Trick or Treat!

Thomas and Ladybug wish you all a very happy and safe Halloween!

Pumpkin Parties

We've had a very busy week; in addition to all of our regular activities, the kids and I hosted two Pumpkin Parties (Halloween parties sans scary stuff). Ironically, neither of my kids actually wore their costumes for our costume parties! Abby did, however, look very cute in her first pair of jeans, her "Got Candy?" t-shirt, and the pumpkin hat we borrowed from some friends.We had festive decorations and snacks (including my yummy pumpkin spice cake), coloring, cookie decorating, and story time (okay, so I planned on having story time and reading The Pumpkin Patch Parable, but there was no way we were going to get either group of kiddos to sit still for a story!). A couple of friends even stayed for lunch: pumpkin shaped grilled cheese sandwiches! One friend remarked: "Wow, you must really love Halloween!" Actually, I just really love having a home that's so great for hosting get-togethers like this!

What we've been up to...

In addition to what you've read the past couple of days, we've been enjoying some other fun fall activities. Eli is loving the Sports Sampler at the Issaquah Parks & Rec. They have this great program that introduces kids to the basics of soccer, tee ball, and basketball over the course of nine weeks. I don't know who has been having more fun; Eli participating, or me watching! It is so cute watching a bunch of 3 and 4 year olds run around playing sports that they hardly know how to play! :) Here are some soccer highlights...
Eli's other new activity is preschool one day each week. We are so blessed to be involved in a great little home-based co-op with some other families from our current church and our former church. The kids are learning letters using an awesome curriculum called Handwriting Without Tears. They also have a scripture memory verse each week, songs and stories, and usually some sort of craft or art project. Eli loves it, and excitedly tells all about what he did at school each Friday.

Both of these activities are lots of fun for Eli, and have also been great growth experiences. These are really the first two activities that he has done on his own, without Ryan or me being directly involved. I think this has challenged Eli, but he has risen to the challenge, and is thriving in both environments. As usual, our little boy continues to impress us and make us so proud. Even better than that, he is making himself proud as well!

Pumpkins and sweet potatoes

Sunday evening was a big night at our house...First, we had some freshly picked pumpkins to carve. Eli was really excited about this, so we actually let him do some carving this year. Technically I did the carving (I carved with a realy knife, then gave Eli the kid-safe pumpkin carving knife), but it made the activity really fun and easy for Eli. (Not that this face he's making looks like it's easy!) He also had a great time scooping out the seeds. The other big part of our evening was Abby's first solid food! I baked some organic sweet potatoes, mashed them, and mixed them with milk. Abby looked ready...

But wasn't super excited about that first bite (or the second, third, etc.)...After awhile, though, it grew on her!And before long she was eating happily

and wanting more!

It was a fun evening for our family!

Pumpkin Patch

We made our second annual visit to Fall City Farms on Sunday. We like this particular pumpkin patch (there are actually quite a few nearby, we feel so blessed to be able to take our kids to a realy pumpkin patch instead of a grocery store parking lot) because in addition to the patch, this farm has animals, a hay maze, tractor-pulled hay rides, fresh apple juice, fresh doughnuts, and - Eli's personal favorite - a sandbox stocked with tractors! Our first order of business was the search for the perfect pumpkin...

...which ended very quickly because Eli really wanted to get back to the sand box! :) He chose almost the first pumpkin he saw! It was a fun day!

Abby is six months old!

Believe it or not (we certainly can't believe it), Abby is six months old today! My how times flies. This has been a big month for our little girl with lots of firsts; her first plane ride (more on that in a later post), first visit to the beach, first tooth(!), and first food. She also met her cousin Lucas, Aunt Elizabeth, and Uncle Jeremy, started sitting up, and learned that she can actually get places by rolling! Needless to say, we're all having a great time together. She is still a very happy, friendly baby...though she was not at all happy about getting that first tooth! Her very favorite thing to do is jump in her jumperoo, and Eli is definitely still her favorite person to see! We are all so blessed by this precious little girl. At her six month well-check today she measured 27.5" (95%) and 17.5 lbs. (75-90%); she is exactly the height Eli was at this age, and a pound lighter. Here are some favorites from her six month portraits...

Blogpalooza!

Okay people, I know I've been a total slacker for the past month (and then some)...in my defense, I do have a three and half year old who never stops asking "why" and a six month old who never sleeps...but, I digress. :) Anyway, to make up for it, I'm about to go blog-crazy and post daily for the next week or so in a desperate attempt to catch up before the holiday madness sets in. So, prepare for Eli and Abby overload! To start us off, here is a cute photo of the kiddos, and one of the sweet pup who is sadly neglected on this blog...