Halloween Weekend

It has been a packed Halloween weekend. It started with Heidi's Fall party at school on Friday. They wore their costumes to school and ended the day with the party. They had yummy Halloween snacks, heard a Halloween story, made Halloween necklaces and then played Halloween Bingo. Jason was off on Friday, so he was able to join in the festivities too!Then after Emma got home from school, it was off to a pumpkin patch.Rachel LOVED the baskets of little pumpkins. Just her size! She would pick them up one at a time and put them on the ground - then after a handful were on the ground, she'd start putting them back in the basket. At one point, she emptied almost a whole basket into our wagon - one at a time.Many pumpkins were in and out of our wagon, but this is the one we came home with - along with 3 little ones (they are behind Rachel in the wagon).Saturday morning we took a break from Halloween festivities and met another family from church at a park called Arabia Mountain. It's a granite outcrop much smaller than Stone Mountain. But it is a great hike for the kids and it was a beautiful day to enjoy.There were these rock/granite mounds all along the way marking the path to the top. I think Heidi climbed almost every one on the way up.Emma on top of the world!Thankfully they didn't push each other in. :-) There were lots of shallow ponds at the top - washed out areas in the stone where water collects when it rains.Jason carried Rachel up and most of the way down.And I carried her the last part of the way down.
It really was a fun outing. We'll have to do it again sometime.

Then Saturday night our neighborhood had their annual Halloween Party. This year it was in our cul-de-sac - which was very convenient. We helped host it, but that just means putting out tables for food to be put on and providing the paper products - pretty easy. :-) It was a fun time. It's amazing to see how many kids there are in our neighborhood - and lots of young ones! It was also neat to see neighbors who have lived here for a long time connecting for the first time.

With it not actually being Halloween, it was a little confusing as to whether or not the kids should trick-or-treat after the party or wait 'til Halloween - or go both nights!!! We ended up doing a little both nights. And as a result, we have way more candy than we need. But the girls enjoyed it. Heidi especially enjoyed it. Tonight Emma and Rachel were fading quickly, but Heidi wanted to keep going. So Jason drove Emma and Rachel home and Heidi and I walked home trick-or-treating along the way. She did say she was tired as we were turning on to our street. :-)

And here they are...

Emma - ThumperHeidi - CinderellaRachel - Yellow Jacket (of course)The best we could get of the three of them together.
And couldn't resist including this one...Daddy's Little Pumpkin.
It's been a fun weekend! Now it's time to recover from all the activity.

Curls!!!

Gotta love Georgia humidity - brings out the serious curls!! :-) I can't wait to see what her hair looks like as it continues to grow. I'm guessing she'll look a bit like Emma. Here's curly Emma at age 3.

Happy Birthday Heidi!!!

Heidi is 4 years old today!!! Where does the time go?

We decided to have a friend party for her for the first time this year. She invited all her friends from preschool, plus several others. So we had 15 kids join us yesterday for the party at the facility where Heidi takes gymnastics. They have in-ground trampolines, slides, an inflatable bounce house, a tall inflatable slide, a rope swing, foam pit, and lots of things to climb on. Everyone exerted a lot of energy and had a good time.

Heidi & Jason playing with the parachute. Everyone held a handle and walked around in a circle singing Happy Birthday to Heidi.Friends waiting in line for the rope swing (our girls weren't interested in doing it).Heidi in the foam pit.Happiness is climbing for Rachel.Emma having fun!Jason and Heidi jumping.Daddy in the foam pit.After everyone was done playing, it was time to go in to "the party room" for pizza, cake and ice cream. Heidi got to wear the "birthday crown."Heidi had asked for a Cinderella cake. I remember my mom making doll cakes for my sisters way back when - and I want to try to make my daughters' birthday cakes just like my mom has always done (and still does) for me. (Thanks Mom!!!) So I tackled Cinderella... After reading up on assembly hints online, baking two cake mixes and lots of blue food coloring, Cinderella emerged. :-)I was very pleased with how it turned out. And Heidi really liked it too.

Heidi and Cinderella.Blowing out the candles - one at a time (and everyone is leaning in to watch).I think a fun time was had by all and I know Heidi enjoyed her party. She is blessed to have so many wonderful friends. When we got home from the party, she wanted to open her presents. She received lots of fun, neat, and very nice gifts from her friends. She has already started playing with lots of them! Thanks everyone!!!

So that was yesterday. Today as her actual birthday, she chose where we would go for lunch after church - "Welcome to Moes!" :-) Grammy and Papa were able to join us and we had a great lunch together. This afternoon she actually had another friend's birthday party to go to, so we did that. Then it was just spending the evening at home. And I made her request for dinner - Kraft Mac 'n Cheese - easy to please. :-)

Happy Birthday Heidi!!! We love you!!

Wrapping Up Soccer

Emma's last soccer game of the season was yesterday (Saturday). And honestly, I think it was her best game ever! She followed the ball around the field (still a bit behind, but at least she was following it) and she was also given the opportunity to play goalie - and she made two saves! :-) It's definitely been a learning experience for her (and us as far as how to help her engage), but she says she has had fun and that she wants to play again. So, we'll see. Here are a few more pics from the day...

It's hard to see her, but Emma is right in the middle - white shirt, #9 - following the ball down the field.Coach Lori helped her with what to do as goalie.The Killer Whales (minus two teammates).Emma LOVED the water bottle every game - and every game there was a potty break during the game.After the game, they had an end of season pizza party. The girls ate pizza and Oreo cookies and received trophies. Here is Coach Lori giving Emma her trophy.
This church has a Spring soccer league as well - maybe we'll sign her up again then.

Just Playing

Our girls...So here is the sliding video, as promised. Rachel has become quite proficient in climbing the ladder, getting her feet in front of her and going down all by herself.

The next accomplishment will be the slide on our playground - she discovered that today. That one will take a bit more time, I believe.

We have really been enjoying the cooler Fall weather - it has been gorgeous!!! So the girls have been swinging...
and jumping on the trampoline...
Rachel really likes being on the trampoline, but I can't let her be on it with the others 'cause they'll bounce her silly.So much fun...

Emma's Fall Festival

Emma's school had their annual Fall Festival last Friday night. When we arrived, the first thing the girls saw was bungee jumping on a trampoline. The line was very long - in fact we estimated they waited in line for 45 minutes! By the time they got to the front of the line, Heidi had decided she didn't want to do it after all. Emma still did though.While they waited in line for the bungee jumping, I bought us a pizza - so we all ate dinner while they stood in line. I gave Rachel a whole slice of pizza and she went to town on it. She ate everything but the crust - and wanted more. So I gave her the last 2/3 of the piece I was eating and she polished that one off too - except for the crust. Thus, the pizza sauce face. :-) (And she was rather tired.)After bungee jumping, Emma found an inflatable obstacle course. She spent the rest of the evening doing that.Heidi wasn't really interested in doing any of the "rides." I don't think I mentioned it in the post about her school's fall festival, but she and Emma were in an inflatable when the generator quit working and the inflatable collapsed on them. They weren't in there long, it didn't hurt them, and it was really all fine - however, Heidi got VERY upset about it. Ever since, she has not wanted to darken the door of any inflatable. She may be scared for life. But she did seem to enjoy being at the festival.And we ended the night with a bag of cotton candy to share. :-)