"Carving" Pumpkins

Neither Justin nor I love the whole pumpkin carving scene.  I am sure my own family has heard me whine enough about sliminess and coldness to not be surprised.  A few years ago, Grandma bought these pumpkin kits to offer our children some hope for the Halloween spirit.  They are great.

Getting ready to begin:

Picking pieces:  (This year we had to take turns.)

Spencer is an outcast in his high-chair:

Working:

Finished products:

(I know, I know, Meg looks SUPER excited.)

"Free at last, Free at last!" - And he even got to play with Grant's broken golf club which serves as a beating stick/sword.

A picture of us:

I have decided I need to be better at taking pictures of Justin and myself after visiting Bekah and Mark's this summer.  They had a board entitled something like "the board of our life doesn't always suck" where they had lots of pictures of them doing fun things together.  (I think it was for those sleepless nights after baby was born where you feel ready to jump off a cliff if it means you could sleep for four hours.)  I decided I would only have enough pictures of me and Justin to make up a very small postcard.  So, I am trying to repent.

All the kiddoes finished with their pumpkins:

Trunk or Treat

Our Ward Trunk or Treat was the weekend Justin was in Atlanta, so we were flying solo.  Still, since I threw up at last year's Trunk or Treat (Baby Spencer was causing trouble for his Mama from the inside) this was way better.  Besides, one of the sweet Young Women took Spencer off my hands for awhile.

Batman:

Unicorn:

(I planned on making ears and a "mane" on the head, but totally gave up at the end.  When I was completely finished Meg informed me that "Unicorns are not pink."  So, there you go.)

Superman:

I didn't realize until it was done that Spencer would have an "S" cape.  That was fun.  Grant still puts the cape on him around the house, so that means that we have a cute crawling Superman on our hands.

Ellie was a peacock and I'm not sure why I don't have a photo of her.  She was more independent and wandered around talking to her friends, so maybe that is why.

The whole crew:

Pumpkin Patch

You'll have to forgive fuzziness on these photos.  I have still not figured out my new camera.  When I shoot on AV mode, I get better color - but it doesn't shoot quick enough to catch crisp pictures.  When I shoot on Auto I get bad coloring.  I need to take it to an expert and have them fill me on.  Meanwhile, we get fuzzy, colorful pictures and dark/orange, crisp pictures.

The week before Halloween we finally made it to the Pumpkin Patch.  The kids loved picking their pumpkins.  I love that they still want the little ones that they can carry themselves.

Also, why do young girls insist on wearing their headbands on their foreheads?  It is not just my girls, but I don't really get it.  I don't remember doing it when I was little, but that doesn't mean much.

Ghost photo for Halloween:

Family Photo minus me.... I need to ask people to take pictures of us....

We had a great time at the pumpkin patch!

Spencer

Spencer is growing up.  Obviously.  Now he crawls, pulls up to things, has temper tantrums, and chooses outlets over toys when it comes to having a good time.  I had to take the picture below because it reminded me of one we have of Ellie.  I've included the original of her also.

Justin doesn't get a chance to play his guitar much, but the kids sure love it when he does play.  Below is our blond-haired, brown-eyed cutie.  I think his hair is getting darker again.  Maybe someday he'll pick an actual hair color.

This is what Spencer does when he's mad:

Yes, he bangs his head on the ground.  I suppose he'll someday realize that does him more harm than it does me.  He also rolls around in anger and wacks himself against the wall.  He has zero listening ability and I am thinking he may turn out to be trickier than Meg.  She at least listens, and then decides to ignore.  Spencer skips to step two.

This was taken on my birthday.  All my treasures.

This was taken at Young Women's.  No, I do not know how to tie a tie.  Yes, I am the shortest leader.  Yes, I am sure if the girls were standing, I would still be the shortest. It takes talent.

Soccer Again

So, one of the reasons I switched the way I do my blog now is that I am saving my blog posts for journaling/picture purposes. This means I wanted to be able to post more pictures - since the printout of these posts will be THE record for those of my children who don't want to go squirreling through hard drives to look at themselves when they were really cute. Boy, that sentence was way too long. (Previous to now I have printed them all out and put them in picture books, but this combines stories with photos which I think is better.) Anyway, this means that now that I've closed the blog you will have to scroll through more photos than before. Ha.

So, here is our family at soccer. We opted for Monday night soccer this year so that Justin would "have" to come with us every week for FHE. It has been way fun than dragging all the kids to the field myself.

Spencer loves his Daddy:

Grant loves getting ready to go get the ball.  Getting the ball?  Not so much.  Getting ready to get the ball?  Yes, that is fun.

He would not take off his shirt underneath, so he is sporting the "I must wear a collared shirt to soccer" look.

I am obviously riveted by the game:

Phone Photos

When Justin goes out of town, there are actually photos of me on the phone because I send him updates of all of us at home.  With the one set, I started with Spencer by himself - happy.  Then we added Grant - semi-happy.  Then we added Meg - and he looks a tad bit concerned.  Some photos of all the kids from a walk we took on Sunday in some of the last good weather in Iowa.  It is freezing now, and I have decided to be completely depressed about it.  Also, a picture of Spencer snoozing on the floor after he insisted that he should wake up at 6:00 instead of 7:00 (he was obviously wrong), and a sink-bath.  Who doesn't let their kids play with scratchy scrub pads for bath toys?