Carving Pumpkins

Time seemed to get away from us the week leading up to Halloween ... With dance lessons on Monday night and me teaching on Tuesday and Wednesday nights, our only possible day left to carve pumpkins was Halloween Eve (Thursday) -- after Sam got home from dance.

We had everything all set up so that as soon as Steve walked in the back door with the girls (Sophia likes to go and watch Sam dance) at 6:45 pm, the girls set to work cleaning out their pumpkins. 

I didn't even bother to have Sam change out of her leotard and tights; the girls simply donned their aprons and worked at lightening speed to remove all of the "guts."

Sometimes they used and their hands, and at other times, they attempted to use a spoon:

 

 

 

Now, Jack was a different story all together.  He was definitely intrigued ...

 



But any interest in actually sticking his hand into the gooey mess, was short-lived.

Within seconds, he was DONE.  Nope, absolutely no pumpkin cleaning happened with him that night.

 

So, Steve took one for the team and finished cleaning out Jack's pumpkin for him!

And Jack got moved over to an area where he practiced putting Sophia's top on her pumpkin and taking it back off again about 62 times, much to her frustration.

 

 

Soon, I jumped in and helped carve Sophia's pumpkin exactly to her specifications.

 



Those directions included me carving "six square eyes, one triangle nose and two curved mouths."

The final products waiting to be placed outside with a candle in them:

Fall Fun!

The weather is starting to turn crisp around here; cool evenings and colder mornings.  I bought extra gloves last week for the kids and hat for Jack ... The girls still have hats leftover from last year, but Jack needed one to fit his growing head this season.

A few nights ago, we needed to get out of the house.  The kids were restless to run and we had a good hour before bathtime.  We hurriedly threw sweatshirts on and ran outside, eager to play in the leaves encompassing the wet ground.  Cheeks and ears were red, hands were dirty and leaves were stuck in everyone's hair, but the smiles were big!  It was some good old Fall fun!

Sophia has been a little "under the weather" this week, and it was good for her to be able to get some fresh air ...

Jack is getting so much better at keeping his hat on. 

Copying the girls and sitting down in the leaves:

And then laying in them, laughing the whole time:

 

 

 

Attempting to make a "snow angel" with the fallen leaves:

 



Being "one with nature":

 

My three happy babies:

 

 

 

The best part of playing in the leaves is being able to throw them up into the air:

 

And what is even more fun than that?  Having someone else to do it with ...

Yup, runny noses, messy hair and rosy red cheeks.  It was worth every minute of it.



Jack is 17 Months Old

Jack is 17 months old today.  That means that next month he will turn 1 1/2 years old ... exactly two days before Samantha turns six.

 

This month, Jack cut three more teeth.  Yes, three more.  I don't remember that the girls cut so many in such a short span of time.  Every week, it seems as though there is at least one swollen gum and/or a protruding tooth that results in excessive drooling.  After getting rid of all of his bibs two months ago (convinced that we were finally past that stage), I found myself buying a couple more sets to get us through.  If he doesn't have a bib on at any point of the day, his shirt becomes soaked in no time.

Aside from the cutting of teeth, this month has been the most fun for me, I think.  Jack's personality is really starting to develop and I am watching him grow from being a baby to a little man with a mind of his own.  He does a very good job of communicating exactly what he wants -- either by pointing, gesturing or even attempting to say the word.  If his diaper needs to be changed, he becomes pretty adamant about it.  His vocabulary is increasing daily and I can often get him to repeat words after me with decent clarity. 

Jack also takes commands very well.  He follows directions and retrieves objects regularly.  One such task that he has mastered is throwing away his own diaper in the trash.  I taught both of the girls to do the same thing when they were his age and it saves me a lot of time!

He loves to help with anything and everything; I think that it makes him feel pretty special when we include him in our activities.  Steve is especially good at letting him help with any outside projects.  It is not uncommon to see him zipping around on the four-wheeler with his dad or riding the lawn mower.  And with the colder weather coming, Jack has been helping gather firewood.

Jack likes to do everything that the girls are doing too.  Anytime that Sophia gets out her stool to help me in the kitchen, Jack comes ambling over and fights with her over space on the stool.  Eventually, Sophia lets him share it with her.

Lately, Jack likes to have his snack at the girls' table despite the fact that his feet can't quite reach the floor yet, and he has been known to fall out of the chair a time ... or twelve.

 

 

With Samantha in school all day, five days a week, Sophia has gotten a little more one-on-one time with her brother.  They play so well together ...

 

 



And Jack does a little independent play on the mornings when Sophia is in school.  He isn't great at it because all he has ever known is having the girls around on a regular basis, but we are working at it.

 

One morning when both of the girls were at school, Jack took great pride in feeding Luna, Sophia's special baby doll.  He went and found the doll, all on his own, along with her bottle of milk -- and then proceeded to sit in his chair and feed her himself. 

 

Now, this isn't something that I am going to encourage on a regular basis -- he should be playing more with trucks and tractors -- but I love how it shows his gentle personality. 

 

 

 

 

This last month, I proudly moved our bench (temporarily placed at the bottom of the stairs) back to its rightful position.  Jack officially mastered climbing/sliding down stairs and I don't have any fear about him falling.  He's pretty competent at this, no matter the size of the steps and regardless of whether they are carpeted or not.

 

 

 

Jack has gotten so skilled with his walking this month that now he is almost running.  I love watching his little diapered bottom shake from side to side as he chases after his sisters or one of the cats.  And I especially love watching him dance -- that boy loves music and with 'bust a move' to any tune!

 

It is going to be a fun holiday season this year ... I can't wait!



Visiting Week at the Dance Studio

This week is "Visiting Week" at the dance studio.  This is something that happens three times a year where families are invited to come and watch their dancer and see all that they learned so far.  I enjoy going to every single one of these events because I love seeing the progress from one visitation to another. 

We went as a family to Sophia's class on Monday night.  For the 45-minute class, Sam and I got to sit and watch Sophia in the dance room, while Steve and Jack stayed in the waiting room and watched from the doorway.  In doing so, Jack was kept a little more entertained and did not feel the need to walk/run through the middle of the class.  (I have to say that he did even better than I expected!).

Some of the pictures are a little blurry, as I was trying to zoom in with my camera from across the room.  Either way, it is evident that Sophia was proud to have us there ...

Doing some stretches:

Working on her splits:

At one point, the dancers got to ask someone from their family to come out and dance with them.  Sophia came over to us -- with the widest smile on her face -- and asked Sam to dance with her.  It absolutely melted my heart!

Practicing following directions:

Backwards somersaults!

Patiently waiting her turn on the gymnastics mat ... Look at how happy she was!

Sophia's "bridge" was perfect!

And then this little man came strolling through ... He was so careful not to step on the mats and just kept making laps back and forth across the room, from Steve to me ... and then back again.  There were so many people there that it didn't even matter.

Look at that "head-to-toe."  Her flexibility is amazing!

 

 

 

********************

 

Samantha's visitation night is tonight and we are going to go as a family again (Steve will meet the kids and me up there as soon as he gets home from work).  Because Sam has two classes, back-to-back, Jack will likely head home with Steve for the second one.  Frankly, it will just be too long for him to be up there.  Given a choice, I suspect that Sophia will want to stay with me and watch Samantha do her ballet class.  I can't wait to see my little tap dancer/ballerina!

 

 

Edited to add ...

 

My tap dancer in motion:

 

Practicing her "high fifth" position with her arms:

Arasbesque position:

 

 

 

 

 

Andy T's

Last week, Sophia's preschool class took a field trip to Andy T's, a pumpkin farm near St. Johns.  Two years ago, I took Sam on the same field trip and I remember how downright frigid it was that day ... I am shivering just thinking about it.  So, imagine my excitement when the weather forecast predicted temperatures 20 degrees warmer this year!  It turned out to be bit overcast and cloudy, with a few raindrops drizzling, but we didn't mind one bit.  Luckily, the real downpour held off until after we were back home that afternoon ...


One of the first things that piqued Sophia's interest was the straw maze. 

The parents got a huge kick out of watching the kids try to figure their way out around the bales, often running into dead ends and having to turn back around.

Obviously, this was the biggest pumpkin on the farm!

The cutest bumblebee that I have ever seen:

The goats ... It's quite possible that Sophia would have spent her entire time talking to them and feeding them. 

Two quarters later, I finally had to tell her that we needed to move on.  Clearly, she wasn't the only one that was disappointed that we needed to meet up with the rest of the group.

I'm so proud to be this little girl's momma.

Once everyone was there, we took a wagon ride down into a fielded area so that the kids could pick out three items: a gourd, a pumpkin and an ear of Indian corn.  It was a little bit muddy, but we had the best time.

Sliding her gourd into a plastic bag:

Picking out a pumpkin that was just her size:

The Indian corn was extra special because it was a surprise to find out what it looked like once it was shucked.  Hers turned out to be a gorgeous, deep purple color.

After the wagon ride back to the farm, we convened inside the greenhouse for donuts and cider.  Sophia was in heaven.

Sophia and her teacher, Mrs. Hicks:

Bless her heart, this woman has devoted her entire life to the education of 3- and 4-year olds.  She is nearly 75 years old and still teaching in her classroom three days a week.  We were not even sure if she would still be running the Teddy Bear Den when it was time for Sophia to be enrolled, and words cannot express the happiness that I feel knowing that Sophia is lucky enough to have her as her "first teacher."

And one final picture with the pumpkins before we headed home ...