Happy Halloween at the Pumpkin Patch

I haven't yet taken photos of the kids in their Halloween costumes, and since the costumes are the same as last year, I thought I'd just post pictures of our trip to the pumpkin patch a few weekends ago.

Jason immediately dubbed the girls "our jailbirds" and claimed it was genius to have them wear these pants so we could easily spot them.

It's not a super exciting pumpkin patch, but is free and has enough things to entertain our family for 1.5-2 hours which is plenty of an adventure for us.  Especially this year with a newborn in tow!

The girls had a ton of fun climbing all over the pumpkins and picking out interesting shapes, colors, and features.  "Look at this one!"  "Over here!"  "Can you believe how big this one is Mommy?!"

Of course they wanted to take home the biggest one there.

Leah couldn't lift it either.  So heavy!

Look at those muscles :) - all that working out has been paying off!

Mommy decided to just stand next to one of the big ones.  (Again, don't mind the post baby belly.  I swear it has shrunk some since Levi as born.  This was probably 10 days post-partum.)

Daddy found an "interesting" gourd to pose with.  Pretty sure he thought I was crazy for wanting to take the photo which is a perfect reason to post it to the blog, right?

Getting ready to head through the dark maze.  Pretty sure this wasn't a great idea for Leah, our allergy prone kiddo, but we decided not to be fun haters and just deal with Benedryl and a runny nose later.

Levi thought his view from the stroller was pretty great.

He wore his Halloween shirt too.  It was the same one that Leah had 3 years ago.

Thank goodness they made it out alive!

Next up was the hay bale maze.  Again, probably not an awesome choice for the little sister, but she LOVED it and survived.

Then, we headed over to check out the animals.

They had pigs, llamas, emus, sheep, donkeys, horses, and of course goats.

Daddy even broke down and bought two bags of feed (for $0.50 each!) so the girls could feed the animals. What he didn't probably expect was that he'd be the one doing the feeding since the girls were pretty apprehensive about putting their hands out for the nibbling animals. 

Thinking about being brave!

Mommy will show you how it's done.  Hand completely flat so they don't get your fingers. 

Making progress. 

And, she did it!

We love posing in the outhouse.  Ha!

Slightly disturbing and gross that she is laying on that scarecrow's lap, right?

We also found the witch and her black pot.

Then we got little brother out for a family photo.  He wasn't thrilled, but tolerated it well enough.

And, he most certainly was the cutest pumpkin in the patch.

And, a final photo of Mommy with her ghosts and goblins this Halloween season.  So glad we got to go to the pumpkin patch on a nice, though slightly windy day.  It was just as fun as last year's trip!

Applesauce

Grandma Nancy gave us a big box of apples from their apple trees.  They are awesome for making applesauce which we have done about a half dozen times.

It really is a great project for the girls to help with, and the best part is they love eating it for snack.  Healthy options are fantastic at this house, especially when it is the girls' choice.  Even as we are slicing and peeling the apples, the girls will consume an apple or more.  They probably get their entire week's worth of fruit servings in just one snack.  Maybe not a great thing, but I'd rather this than arguing over crackers or other "treats".

If you get the apple peeler set up, she can handle rotating it to get our slices.  Then, we boil the apples, drain and put it in the blender or food processor.  It doesn't take long.

Thanks Grandma Nancy for encouraging healthy eating habits AND providing some entertainment in the form of a cooking project!

Too big? Yes, I think so.

Can you believe she used to fit in this carrier?  

She is a bit big now, but reminds me how fast the kids really do grow.

Big Sister Love

She has a goofy smile, but it's genuine love that is for sure.

His eyes get big when he's sitting with one of the girls.  Possibly a little fear, or maybe just trying to figure things out.  Earlier tonight he locked eyes on Leah and just followed her around as she circled him and talked to him.  We love how he is getting more alert and focusing on us more.

Squeaky Clean

Little brother seems to enjoy his daily baths now.  He has some pretty bad baby acne which drives this mama crazy so we try to wash it daily hoping it will clear up soon.  His face also gets sticky from milk.  And, let's not forget he's starting to get some rolls which need extra attention in the tub.

I've been doing baths mid afternoon when it's just Levi and me home.  The big sisters loves to help, but I think they make him a bit nervous.  Heck, they make Mama nervous too.

Love his big eyes when he is so alert!  We can't decide what color his eyes will be.  Sometimes they look blue like Daddy's but then in some light they look more brown/hazel like Mommy's.  Time will tell!

Fall festival {Lesley}

It was Lesley's turn for her side of the building to host the fall festival the day after Leah's.  After Levi's car seat fits the day before, I had a big pep talk with him before leaving for the school this day.  "It's only a 5 minute drive buddy, you can make it without screaming, I promise."  And, I switched up the schedule a bit by feeding him about an hour before I wanted to leave instead of right before.  I thought perhaps his tummy had been bothering him the day before.  He was a rockstar and did fabulously in the car, then fell asleep shortly after we arrived for the festival.  It was great to be able to let him sleep in the carseat while I gave Lesley some attention.  

Since, I managed to get there shortly after they "opened" the doors for the parents so the playground and games weren't busy yet.  It was really nice to be able to go from game to game with her and check out all the activities.  Of course, Lesley was a bit better at the games than the younger kids.

Pumpkin hopscotch

She picked out a piece of candy corn for her face.  Ms. Vanessa commented how well Lesley sat still for her to paint especially since this was Lesley's first time getting her face painted.

The duck ring toss wasn't quite as exciting for her as it was for the younger kids.  Probably because she understood the concept of not getting in the water. 

She had to keep moving closer and closer for this game.  Mommy gave it a try too and it was harder than it looked.

The candy corn bean bag toss was a hit and she was pretty good.

Since Leah's class all brought snacks to share for the afternoon snack, Lesley wanted to take pickles too.  She was so proud to share with her buddies and even got to wear the plastic glove to dig them out of the jar and hand them out.  She got really upset when she caught Wyatt throwing his away.  "Why would he do that?  He should have eaten it.  Or, he could have given it to Emily since she loves pickles like I do."

It was a much better festival experience this day for Mommy.  Levi was on good behavior which made a huge difference.  So glad the school has these fun events for the kids and they invite the parents to participate!

This same week, I had parent teacher conferences with Lesley's teacher.  Unfortunately she's had a bit of turnover with the teachers but Ms. Tinka who is now the lead teacher had mostly good things to say about Lesley.  She has no academic concerns and sort of apologized that the academic things they have been and will be working on in the next few months have already been mastered by Lesley.  I just voiced a concern that I don't want her to get bored, but it sounded like both her and Ms. Amy (the new teacher in her class) have ideas to curb this from happening.  We'll see since I know how hectic it might get with 15+ kids.

Ms. Tinka did note that Lesley has had an attitude the last several weeks - being nosey and using the word "no" much too frequently.  I wasn't entirely too surprised since we've been dealing with both those issues at home too.  Ms. Tinka attributes it to the new baby in the family and said she is still sweet and mostly listens to instructions, but just from time to time it's not so good.  She also commented that perhaps Lesley is growing out of naps and the days she doesn't fall asleep are possibly a little more problematic.  Agreed there too.  Yes, she can make it through the day without a nap, but the afternoons and nights when she takes one are much more pleasant so we aren't quite ready to completely forgo them yet.

Jason and I both think there's a lot more play than learning in her classroom right now, but for now we are okay with that.  Even if she is missing some skills when she gets to kindergarten, we have confidence she will quickly and easily catch up with her classmates.  Others have also told us that pre-k is mostly to adjust socially and learn how to listen and be in a classroom setting.  She is working on that.

Fall festival {Leah}

The school had a fall festival for the kids last week.  It was planned for two different days so half the school could enjoy it one day, and the other half the next day.  Since the girls are on separate sides of the building with different playgrounds, I went up to the school first for Leah's party and then the next day for Lesley's.

Levi was NOT having a good day and decided the car seat was possibly the same thing as torture.  So, the little guy delayed our departure from home and we ended up arriving about 35-40 minutes after the party got started.  I was one stressed mommy when I finally got there.  You could find me wiping sweat off my face, swinging a carset to try and quiet a baby, and shoving a pacifier in said baby's mouth about every 2 minutes.  I felt bad for Leah since I wasn't completely focused on her, but I think she still had fun.

Her classroom requested the kids bring a snack to share with their friends.  By the time I signed up, the only thing left on the list was pickles.  So, we took a big jar of pickles and according to Ms. Holly and Ms. Ashley, the class ate every single pickle.  A huge hit!  It's the first time they had put these on the list but definitely said they will include in the future too.

Ms. Vanessa painted a pumpkin on her face.

Poor Leah didn't realize it rubbed off before Daddy could see it.  He tried really hard to guess what it was but Mommy had to eventually just tell him.

Leah's buddies thought the ring toss involved crawling around in the pool of water.  I don't think these guys had parents with them and I don't think the teachers really cared all too much since it was the end of the day.

Leah really loved painting with the gourds and pumpkins.  Poor Ms. Tia was in charge of this activity and probably used a whole tub of wet wipes before the kiddos were done.

Leah really liked the bean bag toss.  What fun, simple games they had for the kids!

Jason went to Leah's conferences the week before the festivals.  Ms. Ashley and Ms. Holly love having Leah in their class.  They commented that she is quite the helper and is ALWAYS offering to clean anything and everything.  No shocker there!  She is starting to get more and more vocal, and more and more outgoing.  We know they sing lots of songs because she is always singing when at home or in the car.  Lesley even makes comments such as "Leah, please be quiet so I can talk."  Or "Leah, it's my turn to talk now."  Or, "LEAH, JUST STOP SINGING!"

One concern we've had is the lack of girls in her class.  Right now the class content is like 15 boys (some part time) and 2 girls (the other girl only goes to school 3 days a week).  Often Leah's sheet says she enjoyed playing with the babies in the home center, or just spent a lot of time in the home center.  Again, no shocker to us.  Ms. Ashley and Ms. Holly think the home center is her "safe zone" away from the flying legos, rambunctious boys, etc.  The rest of the girls that had been in her class turned three during the summer so moved up to the next classroom since they will be in the grade ahead of Leah in school.  There are plans to open another classroom which Leah would move up to, and a few of her old buddies would move back down since that classroom is getting full and there are some toddlers ready to move up to Leah's room.

Overall, Leah does really well and there are no major concerns.  She says she wants to stay in Ms. Ashley and Ms. Holly's room forever and they say they'd keep her, but I don't think that is going to be an option.

Some Firsts for Levi

His first bath....not a huge fan, but doing lots better now and actually enjoying the tub.  Good thing because it seems to be an every day event between yucky diapers, milk faces, peeling skin, and baby acne.  I think the trick is for mommy to do the bath without any helpers.  Big sisters are not always helpful.

First bottle....took it like a champ.  Now we just need to get in a routine of giving him one on a regular basis so he's not a stinker like his oldest sister when he starts daycare.

The sisters want to feed him so badly...in time girlies!

His first trip to the doctor...It was more difficult to corral the girls than him.  They were along so they could get their flu mists and meet the new doctor. 

We decided to change pediatricians once the baby arrived.  There were a few things we started to dislike at the old clinic, and this one is much more convenient for us which will be handy since having a new baby will mean lots of trips to the doctor's office.  So far so good.  She visited Levi twice in the hospital, he's seen her twice in the office, and we've also had Leah's 3 year check up.  We've discussed Lesley's peanut allergies in detail as well.

Levi was pretty uninterested in what was going on.  Weighed in at exactly 10 pounds by his 2 week check up!  He won't get any shots until his 2 month visit.  Yeah for Mommy!  I'm not so great at those shots.