A Full Halloween

A photo gallery of our action packed, fun filled day.

Anna's Kindergarten class went to Munson Farm Pumpkin Patch today and Josie, Ruthie and I got to tag along.

Stairstep sisters standing in the circle:

Two sisters, fast friends, running free:
Ruthie in the corn patch (she didn't like it much, she got lost in there for a bit when she couldn't see me, poor girl. Easy for the adults to see over the short stalks, but not a two year old):

Anna and Josie in the corn patch, mud about 2 inches thick on their shoes:

Ruthie found some corn!

"We have worms on our corn, Mrs. Kiley! Isn't that so cool! Mine has three worms!"

Class picture + Josie and a beautiful view of the mountains in the background. Can you beat the scenery around here? It doesn't get any better than a crisp Fall day (yes, it is Fall around here again), all the orange colors in the foreground, and the snow covered mountains rising up so close. Anna and Josie are in the middle row on the left, both in purple:

"I want this one, Mom!"

"That one's a little heavy for you, Ruthie, let me carry it"

Carving the pumpkin, cleaning out the goop inside:

Josie wanted to save and roast all the seeds for eating (anyone have a good recipe?):

The finished product, casting a ghoulish glow over our steps tonight:

Leaf pile fun this afternoon, Josie jumping in:

Anna's turn!

Bury me!

Where's Ruthie?

Anna, in her 'Nature Detective' costume complete with hiking stick, sun hat, good hiking clothes and shoes, magnifying glass, bag for treasures, creature identification booklet, bandanna turned cape that is covered in animal footprints for identification. (This Summer and Fall the girls have been earning their nature detective certificates by completing different activities at some of the Boulder Parks and Open Space areas around here. Their prizes arrived today in the mail, along with their certificate of completion saying they are officially Nature Detectives. Thus the Halloween costume featuring all the new prizes.)

Ruthie said she was a butterfly. Can you see the wings? What butterfly doesn't need a pink leotard and fuzzy purple hat?

Trick-or-treating around the courtyard! Josie was a ballerina (that was about her 5th costume of the day. The others were a Nature Detective, princess, pumpkin, and butterfly. Oh the fun of dressing up!)

Anna and Ruthie playing piano with our little friend Violet, aka Tigger the Tiger, who came over to play for a bit while the rest of her family went through a haunted house:

Stickers! What better place to put them than all over Daddy's face!

Lotsa love all around at the end of a full day.

I hope yours was packed with as much fun and lots of hugs as well!

Was It Really THAT Warm Out?

Absolutely NOT.

These girls are crazy.

First Ruthie wanted to get naked and climb into the birdbath we have on the south side of our house. Sorry Ruthie, house rules, you can't be naked outside. At least a swim suit is in order. Of course, once one puts a swim suit on, the others follow suit. Three crazy young girls running around outside in their bathing suits and one Mama in long pants, long sleeve shirt and a lined sweatshirt who still felt chilly. Then Ruthie did try to climb in the birdbath and broke it. That's when Mama caved in and set out the pool. Hot tub, actually. That hose is hooked up to the laundry room sink and warm water is pouring out.
Sophie joined them:

Let the jumping begin!

I love Ruthie's method:) I don't think she actually cleared the side with her feet, but water is a soft landing, luckily. I love how she squinches her eyes shut in preparation.

I promise Anna didn't actually land on Sophie.

Synchronized jumping.

There you have it, the favorite chilly day hot tubbing methods of 4 little girls.

Leaves

It makes me so happy to look around these days and see the incredible colors on all the trees. Well, not all. Some of them have already lost all their leaves. But some of my favorite trees are at the height of their glory right now, this Oak tree included, with my favorite three little girls walking underneath it.Silly girls.

Spunky girls.

'So cute you want to eat them up' girls.

Grinning in the leaf pile.

Buried in the leaf pile.

Rolling in the leaf pile.

Throwing the leaf pile.

Jumping in the leaf pile.

Even Mama buried her bare feet in the crunchy leaves.

Making gravel and leaf angels-as opposed to snow angels in the winter.

Can you see it?

The play never stops. It just changes.

Anna swinging standing up, a video per her request:

These girls play together. All. The. Time.

Can you believe, with all the Fall colors and frost we've had, that this is still what it looks like in our herb garden on the south side of our house? It is November, after all.

Enjoy every moment of this glorious Fall right now.

Whew!

What an end of summer whirlwind, and its Fall already! Time has felt like it is passing in leaps and bounds, each day melting into the next with hardly a breath between. That could seem stressful, I suppose, but for the most part it hasn't been. Lots of time with friends, lots of shared meals, late summer harvests from the garden on our plate. Little girls growing up so fast. Ruthie, especially, has been growing and changing so much lately. Talking up a storm, running fast after her sisters trying to keep up with their antics. People keep calling her Josie lately because she got so big so fast. She seems more like a little girl and less like a toddler everyday.

She's my little helper in the kitchen-helping me roll out pie crust for a pot pie.

Nora and Ruthie sharing a book together.

Josie reading to Ruthie.
Josie is a little mother. If you need a room picked up and all the toys put away ask Anna. Don't ask Josie unless you're ready to put in some parenting time guiding her through the task. But if you need help taking care of a little one, ask Josie. She'll take their hand and guide them through a task, entertain them while you cook or eat, read to them, bring you a clean diaper or a sippy cup. Such a sweet, patient spirit. They each have their strengths and weaknesses.




Here's one last picture I have to share with you before I head off to bed.
This is Lars, who has hung out with us a lot lately since his Mama was on bed rest, pregnant with his little brother (now two weeks old, doing great, the tiniest little being I think I have ever held). We have had so much fun with this little guy. Anna and Josie don't really like to wrestle. I keep waiting for wrestling matches to break out in our house, but those two are never both in the mood at the same time. Ruthie, on the other hand, being the youngest and always getting tackled both accidentally and on purpose, loves to wrestle. It has been so much fun for her to have Lars around to laugh with, to good-naturedly wrestle with, dance with, and have a playmate of her own to hang out with when her sisters want to do big girl things. Lars, for his part, fits right into our little family, and brings a lot of laughter along with him. Here's an action shot of the little guy jumping off the coffee table. I think we taught him a few bad habits:) The coffee table is our favorite indoor launch pad. We loved having you around, Lars.


I have missed being in this space, sharing our life with you. Time flying by can do that, so can a computer that is incredibly slow and never gets to the next web page or accomplishes the tasks that you are asking it to do. Frustrating, to say the least. But we have a new computer in our home now (with a webcam, we can skype!), so my words can flow out again and not get bottled up in the frustration of a computer that isn't moving.