Halloween

We thought about bobbing for apples at the Halloween party this year, but decided the kids were still too young and wouldn't get it.  But, Wesley begged me to do it Halloween morning, insisting "that's what you do on Halloween, go on hay rides and bob for apples."  Since we were not going to make it to any hay ride, I thought we'd invite Tate and Ellie over and give the apples a try.

 They had so much fun.  They totally couldn't get a grip on the apples until I drained out half of the water, but you should have seen them trying.

 This is as close as Avery got to bobbing for an apple, biting the bowl!

Look how excited they were when they actually did it!

So, on to the main event, Trick or Treating...

 Like our Phantom? The boys named him Ruffy and were excited that our house was sufficiently spooky.

And how cute are our kids? I could just die!

 Jack and Avery only lasted about 45 minutes before they were ready to go home and dig into the treats, Brad stayed out with Wesley and his friends for a while longer. No danger of them getting run over in the dark, Brad and Tate were beyond reflective!

Carving and a Surprise

We just got around to carving our pumpkins.  Not too shabby, but it is always more work than I think it will be!  The kids are happy though, almost as happy as they were with their surprise this morning...

 a Halloween package from Mimi and Papa! 

Candy, toys, books, what more can these kids ask for?!

The Halloween Party

Have I told you how much I love this party? 
We've done it every year since our oldest kids were almost 2 and it just gets more and more fun. 
Really, I think this was our best party yet!

We started with a spirited game of musical chairs,

 Wesley won!

 Then the kids showed off their moves during freeze dance.

 We, of course, forced a few group pictures.

 Next up was the pinata, always a favorite party game for these kids!

 Jack and Wesley always go last because they break it every year, but this one was a bit tough...
 Michele had to decapitate it to shake out the candy!

 We wrapped eachother up like mummys 

 and finished the party stuffing our faces with cookies.

So. Much. Fun.

Barnyard Boo

Today was full of more Halloween activities, starting with another trip to the pumpkin patch

with Jack's preschool class.

 Then we spent the afternoon at Barnyard Boo with some of our favorite friends.

 The fun included monster bowling, a seriously spooky obstacle course, and a crazy few minutes of hula hooping!

 We ended the afternoon with some face (or arm) painting.

Yeah, it was a good day.

Pumpkin Picking and a few more witches

Today we took our annual trip to the pumpkin patch.  We couldn't have picked a better day this month, it was 75 degrees.  Not that bad weather has stopped us before... we've braved windstorms, rain, and even a little snow, all to pick the perfect pumpkin.

 And our trip was a success.  Wesley and Jack (mostly Wesley, Jack was more interested in the rotting pumpkins) picked out three of the best pumpkins you've ever seen.

 Not to mention they're the cutest kids I've ever seen!

And yes, we did go back to see the witches again this week.  So here's a couple more pictures,
this time with a few more witches.

Preschool

Wesley has been dying these last two months, waiting for preschool to start again.  We decided to send him to the preschool at a local high school after hearing great things about their program.  Wesley's been anxious to start since he went to an open house at the school in the spring.  Finally, he started preschool again this morning.  He's been so excited that I was surprised when he got a little nervous in the car.  But after a short pep talk, we were there, he saw his buddy Tate and off they went.  I was really dragging him down by forcing a few pictures!

Did you notice Avery's crazy hair and finger up her nose? Nice.
But, even better, did you notice Jack's not in the picture?  That's because Jack has started preschool too!  He still has three years before kindergarten and we weren't planning on preschool until next year, but an opportunity came up that I just couldn't pass on.  A few friends started a neighborhood preschool again (like we did with Wesley last year), then a month after starting one of the moms found out their family would be moving soon.  So they offered the spot to Jack, he's a full year younger than the other kids but not much behind, so far I've only noticed his attention span just isn't as long.  I'll teach again one week a month, but Wesley and Jack will be in school at the same time on Tuesdays and Thursdays, so Avery and I will have a few hours to ourselves.

Jack started last week and has been loving it.  I think it's really a good thing for Jack to have his own activity.  He's been excited to tell me about what he's done when he gets home and I'm so proud of him.

What am I going to do with all this free time? 

Gardner Village

If you know me at all, you knew this post was coming.  FALL is here and so here begins the first of a thousand posts dedicated to our fun this season.

It always begins conference weekend, our first visit to the witches at Gardner Village.  This year we went on the "Ride to a Witch".  I know I've seen the signs before but I always thought it was just a hay ride.  Let me just say, if you've been passing it up like me, don't!  They take you for a ride back to a witch village in the fields behind Gardner Village and drop you off for some fun with the "real" witches. 

We walked through the witch's house.

 Got a little funky with Disco Die-Anna, the dancing witch. 

(She taught the kids some awesome monster moves.  By far my favorite witch of the night!)

 Listened to another witch tell the children nursery ryhmes, although Avery thought the dirty bathtub was much more interesting.

 And buried beetles in the graveyard.

 We totally loved the "Ride to a Witch"!  Plus the rest of the night was great too. 
I'll save more pictures of the witches for our next visit!