Halloween 2013

Halloween was a success!

Shannon loved carving the pumpkins with her dad. Mitch, on the other hand, was grossed out by the feeling and preferred to watch.

This morning we had a bear running loose in the house!

Pretty pleased with herself and she happily wore it to daycare.

We joined the neighbors for trick-or-treating downtown. It was an experience I hope to forget or we may never repeat it.  All of what I loathe about Halloween all rolled into one.

Hanging out with their pumpkins on the porch

and with friends in the backyard.

This goofy duo had a good day. To my delight, their favorite part is still answering the door for others!

Fall Festivals

We have been taking advantage of the perfect fall weather lately with several trips to area fall festivals.

First we hit up Bellingers with the Warners, which is almost an annual tradition now. The boys were happily rowdy in the hay!

The tractor ride is a major highlight and we had 2 kids who would have ridden it all afternoon!

Shannon got the seat at the front of the tractor trailer, much to her immense pleasure.

And she posed prettily for her autumn photo.

Next we went to Country Mercantile and enjoyed their festivities.  

Running amok in the hay maze,

Climbing the heights of the hay pyramids,

Leaping with no trace of fear,

and finally taking flight.

Here's the proud not-yet-2-year-old flying high without her parents. 

He made a gleeful pilot!

Soaring, happily! They rode three times and only stopped because the tickets were gone.

Cheese! Happy fall kiddos!

Fall Party!

Mitchell has long wanted to have some of his friends over for a party and we finally did it!
He invited friends from daycare and preschool and we had 11 kids and 8 adults when all was said and done. A pretty good ratio! The weather was perfect and we had a lovely time.

The first activity was painting pumpkins in the garage. This went surprisingly well, in spite of a bee sting and copious amounts of paint and small children. The finished products were pretty great!

Watching their different painting styles was entertaining.

Shannon really got engrossed in her painting. It started as a pink pumpkin, then a purple layer was added with some yellow flourishes.

She spent almost an hour on it - long after the other kids had moved into the backyard and she was the lone painter in the garage. By the time she was finished, it was mostly a grey mess but she was proud.

Mitch and Harrison modeling pumpkin hats. I spent way too much time making these because the kids were  minimally interested!

Next up: cookie decorating. It's a win-win when it's outdoors!

Note to self: next time give them individual bowls of frosting! There was a lot of knife licking and double dipping.

Brooklin and Avery enjoying their treats.

Cade, master of sprinkles.

Then it was on to the pinata. Everyone had a chance to hit twice if they wished. Molly got a good smack.

Mitch connects. Nothing like a wooden bat to break things up!

Quinn finally  broke it open, much to the kids' glee. Kai watched from a safe distance.

Pandemonium!

Not surprisingly, the broken pinata pieces provided lots of entertainment after the fact. The yard is now littered with little orange paper scraps.

Hannah's hair just got wilder!

Some masterpieces

And when the sugar kicked in, they just ran and yelled, ran and yelled, ran and yelled.

Hammock play

Drying pumpkins.
We had a great time with friends!

Our Fall Colors

Win or lose, we wear our purple!

Preschool Pumpkin Patch Field Trip

Mitchell had his first field trip on Thursday! 

Here he is on the tractor heading in the pumpkin field with friends!

Oh, it's so heavy! It was TOO heavy to keep, he tells me.

His class! It was a big success. He's a happy preschooler, for sure.

October: A Study in Studies

Because it's been awhile, here's an update - the kids are studying!

 Shannon loves to read, and is sometimes happy to read to herself.

Mitch has homework usually once a week. He's getting better at his letters: this week it's Bb!