Trick Or Treating

 We have a pretty standard schedule when it comes to Halloween.  First stop is Grandma Bertha's "hotel" (as the kids call it).  The residents make a large line, sitting in their chairs with candy ready for the kids.  Some of them are dressed up, and all of them have something to say to the kids!  They all really liked Joey's costume, a WWII soldier (with a real helmet, no less).  Grace was a cute cowgirl, so they loved that.  Andrew they had a little trouble with, not sure how to identify him.  He was a pirate, and most of them finally got it.  Matthew, however, was a red Power Ranger.  The majority of the residents called him a "spaceman", which he was not too happy about.  But they gave him candy, so in the end he was very happy.

 

Being in the trick or treat line downstairs is not Grandma's cup of tea, so as soon as we've collected our share (Grace and Matthew collected more than their fair share -- the first man in line let them take two, so they thought that was the standard for the rest of the line, until we whispered in their ear that they should probably just take one unless otherwise instructed), we went up to visit Grandma.

 

Grandma always has extra treats for the kids, including non-chocolate ones for Joey.  The kids stuffed their bags, visited with Grandma for a little while, and gave hugs to say goodbye.

 

 

 

Next stop was to the Kazmierskis for another chance to grab armloads of candy.  Then we went to my parents' house for more candy and some pictures.

 

 

 

 

 

Before we went home, we stopped at Momma Harris' home, where she had special treats ready for the kids.  We posed for our annual photo, and then off we went to the house to begin our neighborhood trick or treating.

 

 

 

Last year Grace speed-walked through the neighborhood, leaving us all in the dust.  This year she was tired after the first block, and wanted to go home.  Really, she just wanted to hand out the candy, which is much more exciting to her than collecting it herself (plus, her bag was nearly full anyway).

 

Matthew was very full of energy until his bag started getting heavy.  By the time we were on the second block, it was dragging behind him.  Ben and I would carry it for him between houses.  By the time we circled back to our house, he was done.  The big boys went to the next block, and everybody was in bed by 9:00!

Carving the Pumpkins

Before we got down to the business of carving our pumpkins, Daddy had a special treat for the kids:

 

a cauldron (bucket) of witch's potion!

 

With the help of a couple of green light sticks, the dry ice Daddy got to impress the kids was a big hit.  He even put it in green Gatorade and then let the kids have a drink.

 

 

 

 

The boys loved it, because they love everything.

 

Grace was not as impressed with the taste.

 

But the pumpkin carving was a huge success.  We had many cups of pumpkin seeds, which were roasted and eaten within a few days.  Haley was the only one to use a template for her pumpkin (bottom right).  All the rest were done by hand (mostly with Daddy's help).  Matthew drew his face before Daddy cut it (middle top).  It made our doorstep very festive!

Annual Pumpkin Patch Trip

Last year when we visited the pumpkin patch, it was warm and sunny, but of course this year it was not.  We even said "no thank you" to the hay ride and corn maize, because we knew we just wouldn't make it in that wind!  But it was our day to go, so we bundled up and hit the road.

 

We know our way around that place, so we grabbed a wagon, stuck the two littlest in it, and hiked it out to the pumpkin patch.

 

 

We passed by the funny graveyard:

 

And 6 seconds after we got to the patch, Matthew had picked out his pumpkin.  That one turned out to be half frozen, so we put it back.  He then promptly picked out 13 more pumpkins, and we finally settled on the very perfect one.  It was quite a process.

 

The rest of the kids somehow have the idea that pumpkin picking is some sort of contest.  Each of them try to get the biggest one, and usually Dad wins.  My only rule is, if you can't carry it, it's too big -- put it back.  Needless to say, there was a lot of fumbling around, heaving and ho-ing, to prove that they could carry their gigantic pumpkins.

 

I told Haley that she looked like Hagrid in this picture:

 

Dad and Andrew are very picky about their pumpkins.  The other kids just want every single one they see, but it takes awhile for these two to make up their minds.  I'm pretty sure it's the same as parking -- they have to go around and scope out every single spot until they find just the right one.

 

This was one of Matt's picks.  I'm not sure if it's his final one or not:

 

Andrew made it to the wagon -- barely.

 

Joey was more sensible:

 

I think this was the third or fourth try for Matt:

 

***

 

After we had picked and paid for our pumpkins (and raided the farmer's candy dish), we stopped at the Batman cutout, just like we do every year.  Someday I'll make a collage of all these pictures from year to year:

 

I love seeing Matt's little bum sticking out.  He thought this was a very fun game:

 

And new this year, we stopped by the growing chart to mark our places.  Haley was really excited when I told her that she was covering the 5-foot mark.  That just made her day.

 

We bought 106 pounds of pumpkins.  We definitely don't need 106 pounds of pumpkins, but that's the way we roll!



Back to School

I was a little delinquent on the back-to-school pictures this year.  It didn't even cross my mind on the first day, so these are actually from the 2nd day of school.  Man, I've got to get my act together.

 

And Matt wasn't even going to school for 3 more weeks, but he needed to be a part of this shot, for sure!

 

He started preschool this year, with Miss Darcy, and he loves it, of course.  He literally runs from the car to her door each morning (well, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday).  He's been reading for over a year now, and he can count pretty much as far as he wants to, so he doesn't learn very much academically.  But he is learning how to be in a classroom, take turns, make a line, etc.  So we'll cross our fingers that he doesn't get into too much trouble in kindergarten.

 

 

Grace is in 1st grade, and she was lucky enough to get the same teacher that Joey had last year, Mrs. Barbeau.  She is everything a 1st grade teacher should be, and Grace just loves her.  Grace is already reading at an end-of-2nd-grade level. Her teacher told us that she is the top reader in the class.  And she is also the youngest kid in the class, so that's awesome.  As soon as she gets home from school, she sets up a little classroom in her bedroom and teaches Matt.  I think she'll make a great teacher someday!

 

Joey is in 2nd grade, and his teacher, Ms. Howland, is new to the school this year.  She is so awesome, too.  She just loves Joey (who doesn't?), and she really gets him.  He's a very passionate kid, but she gets him.  And she is totally on top of his food allergies.  And the best thing is, she loves frogs.  She has them all over the classroom (even live ones -- but they're in a tank).  She also does really fun projects.  I hope Grace gets her next year!  Joey is also reading at the top of his class, at an end-of-3rd-grade level.  There are a couple of little girls that were in Joey's class last year that are very sad that he's not in their class this year.  They hang out with him at the playground, though.  Joey is pretty oblivious (actually, he probably not -- he just acts that way) to all the girls that are in love with him. He's just too darned cute for his own good.

 

Andrew is a big 5th grader this year.  He was a little scared of having Ms. Wippert, who Haley had in 5th grade.  Everybody said that she is a mean teacher.  The other two 5th grade teachers are men, who are both really fun.  He also didn't get his best friend, Ryan, in his class this year -- which is the first time since kindergarten.  So he wasn't too excited about school, but Ms. Wippert loves him and really kind of dotes on him.  All she could talk about at his parent/teacher conference was how great of a kid he is, and how he is a leader, self-motivating, kind, and hard-working.  We told her that he was born that way -- we had nothing to do with it.  She didn't believe us, but it's true.

Haley is a Junior in high school this year, so she was long gone by the time we took this picture. She has her own car now, a Subaru donated lovingly by Aunt Emily and Uncle Ryan (thank you, thank you, thank you!).  She gets to go straight to school from seminary.  She is looking forward to college, and is busy in choir and all of her other classes.  She loves her gym class, which is at the end of the day at the new high-class gym on the west end.  She even gets up to go to a Friday morning class at 5:45 or some horrible hour like that.  I'm very impressed.  She had been working at Old Navy all summer, but now that wrestling season is upon us, she had to quit.  She will be the varsity wrestling manager this year, so we'll get to see her again next March when the season's over:)

 

 



 

The rest of the kids wouldn't stop to pose for individual pictures for me, but I did get one of Shoji sadly watching out the window while everybody left her.  Again.  I would totally take her more places if she wasn't such a psycho.  She's too lazy to get herself into the car, anyway.  She just looks at me like I'm stupid for even thinking she would do something like that.  It's a good thing for the front window.  She stays very entertained there.