Happy Halloween!!

Fall is my favorite time of year. I love the cool crisp mornings that make you want to snuggle up. And Halloween is one of my favorite holidays. This year Halloween just seemed to slip by. I did a lot of Flu Clinics this year and somehow didn't get but 2 decorations up. My poor kids were begging to put stuff up. And now it is over. Hopefully I can impress them with Christmas. It is just around the corner you know!!

To begin our fall festivities we went to a small pumpkin patch of sorts (more like a road side stand). The kids were excited to pick out their own pumpkins. I told them one each and somehow we ended up with eight pumpkins!!

Jon loved this picture of Jackson so I had to share it.

Picking out the perfect pumpkin Jon was trying to save this pumpkin from Jackson, who was playing ball with it!! We carved a cat into this pumpkin and it turned out amazingly good. Our only error was doing it on Monday, by Wed. it was really wilted. I even put it in the fridge. And I forgot to get a pic Very excited to see the goopey guts of the pumpkin.
Drawing her pumpkins face! This was the face that Olivia drew on her pumpkin. She even got to cut out some of it. She decided it was too hard.

Cute little pumpkin head!

Jackson was not so excited about the pumpkin goop. This is a look of disgust after sticking his hand in the pumpkin. He was so funny to watch, his expressions were GREAT!Mr. Pumpkin HeadJackson was a cute SKUNK this year. I thought it was fitting since I always call him a little "stinker" Katie finally decided she would be ballerina of sorts. This was an old costume we had for Olivia. Katie refused to wear the bumble bee costume that I made her. She was insistent on being a Pink Ballerina and would settle for nothing less. I did get her to wear it from the car to the church building for a play group activity. And after shedding the bumblebee tutu she said she was a black ballerina (she was wearing a black leotard). You could say she is particular!! I wonder where she gets that?

Olivia on the other hand was the subject of envy. She was a pink ballerina. She loved this pretty ballerina dress that Noni sent. Thank you Noni.Just before we went Trick~or~Treating.

We made these cute bat hats with our play group. Thanks Brooke for such a fun day. You did a great job putting it all together.

Olivia with her pink nose (from a stamp).

Katie and another one of her great faces!

Jackson being his sweet little self. He is so full of smiles lately.

After going to the church to do some Trunk~or~Treating, play some games and eat some chili, we headed home to hand out candy. This is how our Halloween evening ended. Olivia pulled a chair up to the front door and waited for some kids to come. Luckily we did get a few, or we would have had one disappointed little girl.

Creamy!!

We were learning about the letter B and decided to trace the letter B in shaving cream. The kids really, really enjoyed this. We will have to do it more often. We started out in the kitchen, working in pie pans and soon realized we needed to move outside.

I think Jackson thought it was whip cream. He kept trying to eat it.Kate is washing her hands. She loves to wash her hands. I mean loves it. I am very tempted to remove the doorknob from the door but that is a whole other story!! Olivia getting all lathered up!

Once outside they just went crazy with the cream.
This fun little activity took me back to elementary days. Does anyone else remember cleaning their desk with shaving cream?

All these pictures were taken before things got a little wild. So just a note--plan on a bath after this activity!! Super fun-definitely a favorite!

The Great Outdoors

Over Labor Day we had some cooler weather and decided to take advantage of it. The girls love to sleep outside with Daddy in the tent. I know there are a lot of pictures but I just couldn't narrow it down.

Kate and Daddy

Olivia and MommyCan you see the excitement in their faces? Each night we read four books but tonight I told her only one. So she picked a chapter book! Smart girl. We read Junnie B. B Jones by flashlight. Katie was asleep by the end and Olivia was wide awake wanting more.

As you can see Jon was nearly asleep before we started reading!

Jackson is not ready for outdoor adventures (or maybe I value my sleep to much). So we slept inside. He was excited to wake everyone up the next morning!

I guess that is what a sleeping bag does to the hair!

Silly Sisters-they were snuggled on the chair watching cartoons!

The Month of September

Well I guess I am falling behind with blogging. I am having a hard time managing my time lately-there never seems to be enough! This month we have done lots of arts and crafts in an attempt to divert Olivia's attention from the fact that every other child in her church class started school this year. She barely missed the deadline and was not happy about that.

Katelyn is now fully Potty Trained and we are all very proud of her. During the process of potty training I noticed some funny things that I will share more so for her than anyone else. She always said she could hear the pee pee coming. And she would cup her ear as if to listen for it and then run to the bathroom. Each time she poohs she attributes some type of animal to each one. My favorite was "Look Mom a family of snails". And there were others a froggy, turtle, snakes. And then she would say, every time, bye by pooh pooh see you tomorrow. I know you are all thinking why is she talking about pooh. But this is a great milestone in life. To be able to go to the toilet yourself and take care of business. And I just want to remember how silly my sweet little Kate is and how proud she is of her new accomplishment.

We had the opportunity to take a trip to Las Vegas. Jon's childhood friend invited us to meet them in Vegas. We stayed in their timeshare with them. I am so sad I didn't get any pics of them together :( The girls really loved playing with Mia.
We did lots of swimming

and checked out the Dolphins at the Mirage.

The girls and Jack really enjoyed feeding the hordes of pigeons their breakfast. Who knew pigeons ate bacon?

This is how Jackson slept best the first night-unfortunately for me!

We also went to the Fair this month. Olivia really liked checking out the little chicks. She even got to see one that was just hatched. Kate really liked the little bunnies. Jackson thought the sheep were pretty funny when the jumped on the fence. The pigs also caught his attention. Overall all the animals were great!! When aren't they! The girls also enjoyed climbing up into the firetruck and talking with the firemen. Olivia being a little "sheepish"

Sweet Sisters