Party of Five: A monster blog

Greetings from the Ross household! :)

So sorry for the delay in updates ... it's been busy around here! A fourth birthday party (Zack), Halloween, jobs, school, etc etc etc. Anyway, I have included a large number of pictures ... yes, they are a bit out of order, but at least you'll get a pretty good idea of what we've been up to lately.

Enjoy!

First, we start with Zack's fourth birthday on October 16. At school he got to wear his birthday crown and it just so happened that his birthday was also my normal day for working in his classroom. It was a lot of fun to see all the festivities. We made cupcakes to share with the class and Zack enjoyed passing them out, but refused to eat one himself. Seriously, what's wrong with this kid?! Just kidding. Anyway, Zack also did some finger painting on his big day.

Here, Zack and his best friend Zander stand in front of the class with Miss Debbie. The class sang "Happy Birthday" to Zack. He wouldn't go up without having Zander stand with him.

See, I told you they were best buds! These two are so cute together and it's been a lot of fun watching them in class.

Gotta love that smile! :)

No, he's not hurt. This is the face we get when we ask Zack to say, "Cheese!" Sorta funny, but awfully cute, too!

A few weeks ago, Gavin earned his first stripe (yellow) in Kuk Sool. Way to go, Gavin! :)

Ah, yes! Halloween. What an event! I made Gavin's Air Force costume and Chloe's witch costume. Zack wanted to be Bob the Builder. The kids looked adorable! Here I'm putting some of the finishing touches on Zack's costume.

Gavin shows off his Air Force costume. He said he wanted to be an army guy, but I couldn't very well let that happen! (Having been born at the Air Force Academy and raised in an AF family!) Anyway, Papa Clint bought and donated the patches for Gavin's costume. The other side actually has a "Ross" patch. He looked great, if I do say so myself!

Playing dress up before Halloween! Chloe's costume came with fur around the collar of her cape. The same purple fur was also around the top of her hat.

Like I said, the pictures are a little out of order here ... This little guy standing with Zack is Riley ... a friend since Zack was born. Actually, these two were born 21 hours apart in hospital rooms next door to one another. A couple of weeks ago Chuck, Zack and I drove to the Bay Area to celebrate the boy's birthdays. Here, the two of them check out one of the toys Riley had just opened. Just below the picture is the first ever picture of these boys. It was taken just a few hours after Riley was born, but among my favorites! By the way, Zack is the one not wearing the hat ... his head was too big for the hats ... :D

I know this picture hadn't made it on the blog yet and it was taken in the last few weeks. It made me laugh so I had to share!

On Thursday, Oct. 16 we hosted a family party to help celebrate Z's big day. Here everybody checks out the Cars race track that he opened. It's a fun toy that races Doc and McQueen around he track. For the record, no matter how things get set up, Doc is the faster car!

When we sang to Zack and brought out his cake (Bob the Builder, of course) he screamed! Can you see the fear in his face!? I guess we scared him. It didn't take long for his mood to change though ... it's amazing what a little chocolate ice cream will do!