Trick-Or-Treat!

We did some fun trick-or-treating with family last night! Enjoy some photos! I just love Bennett and Ainsley at this age. They are so pleasant, respectful and obedient, they are good buddies, and they smile for the camera!

Bennett chose to be Amelia Earhart this year...surprise, surprise! What a perfect costume for a girl who loves history and adventure!

Ainsley chose to be a ballroom dancer...surprise, surprise! What a perfect costume for our little romantic princess girl!

We just love seeing cousins dressed up at Halloween! Baby S. was a darling little robot! He really likes his costume but I don't know if he really likes the invasion of his personal space that comes with Bennett and Ainsley.

Cousin M. was a hippity hoppity little bunny! The girls enjoyed trick-or-treating with her at a couple of the family stops. Thanks to all of our wonderful family for your love and kindness to the girls! You always make them feel special and trick-or-treating is so much fun for them because of you!

Pumpkin Party!

We did some family pumpkin carving recently. The girls look forward to this every year, and Dad is a master carver! He is also a master comedian, which we love! Here he is, puking up some pumpkin seeds for the photographer. You can always count on a dad to bring a little grossness into any activity.

The girls really enjoyed playing with the slimy seeds. We roasted them, too!

Bennett and Ainsley painted small pumpkins to pass the time while Dad was carving. He is looking so serious in this photo. That must be because pumpkin carving IS serious business!

The girls decided to go with an owl jack-o-lantern this year. Dad was a little disappointed in how it turned out, but I personally think he did a wonderful job. It's a little bit cute and a little bit spooky...kind of like Ainsley's expression in the photo!

The Right Book At the Right Time

As a former Title I Reading teacher, I am a bit of a book freak. Books are incredibly valuable for all people, but they are especially valuable for young minds. That is why we have approximately 1,000 children's books. Yikes and yeah at the same time! Well, I am one to buy most of my books at yard sales and Goodwill, and I often buy a book thinking, "Maybe we won't use this one right now, but some day it will be a treasure." A perfect example of this occurred this morning... ...when I saw that Bennett has pulled out "A Little House Christmas!" Oh my! I cannot begin to tell you how excited I am to sit with the girls and read this in our very own Little House cabin/closet. This is going to be such a fun Christmas read! I am just a teeny weeny bit excited, as I bought this book a couple of years ago and it has been dormant on the shelves. I'm actually glad for that because now it has become the perfect book at the perfect time and it will be so much more memorable than if we would have read it earlier. Yay for good books and the memories they can make!

A Sign Of Things To Come!

Bennett and Ainsley LOVE Little House, and they LOVE to pretend they are pioneers. This got Dad and I thinking.

See this door? This is no ordinary door. In the relatively near future, this door will become the entrance to our very own "Little House" cabin!

Currently this door opens to a large storage closet. Dad and I decided that since we probably won't live in our big, old house forever, why not make a great memory for the girls while we do live here. We are going to relocate our stuff to the basement and make this closet a pioneer cabin!

Another before shot of the closet..

We have started gathering some pioneers items for our cabin. I don't know who is more excited about this cabin, "Mary" and "Laura" or "Ma?!" I think it's a tie!

Shrinky Dinks Boxcar Children

Bennett received some Shrinky Dinks for her birthday awhile back. We've been saving them for a rainy day and while this is not a rainy day, we did deem it a good night to break out the Shrinkies. This particular set came with blank plastic sheets instead of predesigned ones. Perfect! The girls LOVED drawing there very own Shrinky Dinks! Here are some people Ainsley made. Her drawings are so stinking cute at this age!

Here are a couple of Bennett's more mature-looking gals. They must be at least 10 or something.

And my personal favorite, the teeny tiny "Boxcar Children." Bennett made these, and I guarantee you that they will be played with for hours upon hours. Look how tiny they are compared to a salad fork! What does one do with a teeny tiny set of Boxcar Children (and their grandpa...notice his walking cane?)

This is what you do. You have them board your brass pirate ship and set sail! This is just the first adventure of many for the Shrinky Dinks Boxcar Children.

The Half-People

One of Ainsley's favorite things to do is to draw "half-people" with me. I draw half of a person. Then she finishes the other half. She does a great job, yet they are usually still quite funny looking! Here we have a "half-girl."

Meet our "half-boy."

Now on this one, Ainsley drew the first half and I finished the second. This lady has a unique mouth!

And today we attempted our first "half animal." Mr. Cat with a double fish hook-type nose. Not bad for our first try!

Adventures With the Boom Truck

As many of you know, we have been in the midst of a major painting project for over a year. When we signed off on repainting the exterior trim of our very old, two-story, 27-window house we did not realize what we were biting off. Now we do. I promise you...NEVER AGAIN will we repaint the trim on this house. We will find a way to hire a painter or we will simply move! This weekend my dad was a saint and loaned us the company boom truck. The poor man had to sit outside our house for 10 hours, operating the boom from the ground for us. He was very patient. The boom truck required extra patience as it continually overheated and stalled, leaving the painter (Grant or me) suspended high in the air in the basket for 20-30 minutes at a time. This happened several times. I had the camera in my pocket during one of the stalls...here is a lovely view from the top.

And another view from the top. I might mention that there were wasps nests and wasps on each side of the house. I was not pleased to be stalled up there with them, and we went through a considerable amount of wasp spray while perched along the roofline.

Here is Grant, scraping and painting the areas unreachable by long ladder. The boom truck was SO helpful! We are almost finished with this blasted project, and it is wonderful to drive past the house and no longer see half green/half white trim!

The Great Outdorks

Last night we went for a family bike ride. It was after dinner and there was a chill in the air, so Dad suggested fleece vests be worn. I was hesitant. All four family members wearing fleece vests while riding bikes at 71 degrees Fahrenheit? We put our vests on, and I looked around. I said to Dad, "Do we look really dorky?" His response was without hesitation..."Yes." Well, we went with the vests anyway, and I must say it was a wise choice. Once we began riding with the slight breeze, we all realized that we needed them for warmth. Comfort and practicality reigns over fashion in this family. Dad decided that when out in public looking like fools for the sake of what is best we shall be known as "The Great Outdorks." It's a title we'll wear with pride.

Morning Drive

This morning on our way to Bennett's school, I noticed some great things going on in the ditch. Cattails and milkweed! Sweet! Time for a little country road nature drive, girls! We found some cattails that were just about to fuzz out. Here is one of them, and for some reason Ainsley thought this thing was hilarious!

The girls also loved the milkweed pods full of soft, fluffy seed. They spend quite some time pulling it out, blowing it and throwing it around in the driveway. This was a great way to start our morning!

Raise Your Hand, Raise Your Hand....If You're Sure!!!

I am a very nostalgic person, especially when we're talking the 80's. I want my children to know the glory that was the 80's. Therefore, I periodically show them old toys I had via ebay and 80's websites, and I sometimes show them old video clips on YouTube. Most recently they watched some sweet commercials from my childhood. Both Dad and I remembered them well and enjoyed seeing them again. One commercial, however, seemed to leave a lasting impression on Bennett and Ainsley. Here is a link to that commercial.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QdNf9pvPfjI


Bennett and Ainsley now sing the song from this commercial day and night. They love, love, love it. I am beginning to lose my love for it due to the overkill, but I am so glad to see them embracing a bit of the 80's for themselves. And let's sing it one more time everybody..."Raise your hand, raise your hand....if you're sure!"