Fluffy the Fearsome Cat

 Last year we had a fearsome pumpkin, this year the kids wanted a less, more tame face... so...here she is....Fluffy all in her glory. Laura designed the winning face, and Clay and the kids did a great job cutting, gutting, and making her come to life!!! 

Riding the Train...Spooky Style

 When we heard there was a train ride close....we knew that was exactly what our kids would love!!! So, we surprised the kids...we got them in their costumes...because the kids wanted to "practice" trick or treating early..This was their plan as they explained it:  "We are going to go outside, go around the house, ring the door bell, and say trick or treat"  Laura then said, "I assume you would like me to put candy in your bucket too...while you are practicing."  The kids surprised us by their response, "No..we are just practicing.  You could put toys from around the house, or stuff like that in our bucket..." then Preston said, "Hey, you could use the play food!"  "Yeah..." was the resounding response from CJ and Aparri!  So..it was settled, we were going to "practice" trick or treating with playfood!!  Well, Clay and Laura, found a better idea!  We went to the train to go trick or treating!!!  The kids were in heaven, when we pulled up to the train station, they were yelling and so excited that they actually got to ride a real train....and it was sporting Halloween Conductors and Engineers...plus a spooky car set up with Mr. Bones!!!  Fun times on the train.

Halloween Hooligans

We have been doing a lot of fun things in the spirit of Halloween!!!  We made "monsters" with our friends.  The kids did a great job working together and we had a fun time making the spooky pair.  Then, we went to a Halloween Party at the library; the kids, well CJ and Preston,  loved putting their costumes on early and scarying all the librarians.  Aparri, won't put hers on to save her life....goodness, where does this girl get her stubbornness from???  We had heard that girls love to dress up and change their clothes a million times a day...not ours...we can't get her to put on her cute little lady bug gettup...thank goodness we bought a 3T, so if we can't get her into it this year, maybe next year!!!

Two Tailed Tuesday

Today was a big day for Aparri!!!  She had pig-tails for the first time and she kept them in all day too!!!  At first, she wasn't real excited to let me take her picture...but after getting a banana, she was much more cooperative!!!  So..here is Aparri sporting her new look!

School Fall Festival

We went and spent Friday night at,  CJ's School fall festival.  We went and had a great time playing all the games..

The Desert's "Pumpkin Patch"

Well, this carnival, fun center, pumpkin selling corner was the closest thing we could find for a pumpkin patch.  We let each kid pick the rides of their choice...

Preston wanted the large slide and the bouncy castle, CJ wanted the moving rides..thank goodness he choose Clay to go with him on the spinning one...Laura wouldn't have made it on that one, Clay looked a little blue when he came off and he is the one that is accustomed to motion sickness... Aparri chose the large slide and then the swings..Laura and Clay were a little anxious to put her on the swing, it looked like it went pretty fast, but she was adament that she wanted to go...so go she did...the look on her face when they started picking up speed was hilarious...but, she didn't cry, she just held on for dear life, and then when she realized that she was ok and it was actually kinda fun...she cracked a smile for us!  Aparri survived her first carnival ride!!!  The boys had a great time cheering on their little sister..and making funny faces - as you can see.  I wish we could say that they were making funny faces to make Aparri happy...but no, that is just what boys do best...be silly ALL THE TIME!!! 

So, we let the kids ride the rides and then left...yes, we left pumpkinless...the prices were rediculous....$9 for the small pumpkins and up from there....so we stopped at Nellis Commissary Pumpkin Patch (aka..grocery store) on the way home.  We had a great time picking out our favorite pumpkins...and waa laa...the pumpkins were even bigger than the $9.00 pumpkins on the lot and cost $3.50 instead... that is my kind of pumpkin patch!  When we got home, the kids had a great time painting and designing their own pumpkins.   I think we just might have to try and grow our own pumpkins next year; right next to our watermelon plant!!!