Happy Pumpkin Day!

The kids did some pumpkin carving and Charlie Brown watching w/Daddy and Grandma Vicki:

We also did some Trunk or Treat at the church:

And a fun Halloween party evening w/Grandma Karen (and a quality picture of a picture being taken.... !!!):

We also did some door to door time on Halloween evening, but it was dark out so my pictures are.... nonexistent.  But here's a shot of the older kids having fun with their candy swapping after the load was all hauled in and examined! [missing photo!]

Halloween Activities

Here's a quick photo review of some of our Halloween traditions. (I need a photo of our cool Halloween Tree! Next year...if I remember.)

Building Halloween Legos

Playing with Halloween Legos

Halloween Cookies

Halloween Puzzles

Halloween Costumes

Halloween Face Paint

Snow! Beautiful Snow!

We finally got our first snowfall of the season on Friday. We woke up to a Winter Wonderland. The kids played outside in the back yard. (Look for three colored blimps in the snowscape. L & E had already gone inside before I took the photo.) Then on Saturday I took all five children over to our favorite sledding hill at Service High and they had a blast. Evan joined his older siblings in the fun! (Last year after being crashed into by another toddler, he was very reluctant to get on a sled.)

Reading Progess!

Lincoln and Evan are doing fantastic in their reading program. Today they finished the first half of the course--40 lessons completed! They are now reading short, short books that come with the course. They will start the second half of the program tomorrow. We are all looking forward to having two more avid readers in our home.

The Ever Elusive Lingonberry

I had read that Prospect Heights, a trailhead in Chugach State Park, near our home was a place where we could pick lowbush cranberries (aka lingonberries), so one afternoon earlier this month I convinced Kara that we should take the five kids out hunting on the park trails.

We did not find a single lingonberry, but I did see a few (very few) bushes. What we did find was a couple of climbing trees. Climbing trees are hard to find in this part of the state, so the kids took advantage of the opportunity.

Someday we will find a good lingonberry patch!

Everyday Life: More September

Biking

Shopping

Hiding

Playing

Twin Bonding

Budding

(Jake's pansy's first bud!)

Duploing

Everyday Life: September

Viva purchased a wax sealing kit, so here she is playing with fire.

A Tent Fort

Evan is still small enough to fit in a toy cubbyhole, but not for much longer!

Enjoying a fine fall day--the umbrellas are to keep the sun, not the rain off.

The boys took the summer off from scouting and returned to their troops in the fall.

Water balloons were a big hit this summer.

Water Balloons Photo Two (Where are L & E?)

Tooth Be Gone!

Lincoln lost his first tooth this week - he was a bit traumatized about the whole thing, but it ended well.  :)

On the Hunt for Leaves and Berries

On a beautiful September afternoon I convinced Kara and the grandchildren to go for a drive down the highway in search of yellow leaved trees. I had seen some the day before on my drive home from Seward and they were spectacular--quite unlike the trees in the Anchorage bowl. The closer to Seward you are, the more gorgeous the trees. The problem is that Seward is two and half hours away and my crew wasn't up to driving that far. We did drive half way to Seward and found these trees:

Then we turned around and drove back to Turnagain Pass where I hoped we would find lingonberries. We found two. Yes, TWO. Fortunately, we found crowberries so we picked those instead. They make a good jelly.

After picking a gallon of crowberries, the children wanted to go check out a nearby hill. The older three took off heading cross country, but they encountered a small stream and then an impassable thicket. Back they came. They did a better job visually planning a route before going off a second time. Lincoln joined them on their second trip out. They made it to the hill. On the way back Lincoln fell in the stream, but he was a good sport and didn't complain.

We had a marvelous time. Viva said she is ready now to live off the land. The children want to go back again.

Evan's 4th Birthday!

Evan made it back from Idaho just in time to celebrate his 4th birthday at home!

Evan's Birthday Cake!

This year Evan told me he wanted a rainbow cake.  I made the mistake of asking him if he wanted a rainbow on the outside of the cake or on the inside, with pictures of both, which lead to him informing me that he wanted the rainbow on the inside AND the outside.  Of course!  :)

Evan helped mix up the colors for his cake, he helped put all the batter in the pans (all three of them!), he helped swirl the cakes, and he helped build the rainbow on the top!  He did a great job.