Happy Halloween

This Halloween was a year of 1st's....

It was our 1st time trick-or-treating out of the state of South Dakota. Even when we lived in Iowa, we came back with the older two to our hometown.

It was this pumpkin's 1st Halloween.....

and it was a 14 year old 8th grader's 1st time not dressing up.....

......that was OK with Ky as he had his Vikings to watch on tv....
which is why we had our traditional Hallow's Eve Subway supper as a picnic in the living room....
trick-or-treating didn't start until after half-time.
And speaking of Vikings....


we happened to have one of those....

and a Little Red Riding Hood......

and a lion......

and a Cub's Fan...

and, as aforementioned......help answering the door so mom could walk along for awhile until the baby (or mom) decided it was too cold.

It was actually a beautiful day and evening....

Everyone was in good spirits all day in anticipation.

We started off the day by creating our jack-o-lanterns.

Among the creations, we had a bat....

and one entitled, "Good Friends."

At the end of the evening, it was time to check out the loot,

and those with peanut allergies, decided what needed to be traded out.

The array of candy with it's pretty colors and crackling package sounds....

delighted this girl...

who could sense there was a few yummy things around her.......

even though she doesn't know what candy is....

everyone else seemed to be relishing in it......

she might as well join the party!!!

We missed 61st Street....

and Little Red Riding Hood wasn't able to bring her basket of goodies to her Grandmother's house.

But, we had fun, we were safe (all fingers are accounted for...no Dr. visit this year) and we were together as a family!!

Love and miss everyone!!

Sara

Ballerina Bo Peep

Last night, Buttercup's dance class was able to come dressed in their Halloween costumes instead of their leotards......

We decided to reuse her costume that she wore 2 years ago.

Ballerina Bo-Beep thought it was pretty fun!!

Our Halloween will almost become a "HalloWEEK" as Mark's office has a party during the afternoon today, Ky's football end of the year bowling party is Saturday, trick or treating on Sunday and our homeschool group will have an All Saints Day party on Monday.

It's party time!
It's Friday!!!
Sara

Tie Knot

We found ourselves in a dilemma this morning.......

.

Ky tried out and made it on the nearby Jr. High 8th grade basketball team and the coach asked the team to dress up in shirt and tie on game days.

Today is a game day.

Now, here was the problem....

Dad went to work this morning and wouldn't be home until late, late tonight.

Ky needed to have a tie tied and neither of us knew the steps to accomplish this task.

My first thought was to ask a neighbor up the street and my second thought was to load up the kids in their pajamas and drive to Dad's office before he left town for a meeting at 8:30am.

I quickly decided upon the latter and ran upstairs quickly to get dressed for the mad dash to the office.....

and then a few mintues later.....

in walks Ky, perfectly dressed in his shirt and tie.....the tie was correctly put around his neck in exact detail..

I looked at him amazed and asked him how he did it........

His answer.............http://www.tie-a-tie.net/

He learned from a French-accented man in about 2.2 minutes.

Wow!

Now, it's time to cheer for basketball!!

Kyler went from being a Warrior to a Viking!!

GO VIKINGS!

Have a super Thursday!

Sara

Morning Pajama Play

This morning, the kids had fun playing with Nacho's blanky. It became a boat as they sang a Kindermusik song we learned years ago...

"Oh, Lukey's boat is painted green, Aha, me boys.....

Oh, Lukey's boat is painted green, the finest boat you've ever seen.....

Aha, me riddle-I-day."

The song stops abruptly if the the rider wants to stand up and get out of the boat!!!

Hope your boat has smooth sailing today!!

It's been a little windy here!

Sara

Stars and Sand

On Friday, we took a field trip to the Windy City.

But, on this particular morning, there was no wind at all.

Our main purpose was to visit this planetarium....

...because Rocky and Moe are studying Astronomy this fall.

We had fun looking at the exhibits....

and listening to some interactive talks.

This is an actual meteorite....the kids were testing to see if it would react to a magnet in their hands.

There was lots to do and see and learn, but....

the museum is built right up to Lake Michigan and there are many windows, so I was continually reminded of the beautiful day outside....

and I don't know if it was the water.....

or knowing that our baby was pretty much at her limit......

or if it was the blueness of the clear sky calling out to me.....

but.....

as wonderful as the museum was, it was starting to feel a little stuffy....

So, outside we went.

To see amazing views of the lake and the city......

and to soak up some late October sun.

The small beach was a perfect playground....

and we loved watching the waves come up.....

and wash away the sand.....like a giant eraser.

We found some shells....

and enjoyed the coldness of the water.....

especially when that coldness....

was felt......

for the very 1st time!!!

Nacho went from being cautious and tentative.....

to an all-out.....

love affair with the sand.

It was a simple field trip.

There was the planned learning that took place inside the museum....

learning more about the planets, stars and the huge universe....

and the unplanned part....

finding joy in seeing and feeling the smallness of the grains of sand.

"Love all God's creation, the whole of it and every grain of sand in it. Love every leaf, every ray of God's lights. Love the animals, love the plants, love everything. If you love everything, you will perceive the divine mystery in things."-----James Harold Doolittle

It was a fun and memorable day.

We can't wait to go back and explore other museums and the city again!

Have a great Monday!

Sara