Pumpkin patch with preschool

For James' little co-op preschool we all took a field trip to a pumpkin patch for fall.  The people at the farm did a cute little presentation for them and then the kids each got a little cup of animal feed to give to the goats and sheep - which both Ellie and James loved doing.

After feeding the animals they got to stuff a scarecrow.  Below are James' preschool friends each holding their little sibling on their lap.  (James & Ellie, Kylee & Colby, Eliza & Archie)

James and Ellie also both enjoyed the hayride - it is a beautiful farm and all the fall colors were amazing.

We tried to take a few more pictures after they had picked their pumpkins, but I think everyone was done with picture taking.

Tori's mile run

Tori's school had a fun mile run for a fundraiser.  Tori loves doing anything active so she really wanted to go.  John was taking James on a father-son's camp out so it was just the girls doing the mile run. 

Tori was a trooper and ran the whole time and she loved getting a bagel and medal afterwards. 

Ellie was a trooper, too, riding along in the stroller on a really chilly morning. :)

Fall Fun

There is a parent's group in the area that has fun activities every month.  This month they had some fun fall activities at a horse farm.  James got to ride on a horse all by himself!  It took a little convincing to get him on the horse, but he had fun once it got started.  I don't think he's too anxious to do it again, though.  Ellie was really against riding on a horse, so I didn't push it.

I imagine the look on James' face in the picture above means he already thinks he is too big to have his picture taken with his little sister.

Above we are on a hayride that both the kids really enjoyed and below they had a ton of fun running through a little maze made out of hay with some friends from church - I think it was their favorite part of the day.  From left to right - Paige, Zoe, Brynlee, Lucy, (the girl in the purple shirt in the back right I don't know, I think she is just a random kid that joined in the picture), James and Ellie.

Couple of random pictures

Here are just a few random pictures of the kids.  Above, James picked out his Halloween costume early this year.  Almost a month ago when we were buying school supplies he saw this Batman costume at Walmart and thought it was really cool.  I didn't get it for him then, because I thought it was a little early to think about Halloween.  Well, when we went back to Walmart about a month later, James ran right to where the costume was and said how cool it was and how he would love to be Batman for Halloween.  This time I gave in and bought it and he has loved wearing it and can't wait until Halloween.

Here's cute Ellie being silly.

These are pictures of Tori with her hair done for "Crazy Hair Day" at school.  She said she wanted lots of crazy braids.

Cute kids cuddling on the couch.

Happy 7th Birthday, Tori!

 We all love our sweet 7 year old Tori!  She is bright, happy, can always find the positive in a situation and loves being a big sister.  Above, Tori is having her birthday dinner.  She choose to have steak as her special meal, which Mom and Dad enjoyed having with her.  James and Ellie aren't huge fans, but they enjoyed the rest of the food.

 Tori had a very fun day.  She loved all her gifts.  Above her and her bear are in their new matching dress-ups (I like that she still enjoys dressing up.).  Below she is thrilled that her Dad finally gave in and got her a scooter.  He's seen enough kids with broken arms from riding them that he hasn't been too thrilled with scooters, but really wanted one for her birthday and I don't think we're going to have to worry about her being to crazy on it.

 We didn't have a big birthday party this year, but we did invite some new friends over for cake (Bence, Tyler and Abby).

First Day of School

 Tori's first day of 2nd grade!  This will make the third new school she has been at in the past three years.  All 3 schools have also been in different states, so I am always impressed at how positive and excited she is every year to start school.  James and Ellie were not so excited to see her go - she has been a fun big sister to them this summer.  The school is suppose to be great and we're very happy that she gets to go here.  My one complaint is that we can't walk to school even though we don't live that far from it.  Apparently North Carolina isn't very fond of sidewalks, so there is really no safe way for us to walk to school.

 James also started a little "joy school" type preschool where I take turns teaching it with some of my friends.  He was very excited to have his own school to go to and loved having it at our house the first day.  He's the only boy with a couple of girls, but he's used to that being the case and I think the girls enjoy the enthusiasm he brings. :)

New rooms and other pictures

One of the kids favorite things about the move was getting to decorate their new rooms.  Above James loves his Cars wall stickers and nightlight.  Below Tori picked out butterfly stickers and loved putting them on herself (with a little help from Dad).  You can't tell a ton from the pictures but she also loves her painted pink room.  Before John and I came out to try and buy a house I spent a lot of time looking online at a ton of different houses.  Tori loved looking at them with me and found a house with a pink room in it that she said she wanted us to buy, because she loved the pink room.  When we found the house we decided to buy they weren't completely done building and painting it, so we asked them to paint this room pink as a surprise for Tori and she loved it the moment she walked in.

 

In Primary at church they have a little bear that the kids get to take home that helps them "Choose The Right".  They are suppose to take pictures of the bear helping them make good choices and then show them to the other kids in primary.  These are a few pictures of Tori and the bear - above she is writing a letter to her cousin on a mission and below she is helping me with dinner

James loved the little bear, too.

I thought Ellie looked cute in her dress, so I wanted to take a few pictures.  Above she's not so thrilled with the idea, but then she found her binki and was okay with life again