Rocktober

When Ava is around, every day is rocktober.

How quickly the years pass Pumpkin Edition

One of my favorite ways to reminisce............

October 2007

October 2008

October 2009

October 2010

October 2011

October 2012

Look at them holding hands!

October 2014

I just realized we have no pumpkin pictures from last year!  We went to a farm in Sidney last year, but there were no pumpkin pictures!  Oh Well.

Sunday

Pumpkin Patch

Today we went to my favorite fall activity, the pumpkin patch!

The kids had a ball, there was so much to do that we were there for over three and a half hours!  Of course by this time everyone was exhausted, but after a quick shower everyone passed out quickly.

This is Ava and Carter running around the straw maze.

Dawson's favorite:  the tractor

We went on a 30 minute hay ride, which was approximately 20 minutes too long.  Luckily the kids were not complaining, just Mike and I.  He compared it to the dolest train ride ever!  

Two ends of the spectrum:

Ava was petting, loving and even kissing the goats.

Carter was looking at the goats.  One of them brushed his hand, which he did not want.  We had to go immediately to get hand sanitizer.

Pumpkin bowling was a big hit.  I love the look of concentration on Ava's face!

Yummy apple cider pumpkin bottles!

Carter's favorite:  the corn conveyor belt

He spent quite a bit of time putting the corn on the conveyor belt, running to retrieve it and then doing it all over!

There was also a big corn box for digging, scooping and driving the digger.

Ava shopped until she dropped!

There was also a big play structure in the shape of a tractor. 

Dockie is yelling vroom vroom!

I love adventures with my kiddos!

Weekly Funnies

Weekly Funnies

• I love nicknames, and all our kids have had multiple nicknames over the course of their lives.  Carter is following along this line and has nicknamed his sister A-V-A.  Dawson is still learning how to say his sister's name and for awhile he was calling her Uva {spanish for grape} Eva, and finally Ava.
• Today I had a funny conversation with my oldest.  He was playing with a neighbor boy who is in first grade and he wanted to play with him again. I said that wouldn't be a problem, but he is in first grade so we would have to get together in the afternoons or weekends.  "What's first grade" he demanded to know.  After I explained all the grades he would have to go in for school he said "that's a really long time."  Then I proceeded to explain that when he went to college he would have to be a freshman, sophomore  junior and senior before he was done.  "What's that, something to eat?"  Um, not quite.
• In case you were worried Ava's pink blanket is five year old, in first grade and her real name is Corvette Marie.  LOVE this girl and her imagination.
• DAWSON'S FIRST FUNNY!  Recently I was reading a book with him and he repeatedly called a dog a woof woof.  I was trying to get him to say dog so I prompted him "look, it's a d...d..."  and then he said "da puppy."  Well yes, it is a puppy! 
• I can't believe this little boy is growing up so fast.  Today Carter was telling me about the prettiest girl in his class.  But he won't talk to her, he just likes to defeat her.  Also, to him, pretty means that she wears a lot of pink.  Pink shoes, pink pants, pink shirt. 

Carter and Ava have been doing chores and were finally able to pick out their roller skates that they have been talking about since last spring.  My cautious Carter refused to stand up for the first day or two, but now he is cruising all over the basement.  Ava was amazing from day one on her skates!

This evening we went to a local park to play, picnic and hike.

Dockie, this could have been a cute picture if you weren't throwing grass!  This was even the best one out of about ten that I took.

This park has a fun zip line for KIDS to swing on.

I know Carter had a ball.

Dawson thought he was riding a zip line, in reality it was the poles on the swing set.

This girlie can play her daddy like a fiddle.  When Daddy is around she is all of a sudden unable to climb up a tunnel without him, can't buckle her seat belt or even hang up her clothes.  These are all things she does for me on a regular basis.  

Thank you my family for a fun evening together!

Weekend Recap

We had a fun fall weekend that included a visit from Grandma and Bo, along with the kid's great grandparents Grandma and Grandpa B.  This was a wonderful treat because we usually only see them once a year at Easter time. We ate lunch together and then the girls and grandparents went to a craft show and the boys watched football/napped.

Grandma bought a beautiful hat for Ava at the craft show, but this little face has been caught stealing it on multiple occasions.

This little one has been giving squeezes lately.  He gives you a hug and squeezes as hard as he can.

The kids also played in the basement for a little while and Ava got into the St. Patrick's day gear.  Very creative use of the bow tie, Ava!

More Ballet Pictures

After a rocky start this fall, Ava has fallen hard for her ballet class.  There is nothing more fun than watching her grinning ear to ear for 45 minutes.  

More ballet pictures, because they make me happy.

They played on a parachute, here is Ava sitting in the middle.  

Shaking the parachute

They danced with feather boas, sashed with princess wands and twirled in the hula hoops.  Ava, I may complain about your wardrobe drama but I love having you in my life.  My little girl, nothing could be sweeter.