Happy Halloween

 Its amazing to me that the boy who comes home from school and changes his clothes so he can dress up like a pirate NEVER WANTS TO BE A PIRATE for halloween.  It would make life so much easier. 

 He had wanted to be a redskins football player for weeks now so we had a whole plan of him a redskins player, Joel a hokies player and Norah a cheerleader.  Colin then changed it last week to being a zombie redskins player.  Seemed appropriate for how they are playing lately.

 After school today the boys carved their pumpkins
 They were so squeamish about the pumpkin guts. Next year if Brents not home I'm painting pumpkins instead.

 Norah was in tears over the horror of cutting the pumpkins....

Just kidding. She wanted mommy to go inside with her and read books instead but I had to be outside to help the boys. 

 They didn't turn out too bad.  And that bowl of pumpkin guts is still outside.  Guess we've provided treats for all those animals in our yard tonight.

Then Brent came home and we got ready to go to a friends house.  Colin at this point changed his mind about being a zombie football player. He wanted to be a ninja.  Ok great we have several ninja costumes.  But he wanted to be an all black ninja with the black hood my parents brought back from Japan.  A little too scary for Norah so we talked him out of it if he wanted to go trick or treating. Even though colin kept claiming its not scary its a real ninja hood.  Lots of tears but then I promised to cover his face with paint to make him look like a zombie.  By this time Joel claimed the Redskins uniform and Norah refused to take her doggie shirt off so no one was in a picture taking mood.  So this is the best of  what I got. 

 I dont think people understood the whole black on his face to be a zombie - most people thought he was trying to look like RG3. 

 Then went next door to exchange candy with our neighbors. Which made norah cry again because she wanted to stay and play with her sweet little friend Liz.  Then we went with some friends to their neighborhood for dinner and trick or treating. This is only half of the kids I think we went with. After walking around their street we went in and ate four different kinds of chili while the kids tired themselves out running around. 

A fun night. Hard to believe tomorrow is November. 

Pumpkin Pickin

We went to the pumpkin patch tonight but didnt realize until we got there that it was almost closing. So it was the fastest pumpkin picking we have ever done.  The Colin immediately picked the first one he saw and then Brent vetoed almost every one the boys found because they weren't having the full experience of finding the perfect one.  So I had to keep reminding Brent that it was about to close and to just let the kids pick a pumpkin. They boys each picked one so now we have two big ones to carve sometime soon.  

 Sometimes he's into pictures. Sometimes he's not.

 We then went next door to a farm/restuarant named Bergey's and ate dinner and pet some animals. The petting zoo is free and they also have a corn maze each year but this year when we finally went around to going it had blown down in a storm. But according to the workers it was amazing so we will try it next year.  The kids and I also joined a group and got a free hayride out of it.  There was a group playing in the barn and someone asked me if I was part of some roosevelt group and I said no but they kept talking to me and then the hayride pulled up.  The kids and I hopped on and left Brent wondering where we were while we were on this hayride. About halfway through the hayride I realized it was a private ride and they were with a party.  Good thing it was dark by then. I wasn't sure what to do and just hoping they wouldn't ask me too many questions since they were all very friendly and talkative. Someone also yelled to the whole hayride about having everything for s'mores and my kids were cheering with all the other kids.  How do you tear 3 kids away from that. We left right when they were starting  smores at a bonfire and thankfully found Brent and also the owner of the farm.Brent had enlisted her to help figure out where we were :) But she had a good laugh out of it and it made Brent and I like this place even more so we will definitely be going back again.

 

Goats

I took Joel and Norah to Hunt Club Farm this morning.  I thought by going in the middle of the week I'd avoid the crowds. I didnt take into consideration the fact that every day care and school in va beach would be having a field trip this very day to the farm.  Oh well.  It was still a fun morning.

 This picture sort of reminds me of spider man ripping off his shirt.  She kept doing that with her jacket.  I guess to show off her doggie underneath. 

Friends

 We busted this guy out of school yesterday. Its always fun to send him off to school and then go surprise him and pick him up early. 

 Because this amazing couple came to visit. A few weeks ago Kaitlin called and said she was going to be at a conference a few hours away from us and asked if we were doing anything this week since they wanted to come visit.  Of course we said yes.  We had only met Aaron at the wedding so it was great to get to spend a few days with him and get to know him more.  And safe to say we like him a lot. 

  

A beach day in October? Don't mind if we do. Kaitlin and Aaron work for a ministry in upstate New York. we are hoping to go visit and show our kids what winter can really be like. But for now I will take these beautiful warm fall days. 

Kaitlin is one of the most encouraging people to be around.  Its always so good to spend time together and catch up on each others lives.  We go months and months without talking and years without seeing each other but she's one of those friends where you get together and it seems like just a few weeks have passed since we've seen each other.  And we really like Aaron.  It was one of those visits from friends that is really encouraging and very relaxing. We've had some crazy weeks lately complete with the kids and I getting sick even up to the day they came but this visit was just what we needed. Gods perfect timing. Thank you so much Kaitlin and Aaron for coming. 

We spent the afternoon at the beach and then went to climb the Cape henry lighthouse. Colin was so excited because when he was 3 we went to the lighthouse and he was too short to climb and he's remembered that ever since. We then went down to the beach next to the lighthouse and watched dolphins swim by really close. It was amazing. We saw dozens and dozens of them. Some were jumping. Just beautiful to watch. We paid a lot of money once for a dolphin cruise and barely saw any. Now we know where to go. 

The visit was too short.  We all miss them already. 

Traps

This boy

Booby trapped the kitchen the other night by spreading coconut oil into the grout lines.

He booby trapped it all right since we were slipping everywhere. 

But mommy I didn't want anyone to cross that line. 

I think he succeeded.

What?

You mean its not a good idea to take my cereal bowl off the table and bring it into the room where I then smoosh soggy cheerios into my pants and then brush it off onto the carpet?


*thats her favorite pair of pant - they have cats on them
*her favorite shirt too - its a doggy
*sense a theme of hers?

*and her favorite shoes at the moment.  She has a shoe collection that rivals mine - pink glitter toms, gold sparkly ballet flats, etc - all gifts and also a lot from the little girl next door. but she insists on always wearing these big smelly crocks.  We have to hide them when she goes to bed at night or she would want them still on her feet.  Mostly because she can put them on herself and gets so proud. 

New Game

Where's Norah?

There she is!