Pumpkin Carving

We carved our pumpkins in stages this year which actually worked out quite nicely for the attention span of an almost 3 year old. Sylvia helped us scoop the "goop" out one night. Her and daddy designed and carved the faces the next two nights. She wanted a smile on one of the faces.




This was our attempt at posing with the pumpkins



The one on the left is Eric with one tooth and a smile. The other is just a silly face.

Fall Boating

We had some beautiful weather in late October. Grandma and Grandpa's boat was already out of the water but we got to take out on of the marina's new pontoon boats last week for one last spin on the lake.

Sylvia was a little unsure when we started and wanted to snuggle up with Grandma. I don't think Grandma minded.


She got braver as the ride went on and spent most of the time hanging over the side pulling up the bumpers and dropping them.


Sylvia also got to drive the boat "all her best" with directions from Grandpa. She's learning left and right so it was good practice. She did a very good job listening and only pulled on the throttle once. Luckily she slowed the boat down instead of taking off.


Eric also enjoyed the boat ride. I purchased this fleece a few days earlier and we definitely needed it.


He also drove the boat but with a little more help from Grandpa.


Thanks for a fun (and slightly windy by the end) boat ride!

Sass Family Farm

Last Friday, the kids and I went to Sass Family Farm with our friends, Lindsey and Karuna. We had planned to go on Wednesday, but Sylvia did not cooperate during "nap" time.

Friday ended up being beautiful weather. The girls enjoyed running around the small farm, looking at the animals, playing in the corn, looking at pumpkins, playing on the playground, and...using the port-a-potty. Okay, enjoy maybe isn't the right word for that last one but they used it!

We came with all of Sylvia's cousins last year. I am amazed by how much she remembers things we did a year ago.

Sylvia really wanted to go in the haunted barn. Once stepping foot inside I could tell that she was scared. She went through it last year but was much more unaware and thought everything was silly.

Doll Clothes

My aunt Sue sent a set of doll clothes to Sylvia a couple of week ago. I agree that doll pictures can be a little creepy but I wanted to show off the beautiful new wardrobe that Sylvia's doll now has. I was going to save the clothes until she's potty trained or her birthday or something. Then baby accidentally spent the night outside without any clothes. We decided she was probably very cold and needed something to wear. Thank you for the beautiful doll clothes Aunt Sue!

The Forchard

We took a family trip to Wilson's Apple Orchard last Saturday. Sylvia keeps calling it "the forchard." She called it the apple church when I took her out for our preschool picnics in September. There weren't a lot of apples to pick but the weather was beautiful and we all enjoyed some time together. Sylvia said the tractor ride was her favorite. She keeps talking about when it went through the water. She also said something yesterday about when I used to be a man at the forchard. I finally figured out that she was talking about when I put my face in the Johnny Appleseed cut out.

Let's Go Hawks!

Medicine

"When Eric is older he can have a headache and get some medicine."

"I'm a young kid. What's a young kid?"

"Mommy, I'm tall. I'm 4 minutes."

Homecoming Parade

Sylvia is a big fan of parades and the Iowa marching band so what better place to take her than the Iowa Homecoming Parade.

She was so distracted by the parade that we had to remind her to eat her hot dog...something we've never had to do before. My girl likes hot dogs. I'm tempted to how many she would eat if I didn't cut her off but I know it will make her sick so that question will have to go unanswered. She's only ever had two at a time but she always asks for more.
We forgot to bring a bag for her to collect candy in so she used Grandpa's soft cooler. She enjoyed standing in the street with her cousins, Ben and Katie.
Eric was also entertained by all the excitement.
Sylvia is still enjoying all the beads she got at the parade. She also got a Pancheros frisbee. She recognized the logo while we were eating at Pancheros tonight. Their marketing is working I guess.
When the windows are open, we can often hear the marching band practicing. We like to go watch them practice up on Park Road. She'll usually ask me to sing "Iowan Sing" (as she calls the fight song) and she'll clap and march along. She stood still and watched at the parade. They must have looked different to her in their uniforms.

Small Group Kiddos

Our Thursday night small group has gotten a little more lively now that there are so many kids around. I took this photo a few weeks ago and hadn't posted it yet. There's already a new addition to add next time we do a photo shoot.(Mason, Karuna, Marcus, Eric, Sylvia)

Happy Birthday Mom

My mom turns 60 on Wednesday. The project isn't quite done, but I collected 60 pictures of her with the grand kids to put together in a book. Here she is welcoming her 9 grandchildren into the world. Happy Birthday Mom! Hope you have a great day.

Evan (7-11-2001)
Katie (12-5-2002)
Margaret (5-16-2003)
Ben (7-9-2005)
Zander (11-1-2005)
Carl (8-16-2007)
Sylvia (11-27-2007)
Erickson (3-6-2010)
Raymond (3-14-2010)