Getting ready for Halloween

The crafts are made:

The pumpkins are carved:

The pumpkin guts were turned into Pumpkin Gut Bread (no joke and boy was it fabulous!)

Then a random object was found in our tree thanks to the leaves being gone:

Do you see it?
I asked Jason about the ball in our tree and he said, "oh yeah, there it is."

The goggles are on (ok, not Halloween related but the kids love wearing those goggles):

Time for Halloween fun! As a sidenote, I didn't want to fix the bruise on his forehead when uploading this picture because seriously, he is such a toddler. He is into everything, loves dancing around, runs like crazy and with that comes some bruises. This one was because he tried to fight the door and it won :)

Cincinnati Times

Last weekend we went to Cincinnati to see some of Jason's family from TX and FL. Although I got no pictures of those out of town guests, I got some other cute ones :)

Ella, Annie, Aunt Linda, Nana Dean

Feeding the ducks

Until Annie's lipstick went into the lake and Nana Dean fished it out

One of my favorite pictures.
Notice the sign "Do NOT feed wild fowl."
Now notice Dean's empty bread bag. Love it!

Matthew & Landon (they are 7 months apart)

Laney & Annie
For the record, Ella would not feed the ducks when she realized the sign said to not feed them.
Quite the rule follower, isn't she :)

The girls pushing Laney home

Earlier in the day, the kids, Jason & my dad went to a park near my parents' house I had never been to. It used to be a gravel pit and the story goes that homes were going to be built around the few lakes. The city didn't want this to happen so they bought the land. Only a few small towns have access to this park so it is very private and very peaceful.

We all perfected our rock throwing:

Matthew wanted to join in the fun

This is how I spent my time there....keeping Matthew out of the water.
He just wanted to jump right in.

Ella loves throwing rocks with Jason & my dad.
It's kind of like "their thing."

One of the lakes. There are miles of walking trails and even canoes to borrow.
We can't wait to go back!

I love me some applesauce

For the first time, I let Matthew try a spoon. Yes, I have given him one to hold but rarely let him actually use it because I don't feel like dealing with the mess that follows using the spoon with food. The other day at breakfast Matthew was eying some applesauce. So I stripped him down and let him go to town. He did really well for his first time. Well, not really his first time. The day care has given him a spoon to eat with for over 6 months!

*Although he started using a spoon, he ended up ditching that and just drinking from the bowl. I was cracking up*

We love this weather!

Our annual fall day with the Powells.

Stuckey Farms 2010

Two of the three year old classes

To say this trip to Stuckey Farms was better than last year is a huge understatement! Last year it was cold, wet, rainy, uncomfortable. We didn't get to take a hay ride or go out to the apple field. Well this year, the weather was 60 degrees and sunny. We learned about bees and honey, turning corn into corn meal, types of apples, picked a class pumpkin and had some apple cider. It was fun to meet some of the kids that Laney talks about and some of the moms (who I rarely get to see). I also thought it was funny that of all the moms I talked to, I had the least amount of kids. Remember when two was the "typical" number of kids?

Seeing all of the bees



Watching corn meal





I couldn't believe that they all stool still and watched this video on making cider.
I was shocked how well they listened (if only Laney listened to me like this!).



I couldn't resist getting this picture



In the apple field
We tasted two different kinds of apples and then apple cider.
This was my favorite station, just for the record.

Laney showing her friends her dog.
I love the conversations 3 year olds have.

Laney thought that her teacher was picking out a pumpkin for her (not a pumpkin for the class). Laney was sadly mistaken but then turned her frown upside down when I told her that she got to eat her lunch in the car. Amazing how you can turn an upset kid to a happy kid just by making something exciting. But boy was she upset that the pumpkin wasn't for her!

I was really glad that Ella got to join us. Her kindergarten starts at 1 pm, and we were home at 12:55. I love when a plan comes together. Matthew was with a friend which made this trip truly enjoyable. Thanks, Jen, for watching MJ!