Trick-or-Treat

Although it was rainy today, the rain ended about 30 minutes before trick-or-treat started and held off the entire time.




Danielle stayed home from school today because she wasn't feeling well but she felt well enough to go out for a little while tonight. Tyler's best friend's family lives in the country and doesn't have any close neighbors, so we invited them to join us for trick-or-treating. Tyler's friend and her dad joined Ron, Tyler, & Danielle. It worked out well because Danielle didn't feel well and wanted Ron to take her home early.






Tyler & his friend were in too big a hurry to get a decent picture tonight. (This picture is from Friday's party at school.)


















We had lots of trick-or-treaters. In fact, I went through almost 13 bags of candy tonight! Ninja costumes seemed to be pretty popular for the boys. There were a lot of witch costumes for the girls. Not so many princesses this year. Of course, there weren't any costumes like Danielle's. It was a good evening.

Parties & Pumpkins

The kids had their Halloween parties at school yesterday. Everyone loved Danielle's costume, so she was pleased. Tyler enjoyed his party, too. Our trick-or-treat is Monday night, so you'll have to endure one more round of Halloween pictures.

We carved our giant pumpkins tonight. We could have fit a small child inside Danielle's!

Like usual, Tyler refused to touch the pumpkin guts but Danielle practically rolled around in them. The kids really didn't need much help this year. The walls on the big pumpkins were really thick (1.5-2"), so Danielle had to really put some muscle into her cuts, but she managed. I know the kids enjoyed carving their pumpkins, but I enjoyed listening to everyone talk and plan and compliment each other and watching everyone focus on their masterpieces. We had a very nice evening.

Our pumpkin family (mine, Danielle's, Tyler's, & Ron's)

This & That

I've been sick this week and feel like I just can't get everything done that needs done. Ever have one of those weeks?

Tyler started swim lessons on Tuesday. Since he didn't want to play basketball this year, we thought he should find something to stay active once it got too cold to play outside every day. Swim lessons were a great idea. He really enjoyed the first class and can't wait to go back.

Danielle's baton group is practicing for their Christmas performances. I was going to upload a video preview, but after waiting for over an hour for the video to load, I changed my mind. You'll have to use your imagination.

While I was sitting at the kitchen table this morning I heard a lot of very loud squawking from the bluejays in the backyard. I looked out to see a mass exodus of house sparrows as this guy landed in one of our trees (I took this through the window):

I'm pretty sure it's an adult cooper's hawk, although it's small for a cooper's. Their eyes change from yellow to red when they become adults, and I think his still look a little yellowish. This makes me think he may not be a mature adult quite yet. You can see how his markings are different than this young cooper's that flew into our window last month, though. I love it when these hawks make a pitstop in our yard. I've never seen them catch anything, and they're so big and beautiful. I don't think the bluejays share my sentiment.

Later this afternoon we had a downy woodpecker couple visit. I really enjoy watching the woodpeckers, too. This is the male.

The kids' school Halloween parties are tomorrow. Danielle is really looking forward to showing her costume to everyone. She has tried to keep it a secret. Hopefully the day will live up to her expectations!

Home Sweet Home on a Rainy Day

Halloween at the Zoo

The weather was too perfect to pass up the chance to enjoy Boo at the Zoo today. We went late afternoon so we still had enough daylight left to see some of the animals. The kids rode rides once we were done looking at the animals and visiting the treat stations.


Here are my Halloween ghouls. Tyler had his heart set on being a ninja this year. This was his 2nd choice costume, but it turned out to be so much better than the original one he picked out (and it was 1/2 as much). We added the swords, and I was impressed he never once pulled them out tonight. He was very happy with his costume. Lots of boys at the zoo told him it was cool.


Danielle is Rapunzel - not the Disney character from the movie, but Rapunzel from the story. She found this costume idea in an old issue of Family Fun. We had a lot of fun making it, especially the hair. Everything came together very nicely, and she is really proud of it. She gave me permission to post these pictures because I promised no one from school would be checking my blog. A lot of moms complimented her costume.





Rapunzel and her prince.




















Riding the rides.






















We finished our evening with a late dinner at a favorite local Chinese restaurant. We had such a nice evening together!

Finished Project

We finally finished Danielle's Halloween costume tonight. She doesn't want me to post the whole costume yet, but here is the finished hair. She's very happy with her costume. It looks really nice. Tyler ended up getting a different costume that looks much better than the original one he picked out. We're all ready for the trick-or-treating!

Leaves

I had approximately an hour of free time this afternoon, so I headed over to the creek to see if I could find any wildlife to photograph. I didn't see anything other than a person canoeing (brrr), a fox squirrel cleaning himself (I gave him some privacy), and a few birds. While I was sitting there waiting for the perfect photo opp, I snapped a couple pictures of leaves floating down the creek with the current. The perfect photo opp never presented itself, so you're getting floating leaf pictures! I'm still trying to get used to my new lens and was shooting in full manual mode so, all things considered, I think these turned out pretty good. I didn't realize until I got home and looked a little closer at the pictures that the yellow leaf had a passenger.

A Winner

Danielle found out today that her crabby pumpkin won 1st place in her age group! She very proudly claimed her $30 gift card to Toys R Us after school today. Yay Danielle!

The Pumpkin Farm

We tried a new "pumpkin farm" this year. It was kind of a bust. It was rather pricey, and that price didn't include a hayride or pumpkins. We had a nice time, but we didn't have a great time. The place we usually go is much better. After trying the new place, we drove to the farm where we buy our strawberries so the kids could pick out pumpkins. Of course, they picked out the very largest pumpkins they could find. We probably should have stuck with grocery store pumpkins. I should add that it was EXTREMELY windy and a bit chilly. Ah, the best laid plans...

Ron's parents came to visit today, so they joined us for the adventure. Here are some pictures from our outings.

Feeling Crabby

Danielle entered a pumpkin decorating contest at a local bank. They supplied the pumpkin, she supplied the creativity. I think it looks awesome!

We started working on Danielle's Halloween costume today, too. She doesn't want me to reveal what it is, but it's not too difficult to figure out, given the reeeeeally long hair. She saw a homemade costume she likes, so that's what we're working on. I tend to think that homemade = less expensive, but unfortunately that's not always so. The yarn for the hair is pricey (even w/my coupon) and I'm struggling to find the main part of the costume...which they assume you have at home and won't have to buy, but we do not. And Tyler's costume...ugh. He has his heart set on a specific store bought costume that looks soooo cheap. We can't find his size, and he's getting rather discouraged. I probably should have started looking sooner. I figure he doesn't have many years of trick-or-treating left, so I really do want him to be happy with his costume. I just may not post any pictures! Just kidding...kind of.

A Checklist

I was cleaning out some of Danielle's school papers this morning and ran across one entitled "Science Safety Checklist". I must not have looked at it very closely when she first brought it home. (That happens frequently.) I got a laugh out of the last checklist item:

• I will think ahead.



• I will read the directions and follow them.



• I will be neat with my materials.



• I will take care of all science supplies.



• I will clean up when I am done.



• I will return all unused materials to my teacher.



• I will be careful. I will follow all of the cautions.



• I will not taste things I am using in an investigation unless my teacher tells me to.

By the time they reach 2nd grade, you kind of assume they're past that; however, I can still visualize a boy in my 6th grade class eating rolled up glue balls he saved in the corner of his desk. (He ate other disgusting things, too!) I guess the school figures they're better safe than sorry!

This & That

I don't care for house sparrows, but I thought this sequence of pictures was funny. He was checking me out.
















































I found this weird bug crawling up the side of the house yesterday. He was still hanging around today. It's a type of assassin bug called a wheel bug. They are good for taking care of garden pests, but if they "bite" you it can hurt worse than a bee sting. It's hard to get an idea of scale, but he was just a little smaller than my pinkie finger.





Ron sent this to me several days ago. Probably no one else will see the humor in it, but I appreciated it.


















Danielle - taking a break from riding her bike and making pixie dust out of sidewalk chalk in the driveway.