Trick-or-Treat

We did our trick-or-treating last night because we did not want to "celebrate"  Halloween on a Sunday.  This year we had an Escaped Convict in our midst as well as Mickey and Minnie Mouse!

 

We did something a little different this year.  In addition to regular trick-or-treating, we took the kids to a "Trunk-n-Treat" at a local church.  This particular one had each car decorated with a theme from the Bible.  It was pretty cool and the kids really enjoyed it!  Here are a couple of the trunks:

Noah's Ark

The Garden of Eden

Samuel REALLY got into trick-or-treating this year.  At the doors, he would say "tee-tee" and then as soon as we walked away he'd ask for "mowr"!

  

Friday night the kids had kind of a Halloween preview night at Nathan's fall festival (this was too cute to not post):

 

 Nathan got "spacers" one week ago as a first step toward braces, then on Friday he got his "Herbst Appliance" which will help the alignment of his bite.  He will get actual braces in a few weeks, but he is already following all the braces rules for his current appliance.  We found plenty of candy for him that won't cause any problems with the hardware in his mouth!

More pumpkins!

I finally got a decent picture of all three kids with the pumpkins!

 And the we decorated three more (the ones we got on Emma's field trip)!  How many pumpkins does one family need!?

Field Trip!

Today Brian, Samuel & I went with Emma's class on a field trip to a Pumpkin farm out of town.  Of course it was the coldest day we've had so far but we had a great time!

Can you see the frost on the slide?

 Hay ride (without hay)

 Lizzie, Emma & Samuel

 Emma with one of the 3 pumpkins we picked!

 Cuddling with Samuel, who wasn't so sure he liked the hay

Surgery

Emma has been having trouble hearing for quite a while.  We took her to an ENT who determined she had way too much wax in her ears to remove any way except surgically.  In addition, we knew there was a chance she would need tubes but the doctor wouldn't know for sure until they got in there and could see what was going on.  So, Thursday morning we went to the outpatient surgery center.  Emma did pretty well considering that she has NEVER liked doctors messing with her.  She got to wear pajamas and take some things to cuddle with. I eventually handed her off to a nurse who allowed her to stay bundled up (head under her favorite blanket) until they put her under with anesthesia through a mask.  The next thing she knew, she woke up feeling yucky in Mama's arms.  I was not prepared for how groggy and combative she would be... nor did I realize how sick she might feel afterwards.  Thankfully, the worst only last a couple of hours and by close to lunch time she was starting to feel and act more like herself.

We've already noticed improvement in her hearing and we are hoping that a full hearing test next week will reveal that excessive wax was the only problem.  Poor thing got a lot of sympathy from us!  It is so hard to see your child go through something so unpleasant but she came through it like a little trooper!

Here she is after feeling a little better:

Pumpkin Time!

We spent some time designing and carving/decorating our pumpkins!  Nathan usually draws out a face that he wants Daddy to carve, and this year he helped a little bit with the cutting.  Emma often paints her pumpkin but decided to use foam stickers on it this year.  I used foam stickers on Samuel's as well.

This one is almost as big as me!

Emma decorating her pumpkin

Nathan scooping guts

Samuel taking a peek inside

Samuel is 18 months!

How can it be that our "baby" is already an 18-month-old?  Every day we see more little boy and less baby in this sweet one.  He is one active kid- busy exploring every aspect of his world without stopping except for eating and sleeping, both which he does quite well.  He certainly keeps us on our toes!  It's hard to believe that in just a few months, this little guy will no longer be the baby of the family, but a BIG BROTHER!  He has recently taken an interest in babies and all types of baby accessories (bouncers, swings, car seats) so he will be excited to see a house full of all these things in a few months.

Samuel is a joy, full of love and cheerfulness- he often breaks out giggling for no apparent reason and likes to share his chuckles with those around him (especially responsive strangers).  He is still a snuggle bug at nap time and bedtime, and often gives hugs and kisses without prompting.  

We took his 18 months photos ourselves (not an easy task with one who will hardly sit still), and while these are not the pictures we will be hanging on our wall, I thought I'd share a few for now to mark this date. 

 

LEAVES!

We always look forward to Fall and to the beautiful trees turning colors and losing their leaves.  One of the kids' favorite fall activities is playing in leaf piles.  The last several years, Brian has made a big pile at the bottom of the slide and Nathan has really enjoyed sliding into it.  

Samuel was not excited about being in the leaf pile

Samuel DID enjoy helping Daddy rake!

Nathan, face first!

Emma went down the slide for the first time!

Pumpkin Farm

Each fall since Emma was 1 my Mom and I have taken her to Pumpkinworks Farm. Of course Samuel got to go last year but this year was his first year to REALLY participate in all of the activities.

 The corn box is always a HUGE hit!

 And then there are Pumpkins!

 

Grandma & Mama both had a little trouble admist all the pumpkins...

and had a good laugh!

The yearly measurements:

2009

 A few other neat things:

Little Man & Sweet Girl

Our little man before church last Sunday:

 

And Emma later in the day, just because I love this picture: