Trick-or-Treat

Tonight was trick-or-treat. Our families came over for dinner and then helped us pass out candy and walk the kids around the neighborhood. Emmaline really slowed things down because she had to give hugs, blow kisses, and wave bye at every house she went to. Needless to say, she got twice the candy Jacob and Ellie did! The kids had a great time and enjoyed more than their fair share of sweet treats before they headed to bed.

Enjoying potato soup before heading into the chilly evening

Aunt Katie and Ellie

The Cutest Unicorn in the World!

Jacob checks out his candy from Round #2

Emmaline loves suckers!

Sugarcreek Reserve

Taking advantage of the warmer fall weather, we went for a hike at Sugarcreek Reserve.

Where's Jacob?

One of my favorite pics. from the day

Jacob found a hedge apple/osage orange

Ellie found a leaf bigger than her head

Daddy and the kids

Trunk or Treat

Before Awana tonight, Jacob participated in Trunk-or-Treat. He had fun going from car to car and filling his bag up with candy.

Pumpkin Day

Today was Pumpkin Day! We scrapped our regular homeschool lessons and celebrated this wonderful fruit of fall!

Reading "From Seed to Pumpkin" with Mimi

"Life cycle of a Pumpkin"

Our Orange-colored Lunch

Drawing what our pumpkins should look like when we carve them

Measuring the pumpkin

Weighing the pumpkin

Cleaning out the pumpkin

Ellie made a Princess Pumpkin

Jacob drew his to look like Frankenstein
Emmaline's was more traditionalRoasting Pumpkin Seeds
Making Pumpkin Bars
Icing Pumpkin Bars
Happy Pumpkin Day!

Testing and an Impromptu Hike

Today, Jacob had his first-ever formal testing done. All 2nd graders in the K12 program took the test today to see what areas they need to concentrate on for the rest of the school year. Someone told me the test would take about 1 hr. WRONG! It took Jacob over two hours to complete and he wasn't even one of the last ones to be finished. Nathan and I didn't bring nearly enough to do and there were no chairs to sit on in the hallway, so our backsides were a tad sore! Besides having to move to another table for talking (no surprise!), Jacob is confident that he did his best.

Mom and Dad watched the girls while we were with Jacob, so we picked them up and went to Marion's for yummy pizza and salad. The weather was so nice out that we decided to take a hike around Hills & Dales Park.

Momma and her kiddos

Mimi, Papaw, and the kids

Ellie and Papaw (on the bridge in the background)

Emmaline playing in the leaves

Pick-Up-Sticks Party

This afternoon at church, Jacob's Sunday school class had a pick-up-sticks party. Basically, they pick up sticks around the church property and then use them to build a fire to roast marshmallows. There were several families there and we had a nice time talking over a dinner of hot dogs, chips, carrots, and of course, s'mores! It was a beautiful fall evening to be outside!

The girls and Papaw sitting around the fire

Nathan and I roasting marshmallows

Riding Through Leaves

When we got home from lunch this afternoon, we had a couple of hours until we needed to be back at church, so I decided to blow all our leaves to the curb. Although we don't have any trees on our property, our street is completely lined with them (very shady and cool in the summer, but a pain in the fall!). While I was doing this, Jacob and Ellie rode bikes with our neighbor's grandson. They had so much fun riding through the big piles I was making for them on the sidewalk.

Fun in the Fall

This fall weather has been crazy. It has either been raining or too cold to do anything. Today was perfect, so we headed to Cox Arboretum for a walk and a picnic dinner. The trees that haven't been hit with frost are turning gorgeous colors, so there was lots to look at. Other people must have had the same idea because there were lots of families and photographers there taking pictures.

Family Photo Time

The Kiddos
My Parents with the kids
Running through the maze
Dad pushed Emmaline in the stroller and she loved chasing everybody!

Pictures

It's been a while since we've had pictures taken, so we killed 5 birds with one stone: Jacob's 7-yr., Ellie's 5-yr., Emmy's 2 1/2-yr., family and kids pics. Emmaline was extremely clingy and wouldn't cooperate, but I think we got some really nice pictures despite that. Here are a few of the ones taken. The rest will be in an album on Facebook soon.