Pumpkin Carving - 2023

This year, with the garage heated and a table already set up (leftover from the girls' Halloween party with friends), we opted to carve pumpkins out there.  It's amazing to look back at last year's pictures and see they kids out on the back deck carving their pumpkins in balmy weather.  This year was definitely much chillier and more representative of late October in Michigan.

One of the most exciting parts for the kids is that initial "pulling the top off and looking at how many seeds there are inside."

Then comes the daunting task of actually scraping all of the said seeds out.  

This girl takes such pride both the clean-out of the pumpkin and its design.

 

I get a little choked up thinking that we really only have 2 more Halloweens at home with this girl before she starts to spread her wings.

All together at one table enjoying one of our favorite Halloween traditions:

Jimmy soon decided that it would easier to take off his sweatshirt and get right into the action.

I wasn't sure what design Sophia had chosen and I kept asking for a hint ... but she would not oblige.

Oooey and gooey.

Deep in concentration:

Jack told me what look he was going for on his pumpkin and I helped cut the design and he finished it up.

In the meantime, Mia (who is about 15 years old now!), wandered out into the garage and found a comfortable seat to watch and listen to all of the action.

All finished and on display on the front porch!

These are going to look great with lights on inside of them!

Sam turned hers into a fish!

And Sophia's was a detailed ghost that really glowed beautifully!

A Friend Halloween Party

The girls approached me earlier in the month about having a Halloween Party for a few of their friends at our house.  The still love trick-or-treating, but as they get older, they love having their friends over to hang out even more.  And, both Steve and I are 100% in agreement that we want them to have their friends over to our house whenever they would like.  Throw in a good theme and a few decorations -- and I am ALL IN.

I enjoy being creative and mixing things up whenever I can, so I brainstormed on a few festive treats to serve.

Fruits and veggies are so much more fun when their is a mermaid skeleton laid out on the platter, right?!

Edible mice made similarly to cake pops but then rolled in cocoa powder with almond slices for ears and black licorice for tails.

Sophia and Ainsley worked hard on their spider pops and I think that they turned out absolutely adorable:

Later, we served drinks with "blood," also known as raspberry syrup added via a syringe to Sprite.  

The girls enjoyed pizza (of course!) inside and then we heated the garage so that they could have popcorn (with ALL the Halloween candies added to it ... including gummy brains).  

Perhaps the highlight of the whole event was the Halloween Family Feud game that I had put together.  With some help from Etsy and my own editing, the girls had a blast playing on teams and trying to guess all of the top answers in each category.  The whole thing was digital so we played it on the projector and it was complete with sound and buzzers.  I anticipate that we will use a version of this again at a future party, for sure.

Later, the girls came back inside and set up their "beds" down in the basement.  It was a hodge-podge assortment of mattresses and bedding, but it worked out perfectly and everyone stayed toasty warm.

The next morning, the girls came upstairs for a full breakfast (homemade French toast sticks, bacon, juice and fruit) and after the girls got picked up by their parents, we sent to work bringing pumpkins in to prepare them for carving.

September Randoms

 I was invited to a Ladies Night in our neighborhood and was asked to bring an appetizer.  I chose to take a (very easy) caramel cream cheese dip with apples but wanted to elevate the presentation a bit.

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For Homecoming Spirit Week, the boys were excited to wear some Wolfpack jerseys.

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Sam picked went with friends to the Homecoming Dance but we took a few pictures at home first.  While I think that just about every single color looks great on Samantha, this royal blue was absolutely stunning.

Those legs, though.

Taking a quick picture with Ainsley before Ainsley left to go with her friend:

I took Samantha over to a friend's house and then made sure to grab several pictures.

The girls were going as their own group and the (larger) group of boys were going in their own group.  I'm grateful for the mom with the huge van that kindly took all of them to Culver's before the dance.

It is the style for most girls to wear their converse shoes with their dresses (all about the comfort!), but Sam loves to wear her heels.

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I love how much Jimmy enjoys a nice painting project.  These watercolor paints get SO much use in our household.

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Jack is playing tackle football again this season.  He's on the 5th/6th grade team ... with a lot of players ... and it has been so fun to watch him on the weekends.  For this particular game, the team was wearing PINK to support breast cancer awareness.

Jimmy joined him in the front yard to practice some plays before the game.

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First Day of School - 2023

The kids started school on August 24th this year and will ultimately be leaving the house at three different times in the morning.  For the first day, though, the girls both left at the same time and I managed to grab our traditional First Day of School pictures even if it was still pretty dark out.

First day of 10th Grade:

First Day of 7th Grade:

Steve always hangs out for a bit before heading into work so that he can see the kids off to school on their first day each year:

Just two girls waiting for the bus together with their popular (but expensive) Stanley water bottles:

Jimmy surprised us by waking up early and jumped in with the girls for a quick picture:

First Day of 2nd Grade:

First Day of 5th Grade:

Next year, Jack will be entering the Middle School and we will just have one last kiddo at the Elementary School:

Waiting for their bus pick-up, which is exactly one hour later than the girls' pick-up:

Like last year, Samantha will be taking "zero hour" again and doing Jazz Band.  Once that starts, she will need to leave the house at 6:30 am (Steve will drop her off at the high school before he heads into work) and than Sophia will be picked up at 7:00 am by the bus and the boys will be picked up at 8:00 am by their bus.  

When the school system integrated this split system for the buses last year, I was convinced that I would hate it -- so many different pick-up and drop-off times.  But, I have grown to enjoy it because it means less chaos and rushing in the mornings for us.  Plus, the girls arrive home an hour earlier than the boys, giving them time to settle in and begin homework before the noisier ones get dropped off.

Here's to another great school year!

Grand Haven

On a whim, we decided on Saturday morning that we would pack up and head to the beach in Grand Haven with the kids.  We'd make it a day trip, spending time in the sun and in the water, visit the American Legion (where Steve and I are both members) and then grab an early dinner on the way home.

Little did we know that there would be a big parade in town that day, so parking was a tad more scarce than we planned on.  But -- we made it work.  And with the kids now older and responsible for most of their own items, we lugged our bags and parked ourselves in a great location in the sand.

We even brought our own flag to stick in the sand!  It was very patriotic, but also let the kids know exactly where we were located when they came out of the water.

My crew:

Jimmy is capable of swimming without a life jacket now, but I always feel much safer knowing that he has one on and he doesn't mind.  It gives him more freedom, as well.

The water seemed pretty chilly!

When this picture was taken, Jack was back on the beach preparing for a shoveled masterpiece:

Warming up for a bit:

Some of the best trips are the impromptu ones!

That flamingo towel has been her favorite one for the last 5 years.  It has gotten so much use!

Working as a team to see just how deep they can make that hole ...

... apparently deep enough for Sam to fit inside of it!

Even Jimmy found his way deep into the sand!

On our way home, we stopped for Mexican food and it was wonderful!  Everyone was a little sunburned (not much, though); full of sand; thirsty; but happy to have been able to get away for the sun and waves before we start back to school later this month.