable knocking and politely saying, "Trick or Treat," and, "Thank you!"

We ended up in the emergency room later that night for Mr. Collin, but he was okay. He, uh, had major digestive tract problems that came on so quickly and ended up sicker than sick and in terrible pain. I felt like the most helpless mother as he screamed for almost an hour straight while throwing up in between. His digestive problems soon turned into a cough and fever and yucky runny nose. Since then, all three kids ended up with what I though was the flu for sure, but Collin's flu test came back negative. I'm not too sure the guy did his test right (hence the rumor that 30% of all negative results are false), but everyone is better... thank goodness!

Jenna has the best preschool teacher. I love this lady! We were able to go on a field trip to her parent's farm where they decorated cupcakes and pumpkins and rode on a huge tractor. They even invited younger siblings so Collin got to participate too! I have to tell you that I was so proud of my kids. They were adorable working together and sharing and being so nice to each other. This doesn't happen all the time so it I had to take a picture to prove it.

They even shared a pumpkin and a chair! So cute. Collin gets to go to preschool next year. He's very excited already and brings his backpack everyday when we drop Jenna off. What a cutie.

Jenna found Eeyore on the treasure hunt. This girl is getting so big. Have I mentioned she's starting to read?

AND she just had her fifth birthday! Happy Birthday, Jenna-Bean!!!!! We took her to a fun place that just opened up in Rexburg that is full of blow-up slides and arcade games (Insde the REX.. they heard me complaining there was no place in Rexberia to take my kids during the winter). Yay!! We had so much fun!! Annie is pretty darn good at ski-ball or whatever it is.

Matt was trying to help Jenna with Whack-a-Mole. Annie, Jenna, and Collin laughed hysterically when all the coins I purchased came spilling out of the machine and ran from one game to the next! What made it even more fun were the tickets that just kept spitting out of the games. We collected so many, but were disappointed that even the smallest prize required twice as many as we had... sheesh! Oh well.

Here's her cake. She wanted a butterfly one so this is my attempt. The really sad thing about this is it almost slid off the base in the car so it's a little deformed (if you know me and my driving, you know why). I think she had a really fun day, and I can't believe she's already five. My little sweet girl.

So here's my update of pictures. Now I need to get back to studying all the muscles for my Anatomy class. The test is in two days, and I'm more than a little bit stressed. I'm so stressed that I'm procrastinating. I feel like I'm not prepared, and I'm at a disadvantage because half of the test is identifying the different muscles, their insertion and origins, and their actions on the cadavers. This isn't so bad usually... but now that I'm expecting (everyone knows this now... thanks to Jenna... right?) and feeling nasty most of the time, that smelllllllll just does me in. It's hard enought to study and get everything else done while feeling this way, but finding cadaver time and sticking with cadaver time has been pretty tough. I even wore a mask one day and chewed really strong gum with my mouth open to try and help. Matt brought me his big painter's mask, but it stunk too much like paint to wear. Yes, I'm pretty wimpy. Wish me luck. My kids are pretty excited about a new little one coming (me too). Not until JUNE! That's a long time to wait....