Halloween Competition

Our church Halloween carnival included 2 competitions this year- trunk decorating and jack-o-lanterns. I put my heart into the pumpkin carving, only to have my pumpkin be not-so-fresh and unable to hold up the design I carved... it collapsed. Gabi helped design and carve the awesome big cat pumpkin (the cat is wearing a cape.) Micah decorated one of his Mr. Potato Head style and one with stickers, and Blake designed the smiley emoticon ;) . Meanwhile, after spending a good while planning and carving my doomed jack-o-lantern, I grabbed my Halloween decoration box on the way out the door for the trunk thing, and included inside was my witch costume from the previous year. So, when I got there, I laid out my stuff and made a Oz-esque melted witch in the back of my van. I think the shoes on the bottom of the tights earned me points... because I won a trophy! Woooo hooooo!

Costumes!

Here we are, ready for the church Halloween Carnival... Batman, the crazy cat lady, Captain Hammer, and WonderWoman.

Halloween Eve

Today was "superhero day" at Gabi's school, and although Wonder Woman is definitely a rockin' super chick, I just couldn't see her wearing that costume all day at school, especially since she'll have it on for 2 long parties tomorrow. So I bought her the SuperGirl t-shirt and we found the rest of the items in her dress-up stuff or closet. So, it's the WW cape, Razorback cheerleader skirt, red leggings, and dance hair bows... voila! Super Girl.

Then after school, they went to a birthday party for a friend from church who was turning two. He had a Halloween-themed party and even had a firefighter friend there who let the kids check out his fire gear.
We've been carving pumpkins and all four of us have costumes ready for tomorrow.... so check back often through the weekend for picture overload!

Micah's School Pictures

Micah's school pictures were done at the pumpkin patch this year. These are the proofs. They are pretty sweet, but I kind of like the ones I took better. Do you have a favorite? I'm trying to decide which (if any) I should order.

Bragging on our First Grader

We had our first parent- teacher conference for first grade tonight. Gabi is doing well.... all check marks and proficient scores. They did reading testing on them the first week of school, and Gabi was reading on the level of a first grader nine months into the school year; the test this week showed her reading on the level of an average second grader in the second month of school. We were also very proud to hear that the teacher sits Gabi next to students who need a little help because Gabi is always patient and willing to help them sound out words or figure out a problem.

Gabi's School Picture

More Pumpkins!

We went to the Pumpkin Patch at Micah's preschool today to pick out our future jack-o-lanterns.

Gone Fishin'

This weekend we visited the grandparents. I took Gabi to see High School Musical 3, meanwhile Gramzy and PaPa Jack took Micah to the lake for his first try fishing. PaPa Jack, the expert fisherman, said Micah did great at casting and most of the time the hook went really far out into the water, and few times really far behind him. Micah had a great time and caught his first little bass fish! He was not so happy that the poor fish was stuck on the hook, so they let it go. When they were packing up, Micah saw PaPa's reel was shiny metal not plastic, and he said, "cool reel!" PaPa Jack says this is a good sign of a future fisherman. After all, if you give a boy a fish he will eat a yummy lunch, but if you teach a boy to fish he will spend enormous amounts of money on tackle and gear.

The Prettiest Tree in Town

A stranger driving down the road today stopped to tell us that she knew it was fall when she rounded the corner of our street and saw the prettiest tree in town. The Maple tree in the parsonage yard really has the most beautiful autumn leaves. It still hasn't reached it's full glory yet, but has dropped enough leaves that a little work....

...can lead to a lot of fun and great pictures!

Pumpkin Patch!

One of Micah's friends invited us to the pumpkin patch to celebrate his 4th birthday and we had a blast! Gabi had visited the same farm the day before with her first grade class, and she really enjoyed being the know-it-all. We got a full tour of the farm, learned how pumpkins grow, met some animals, went on a hayride, and got to bring home a pumpkin!

Micah adored the big tractor:

Micah & 2 buddies learned about molasses:

Micah & best buddy, Benjamin:

The guide told them the turkey would think their fingers were worms and eat them, so see all their little hands behind their backs:

Gabi & Avie:

Gabi explained to daddy that pumpkins grew from flowers.

Welcome Fall

Fall is my favorite time to catch photos of the kids... here's your first installment... watch for more this weekend after we've been to the pumpkin patch!!