Parks, Train Tunnels and Thanksgiving



November meant fun at the park.  It is always fun to explore new parks and this is a little one we found less than a mile from our house.  Like I said, it was little so the boys didn't last too long here.  But Micah really did love going down the slide.

 



Guy wanted to find an old train tunnel near Elberta.  It took us a little while to find it, but luckily there was another person that we ran in to that pointed us in the right direction.  It was really fun to explore and a fun family activity.

At Preschool, Elliot made this fun turkey hat.  I love his preschool so much and all the fun things that they do.

Thanksgiving preparations.  My mom was hosting Thanksgiving for us and I was in charge of making the rolls.  I loved making them the week before, trying my best to perfect her recipe.

Of course there was our annual get-together to make pies the day before.  Launi hosted at her mom's house and it went great.  Tamara was on bed rest so she didn't make it and Megan had a sick kid so she was only able to come for part of it.  It was nice to actually feel useful at pie night and be put to work.

Thanksgiving day was great.  My mom hosted and had our family over plus Tamara and Brian and Grandpa Choo-Choo.  Tam had to stay on the couch but tried to help out the best she could.  Then we had the Collings crew over for pie.  It was a smallish gathering which was actually kind of nice so we could visit with people.

Halloween Time

Once upon a time, I blogged fairly regularly.  Then, we added a few kids to the family and many more activities and blogging kind of slipped away.  And, if you haven't heard enough lame excuses yet, the reason why it has taken me so long to blog about Halloween 2013 is that all the pictures I took around that time were on my phone and it has taken me this long to transfer them to my computer.  Let's face it, blog posts without pictures are just boring so there was no way I was going to write a post without first getting the pictures.

First things first, a trip to the pumpkin patch to pick up a few pumpkins.  The boys joined me for this and loved playing in the corn.

For school, if the girls want to dress up, they have to dress according to what they are studying at the time.  Ashley was studying the War of 1812 so she dressed as a British soldier.  Her costume pretty much consisted of a red coat that I found at D.I. and a pair of white pants.

Amelia was studying Vikings so we put this little costume together.  I got her the Viking hat from a Halloween costume store then bought a piece of minky fabric that looked like fur and made it into a little vest.  She was so happy with her costume.

Beautifully carved pumpkins.

 Ready for Trick-or-Treating.  Ashley is a ghost, Micah is Cookie Monster, Amelia is a mime, and Elliot is Batman.

 Micah checking out all his candy.

 Amelia loved being a mime.  I was lucky to find some striped fabric to make her shirt out of and got it done just in time. 

 Ashley's ghost costume was just her wearing all white.  I guess it worked.

Look at that chocolate around his mouth, and he was ready for more.  I got this Cookie Monster costume from a friend back when Amelia was little.  She had all of her five kids wear it.  I love going by her house on Halloween to show her my kids wearing the costume.

Elliot checking out his stash.  I love that his costume was just this cape.  So simple for me to pull together.

I took the kids around the neighborhood for Trick-of-Treating.  Guy and I usually trade off but he had an injured knee so I did it.  I actually really love it.  It is extra time that I get to spend with the kiddos and I get to visit with people around the neighborhood.  There is one house that hands out hot scones with honey butter and then next door, you can get a cup of hot chocolate.  Definitely a highlight of the night.