Trunk or Treat

Our first Halloween activity happened on Saturday, Oct. 29 at the church. The annual Trunk or Treat was the biggest I've ever seen it. The kids filled their buckets with tons of candy, which we used to give out to neighborhood kids on Halloween. It saved us lots of money, and we got rid of the candy quickly! Just don't tell the kids. They didn't know that was their candy.

The football star and the secret agent: (although in the car on the way over he was calling self my lawyer)

Grace getting candy from Handsome Rob (he insists on being called that)

Joey, who was a secret agent, saw many of his (girl)friends that day. Brekklen is one of his favorite friends, so I just had to snap this picture.  Joey had his "cool" face on.

Haley was in charge of handing out candy from our trunk. Although I heard later reports that she was actually throwing the candy.

And costume of the year goes to: Buddy the Elf! (Otherwise known as Carter W.)

Horseback Riding Continued...

As we waited for our turn in the arena, the kids got distracted by the pig roaming around, dogs, horses, and, of course -- poop.



This was a really funny moment: This poor little kid just walked by the horse, who grabbed the kid's bucket and wouldn't let go. They had quite the tug-of-war going for awhile. The kid won.

When it was our turn to ride, Matthew was a natural. He moved right along with the horse (good genes, I think), and was totally at ease up there.  He loved riding around the arena, and especially loved looking and listening to all the other horses. He spent the rest of the week demonstrating his horse sounds.

While the other kids were riding, we waited our turn in line.  Matt and Emily are in nursery together, and they had a really fun time in the dirt!

The Dog Lover

A few weeks ago, we went with some of Matt's friends to the stables for some horseback riding.  Before we got into the arena, Matt found several canine friends.  He rubbed their ears (which dogs either seem to love, or they bite him when he tries it).  Luckily, all of these dogs loved it, and Matt made lots of new friends.

He couldn't reach this guy's ears, but they were both very interested in each other:

Rodeo Time!

I LOVE THE RODEO! I would go every night if I could.  The kids really enjoyed it, too, although their favorite part was catching a shirt that the rodeo clown threw up into the seats (turned out it was a Jack Daniels shirt, so we passed that along to Goodwill).  They also liked it when the rodeo clown danced, threw a football into the crowd, jumped in his barrel.....

Basically, they liked the rodeo clown.  Except Haley, who has had a deep hatred for rodeo clowns ever since she was 3 years old, quietly sleeping in my arms, when a rodeo clown blew up a car in the middle of the arena.  She was not happy about that.

Joey also said he liked the Mutton Busters.  Those are the little kids that ride the sheep.  He said he wanted to do it, so maybe next time I'll sign him up!

Haley just liked being seen in her cowboy hat.  Andrew and Grace sat for most of the time with Grandpa Fred and Grandma Bertha, who also had tickets in the next section over.  It was Grandma Bertha's first rodeo.

It was fun, fun, fun!

More Pumpkin Patch

Here's my cute cowboy twins that are 3 1/2 years apart.  I love it when we get comments about how much they look alike.  And not only do they look alike, but they have the same fireball personality:

Picking out our pumpkins took quite a lot of time.  Who knew my kids were so picky about their pumpkins?  By the time we made it back to the tractor, everybody had two pumpkins.  Matthew, Grace, and Joey picked "baby" pumpkins because they were so cute, and they didn't want to leave the "babies" in the field all by themselves.

Andrew and Dad had to pick the biggest pumpkins they could find, of course.  They found them!

Andrew, Grace, and Matthew took a ride on the train.  Joey decided he didn't want to go, but he helped load the pumpkins into the car.

Pumpkin Picking

About a week after we went to the farm with Joey's class, we went back as a family to pick our pumpkins for the year.  The kids had a half day, so we went early.  But first, we stopped for a pizza lunch, which is our tradition on pumpkin picking day.  This time, we went to Village Inn pizza and were pleasantly surprised with their buffet.  I was impressed that it only cost $35 to feed all of us! 

At the farm, we did all the usual stuff, like a hay ride (it was fun to have our own personal ride, but it did get a little hot), a trip through the corn maize (which went much faster this time since Joey and I knew our way through), train ride, and a walk through their big shed that houses all the "fun" pumpkins.

The kids were decked out in their cowboy clothes, because later that day we were going to the rodeo. 

Matt's Gymnastics

This is Matt's first session of gymnastics.  He really loves it.  At first, he just ran around and did whatever he wanted (classic Matt), but he's got it figured out now.  It's good for him to listen to his teacher (whos name is Devin, but he calls her Haley).  And it's great for mommy to have a tired boy for the afternoon!

The Flamingos

We came home from dinner one Sunday evening last month, and found "a bunch of stuff!" (Joey) on our lawn.  That "stuff" turned out to be a bunch of flamingos randomly spread in the front.  It was stinking hilarious.  We found a note on our front porch, and it turns out the flamingos were a funny way of getting some donations to help with a friend's nephew who has spina bifida.  She is running the NY marathon to help raise money.  Awesome!

The funniest thing was watching people driving by literally STOP in front of our yard to stare and try to figure out why somebody would have such strange decorations.

The kids were SO sad to see the flamingos move on to the next targeted lawn.  Maybe we'll have to buy some just for fun!

Joey's Class Field Trip

I was so happy Matthew and I could accompany Joey's first grade class to the Laurel Pumpkin Patch.  His teacher, Mrs. Barbeau, and the other 2 first grade classes all boarded the bus and drove out to our favorite farm.  Matt and I followed in the van.  We enjoyed a hay ride, made our way through the corn maize, picked out our pumpkins, and ate lunch.  The next day, we all went to Joey's school and did some experiments on the pumpkins. We weighed and measured, found out if they floated, and drew funny faces on them.

The day of the field trip, Joey's teacher had to tell many of the kids in his class that "not everyone can sit with Joey".  Joey seems to be a hot commodity, especially among the ladies, and one lucky girl grabbed his arm first.  This happens almost every day, though.  As we go walking through the crowd at the playground after school, I hear a chorus of "bye Joey!"'s, and have even witnessed a line -- yes, an honest to goodness LINE -- of little girls waiving at my cute little boy.  He barely turns his head and raises a hand to waive.  Interesting.

Even though the 1st grade girls wanted Joey's attention, he usually only has time for his best friend, Reece.  They found each other through the crowd, and stuck together as all good buddies should.

Joey managed to find a pumpkin, even while being flanked by his admirers.  One little girl found a caterpillar and gave it to him, as sort of an offering.  He enjoyed the crowds that came to him to see it, and played for a long time with that fuzzy little creature (the caterpillar, not the girl).

Matt was just happy he got to pick his own pumpkin... and wear his cowboy boots.

Other Things That Happen When I Leave:

Leaving the house is always a risk for me.  I come home to things like Haley trying to make cookies. The flour started to fly, and she reached over to turn it off, only to hit it with her hand and turned it on high.  Yep.

And, when Haley's supposed to be watching Matt, I come home and find him lopped over in the chair.

I may never leave this house again.