Carving Pumpkins

We carved jack-o-lanterns on Halloween Eve.  This is mostly an Eric and the kids job.  I usually help scoop out the seeds (and then roast them) and take photos.

Pippa joined us on the front porch.  We have to keep her on her leash, but at least she was a part of things.  She certainly is curious (or is it just nosy?).

We carved two pumpkins this year.  Carter's was the one he picked at Lombardi Ranch a few weeks ago.  The other was Ashlynn's pumpkin from last year that we didn't carve and that didn't rot while sitting on our front porch for the past year (mostly behind a chair).  When we opened it up, we found that some of the seeds inside had sprouted.  Pretty cool!

 Happy Halloween!

Almost Halloween

 

This weekend we had fun going to events leading up to Halloween.

Last night, after a very long and exhausting week (I worked 4 days and it was Eric's parent conference week), we went to our church's Harvest Festival.  Ashlynn had fun with her friends Lydia and Rachel, and Carter had fun with the hula hoops and with Rachel's little sister Anna.  Both kids loved the bubble machine. 

This afternoon I took the kids to the library to return books and check out new ones (which brings Ashlynn such joy).  When we walked into the library at 1:45, we saw signs for the library's Halloween event for 4-year-olds to 5th graders that was starting at 2pm.  Yay!  The kids had fun listening to silly Halloween stories, dancing, eating cupcakes, watching a little movie, and doing a craft.

Late this afternoon, we went to Ashlynn's school's Fall Festival.  The students don't wear costumes to school on Halloween, but they can wear them to the Fall Festival, so our kids got dressed up.  The kids had fun with their friends and Eric and I had a few conversations with others while following the kids around.

Ashlynn got to hang out with her buddy Lydia for two evenings in a row.

 The campus was festive and busy

 There were games to play,

 friends to hang out with,

 a costume contest,

 a jail (Carter was put in jail with Josiah),

 and face painting.  The face painters were really good!

 

 This is one of my favorite photos of the evening

 Ashlynn saw many of her friends.  Here she is with Daphne.

Before bed, Carter got in some ipod time while sporting his Angry Birds face painting.

 And Ashlynn did what she does best.

 It was a long but fun day (plus a few hours).  We're looking forward to Halloween! 

Meet the Candidates

This morning, Carter decided to draw pictures of the two Presidential candidates.  On the left is Barack Obama and on the right is Mitt Romney.  He decided to do it himself, and we were quite surprised that he knew their names.

Not in a Hurry

One of the many milestones we anticipate for our children is no longer needing to sit in a car seat.  According to California law, kids may move from a 5-point harness to a booster car seat when they are 4 years old and 40 pounds.

For Ashlynn, the second qualification (weighing 40 pounds) was met just this past June.  The kids' doctor had suggested bringing Ashlynn in for Carter's 4-year-old check up (when she was 6 3/4 years old) to see if she might be 40 pounds at that point.  She did; she weighed 40.2 pounds. 

While she was glad to finally be 40 pounds, she was easily convinced to stay in her 5-point-harness car seat for a bit longer, at least until after our summer road trip to Yellowstone.  The safety factor was enough of a reason for her.

At some point after the trip I said something about getting a booster (mostly so we might put another kid in the back seat with our kids).  Ashlynn's response was "maybe for Christmas".

Today Carter and I were at Target and I decided to pick up a booster seat.  After school I took a picture of her getting into her Britex car seat "for the last time".  She ask why and I explained I had purchased a booster.  She sighed and said, "I don't really want to change over.  I like feeling safe, I like being higher, and I like how comfy my car seat is."  I guess today might not be her final ride in the Britex.

Ashlynn facing forward for the first time (in the same car seat she sat in today)

On a side note, the thing that makes me chuckle about the whole thing is that the car seat she sits in today was the convertible car seat we bought for her when she was like a year old (I think less than a year, as a back facing seat).  I think it is funny how couples spend so much time researching just the right infant carrier (and all that baby stuff) and then they (and others) spend hundreds of dollars on gear they will only use for a few months.   We got over 6 years of use out of our convertible car seats.  Those car seats were a good investment!

PS- the car seat actually holds up to 65 pounds.  She hit 20 pounds at about age 1 1/2 and she hit 40 pounds at almost 7, so I bet we will be able to use that sucker as we drive her to junior high.  Just kidding!

Our Annual Trip to the Pumpkin Patch

 

This weekend was our annual trip to the Lombardi Ranch pumpkin patch with the Thomas family.

 Ashlynn always loves hanging out with Sydney

Scarecrow Alley had some scary and cute displays.  No surprise that Ashlynn liked the Hello Kitty themed one.

There were quite a few things to check out

 The kids always love the hay pyramid.

 The Thomas family

 Picking pumpkins

After Lombardi Ranch, we headed over to my friend Josi's house.  We had fun with our Lincoln teacher families.

The dedicated Lincoln teachers listened to our school's announcements for the week call that we get every Sunday evening.

 

 I work with some pretty great friends, and they have pretty cool families.