Pumpkin Carving

Tonight it took us 60 minutes to carve our four pumpkins grown in our garden this year! Austin and I were both amazed at our speed, and we decided its because Meg and Andy were actual "help" this year. They cleaned and poked their own pumpkins. Meg also headed up the seed roasting. And, we had no tears during the entire hour.

 

L-R: Maisie's vampire and victim, Meg's toothy pumpkin, Nick's bat, and Andy's pirate skull

 

The cutest little pumpkin of all.

 

Happy Halloween!

The Vegans

Last night was our ward Halloween party. I've worked all month creating our organic costumes; we are, "The Vegans." Austin came up with our theme -- I thought it was funny. (I will post individual pictures from Halloween night on that night. For now, here is the group picture.)
L-R: grapes, a beet, a banana, a bean, a strawberry, a carrot and a sweet pea

 

 

Costume Party #1

Playgroup today was a costume party! My friend, Angie, threw a huge celebration for the kids -- complete with games, prizes, lunch, cookies and take-home treats. Maisie and Nick had a fantastic morning.

 

 

These costumes have been used before. Do you seen any resemblances?

Highway Robbery

I made a delicious sausage pizza lunch for Nick today, but he would have nothing to do with it. While I was away from the table -- placing a tired, newly immunized baby in her bed -- he stole my whole-wheat pesto, spinach, red pepper, cucumber, tomato wrap and devoured it. Luckily it is the beginning of the week, so I had plenty more veggies to replace it.

 

 

FHE Charades

Austin was in charge of FHE so he divided us up into teams to play Book of Mormon charades. He and Nick had the best performance. I thought I'd share.

Spooky

After church we painted our pumpkins and decorated them as mummies. Andy took his for show-and-tell. We did do this same craft last year, but it is a goody. Pretty painless. I hgihly recommend it to every child.

 

 

 

 

Winter Weather

We awakened to 32 degrees this morning. Here we are on the way to church.

 

 

 

 

General Conference

This weekend was General Conference again. The routine traditions took place without a glitch -- treats, notes and 8 hours of reverence in front of the TV. My favorite talks were Elder Bednar's, being more diligent and concerned in the home, and Elder Holland's powerful testimony of the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon. The three older children took notes on each of the first presidency and apostles' talks. See if you can guess whose notes belong to whom.

 

 

 

 

Laundry Day

Each Wednesday I wash and dry about 6+ loads of laundry (I wash sheets and towels on Fridays). This past Wednesday was the same as usual, except I felt especially overwhelmed when I began and especially exhausted when finished. My favorite load is Maddie's -- all the clothes are pink and white and so is the dryer lint.
Before.

After.