Halloween

With Halloween being on a Monday with school still in session, it was a pretty low key day for the most part. Maylie and I went to story time at the Library like we do every Monday morning. We were supposed to dress up that day, but since her costume is kind of bulky, we settled on her cute Halloween outfit instead!

She had already been to two trunk-or-treats by this point so she knew all about saying "Trick-or-Treat" and watching people magically shove candy in your bag!

Here is the gang before we headed out that night. Landon couldn't decide what he wanted to be so he just used his Ninja costume from last year. Nolan wanted to be a pirate so we just used items we already had around the house. Abby used her Little Mermaid costume from last year's school talent show and Maylie used Abby's cat costume from when she was two. From a cost standpoint, these were our cheapest Halloween costumes to date and they still looked pretty cute!

Tasha and her family came over from Frederick to join us for some Chicken Chili and Trick-or-Treating. You gotta love Nolan in these group pictures...

This one is classic...even Maylie is looking at Landon trying to figure him out (or maybe she's just scoping out the candy!)

Halloween Eve

Since we cut our pumpkin patch trip a little close to Halloween, we spent the next evening carving those bad boys up. We got to work emptying out their guts first. We used the round lid from mason jars for scooping and it worked really well.

Then we all used our imaginations (or a drawing) to make our pumpkins unique and special in their own way.

This was Nolan's first year carving his pumpkin all by himself and he did a great job. He made his into a pirate since that is what he was dressing up as for Halloween.

Abby had a hard time coming up with something. She really wanted to do something related to Harry Potter and eventually settled on a big "H" and "P".

Landon used a stencil to make a dragon.

We carved Maylie's into the traditional Jack-o-Lantern, Jason did the "Y" and I did the ghost.

Such fun...

And creative...

And spooky pumpkins!!

Pumpkin Patch

This fall has flown by so quickly. The weather confused us all as it stayed pretty warm through most of October. Before we knew it, it was the end of the month and I knew we had to make our annual Pumpkin Patch trip before Halloween. So on Saturday, October 29th, just two days before Halloween, we were able to make it happen!

We have been going to Reynolds Farm in Waynesboro, Pennsylvania ever since we moved here 9 years ago. That first year Abby was only a year old. Now we have added three more kiddos and my how they have grown!

First we rode the hayride up to the pumpkin patch where we each got to pick out a pumpkin to carve.

Maylie (age 2)

Abby (age 10)

Landon (age 8)

Nolan (age 5)

Maylie got frustrated with all the vines growing around the pumpkin patch which made it difficult for her two-year-old legs to maneuver around. Fortunately she found that the pumpkins made pretty good chairs to rest her weary legs!

After paying a small fortune for our carving pumpkins, it was time to hit up the play area. Maylie and Abby enjoyed going down the slide together...

Except when this happened!!

Abby was there to save the day after that one!

We spent a few hours exploring the play area and navigating the corn maze and then headed to Waynesburger for a yummy dinner. We finished off our evening with some ice cream from Misty Meadows. You know it was a good day when Landon declared it "the best day ever!"

Fall Soccer

Nolan enjoyed another season of soccer this Fall, playing for the YMCA/Locomotive team. They had practice every Wednesday night at 5:30 and then a game every Saturday morning at 10 a.m. It was just enough soccer to get our fill but not enough to drain us.

He is not nearly as aggressive and into the game as Landon, but he gets an A for effort!

His favorite part of playing soccer is probably the Gatorade!!

Here is one of his most loyal fans enjoying a nice Fall evening...

Yes I have to bring a bag full of snacks to keep her occupied!

He finished up the season on October 29th which was just in time since it was starting to get pretty cold for those Saturday morning games. 

This league focuses more on drills and games which Nolan seemed to enjoy, at least when he wasn't getting frustrated with the whole affair!

Of course earning the medal at the end of the season is always a highlight!

Way to go Soccer Superstar!

I kept trying to get him to say "Cheese" for his pictures but he insisted on saying "Soccer" instead. Let's just say "soccer" doesn't lend itself to normal smiles for picture taking purposes!

Fall Volleyball

Abby wanted to play another season of volleyball through the YMCA and has done tremendously well. Every part of her volleyball game has improved this season and she is one of the best players on her team. She is a very consistent server and works hard to dig those balls up off the ground. She has the same coach from last season and the whole team has really stepped things up. So far they are undefeated and its been fun to watch them work together and cheer each other on during each game and practice.

She has volleyball practice every Wednesday night at 6:15 and then a game every Saturday which varies in time. 

I have been really impressed at how well they play as a team overall.

Go Team Tropical Storm!!

In the Light...

Sometimes our family scripture time is a bit rough with whining and rambunctious children. But I have the faith that all this work will pay off in the end. 

I loved this little photo of Landon, Abby, and Maylie bathing in the light of the sun and the gospel together!!

Nolan at Kindergarten!

After a bit of a rough start to Kindergarten, Nolan has really started to thrive these last few months. His teacher is so good about having fun things for them to work on to explain and explore different concepts. He loved taking apart a pumpkin in class and counting out the seeds.

He is really good at math right now and loves exploring concepts visually and manually with different objects in the room.

Here is his cute little class with their teacher Ms. Austin.

It is such a blessing to have children who really love going to school each day! I am so grateful for our good school and teachers that really take the time to make learning fun!