Halloween Preview

(what you can't see in the above picture is Amy holding on to Ian's tail.

That's how they would walk around together)

Ian's snow outfit

Our first snow storm of the season caught us a little underprepared in the clothing department. Ian insisted on going outside today, and unfortunately for him this was all I could find to keep him warm enough - a girly hat, and unmatching gloves (one of Amy's). I guess we'll be doing some snow clothes shopping soon!

Ian's Tie

Even at 2 & 3 getting ready for church isn't the easiest. Either we have the blue cords for Ian and can't find the matching shirt. Or we have his black striped shirt without any matching pants. Today we finally had black pants to match the black striped shirt but his little outfit was missing something still. I made a comment to Kenny that we ought to get Ian a little tie. Ian overheard and immediately went to Kenny's closet and found himself a tie. He said proudly to Kenny as he pointed to his tie, "Ian's tie, Daddy's tie". and then of course Amy realized that we thought Ian was being pretty cute and she wanted to join in with a tie of her own as well.

"Look Mommy, it's a mantis"

This praying mantis is what had my kids enthralled today. Ian was the first to notice it but Amy was the one who watched it for awhile.

I was just going to post the picture of the mantis, as my kids looked a mess. But then decided I shouldn't have to censor . . . or be embarrassed. So, I embraced the moment and took a picture of Amy in all her glory - messy shirt, messy face, messy hair . . . not an abnormal look for her might I add.

Oh, and one more thing . . . Amy handed the spatula back to me when she was finished and said, "here mom, here's the "oar"". :)

Pulling out the Garden

[2 days of posting . . . don't worry it won't last] Amy has just discovered the joys of picture taking. It has been a fight trying to get her to smile for as long as I can remember. This was my conversation with Amy today: "Mom, take a picture of me picking tomatoes! And another tomato! And another tomato!" Thus. . . the three pictures of Amy in the garden with the cheesy grin on her face. Ian still likes to smile luckily . . . but what's with sticking his bottom teeth over his top teeth? It is pretty cute though :).

Today we started pulling out the garden and picking the last of our veges. Our garden didn't do too great this year. We did get a lot of string beans and tomatillos but not a lot of tomatoes. I ended up canning 10 pints of salsa verde, 10 pints of whole tomatillos, and 12 pints of string beans from our garden. I bought some peaches and apples and canned 10 quarts of applesauce and 20 quarts of peaches. Once I get started I really like canning. It's not something I grew up doing but it is fun to see everything that you grew in your own jars stored away. The work is worth it.

Fall Days

 

 

The kids were excited to go outside and play in the rain today. When I checked on them Amy and Ian were huddled under the umbrella together. It was so sweet I had to grab the camera. Of course, when I was ready to take the picture they were done looking so cute. So, we recreated the moment and here it is.