Preparing for Halloween

We picked out pumpkins a few days ago and Sylvia was excited to have "big pump" at our house. She liked watching daddy "cut" the pumpkin and got right in there herself and dug out the pumpkin goo.


We let her "color" on one of her little pumpkins since daddy was drawing on his before carving it.

Sylvia and Henry enjoyed going to playgroup this week. They were each given a crayons and a Halloween coloring book from a friend. Henry loved being dressed up as a bumblebee, although you can't tell from this picture.

Before trick-or-treating tonight, I did a pumpkin craft with Sylvia. She glued pumpkin seeds onto her pumpkin picture. Mommy made glue dots while Sylvia stuck the pumpkin seeds on.

Fall Leaves

Sylvia and I had been spending lots of time outside after nap until this rain started. She loves being outside and can usually find enough things to entertain herself so I can actually get some work done. I raked the lawn one day while she played with rocks and swept the driveway. The next day I got the lawn mowed while she did sidewalk chalk, played with rocks again, did some raking, and jumped in leaves. Either this little girl is going to be disappointed when we start spending more time inside or Dan and I are going to be spending more time outside this winter than we're used to.

Sass Family Farm

Sylvia's cousins from Illinois were in town this past weekend so we decided to take a family trip with my parents and brother's families to Sass Family Farm. It was especially nice because it is free.

They had a little straw maze for the kiddos which was nice because no one could get lost in it. There was also a haunted barn (for kids) that Sylvia loved. She kept saying "more EIEIO"...which is her word for farm or barn

Sylvia liked taking a look at all the pumpkins while wearing a pumpkin on her shirt.

Sylvia loved riding the teeter-totter with her cousin Evan. She kept saying "more."

The shed filled with corn was also a highlight. Sylvia and I did this while the rest of the kids went for a long walk.

They had a small "petting zoo"...although you couldn't actually pet any of the animals.

Katie, Margaret, Zander, Ben, Evan, Sylvia, and Carl. Things are going to get much crazier next March when the next two grandchild are born. (I'm only responsible for one of them).

New Project

I went to the Habitat Restore today and picked up some cabinets for a new project.

Any ideas what it's going to be?

Wilson's Orchard

Last Sunday, we enjoyed a family trip to the apple orchard. Sylvia and I have been out a couple of times for preschool picnics but this is the first time we picked apples...and took dada with us. She walked right up to the building when we got there. Before heading out into the orchard we stopped for a potty break. The bathrooms have barn boards on the wall and Sylvia sings EIEI (Old McDonald) every time we've used them.

I have failed to officially announce on the the blog that I am pregnant. However, if you didn't already know, it is now obvious from the picture below.


Sylvia enjoyed carrying her own basket and was not thrilled that we took it from her once it was filled with apples.




We had a hard time finding apples within reach on any of the trees at first so Sylvia settled for picking them up off the ground. She didn't have the best taste in apples so we ended up taking most of them out of the basket when she wasn't looking.



She learned that you have to pull the apples off the trees and now says "pull" whenever she sees an apple. She's really using some leverage here to get this one off.


Unfortunately, we weren't able to catch a ride on the trailer but Sylvia enjoyed hanging out on dada's shoulders. We've been having more frequent meltdowns recently so I was impressed that she did okay with the tractor driving without us on it on three separate occasions.

Kalona Fall Festival

My mom took Sylvia and me to the Kalona fall festival a couple of weekends ago. She got a balloon and enjoyed the cheese samples. They had lots of kid activities and Sylvia got to try some new things. She did a great job getting her face painted and going on a pony ride.