Halloween 2013

Halloween was a busy day this year (ok, so it is crazy busy every year).  I had signed up to help with both Rian and Jessie's classroom parties, and then we were having The Kensoras and McGonagil's over for a chili dinner before trick-or-treating.  Luckily for me, Mike was able to take the day off and help out with it all.

Our five pumpkins along with Grandma's Owl and Grandpa's Cat in the very front row.  Jessie's is the kitty near the bricks on the right.

Rian's winking pumpkin.

Hayden's puking pumpkin.  Apparently the babies threw up first, causing the mom to get sick as well. 

Hayden made cupcakes for dessert.  The spiderwebs she made out of white chocolate.

SuperGirl!

Strawberry Shortcake's good friend, Blueberry Muffin!

The parade of elementary students through all the classrooms.

 

 

Ms. Themm's Kindergarten class.

We brought the spooky punch.

Rian said everyone enjoyed the Dracula bagels we made along with the jack-o-lantern clementines.

Jessie, Rose, Jasmine and Rian trying to contain their excitement and eat something before getting changed into their costumes.  Hayden went over to Reilly's after school to get ready for the night.  They had fun putting lots of make-up on!

The Snake, The Zombie, The Angel, The Dancing Princess, Blueberry Muffin, SuperGirl and the Chinese Girl (she is the one who told me to call her that!)  The dads took the girls out trick-or-treating and everyone had a great time.  The best part was watching them after they got back home dump their candy all over the floor and then sort it out according to type, likes vs. dislikes, chocolate vs. non-chocolate and those they were willing to trade.  It was exhausting having to get everyone up for school so early the next morning, but worth it to have such fun with good friends!

Miller's Farm

It had been chilly and rainy the past couple of days, so when we woke up on Sunday morning and saw sunshine and warmth in the forecast, Mike decided to take the day off and go to Miller's Farm with us in Frederick, Co. After a quick stop in Longmont for another round of breakfast burritos (the girls' favorite) we were on our way.

They were having a great pumpkin sale:  $30 for a wagon full.  And you could be very creative about how you loaded your wagon.  All kinds of squash (hubbard, acorn, butternut, spaghetti), gourds, mini-pumpkins, potatoes and onions were included in the deal.  We were told by the people at the farm that you were either a "slacker" or a "stacker" so we gave it our best shot at falling into the latter category.

Rian found her pumpkin right off the bat.

Hayden searched and searched, but finally chose this beauty. And Jessie didn't care about pumpkins at all- she was more interested in running back and forth across "the yellow brick road" they had near the pumpkin patch 100 times. 

After a lot of trial and error, we finally had a wagon full we were all proud of.  The onions, gourds and mini-pumpkins were great to help with the balancing and stacking of the larger squash and pumpkins. 

Very carefully we had the girls pose by our haul- but not too close! After loading everything up in our car, we spent a couple of hours exploring the other fun things the farm had to offer.

Rian and Jessie got a real kick out of this GIANT chair.

On your marks, get set, GO!

Everyone had fun racing the little "go-carts" around the dirt track.  Mike and Hayden always turn it into a big competition.  Rian and I are just happy to mosey around the track and enjoy the ride.

Jessie finally decided to try it out and let Hayden drive her around for awhile.  (Fast forward four years, I see this same scenario repeating itself, only in a real car!). 

 

Who could resist sledding down a big dirt hill?

 

 I think the giant pillow jump was everyone's favorite activity of the day.  Mike nearly had a heart attack watching them, but they jumped and jumped and jumped to their heart's content. 

 

 

We were happy to enjoy another beautiful fall day outdoors.  We are hoping there will be many more before winter sets in!

 

Grandma's 66th Birthday!

For her birthday celebration, Grandma decided she wanted to go to Biaggi's for dinner for some good old fashioned Italian food.  We met her at the restaurant and had the hostess take her birthday cake to the kitchen so we could surprise her with it after dinner. 

Of course, all three girls fought over who got to sit next to her at dinner.  They decided to all scrunch together on the same side of the bench, rather than solve it with a fist fight or pushing each other off the seat.  Nice choice, girlies!

 

While waiting for our dinner, Rian entertained us with her spoon trick. 

After dinner, Grandma opened her gift (a Pandora bracelet with a couple of charms) and we sang Happy Birthday and enjoyed some cake.  Happy Birthday, Grandma!

 

Sunflower Farm 2013

Every year we make a trip to Sunflower Farm in Longmont, CO.  This year we were excited to have our good friends, Kristin and Spence come too, along with their kids: Carter, Calvin, Lena and Lauren.  It was rainy and cold the previous day, so we were thrilled when we woke up to sunshine and clear skies.  After a quick stop for breakfast burritos on the way, it was time to explore the land. 

 

The weather was perfect and the kids all got along great.  There is always so much to do that we run out of time before we see it all, but the kids had a great time enjoying the freedom to roam.  We didn't see much of Hayden, Carter and Lena, as they were always off crawling through bushes looking for chicken eggs or climbing trees. 

Lauren had fun pushing Hayden and Jess on the hammock swing.

 

You would have never known looking at this photo that so much of the surrounding area had been devastated by the worst floods in Colorado history only two weeks prior. 

Hayden had a whole collection of feathers by the day's end:  turkey, bird, chicken and peacock.  (Let's just say mom made her use quite a bit of hand sanitizer by the time she was through.)

 

 

A lot of the birds and fowl were nesting so we were able to see quite a few of their babies. 

 

Everyone took a turn on the zipline. 

 

And the horse-tire swing.

 

There are so many neat tree forts and suspension bridges made out of rope that the kids never got tired of it. 

Calvin kept trying to freak me out with the dung beetle he befriended and carried around with him for two hours. 

The peacocks enjoyed hanging out on the roof of this barn and also on the branches of the tree above!

 

 

 

Jessie had a particularly good time playing in the giant sand pit and making pretend food to feed the family.

These cows had the longest "hair" I had ever seen. 

Lauren and Jessie. 

Three teachers to a classroom????

Climbing on all the antique tractors and pretending to drive is always a big hit.  It was a great day spent with friends and enjoying the outdoors.  Happy Fall!!!

All About Me

I could hardly believe my youngest daughter was in Kindergarten, let alone ready to do her "All About Me" presentation in front of the class.  It seems like only yesterday Hayden was sitting on that same chair sharing about her family. 

Jessie was lucky because Ms. Themm got a SmartBoard in her classroom this year.  So Jessie was able to project the images from her book up on the large screen for the class to see.  Though she barely spoke above a whisper the whole time, she did great sharing her work with the class. 

She was proud to share a picture of her good pals, Shane and Ava, from Vietnam.

Here she is taking Questions and Compliments from the class at the end.  Proud of you, J.!