Spiderwebs

We have a small row of trees lining one side of our driveway and the spiders love them!  Even the kids have learned not to walk between the trees because you are sure to walk through a web if you do.  Sometimes in the morning they look really pretty covered in dew.

As much as I don't like spiders it really is amazing what they can do.

We're Off to See the Wizard

We had a blast for Halloween this year!  After reading "The Wizard of Oz" and watching the movie the kids wanted to dress up as characters from the movie for Halloween.  It worked out perfectly because everyone got to be what they wanted.  Penelope wanted Dorothy, Tucker wanted to be the scarecrow, I thought Leon would make a great lion and he was happy about it, and Scarlett asked to be a princess so she got to be Glinda.

I was able to buy Penelope's and Leon's at Good Will and make the rest from things we had around the house.  Overall I probably spent $25 and most of that was on Penelope's costume.  That's pretty good for six theme costumes.

They were cute skipping down the street together.  I tired to get them to sing the song but it never quit worked out.  Leon wasn't fast enough and they didn't know the words well enough.

Penelope made a great Dorothy and we already had the perfect dog.

Leon wore his costume many times before Halloween and loved growling at everyone.

Tucker said his costume was itchy so I let him take it off for some of the pre Halloween events but for the night of trick-or-treating he had to wear it.  I didn't make it for nothing!

Scarlett got lucky with her costume because we are in San Diego!  It was in the 80s on halloween and a warm 75 when we went trick-or-treating.  No layers this year!  We went to a park carnival thing during the day and I couldn't handle the heat.  It was strange to be trick-or-treating with short sleeves and no coat and not even a hint of a chill.  Last year we were so cold the kids did last as long as I wanted.

Here is the whole gang!  Bob was the tin man and I'm the wicked witch.

We went to this great neighborhood where the houses really went all out.  About 90% of them participated and many of the people were sitting on their front steps waiting for trick-or-treaters.  The houses were even close together.  This is our first year where all the kids could walk well and keep up.  It was great!

Preschool Pumpkin Patch

Leon and I joined Scarlett and her preschool to the pumpkin patch for a field trip.  We went to the same one two years ago with Penelope's preschool but Scareltt said she didn't remember.  I thought it looked exactly the same.

We got there early and took some pictures while we were waiting.  Tucker was going to come but Bob ended up having the day off so they went dirt bike riding instead.  It was nice having just the two little ones.  

The only downside wast that it rained on us.  Not a pouring rain, but enough that I felt bad for Scarlett because she didn't have a hood.  She said she loved "the wet" and was ok about it.

The kids were cute taking their turns on the tractor.

Every time we see chickens I think about how Bob wants some and we might one day be chicken owners ourselves.  I'm not sure exactly how I feel about that.

All the kids had to pick up the eggs and feel them.  I learned that each chicken makes their own distinctive egg shells.  The chicken makes the same dot pattern on her eggs every time. The tour guid compared it to our fingerprints.

The highlight of the trip was picking out a pumpkin.  Both kids said it was the best part.

After much thought and pumpkin switching they both ended up with bumpy pumpkins (not the above pictured ones).

I love fall and going to the pumpkin patch has been a great tradition for our family.

Jack-O-Lanterns

The kids didn't choose your average orange pumpkin this year.  Scarlett and Leon went with bumpy pumpkins and Penelope found a cool blue one.  I think they look great and love that they are just a bit different.

We carved pumpkins as a family and decided three was enough.  Tucker really wanted his own but he didn't go to the pumpkin patch so he didn't get one.  He complained about it but once we got started it worked just fine.  Bob and i were the only ones who did any carving anyway.  The kids all had fun pulling the insides out of the pumpkins.

Leon took a while getting everyseed out.  They were especially slippery for his little fingers.

The kids lost interest before we finished.  I'm just glad we picked really simple faces this year.  There are a lot of cool detailed ones out there but in the past trying to make those always ends up being stresful.  Here they are all lit up.

I forgot to take pictures that night so I actually just got up before the sun and snapped a few shots.  I don't like waking up in the dark.  And here they are a couple hours later.

Pumpkin carving is one more reason why I love this holiday!

Halloween Candy

Are you sick of Halloween candy yet?  We gave up last Friday and took whatever the kids had left.  I like to get it done and over with so as long as we weren't about to eat a meal we let the kids eat their candy as much as they wanted.  Then when they went to sleep Bob and I picked and ate all the good stuff.  But I was sick of finding chunks of candy all over the floor and listening to the kids crying because Leon kept getting their candy, so last Thursday we told the kids to eat the rest because when they woke up on Friday it would be gone.

It worked, except for the fact that we have half a giant bag of dum dums that never got passed out and Leon found it.  I found him eating six at once!  He loves suckers!  And man, did he cry when we took away his candy to put him to bed.

Pumpkin Carving

For family home evening on Monday we talked all about pumpkins. We started with stuffed bell peppers made to look like pumpkins.  Then I found this great lesson relating carving pumpkins to the gospel.  After that we carved our pumpkins and watched "It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown."

Because I was busy carving and forgot to take pictures some of these pictures are actually from when we made pumpkin pie.

The finished pumpkins.

We let the kids carve styrofoam pumpkins this year.  It was so much easier because everyone got their own and no one fought over a design.  And the kids did them all by themselves.  Scarletts is the one on the right that is all broken apart.  Tucker's is next to that and Penelope's in on the other end. She was doing Ariel but didn't want to risk cutting the head out.

It was such a fun family night.  At first the kids were not cooperating for FHE and I wanted to just give up but once we got into the story of the lesson they behaved and I'm glad we pressed on.

How to Host a Murder

Last weekend we hosted a dinner murder mystery party.  We went to one a few years ago and thought it was really fun and wanted to do it again.  The theme was An Affair to Dismember.  I loved it because all the characters were based off of monsters.

Bob and I were Balihi- The Rogersandhammerstein Monster and Lizzie Bordeaux- the Gothic business women suspected of murdering her parents.  Notice my giant engagement ring and Bob's neck bolts?

We also had Angela Deth, DDS and Hannibal Schecter.

Glumda, The Wicked Witch of DePressed and Asthmadeus, The Prince of Dimness

And lastly Aretha Garlique and The Mummy of King Aldrinktotat.

The party went really well and we figured most of the mystery out.  I would love to do it again next year and we still have the game if anyone would like to trade or just have it.