Halloween Past

My memories on Facebook had several Halloween costume pictures of the kids, so I thought it would be fun to take a gander to past Halloweens.


Colin:

Kindergarten - Batman

Preschool - Ironman

Almost 4 years old - Knight

2nd Grade - Robin

Almost 3 - Spiderman

Almost 2 - Superman

Almost 1  (first Halloween) - Tigger

1st Grade - Wolverine

Meli: (I think I am missing her OSU cheerleading one.

3 - Fairy

First Halloween - Kitty

4 years old - Rainbow Dash

1 - grumpy witch

Will and I:

Vampire 

Gypsy

Pirate

Pirates

Just went with a neon theme 

                                                   ~ Love, Hugs &  Kisses ~
                                                           The B Family

A Hayride & Haunted Pumpkin Maze

Colin joined Cub Scouts a months ago and has been loving it! The pack put on a Halloween get together for the whole family. On Tuesday we went to a farm to go on flashlight lit hayride and a haunted pumpkin maze.

The hayride was fun. It was so muddy, I thought we were going to get stuck a few times. It was nice to ride through the trees. We started just when it started to get darker and by the time we got back it was totally dark. Perfect for the maze. They provided us with mini flashlights, which we only needed in the beginning. Once you got to the next section it was lit up by Jack-o-laterns. It was very neat looking! They were carved in so many different faces and pictures. Here were some of our favorites. Excuse the picture quality, I was walking while taking them. The kids were too excited for me to stop.

~ Love, Hugs &; Kisses ~ The B Family

A Fall Tradition: Pumpkin Carving

This year pumpkin carving had a somewhat bad start. The kids (well Meli) almost lost it. She was just so grumpy and probably ready for bed even before dinner. I think she may be fighting off a cold. We are very fortunate that the kids have a pretty strong immune system. It can be difficult to know right away that they have something. Meli's tale sign is her moodiness goes to a whole new level. She was crying at everything and just very easily upset (more so than normal).

She was able to pull it together (I did sing ABC's to her and gave her a pre-dinner snack) - so she was able to do one pumpkin. Our second white one has to wait.

Colin did our face design this year, Will carved, and the kids scooped. Normally, I help in that piece but I got home later from work (I was in Coos Bay that day), so I was working on dinner and pumpkin seeds!

I want to make a pumpkin pie from scratch this year - but have never done so. Hmmm....possibly.

Anyway, we had the Halloween Pandora station playing. We have been listening to it all month. There is not a lot of variety to the song choices. The kids love it though.

Their reaction when the song from Halloween came on. They have never seen the movie but it is still creepy nonetheless. 

~ Love, Hugs &; Kisses ~ The B Family

A Fall Tradition: The Pumpkin Patch

The wind & storm had started the night before

Miss Mae looking for a pumpkin

We were able to take some time off on Friday to take the kids to the pumpkin patch. We knew the storm was coming and did not want to chance a string of rainy days. Thankfully Friday morning had some sunshine breaking through the clouds. It was windy but not raining. I think the wind made it that much more fun. Meli and love windy days!

We rode the wagon pulled by a tractor this time to the pumpkin patch area. Both Colin and Meli wanted BIG pumpkins this year. I wanted a white one. Meli was sweet and found a BIG white one so that we could share it!

Colin found his!

We probably should have eaten a bigger breakfast, because towards the end Meli was hungry and grumpy. When she gets like that she stays focused on something she did not get to do (usually because she says she did not want to) or something she did wrong.  Thankfully, these meltdowns happen a lot less frequently since starting school. This time she did not want to take a picture with the pumpkin....but then she wanted to very badly...as we were leaving. Most of the pics I took were before the meltdown. She got upset when it was just her turn. So I had several with her face not visible. This was mostly due to the strong wind and was very frustrating to her.

Colin was so sweet and offered to hold her hair.

Meli starting to lose it

I told her she could have one more shot...and here it is. Perfectly sums up her mood.

...and it is lost

I love the colors of fall!

My little sweetheart!

Such different personalities

"I am so glad to live in a world where there are Octobers" - Anne of Green Gables

                                                            ~ Love, Hugs &  Kisses ~
                                                                   The B Family

Childhood Moments: Raking Leaves

"Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower." - Albert Camus

Raking leaves

One chore that can be so much fun is raking leaves. Although the fun can make the chore take so much longer, but it is totally worth it! Colin picked raking as one of his extra chores this month. (They have their set responsibilities - things that I do not qualify as chores because they are things that are their's. Like cleaning their room and putting their clothes away. Then they choose three chores that are things to help around the house.We have a mason jar with over-sized Popsicle sticks with chores written on them.) I am working on sewing a hanger to track these ( maybe a future post). 

I personally love leaves, so it usually ends up being a family chore. Plus, we have several trees, so poor Colin would be doing it all day.

Meli trying to sweep

It can be hard for me to let them do their task. Meli really wanted to sweep. She does not quite have the process down and it can take a long time. There are times I just want to get it done, but I know that I need to let them learn. 

Meli was having so much fun with the leaves. She tends to be a great worker in the beginning, then she is over it...but sometimes she will get motivated towards the end again. Colin is hard to get started. He will complain and be sluggish about it. Then he gets motivated when it is almost done. Wondering why everyone is leaving. 

This storm will be sure to make more leaves for us to rake! It is pouring so much right now.