Baby loves necklaces

She was not satisfied until she had every single one around her neck. Then she wore them all afternoon. :)

Goodbye, Fall

The chilly weather has set in, and we are already missing the wonderful, warm fall days of October and all of the fun outside playtime that came with it!  We still have many a leaf in our yard (does it ever end?), but the kids are not as wild about playing in them when it is cold outside.  But we definitely took advantage of the fall fun while it lasted!

So much fun with neighbors!

 

 Tessa poses with her leaf "3" and Alyse walks right on by her "1".

This little one is just not a fan of playing in the leaves.

  She'd rather try to escape and take off through the neighborhood. 

Good thing she has a big brother and big sister who made a fun game of corralling her back in (and it gave Mommy a break too!)

Alyse thought it was pretty funny too. 

 She was finally convinced to play for a few minutes. :)

 And oh how we love to swing!  We are so lucky to have a little playground right behind our house. 

So insanely in love with those ringlets.

 

Yes, yes...I have a smart baby girl. 

Halloween 2012

Alas, Halloween was here! We carved our pumpkins during our hurrication. Well, I should say, the kids picked their designs, and I carved them. It was really fun to do something other than the usual goofy jack-o-lantern face.

Alyse could pick up her pumpkin!  (Side note:  Didn't I JUST wash the front of the dishwasher?  Ewww...)

Baby girl was very interested in this pumpkin business.  In fact, "pumpkin" is one of her recent new words!

The finished products!  An angry bird, a bat and a Dora!

On Halloween, Calder's school had "Dress like a book character day".  He decided to be the Cat in the Hat (from the book "Inside Your Outside")

I teleworked on Halloween, so I could go to the daycare Halloween parade.  Alyse wore her ghost costume, but you couldn't really see it because she was cruising in the buggy with her classmates.  She stared at me forever, before she finally realized it was me!  :)

Tessa, marching with her classmates in the parade.

Tessa just moved up to the 4-year old classroom, and she absolutely LOVES her new teacher Ms. Erycka.  She talks about her all the time and makes frequent remarks about her "beautiful hair". 

Ready to trick or treat! 

Excited little police officer!

Mr. Jailbird

Our last baby owl.  All three kids have worn this costume.  I still love it!  It did not take Alyse long to get the hang of trick or treating!  She loved reaching in and grabbing her own candy, and after a while she wouldn't even let us carry her bag for her.  It got very heavy, so she would stop and set it down for a break, but then pick it back up on keep on going!

 

Even though I knew I would put her in the owl costume on Halloween, I couldn't resist making this adorable ghost costume that I saw on Pinterest.  We already had a white tutu, so I just had to sew a face on a onesie.  Isn't she the most adorable little ghost!?

At the Patch -- Again

Before all of our Halloween pre-partying on Saturday, we took a family outing to another pumpkin patch/fall festival/playground. As usual, it was lots of fun!

Alyse's first time in a bounce house -- a little one, just her size!

She wasn't too sure about it at first, but ended up loving it!

She also loved the corn pool.

And so did the big kids!

Dave and I marveled at how we actually got to sit down for a good 20 minutes without having to chase them around!

Next up:  Make your own caramel apples.  They got to choose their own toppings and watch it get made.

It was a BIG hit.  (They both chose oreo and chocolate sprinkles as their toppings)

The hay maze was also a big hit for the kids and the resting parents!  Calder and Tessa played hide and seek for a good half hour here!

Alyse was very intrigued!

My slide-loving girl!

Everyone's favorite was a ride on Snickers, the pony.

Tessa's first pony ride.

Even Alyse got in on the action.  Look mom, no hands!

A little bit of animal loving before it was time to go.

Calder could not get over how big this bunny was!

Such a fun day!