Trick or Treat

Treats Please.

No tricks for us, thank you.

We enjoyed a cool weather Halloween this year.

Our first in a long time.

We admired the decorations.

And I wondered at the time invovled.

I reminded myself that I was saving my decorating effort for Christmas.

With Matthew and Alex in college and Kevin at work tonight,

it was just the girls trick or treating.

Ranae dressed as a gypsy and Sarah dressed as Mulan.

Kevin really wanted to go. 

He didn't like the idea of missing out on all that candy.

I appeased him by telling him I would buy him a bag of candy

1/2 off tomorrow.

All he had to do was name his poison.

And brush and floss his teeth.

14 Years Old

Ranae is 14!

This year she had her first ever slumber party birthday.

And now I know the answer to the question:

How long can 6 teenage girls possibly stay up?

You guessed it.

As long as they want.

This also brings me to one of my favorite parenting words.

Precedent.

When little sister Sarah asks when she can have a slumber party birthday, I can safely say.....when you are 14.

Just like your sister:-)

Happy Birthday Ranae.

You are a joyful and loving young woman.

".....fearfully and wonderfully made."  Psalm 139:14

Pumpkin Patch

Picking out pumpkins is a fun family tradition.

The family rule has always been:  You have to be able to carry it.

When my three boys were young this was a great rule.

And it works for my girls too.

But now most of them can carry BIG pumpkins.

(Unless they are wearing jumping stilts.)

Regardless, the pumpkin patch is still fun.

It means fall is coming.

And Halloween is just around the corner.

Beautiful Butterflies

 

This year my 4-H club is learning about butterflies.

We have been to several gardens,

and seen some amazing butterflies.

While volunteering at The Butterfly Estates,

we got to attend a butterfly release in their conservatory.

And then we saw.....

.....this.

When asked by an elementary school child what they were doing,

I quickly gave an explanation I had heard before.

"Well, it looks as though they are having a wedding."

Thankfully they accepted my explanation without batting an eye.

The Birds and the Bees have nothing on butterflies,

or goats for that matter.

Paparazzi

When you give a kid a camera.......

she's gonna want to take A LOT of pictures.

~ ~ ~

Sarah got a camera for her 7th birthday last month.

Since then, I feel as though I am living with the paparazzi.

You can't imagine the places she will show up.

We have since started to develope rules for

when it's okay to take a picture,

and when it's not.

So Happy Birthday Matthew!

Some advice now that you're 21.....

.....watch out for the paparazzi.