Halloween and Harvest Hoedown

Every Halloween one of my schools holds the annual Harvest Hoedown, which basically means the PTO hosts a costume party with lots of games, food, music, and chaos! Last year I was not able to go and it got a little out of hand. So, this year I knew I needed to be there and tried not to dread it too much. Then, while taking a second to browse the paper during my lunch break, two things I rarely take the time to do while at work, I noticed that trick-or-treating was to be held in the same town as the Hoedown for the 2 hours before the dreaded event. I decided I might as well make the best of the evening, dress both kids up, head out to trick or treat, and then take them along to the Hoedown.

Not having any clue what my kids costumes would even be yet (those of you who know me well know my complete lack of creativity and distaste for shopping, which aren't a great recipe for cute Halloween costumes) we headed home from school and began the hunt through the house for costume ideas. Kyle was out of town for the night at a coaching convention in preparation for his new position as an assistant HS basketball coach, so it was just the kids and I trying to come up with ideas. Deciding between 2 skiers or 2 football players, the black stage make-up sealed the deal and each kid got to have black gunk smeared under their eyes. We took a few pictures,


I asked them if they were ready- to which they both yelled, "Yah!",

and then we headed out the door.

Morgan decided to itch her eye during the drive and ended up being a football player with a black eye by the end of the night- but it worked.

Despite the incredibly windy night, both kids enjoyed trick or treat...



and we all had a blast at the Hoedown. Cade was an all-star twister player, winning 2 games.



Pinning the stem on the pumpkin resulted in both kids stems pinned to the gym wall instead.



To end the evening we each took our turn at the Limbo- Morgan had the definite advantage here!



After what ended up to be a great night we now will even have the opportunity to stay home this year during our town trick or treat tomorrow and pass out candy- something we have never been able to do before while out trick or treating ourselves. I guess this should be a good lesson for my bad attitude- what a great night!

Pumpkin Patch, Pumpkin Carving, and Power Tools

We had a busy and fun weekend which included a Saturday afternoon trip to the pumpkin patch- climbing around on the round bale maze, selecting the perfect pumpkins for carving, trudging through the muddy corn maze after a 3 in. rain the night before, petting a few animals (Morgan's favorite was the pig), and posing for a few pictures here and there.

After the pumpkin patch we watched our first-ever 3-D movie, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs. Then we took 2 exhausted kids and their equally exhausted parents home for bed.

On Sunday, after our morning of dancing (see previous blog post), church, and the Vikings game (with the wrong outcome!) we cleaned up the pumpkins and began their quest to become jack-o-lanterns. What Halloween experience would be complete without the sound of power tools in the background? Certainly not one at our house! The kids each drew their unique faces. I cut off the tops. Then Kyle arrived in the doorway with the rotary saw and a big smile, "Do you think this will work?" Here are the results...

First the dull knife...

Now a little creativity and some gooey pumpkin guts...

And finally, power tool bliss! Halloween, here we come!

Preparing for Church

I'm sure each family has their own ways of getting ready for church and actually getting out the door. For us, that does not typically involve an on-time arrival! My kids are familiar with phrases like- "Hurry up" or "We're late" or even "Just tie your shoes in the car, we've got to GO!" These videos are just one example of the many reasons why we can't manage to make it to church on time. Although this is not a typical Sunday morning distraction, it is certainly one worth sharing. I hope you enjoy our 2 dancing sensations- we are certain they have a glorious professional career ahead of them!

Haircut Time

Cade decided last night he was ready for a haircut after months of growing his blond locks. So after school today we headed for haircuts.

As Cade was finishing up Morgan announced, "He looks just like Jordan now." For those of you who don't know what Jordan looks like- see the picture in the previous post (white shirt doing a handstand). Morgan's hair bounces and flips with every move now- which pretty much means her hair is now in constant motion with the rest of her! They both seem pretty proud of their new look.

Apple Picking and Other Weekend Adventures

This weekend we had the opportunity to head to the farm for the annual apple picking event, a first for our family. It was a busy weekend, as you will see. The kids had the opportunity to spend time in the 'cage' picking and boxing apples and even throwing a few here and there. You might notice Cade's new favorite hobby in the picture where I'm picking apples and Cade is looking at the camera- he recently learned to whistle and now can be spotted most any time of day practicing this new skill. One of my missions right now is to get a video of him in the act, quite adorable!


Wilbur enjoyed the apple harvest a little less than the rest of us, getting hit accidentally by a bat when he decided to dive after an apple while it hung mid-air awaiting the swing of a bat to send it to the grove. Following a trip to the vet, he checked out OK and was back to playing on the farm and being chased everywhere by the newest doggie addition to Matt and Mindy's family, Blue.

While taking a break from our harvesting adventures, the kids could be caught doing a number of things including sharing their various gymnastics skills (which I must admit sadly that I participated in a little as well- not quite as successfully as in my youth- Jordan definitely has me beat!). Cade and Morgan each practiced their head stands and I caught Cade mid-summersault, pretty cute with his red face and long hair sailing behind him.


Another treat for the kids was to create a room-sized spider web in the upstairs bedroom with the help of Jordan, Jackson, and LOTS of grandma's yarn. I must admit we headed for home before the clean-up of this project took place- Sorry Grandma!

Of course, a family gathering at the farm wouldn't be complete without a party. We enjoyed celebrating Rylie's 2nd birthday with cake, presents, party hats, sparkly 'Fancy Nancy' necklaces, and birthday blowers. Here are a few of the highlights. By the way, Kyle did actually ask for the party hat. He still is a kid at heart!

Church Auction Fun

Our church held the annual auction this Saturday. Since Kyle is the chairman of the Trustee's committee, he is one of the people responsible for planning and running the auction. Needless to say, after shivering through Cade's game we headed to church for the afternoon. You will see a picture of our bargain purchase- a new (very old) Fun Machine, which went for $1. Cade would be the one playing while the glimpse of the blanket in the left side of the picture is Morgan dancing to his cheery song. We have definitely gotten our purchase price worth of fun so far. Although none of us know a thing about playing- it comes with how-to books and I'm certain our house will be filled with beautiful music in no time. For now, however, it will continue to be filled with our tuneless plunking and random disco beats the kids love to select. Oh, and of course there is their fighting over who's turn it is and how many keys each child is supposed to have when they are trying to share the keyboard. Like I said, we've already gotten our dollars worth!

Currently the kids are playing with friends that came over for a little while after school. Cade is playing outside tossing and kicking a football around with his friend. This is after he showed up at home with 3 new books from the library, sat down at the table to read, and I chased him outside to play. Morgan is snuggled up in her tent upstairs playing house while whispering and giggling with her friend. Ah, a few minutes of peace and quiet before we begin fighting over the Fun Machine again later. May the blessings continue in our lives and in yours!

Sunday Morning Smile

I'm sure many of you can relate to the Sunday morning rush getting kids ready for church. It seems it takes longer to get everyone ready for church than it does for school or any other departure from the house! So I'm doing the typical mom-rush for the morning and start to say to Morgan, "Let's get..." Before I could get the word 'going' out of my mouth she fills in the blank with, "shakin." This isn't a phrase Kyle and I would use, so I start laughing and ask her if her teachers say that at school. She uses her best teacher voice and says, "Yep, let's get shakin' mom." So the moral of the story is- even on the busy, rushed mornings when your patience is fleeting, remember to take time to enjoy the smiles of the day.

He's a blessing too!

Ah yes, he's another of my many blessings! Thanks Tamara for reminding me that Kyle is also a blessing. This is a recent camping trip with his parents, Scott, and Amanda. At one point Scott and Cade actually joined Kyle in the tree, which is overhanging the path we were walking on at the time. Hard to tell in the picture, but he is sitting about 15 ft. overhead. Cade definitely follows in his footsteps, spending lots of time climbing our tree outside near the garage.