Halloween Parties

Our church had a little Halloween party for the little kids during the day that James and Ellie loved.  It's fun seeing Ellie in the chicken costume.  So far every kid has been a chicken and it's fun to look back at the old photos and see how much they all look alike.

Above, Parker, Ellie and Abby (Tyler and James are behind them to the right).  Ellie was thrilled that Parker was also a chicken.  She has always really liked Parker ever since he tried to make her laugh on her first day of nursery when she was really sad. 

James loved any chance to where his Batman costume and had a lot of fun playing with some of the other "superheros" at the party. 

At night our church also had a trunk or treat which the kids had a lot of fun at, too.  Anything that involves dressing up and getting candy is always a favorite, though Ellie wasn't too thrilled about having her picture taken.

Old ipad pictures

These are just a few pictures that I found on the ipad that I forgot to blog.  Above, the kids are with their cousins, Mary and Rocky, who came to visit for a Tae Kwon Do tournament.  It was a lot of fun to get to hang out with them and watch them compete - they did awesome! 

Just a couple cute pictures and video of Ellie. 

 She loves uses this walker and I think she looks adorable when she does.

Tae Kwon Do

Tori's school had an afterschool Tae Kwon Do program for two days a week for a month to introduce the kids to the sport.  At the end they did a little graduation at the actual Tae Kwon Do studio (where they sell you on signing up full-time pretty hard).  Tori loved it, but with three little kids it was just too busy for us to sign up.

Tori was really proud of herself for breaking the board and James loved watching Tori and having her teach him all her "moves" when she got home.

Fall backyard fun

Just a few pictures of the kids enjoying their new play set in our backyard.  Tori has wanted a "park" in her backyard for as long as I can remember.  We always told her that we wanted to wait until we didn't think we would be moving anymore, so this is one of the first things we wanted to buy when we move here.  So far, the kids have loved it.  Below are some of the fall trees behind our home (we hope they never sell that lot and cut down all the trees :)).

 

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.