Meet the Singleton cast of The Wizard of Oz

Here we are!!! Out Trick-or-Treating... and found both tricks and treats. (Luckily the tricks were just lights on with no one home to give out treats.) (Sorry, Glinda was busy taking the picture.)
Pumpkin Time
Mommy and Luke's Pumpkin
Daddy and Emily's Pumpkin
Emily decorates cookies for our guests.Our friend/neighbor John handed out candy while we trick-or-treated. Here's a picture of Luke helping hand out candy.
Emily, posing for a picture while on break from checking out her 'treats.'

Emily paints Todo (all by herself). She wouldn't smile for this picture, but painting Todo was a huge deal. She was so proud of herself and loved every bit of it. It took her a couple of hours to paint both sides. Luke is all smiles, while he stops from running all over the yard, to smile for the camera. Here's a 'just because' photo. Look Mom-Mom, my jacket finally fits! (It's a 9 month.)
Here are the kids sitting with the Mrs. Scarecrow while they waited for Daddy to hang him up on his post. As you can see, Luke is a bit upset that Mr. Scarecrow is in his seat. What you don't see is Luke taking him out and yelling at him... followed by Emily being mad and upset. She later gave Luke both chairs and sat on the ground with Mr. Scarecrow.

Finally, this is Dorothy. She took a long time to paint. Mommy spent many hours in the late night painting her... mixing colors for her, and putting a lot of TLC into her detail.

And... this is our yard. In the distance you can see Mr. Lion and Mr. Tinman. Up in the big Oak is the witch. Can you find her? If you click on his picture, your browser will show you the full file size of this picture, giving more detail. The little ones love to run through our lighted pumpkin patch during the show. It's quite magical.

This is our family picture of us all dressed up.

More pictures to come after tonight's events!

We've loved sharing our light show with all who stop by. It's enjoyed by all. We will try to record it so we can share online.

Emily offers advise and Luke is talking like crazy!

Emily Gives Advise
Just yesterday, Emily was asking me where different things were or about detail from events over three years ago. I will admit, I was a little preoccupied with trying to get ready for a garage sale, that I wasn't really concentrating on her questions. After some time my answers starting to become very vague and were not helping her at all. I began to say, "I don't know, I don't really remember," in hopes that I could simply concentrate on my project at hand. Her response got my attention and really made me laugh. She said, "Well, maybe you need to take some special medicine to help you with your memory so that you can remember things better." I found her response so cute that I had to post it.

Luke is Talking and Talking and Talking some more
Luke will now say things like, "Daddy! Dad-d-d-d-y-y-y! Daddy? Where are you?!? Daddy? What are you doing?"
If I ask him where something is he will raise his hands and say, "I don't know."
If I should take my eyes off of him while he's at the dinner table he will often times say, "Mommy... mommy!" When I look over at him he's either making soup with whatever food items are on the table and the water in his sippy cup or he's putting food in his hair and is giggling at me.
He also likes to say, "Look at that!" and "What is this?"

Needless to say, we have a lot of laughs around our house.

Luke is mommy's big helper

Luke helps clean the drier lint vent. He tries to put it back, but usually ends up slightly frustrated and just tosses it into the drier. One time Mommy didn't notice until she turned the drier on and heard a really loud noise. Sure enough, it was the lint collector banging around with the clothes.

Luke also loves to sweep and mop the floors, from tile to carpet. He doesn't quite understand why the Swiffer won't work on carpet. And, you have to watch out for the stick when he's walking around. It's amazing he hasn't knocked anything over yet. Additionally, he gravitates to the dishwasher everytime Mommy is filling or emptying it. His pet pieve is for the door to be closed. That makes it really hard for Mommy to do her job and frequently has to ask him to stop closing the door. It generally turns into a fight.

Luke can bathe himself. He's not real good yet with washing his hair, but he can sure wash his whole body. He loves it!

Visit to Michigan

Great-Grandma Mable Otis with Luke and Emily.
Luke and Emily enjoyed playing with this antique phone. I remember playing with it when I was a kid. I believe it has been in the family since my mom, aunts and uncles were kids.Carving pumpkins with our cousins. Emily and Luke enjoyed our fall activity and their cousins' rabbits. We had a great time.
Aunt Julie was very gracious, and baked Emily a special birthday cake. She even added an extra candle for a sprinkle of love! Emily LOVED sharing her birthday with her cousins and Aunt and Uncle. She's still talking about it.Great-Grandma Hazel Lounds with Emily and Luke.
Emily, Olivia and Luke

Many thanks to Mary for playing host to us. Some how I messed up and don't have a single picture of her with us. The kids really enjoyed playing with her. Emily still talks about 'Mommy's cousin Mary' and how nice she was. Thank Mary! It was great seeing you and sharing stories through the late night.

...

Luke is eating cheerios with his spoon (and many other foods with a fork). It's all by preference. Emily loves to set the table and make sure that he has both a spoon and a fork to choose from. It's exciting to see him as a little boy, doing all of the things the big kids are doing. Both kids love the playground and school. Luke is finally comfortable with testing some of the new items while Emily enjoys the game of chase.

Just wanted to share

This was so cute, I had to take a picture to share it. Last night, Luke found a couch just his size while brushing his teeth. It's a Build-A-Bear couch, intended for our furry stuffed friends. He seemed pretty impressed with his new find and made himself right to home. He even tried to lounge for a while. :-) This morning, Luke was caught cuddling with Miss Sugar while waiting for Emily to wake up and join us. Again, I had to take the picture. These days are numbered.

Just Practicing

Luke Practices His Role for the Upcoming Debut as "Luke, the Not-So-Cowardly Lion" R-R-r-r-roar!!!!
Then ... He decides to take a few bites out of our tortilla shells before adding them to the dinner table. Again, part of his 'practice' for his upcoming role. :-)
Emily as Dorothy, standing with her friend our scarecrow. (She insists on giving him a hug and kiss every morning and night.)And lastly... a little fun in the cul-de-sac. I can't believe he's finally big enough to play with the car. Amazing. Where has the time gone?

~~~ Special Thanks to Amy and Aidan for loaning us the costume!!!~~~

Luke Prayed all by Himself

Today at lunch, Luke put his hands together and said a short prayer (in baby babble) all by himself without anyone prompting him. He then smiled at me and began eating his lunch. He did it again at dinner time, joining us when we prayed. It was great! He loves sharing in all of the things that we do. Now, we'll keep working on the 'Amens!'