Trunk-or-Treat

Somebody stop me!! I'm on a roll. Cranking these posts out. Here's hoping I can catch up on my photo themes this quickly.

We don't have family around here, so Trunk-or-Treat is our main Halloween event. Tonight (official Halloween), we let the kids hand out candy and watch an episode of MacGyver. (We don't have It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown, because that would have been my first pick.) Not terribly exciting, but they have enough candy.

We had a good time at the Trunk-fest. We all got into the spirit. Here is a peek at our costumes:

To be fair, I do have other pictures of Tyler from the night before when he dressed up and I was the owl. But that is another post.

You may have noticed Ivory in the boot with me handing out candy. She actually got in trouble the day of Trunk-or-Treat and I revoked her privileges to walk around and collect candy. She still got to come and each of her sisters donated five pieces to her later on. But I am that strict mother who designates a punishment and then follows through. I'm not sure if she learned anything...only time will tell, but I felt good about not caving.

And it was just as well, since we have an odd number. The other four paired up and made the rounds. I still get teary-eyed watching the older ones shepherd the younger ones.

I've said it before, but I hope they all take care of each other.

They had their Halloween parties and parades today. I think they all had fun. You can definitely tell that we live in a house of girls when you hear a conversation like this:

Ivory: There were two ninjas in my class, and two G.I. Joes.

June: What's a G. I. Joe?

Ivory: I don't know.

(parents laughing)

Dad: He's a soldier.

Ivory: There was a good G. I. Joe, and a bad G. I. Joe.

Mom: Well, G. I. Joe is always good, the bad one was the guy G. I. Joe fights against.

Dad: (explaining as if to a child) Cobra.

Mom: Right, Cobra.


Like I said...girls.

Hope you had a fabulous Halloween. Oh, and if you needed a close up on those lashes, here they are.

Pumpkins We Carved (and Painted)

It is always a tad crazy trying to carve pumpkins with kids. Someone always needs help. Parents are lucky to get much done on their own pumpkins. But I love this tradition.

Here we are as a family. Pearl was in the thick of things, but never got a pumpkin of her own. (Last child syndrome.)

The Jett's joined us. They are such an awesome family. I took some really cute pictures of their little girl Savannah recently, and I can't believe I never posted them. Add that to the blog list.

In order to keep Daisy happy, we let her paint her pumpkin all by herself. But when it was all said and done, she was upset that her pumpkin wasn't scary (carved), so we let her add a face. That seemed to appease her.

Ivory wanted to carve and paint. She did a good job.

Actually, everyone wanted to carve and paint. Robyn's was a Dalmation.

June gets no points this year. Tyler drew and carved her pumpkin. (Although it was her idea.)

And she did paint it afterward, or two days later. (We ran out of time that evening.) I guess that is like writing your name at the top of the test. You get 2 points.

I opted to carve and paint too. I liked how mine turned out.

Tyler was quite done with carving by the time he finished June's, but he had a last burst of energy to finish his pumpkin. *yawn*

 
I think that means it is bedtime. (I should note here that I almost always blog at night, which if why I always talk about going to bed. I promise I am not narcoleptic or anything.)

Walking In the Canyon

A week or so ago, we made it out to the canyon as a family. It was great to walk around and enjoy nature. (I actually enjoy nature immensely when my allergies are not active, it is not too cold, and I know that I don't have to stay outdoors for prolonged periods of time. Yes, you may judge me.)

We took pictures and I thought I would throw some on here to remember the day. So, in no particular order...

Robyn was finding huge rocks to throw in the river

I think the skirt says it all

Sweet Daisy

Love cool webs, especially sans spider

I think Pearl came so sassy to keep me on my toes

I like fuzzy-looking plants

Proof I was there. It wasn't as cold as they make it look.

This one knows she's cute...wait til you lose those baby teeth

Seriously...fuzzy plants. What are those things even?

The sploosh from Robyn's big rock. She was proud.

Ah, Fall

Caught him whistling.

It was a gorgeous day, albeit a bit chilly for those without jackets. I did take more pictures of nature, but truthfully I enjoy pictures of people more. To each his own. There isn't much Fall left to savor. But I am excited for the upcoming holidays. Too bad they have to be accompanied by snow and such. Ooh, do I hear myself? I am such a whiner. So, here's to hot chocolate, long-sleeved shirts, snuggling, and scarves. (I don't wear enough scarves...probably because I'm not sure how.)

Why I Haven't Been Blogging

Okay, my lack of blogging is not because I have been sleeping. (If only.) But it has been a full week with Reflections and Halloween preparations. Hopefully Trunk-or-Treat will be everything the kids hope it will be tomorrow. But since it will probably be the candypalooza they were expecting, I doubt we will have any complainers. The real trick will be to keep Pearl from Pterodactyl screaming every time we expect her to put candy in her bucket versus her mouth. Should be boat-loads of fun.

I will try to be diligent and put on here:

Pumpkins we carved
Reflections entries
Jett's Halloween Party
Walking in the Canyon
Photography Themes
Trunk-or-Treat
And Random Crap as usual

Wow, that list doesn't look overwhelming at all. Maybe I will go back to sleep.

iPad*

I am posting from an iPad and I don't like it. There is a reason that God invented the keyboard. Okay, maybe not God so much as some computer nerd, but God probably is a computer nerd as well as a gardener, athlete, scholar...you name it.

Regardless, I am quite slow when it comes to picking up new technology. I drag my heels, but then usually enjoy it once I understand all the quirks. But it is hard to get me to change over. I am a creature of comfort and familiarity. And maybe a tad bit of laziness. (You didn't hear that from me.)

And since I have no reason to use an iPad again, unless my computer goes haywire (which it has been known to do) I will just stick to my good old-fashioned way of blogging. (Is it too soon to call a standard keyboard old-fashioned?)

Phew. That is enough very small typing for me. Peace out.



* Husband has iPad on loan from work.

My Neighbors

I have some kick-butt neighbors. So much so, that I secretly never want to move. EVER. AGAIN. That probably isn't in the cards, but I can dream, right?

In the meantime, I would like to show off one of my cutest neighbors. Sunny was kind enough to let me do my first baby session. Granted, little Thomas is not a newborn, but that was better in some ways, because we got some cute smiles. He was a perfect angel. Enjoy, enjoy, enjoy.

Photos of the week:

This baby is adorable

I still love feet

He got tired and Sunny cuddled him for a few moments and he was asleep. It was like butta', I tell ya.

When he awoke, his sister couldn't help but give him kisses.

 This baby loves his mama.

I am a little behind on my themes, but waiting for these pictures was worth it. Don't ya think?

Pumpkinland 2011

Fall Break is upon us. Normally I wouldn't plan anything, because I am a cool mom like that. BUT, I noticed that this year, most of the kids hadn't been to Pumpkinland. AND I didn't take Daisy last year out of sheer laziness. SO, I decided to pack up the troops and head out to conquer the corn maze.

Here we are.

I do enjoy that most of the kids are old enough to take care of themselves. I usually put them in pairs and they keep each other company. Granted, we have an odd number in our family now, but Dad tends to be missing, and when he is present, we just tag-team on Pearl. (Poor kid never had a chance.)

I did not bring the wide angle lens, and therefore there is no Daisy in this shot. Tyler would scold me, but I say...if you can't cuddle up, you'll get left in the cold. (Actually she was sitting on a cool gourd that she called her throne.)

We reached the maze and we split up.

Ivory and June took off, and the I followed Robyn. She led the way.

Apparently to a field with no sky. (My favorite settings love to blow out the sky, especially on a bright sunny day. But the weather was gorgeous...so no complaints really.)

But we won!!! Robyn found the secret room first.

And Pearl collected her bean.

Not to be outdone, the other two showed up moments later.

I couldn't fit the stroller down that tight aisle, so Pearl and I footed it in. She likes to be included anyway. Once I took her out, she was not so easily convinced to go back in. Our stroller days are not long for the world.

We passed the cut-outs on the way out of the maze. We took plenty of pictures, but only one had all five.

Next we came to the play area. The kids ran around and chased each other here and there. Pearl just sat and pointed and stared at all the animals. She was excited by the chickens and goats and wanted to see it all.

Daisy was busy being cute. Oh, and there is a sky after all.

I think that is Peter's house.

Pumpkinland is great, in that you leave one play area and go to another. Our next stop was the slides and bounce house.

There is wild-life here and there along the way. The kids ran on ahead, but Pearl wanted to inspect each cage. I don't blame her; there were some pretty interesting birds. In fact, what are these things?

I would call them painted-face birds, or maybe skeksis birds. Their necks totally remind me of the Dark Crystal.

Pearl was sad to leave them behind.

But she was happy to try out the third play area.

This is where we took a slight break from the scheduled programming because Daisy peed. And not in a potty. But life would be dull if everything went according to plan. Luckily, we live very close, so we scooted home, changed clothes and came back to find our pumpkins. And oddly, it was all worth it when Daisy said, "Thanks for taking me to the potty mom." It is easy to get uptight and cranky, but I hope my kids remember the times when I shook it off and didn't make them feel guilty. (I'm not sure there are many of those times right now...I am working on it.)

But we did find our pumpkins and we did have a good time.

Ivory was scavenging pumpkin stems. Don't ask why. I'm not sure she knows.

And so there you have it. We actually did something for Fall Break. Don't worry, I took the kids home and made them clean the house afterward, so they wouldn't get any ideas.