Trick or Treat part 1

Here is a sneak peak at the costumes. The girls are cheerleaders - thanks to Grandma. She made these costumes and I think they look great. I thought I should take a picture of them this morning because we are supposed to have rain this afternoon.
I'll get pictures of the gang this afternoon.

Group photo?

Not today.

I always try to get atleast one photo of all the kids. This year, we could not get everyone together. These are a few of the attempts I made before I decided it just wasn't going to happen today!



This is the only one I got that had Little T.

My patient little trooper.

Pumpkins everywhere

One of my favorite pictures from the day. I just like the way the sun lights up Daisy's face.

Rosie didn't want her picture taken but was kind enough to let me get just one shot of her with the pumpkins.

This was the attitude I received during most of the day when I tried to get a picture of Rosie.

Corn crib

The corn crib was the favorite stop of the day. They probably spent atleast an hour playing in the corn.


Rosie, SC and LG get along so well. They are even planning a sleepover. That should make for an interesting evening!



The girls and Lake were burying Tate in the corn.

How tall?

Yesterday after school we went to Tate Farms. We have gone every year for the last five years. We always meet a friend of mine from high school and her three children. Three of mine wanted to see just how tall they are this year.


Tate

Daisy

Lake

Fashion plate

I finally figured out where Daisy gets her since of style. My Granddad would have loved the way this girl dresses. I remember him always looking sharp and always wearing plaid. He usually wore plaid pants and a plaid shirt. Maybe I was just partial, but he was just the cutest man you would see. I wonder if in 60 years Daisy's grandchildren will find this style cute.




Close-up of the socks...just so you don't overlook them.

Poor Rosie

She is much better today but she's had a rough five days. In the middle of the day on Wednesday she started with the fever that lasted for four days. I took her to the doctor on Thursday since our neighbor had strep and Rosie was complaining of a sore throat and neck. She didn't have strep throat.

On Saturday afternoon she had a rash of tiny flat red spots all over her back. On Saturday night her fever was 103.3.

On Sunday morning she woke up with these spots covering her legs and most of her back. During the day they spread over most of her body. She even had a few on her face. Our pediatrician met us at the office yesterday afternoon (yes, on a Sunday) because he wanted to make sure it was a virus and not something more serious.

One Year

It has been a year since this kind and gentle man died.

For several weeks I have felt like I was running but getting nowhere. I realized that I was running from this week.

I miss his easy laugh. I want to wipe that last tear I saw fall from his eye when he knew.

I can't run from today.

What I'm reading

Today, Lake and I started reading a book called "Horrible Harry and the Ant Invasion." We have to read this together and then he has to make entries into a journal after each reading session. I am very excited about this assignment because he hasn't been finishing any books lately. I don't have a problem with him reading several books at a time but it has been a very long time since he has read anything (chapter books) from start to finish. I think this will be a good exercise for him.

Tate is reading "Trumpet of the Swan." The girls are enjoying books from Trixie. I just completed "The Memory Keepers Daughter." John Henry just started a new job on Monday so he's reading some sort of computer IT book.

What are you reading?

Clean teeth

Two weeks ago when I took Tate to the dentist, the girls went with us. I was hoping that if Daisy could see how much fun Tate has at the dentist, then maybe she would be more relaxed when it's her turn in a few months.

Since that day, Daisy has been living in her pretend world along with five bears. In her world, she is the dentist and the bears are the patients. She is so sweet and gentle with them that it brings tears to my eyes when I hear her speak softly and reassuringly to the bears.

This morning when I got back home from taking the girls to school, I found three of the bears lined up on the sofa. You have to look closely to appreciate it. Do you see that each bear has a ziploc bag with a toothbrush and toothpaste? Did you notice the gloves? Those are what she uses to clean the bears teeth.

Eight is Great

Yesterday my oldest child turned eight years old. Since we had his party on Monday we decided that he could choose where we ate dinner last night. We also invited Genius and his two nieces to join us. Lake chose the Mexican restaurant that is minutes away from our house. We took cupcakes to share with the staff. The owner of the restaurant let Lake wear this sombrero for the special occasion.

Field Trip

I went on a field trip with Tate's class yesterday morning. We went to another pumpkin patch. This is a picture of him in a bin of corn. The weather was beautiful.

Party Time

On Monday we celebrated Lake's birthday. His birthday was actually Wednesday but it just wasn't possible to do a party with friends on Wednesday. And, since we had a holiday from school on Monday, it turned out to be a good time for a party.

Because of the lighting in the roller rink I wasn't able to get a good picture of him with his friends. However, I was able to get this one with his brother and sisters.

These two girls are the daughters of my high school best friend. When Lake was planning on which friends to invite he stated that he didn't want any girls invited to his party. I mentioned that he has two sisters and also some cousins that are girls. He said, "That's OK. They're family." When I asked him about these two girls he said, "Oh, Mom. They're like family...it's sort of like they are my cousins."

Pumpkin Pickin'

Tate with his pumpkin. He wasn't feeling very well but he was a trooper.

The guys with their pumpkins. The rule was that they could pick any pumpkin in the field...if they could carry it back to the tractor without any help.

Daisy with her pumpkin and the sun in her eyes.

Rosie with her choice.

Pumpkin perfect day

Today Trixie and WaWa came for a visit. It was a perfect day for a hayride, picking a pumpkin and tromping through a corn maze. One of the best things was that this was a first for Trixie and WaWa. They had never picked their pumpkin of the vine.


I am so glad they came - even if it was just for the day. The weather was picture perfect.

The girls doing their best sorority pose! Blogger won't load the boys in their masculine pose.


We were even able to get in a little advertising for Genius!

How many babies?

Yesterday Daisy was walking around the house with two photo frames - one contained a picture of Bunny (my rabbit of six years that died eight years ago) and the other contained a picture of Annie (one of our dogs.) The frames are smaller than a wallet size photo.

While I was in the kitchen, Daisy said "Mommy, who has been inside your tummy?"

I said, "Well, all of my babies. Why?"

Daisy: "Was this bunny in your tummy?"

Me: "No."

Daisy: "Then where did she come from?"

Me: "Her mommy was a rabbit."

Daisy: "Was Annie in your tummy?"

Me: "No."

Daisy: "Then where did she come from?"

Me: "Her mommy was a dog, she grew in a dog's tummy."

Daisy: "Oh. OK."

I'm not sure what prompted her line of questions. She hasn't been around anyone that is pregnant. She amazes me on a daily basis.

Fashion Girl

This afternoon I sorted through some clothes to see what I had for the girls to wear this fall. Daisy put on a fashion show for us.

What a fashionable girl!
By the way, it's nearly 90 degrees here today.

How much is too much?

Yesterday after we took Rosie to school, Daisy and I went grocery shopping. One of the workers was stocking shelves and stopped to ask us how we were, could we find everything, etc.. Then he commented on how beautiful Daisy is. She had been listening and looking at him but when he directed the comment to her, she immediately looked away. He asked me if she was being bashful. I told him that she was probably about to ask me if he was a stranger. Well, he touched her hair while he was telling her that he indeed is a stranger. (What is it with strangers touching children? I know it's probably innocent but it bothers me.) At this point she started crying to the point that I had to pick her up and hold her close to me and whisper to her. The worker apologized (he seemed sincere) and then went back to work.

The rest of the time we were in the store she kept noticing people were looking at her. She would point to them and ask me if they were a stranger. I would ask her if she knew their name. If she said no, then we agreed that they were indeed a stranger. I have also explained that it's OK for adults to speak to strangers AND it's OK to answer a stranger if you are with Mommy and Daddy. We won't let anything happen to her. I even told her that I would punch a stranger in the nose if they tried to harm her!

I want her to have a healthy fear of strangers but not to be terrified of them, especially if I am with her.

Any suggestions?

Picture that I promised

I took this picture before the game on Saturday. It happened to be an incredible game. For once, the two teams were well matched. In previous games, the other teams have been lots more advanced.

After the game, John Henry's mom took us to in search of Halloween costume ideas. The girls are going to be cheerleaders. Grandma bought a pattern and is planning on sewing the costumes this weekend. We have been going to Friday night football games and the girls are in awe of the cheerleaders. Lake is going to be Harry Potter and Tate is going to be either an Indian or Peter Pan.