Costumes & Petting Zoo

Army Guy Zach, Mermaid Savannah, Jack-O-Lantern Landon, Percy Jackson Jacob, & Buzz Lightyear Connor

This afternoon the kids and I went to the park for our neighborhood Halloween Party. They had a jumping castle and Petting Zoo. The animals were the main reason I decided to go, and I'm glad we did. The kids had a great time.We were one of the first families there and the kids had the jumping castle to themselves for a few minutes.

After that the Petting Zoo was set up and we went inside.

Petting Zoo = Zach Heaven

Connor wanted nothing to do with the petting zoo. He was pretty freaked out.Until he saw the little chicks...

"Awww, they're so cute Mommy!"

And then he came inside and almost strangled one. Luckily Mom was there to save it.

He would only touch the chicks...nothing else.

Jacob holding a rabbit...

Jacob took this picture and the look on Landon's face just makes me laugh. "Get that thing away from me Mom."

Checking out the donkeys and ponies.

Savannah got to feed a goat...

After the animals we played on the playground while Zach stayed in the petting zoo. He was in there for at least 30 minutes. Connor found another Buzz Lightyear to play with on the slide.

Family Fun

The kids have been working hard to earn a Family Movie Night over the last month or so. They earn marbles any time we catch them doing something nice or extra. Or even just having a happy attitude all morning or afternoon. We finally filled it up!

We started off the evening with a Jack-O-Lantern pizza from Papa Murphy's. That is the marble cup that Jacob is holding. And Savannah was grumpy for pictures.We watched "How To Train Your Dragon." The three older kids saw it in the theater with Grandpa, but the rest of us hadn't seen it.

Landon thought it was fun having everyone in the room paying attention to him...

The kids requested peanut butter cookies and popcorn.

And I just can't resist this cute, innocent face.

Round Rock Fall Festival

On Thursday morning Connor, Landon & I went to the Round Rock Fall Festival at Old Settler's Park. Connor loved it! They had a bunch of games and activities for little kids, all run by city employees.His favorite game was putting the giant rubber flies into the frog's mouth.

Connor's favorite activity of all was the hay ride. It was really, really windy and chilly that morning and Landon was all snuggled in his stroller. Luckily we ran into some friends who took him along for the ride so that I could stay behind with Landon. It was a fun time!

Getting Ready...

...for Halloween!!!

On Monday I took the kids to a little "pumpkin patch" to pick out a pumpkin. Zach was fascinated by any pumpkin that wasn't orange. Landon loves being in the front carrier now, although he's getting so big that it will kill my back pretty soon.After months of waiting Zach's pumpkin patch has finally produced. This is the one and only little pumpkin. Too bad it's not ready for Halloween!

We had our annual Family Home Evening pumpkin painting.

I helped Connor paint a snake on his and Dallin had the idea to make the pointy stem into the "rattle." Connor thinks it's "so cool!"

Dallin helped Landon paint his pumpkin...

On Tuesday morning I took Connor to the Halloween Library Storytime. They had a little party for the kids. Connor is SO excited to be Buzz Lightyear. We borrowed the costume from a friend.

He was a little wary of the lady dancing around in a big pumpkin costume, so he stayed back by me. But he still had fun.

We trick-or-treated backwards. Each kid went around the room and dropped a little prize in each sack (a prize that we brought). Then at the end each child got a bag full of stuff.

After the library Connor helped me gut out our pumpkin. He loved picking out all the seeds.

Meet Zachob! Here's our friendly jack-o-lantern that wears glasses and braces.

Snakes and Stuff

Jacob turned in his first real book report this week. All of the information was on the back of the poster. I think he did a great job! You can't see it very well, but his favorite part of the book is when the kids climb a palace wall following a hologram of a snake...

I borrowed a Bumbo chair for Landon but he hasn't been able to sit very long in it with good head control. Well now that he has good head control he's too chubby. His body fills up the entire thing and his legs get stuck when I try to put him in or take him out. And he can't breathe very well...I guess it's time to return it.

So I put him in the walker instead and he likes hanging out in that much better.

Connor has a new obsession...snakes. He LOVES them. We get books at the library and I found a stuffed snake at a yard sale for a quarter. He named it "Stripey" and carries it everywhere. His favorite snakes are rattlesnakes. Too bad he'll never be getting a pet snake.

"If you chance to meet a frown..."

...do not let it stay.""Quickly turn it upside-down and smile that frown away!"

The kids had no school on Monday for parent/teacher conferences. All 3 kids are doing really well and we're so proud of them. The kids had a great time building this "fort" in their spare time. It was a mixture of army stuff, Scooby-Doo, castle stuff, Star Wars, and who knows what else.

Then I got really brave and took all 5 kids to the movie theater by myself. Every Monday at the dollar theater the movies are only $0.75. So it was a total of $3.75 for all of us to go and see Toy Story 3. We got there really early so that we could have the back row. This was in case Landon was fussy, but also because they all like to stand up during movies. Connor hasn't been to the movies in a couple of years. It worked out great. We ate lunch while we waited (yes, I had a whole backpack full of lunches from home) and everyone was pretty well-behaved. I don't think we'll be doing it again anytime soon though.

And here's a Halloween preview...

Soccer Camp

Jacob and Zach attended a free soccer camp last night for an hour. They'll be going again next week too. Savannah was really bummed because she was supposed to be participating also, but can't with her broken finger. They had a great time and are excited to go back. I think the boys will probably be doing a soccer league in the spring.