Raking

Some autumn days are just perfect.  The other day, the Ashley and Johnathan came over after school and the weather was just right. The kids had a great time playing outside- raking leaves, jumping and sliding into the leaves, and playing on the swing set. 

 I caught this picture of Christian- a few of his teeth are loose. Wiggle wiggle.

Halloween 2010

We finally got around to carving pumpkins on Halloween after church.

Victoria loves pulling out the guts! Christian and Grant, on the other hand, will not.

 

 Dad helped Christian carve a really cool skull.

I helped Grant, but he really kept his cute little hand right on my hand, so he definitely helped. He was pretty proud of it.

We all thought that the walking stick we found on our garage was pretty neat. See, God has a sense of humor.

 Victoria's first jack-o-lantern carved without help! I think those pumpkin carving knives really made easier and safer for her.

Christian's scary pumpkin

Getting ready to trick or treat with friends!

 

We totally had a blast this October. It was fun going trick-or-treating in our neighborhood with the Toneys and Stephanie and Faith. We met up with a few other friends on the way too. People really made it a big deal with neat decorations and props and music and mist and such. A lot of people come from all over the county to the Greens and the Avenues because the houses are within walking distance. I am totally glad about that. I think kids should be able to trick or treat and we like to give out candy and see everybody. The only problem was that a lot of cars just drive from house to house and it makes it a little scary/frustrating for the walking folk. It was fun though. People told us that we would have a lot of trick or treaters and we totally did! We think between 250 and 300. We started giving 2 out at the end and maybe Danny and I ate a few Reese's cups too, so we couldn't tell for sure.

And, as a couponer, I have to brag. I got 5 big bags of  candy- the good stuff- for 11 dollars out of pocket and came out with 10 in UPS too. I did lose some ECBs, but that's ok.  That was under the 11.99 price of 1 of the bags. I used coupons and went to 3 stores to do it, but really, I was not about to spend over 50 dollars on candy and didn't want to run out either. Yes, I am a nerd.

Hope you had a happy Halloween! 

Big Baby in a basket

I got this great basket at goodwill for less than 3 dollars. Grant likes to sit in it, V currenly has a Barbie family sitting in it and I have see Christian carry his stuffed anmals in it. I put some throw blankets in it to use when watching tv in the playroom, but they are easy enough to take out. Glad the fam is enjoying my bargain.

"Surprise, Mom and Dad!"

It always makes me a little suspicious when everything is quiet in our house, but it sure was nice when it was beacuse the kids were making our bed and making this cute sign. I found this picture on my camera when I downloaded its contents and was glad that V tood a picture. Kids can be pretty great!

Primary Halloween Party

Our Farmville branch Fall Festival was really fun. It was at the Nyce's farm which was a perfect setting. It is a beautiful farm. Brother and Sister Nyce and the primary presidency (Pam Ludgate and my mom) did a lot of  work to make it such a great day for the kids. There was a costume contest in which every kid won an award, relay races, pin the nose on the jack-o-lantern, a hayride, and dinner. Most of the primary came as well as several friends. We had a great time.  Here are some pictures in no particular order. Enjoy!

Trick or treating "downtown" and party at the Vogels

Farmville hosts a trick-or-treat downtown. The shut down a portion of Main street and the kids go on a loop trick-or-treating at the stores. This year it was Friday, October 29. So, after we had all the fun parties at school, we came home and changed and went out. Grant was not into wearing a costume, so I put him in his favorite shirt, drew under his eyes with eyeliner, and called him a baseball player. It was a fun time- we ran into lots of friends. That is one of the major perks about living in a small town.  Anyway, here are a few cute pics.

We're ready to go, mom!

 V and Kailey Rae

 Chillin with the Hamiltons- the Thing and Merlea

 Christian and Emma who is "hilarious and such a good singer! She can be an opera singer, you know."

Grant and Daddy!

After the trick or treating fun we went to the Vogel's house for more fun!!!! Danny had to go to a football game, so could only stay for a few minutes. The kids and I had a great time though! It was a cool crisp fall evening and we had a great time hanging out with friends, eating good food, and getting warm by the fire. At the end of the night we set the kids down to watch Charlie Brown's The Great Pumpkin. They were all wiped out. It was pretty cute. It was a fun, yet tiring day for them! I can't wait to do it again next year! I love fall! I stole the following pictures from Courtney's facebook page. She's a photographer, so all of her snapshots turn out great. Thanks, Courtney!

Class parties

I am really thankful to get to be a room mom for Victoria and Christian's classes. Their parties were supposed to overlap, but Mrs. Hodges was very kind to let us, Mrs. Detrick, Mrs. Leonard and I, (her room moms) change her class's party to earlier in the day so that we could all see our 2nd graders in their book parade(previous post).

We kept it pretty simple, but the kids were so cute and enjoyed it.

We gathered the class together on the rug and gave each one a ring- a bat, a skeleton, or a spider.

Those were our three groups for stations. Each of the moms helped at a station. The stations were rug-time with Halloween stories/rhymes, the giant pumpkin bean bag toss that Danny made, and decorating pumpkin shaped sugar cookies .

After the stations, they had a few minutes to eat. As they ate, they took turns pulling a funny joke out of a jack-o-lantern. I would read the jokes and they would laugh whether they got it or not. "Why didn't the skeleton go to the prom? He had no BODY to go with." Ha ha ha! "What do witches put in their hair? Scare spray!" Ha ha ha!

Lastly, the kids sang 2 cute pumpkin songs for us.Christian thought they were pretty great songs.

They were so excited to have a "party" at school.We love kindergarten.

Kirsten in the Book Parade

 Victoria had her first big book report. She was pretty excited about it. It was an especially neat assignment because not only did the kids get to select and read their book and make a project, but they also got to dress up like a character from their book and march in a book parade. Victoria read an American Girl book, Happy Birthday Kirsten.

 

Victoria got to work reading and making her project.

 

Grandma brought a big bag of fabric to choose from. Thanks, Mom. It was fun to rummage through your things. Victoria found some squares already cut out and we cut a couple more . Then, she did a great job coloring different significant scenes from the book and gluing fabric to make her quilt project. Kirsten and her friends in the book made a quilt, so that is where that idea came from. She loved it and wanted to sew it too, but we ran out of time so had to glue it. It still looks great. I was proud of her for thinking of such a cool idea.

I was sort of proud of myself too for sewing her costume. Well, she actually had the pink dress (it was 2T, but not too tight.) I just took the hem out it to make it 2 inches longer. I made the apron. By hand, might I add. (The tension on the sewing machine was terrible and I didn't want to ruin it.) Plus, I waited to the last minute. Who's surprised? Don't try to get a close up of the stiches. They are pretty terrible as are some of the rough edges, but I was running out of time. Anyway, I don't sew, and it looked cute on her and she was pleased, so I was too.
So, seriously, look how cute V is marching in her parade with her book and quilt.

Mrs. Venable's class of characters

 

The bookworm cake I was asked to make for her class- A bundt cake cut in half and set up like an S. The icing I made was too runny and looks like a mess, but worms are supposed to be kinda slimy, right? I added a book to the dirt when I got to the classroom. The kids thought it was cool.

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 I think Victoria enjoyed being Kirsten for the day, marching in the parade, and even eating some of the book-worm cake.

She got a 100 on her project and another 100 on her listening grade. Great effort, V!
 

Belmont Playgroup in Farmville

Some of my Belmont Mommy friends from Richmond came to play at our house for a Halloween Playgroup! It was fun to see everybody. My friend Maria and her kids came too and it was nice to introduce them as well. I didn't take many pictures, but we had a fun time.

Riding with Randy

Danny's friend Randy Early came up Saturday night. He's actually my friend too. He and I were friends in high school. Then, he and Danny became friends at James River. They get along really well and like to do things together, especially watch fights at Buffalo Wild Wings. They usually go to the one on Hull Street, but this time Randy came to Farmville. Actually, he is a friend of the whole family. The kids love him too. He rode his cool motorcycle and was nice to take the kids on rides with him in a little loop around the yard. It was fun to see Randy for a little bit and have dinner together. After bedtime he and Danny went out to their favorite fight spot. I think they had fun.

 Cool ride, guys!

Grant looks exhausted. It was creeping on bedtime(see the "paci"). He really did like it and kept pointing and trying to say motorcycle.

V really loved it too.

 

Thanks for coming, Randy.