The Tree Incident

This is why we are SO glad we rent...

We are all fine and have a lot to be thankful for, the house is almost back together, the kids were scared but now think it's pretty cool to have this construction stuff and giant tree in the yard. Hoping Thanksgiving week will be a little more low-key.

Finally, Halloween

A certain rockstar and jedi I know had a fabulous Halloween (and so did their parents).

While I was against the local ordinance to have Halloween a day early, it actually ended up allowing us to stretch the holiday out all weekend and enjoy a variety of Halloween events. Saturday we went trick-or-treating to a few of the "big" houses in town, like the vice-chancellor's house, and then ended up at a friend's house helping hand out candy and enjoying cider and caramel apples.

 

Sunday Nana and Gramps came for a visit (Gramps was on crutches for a sprained knee and the kids were very concerned so they gave him lots of attention) and then we headed to the park for a cookout followed by seminary trick-or-treating. The seminarians decided amongst ourselves that we were going to celebrate on the actual day so we went around to each other's houses and enjoyed the semi-quiet night since no one but us was around. Although, that was quite a lot of people as you can see, and this is just a picture of those who were in costume!

This year *A* totally got it about trick-or-treating. (H) was still a little shy and at some point decided he didn't need anymore candy. We were able to borrow a really cool, fancy lightsaber from one a friend and after that he was done with candy. He just wanted to have lightsaber fights with Daddy. It made for some really cool pictures too!

 When we got home, even though it was a school-night, I let *A* dump all her candy and go through it. This is how she organized it, then she counted it.

That was so me as a child, I loved looking through my stash after a night of trick-or-treating and seeing all the good and not-so-good things I got. I do not remember meticulously organizing it like this, because that was so not me. But I loved watching her and remembering.

We ended up with way too much candy this year with all the events, but Sophie-dog took care of most of it the other night when I forgot and left the bags out. Crazy dog!



A Perfect Fall Day

Today we had *A*'s last soccer game and then came home to carve pumpkins. The kids were so involved in it this year and insisted on scraping the seeds, drawing the faces themselves, and *A* even wanted to cut most of hers herself.

Afterwards, ^J^ and I worked around the house, roasted pumpkin seeds, and enjoyed the day off while the kids proceeded to play outside for hours.

Here they are pretending they "had no home and were poor". They would find food (acorns) and cover up with blankets. (H) told *A* they weren't poor because they had blankets and toys. They used Ella-kitty as a means of transportation for their stuffed animals. She was very patient.

I even had time today to play with my camera a bit and take some photos with my big lens. Here are some of my favorites. I'm hoping to get some good Fall leaves shots this weekend too.

Happy Halloween tomorrow, even though no one wants to celebrate it then, but we still are! Boo!

My Little Pumpkin

Last week I went to the pumpkin patch with (H)'s preschool. I went last year with both kiddos and we had such a good time I knew I wanted to go again this year. I volunteered to drive (H)'s buddies and my friends (their mommies) down the windy, scenic road to the pumpkin patch, which is actually in Alabama.

It was a beautiful Fall day and we had a blast!

The corn box was the favorite thing to play in and they even added a cotton box this year.

(H) and his best friends, they play so well together!

 Petting the animals was fun too and the tractors were a big hit!



My pumpkin and his pumpkin



Riding the Rails

Last weekend we took a trip to Chattanooga to celebrate my mom's birthday. We wanted to do something we hadn't done yet, so we decided to do something we've always wanted to do, and take a train ride! It was so much fun! The kids didn't know what was happening until my mom handed them their ticket and they were so excited! (H) was literally shaking with excitement! Afterwards we tooled around the city and enjoyed the beautiful weather and many festivals going-on.

This kid couldn't stop smiling!



Here it comes!




We ate lunch on the train




We loved watching the world go by



Turning the engine around



We got to visit the shop where they work on these old steam engines!




Tunnel! So cool!




So much fun!



Weeeee!



This part was kind of scary!




Cuties!




Cooling off after in a new-to-us fountain




Playing and listening to the bluegrass festival




Followed by a tickle-fest