Fall Festival

I love this picture. Lauren seems so intense.

She had a great time on this and went on it again and again.

Playing one of the many games.

Doing an art project.

Rock climbing.

Lauren won one round of the candy walk.

Today was Lauren's school fall festival. It was a lot of fun. Lauren had her face painted, her hair painted, she played a ton of games, did some art projects, and went on a few of the rides. Lauren saw a lot of her classmates and some of her teachers. She won some prizes and ate some goodies. It was a fun time. She asked when they would have it again. I think she was a bit sad when I told her they would have another one next year.

Halloween

Ready for her school party. (I think she was trying to have a piece of candy in the morning.)

Ready to go trick or treating.

Cousins before going out.

Getting treats and helping her cousin, the doctor.

This is such a fun night!!

Eating one piece of candy and looking at all the treats that she got.

After baths and ready for bed but one more Halloween treat!


Halloween was a fun full day for Lauren. She started the day with a party at school. Her school does not allow them to wear costumes. Instead she wore her Halloween skirt and shirt. We have had such a busy week that we overslept on Friday. It was an interesting way to start Halloween but it probably worked out for the best since we got a bit of extra sleep for a busy day ahead of us.

After work, Lauren and I went to my brother and his wife's house to join them for Halloween night. Their daughter, Sammie, was excited to go trick or treating with Lauren. Sammie is two and so it was all pretty new to her. I explained to Lauren that she was now the big cousin and would have to show her what to do. She did a good job of making sure Sammie was with her and helped her when needed.

We got them dressed in their costumes, Lauren the bunny and Sammie the doctor. Then we were off. It was a great night to be out. Not too hot and not too cold! It was nice to go trick or treating in Sammie's neighborhood. It is a very family neighbor and a lot neighbors were sitting outside waiting for the kids to come. There was a ton of people out and about. It made for a fun time.

After walking around the whole neighborhood we headed home. It was time for chili and of course to check out the treats they got. They had baths and then enjoyed a pumpkin cake that Aunt Diane made.

It was a very fun Halloween and now it is time to start get ready for Thanksgiving and Christmas!!

Lauren AKA Sharpay

Tonight we went to a Halloween party at our local library. Lauren decided that she wanted to go as Sharpay. We got her dressed and then put on her wig. I think she looked so funny. She was so proud of how she looked and she thought she looked so pretty with her "blond" hair. I don't know what it is but she looks so strange. Her coloring is so off with blond hair that it just is a weird look. She got some interesting looks when we showed up at the party. All I could do was laugh. Lauren AKA Sharpay thought it was fun and isn't that what Halloween is all about.

Halloween is almost here!

Lauren is so excited about Halloween. She reminds me every morning how many more days until it is Halloween.

She has a bunch of Halloween tee shirts and wanted to wear them this week. So every morning she would pick out another one. She has a couple long sleeve ones that she really wanted to wear but since it is still in the 90s here I explained that she would just be too hot. One of them lights up and she is dying to wear it.

We are still deciding what she will be for Halloween. A few weeks ago Lauren wanted to be Sharpay, one of the characters from High School Musical. Which is an interesting choice since Sharpay is blond and Lauren is anything but blond!! But then her love of animals appeared when she saw a bunny costume. She begged me to get her the bunny costume. Since we already had the dress up for Sharpay from a while ago, I got her the bunny costume and told her she would need to decide by Halloween what she wants to be. I am not sure what one she will choose in the end but I think she is leaning toward being a bunny.

My camera was sitting on my table this week so a few mornings before we left for work and school I took some pictures of Lauren. She was in such a good mood due to Halloween coming that she was really posing and acting silly. It is fun to see her so happy and excited about something!

Boo at the Zoo

Princess Bella at the fountain.

Princess Belle on a camel.

Princess Belle sweeping up spiders.

Princess Belle swinging.

Princess Belle riding a tractor.

Princess Belle digging for worms.

Princess Belle playing hopscotch.

Lauren AKA Princess Belle and I went to Boo at the Zoo. It was pretty warm today so Lauren decided not to wear her long sleeve bunny costume and instead decided to go as Princess Belle. I love this dress so I was happy with her decision.

The zoo had a ton of activities including leap frog, sweeping up spiders, digging for worms, pumpkin throw, and etc. Princess Belle had a great time but her favorite thing was riding the camel. When she was done she ask if she could take camel riding lessons. I tried to explain that camel riding is not very popular and so lessons might be hard to find.

It was a fun day and we are looking forward to a fun Halloween week.

Carving Pumpkins

Lauren's carved pumpkin and her decorated pumpkin.

Lauren working on her pumpkin.

Drawing her design.

Grant's pumpkin. He made it look like it is throwing up. (He thought it was so cool!)

Eating pizza and taking a break from carving pumpkins.

Decorating cupcakes.

Eating cupcakes.

Tonight Lauren and I hosted a pumpkin carving party. We invited Lauren's cousins and some of her friends over to carve pumpkins. It was a fun night. After the pumpkins were done and the was pizza was eaten we had the kids decorate cupcakes. It was a full night and they seemed to have fun.

My house is pretty small but I love have these kinds of parties. I think it is fun to have the kids over do an activity that is such a part of the Halloween fun. I also know that some parents really don't like doing this activity. I think it is pretty fun.

We have to keep our pumpkins inside until Halloween or they will rot. It is just too hot outside for them to keep for a week. So I get enjoy looking at them during the week and it makes excited for Halloween.

Halloween Party

Pumpkin Party. This is what the party looked like when we entered. It was so nice.

Lauren and her teacher.

decorating pumpkins

Tonight we went to a Halloween Pumpkin party for Lauren's class. It was really nice to see everyone outside of the classroom setting. The party was at one of Lauren's classmate's home. Most of the class was there including her teacher. The children got to decorate pumpkins, play games and just have fun. There was also some great food to eat. The kids (and parents) had a wonderful time. It is nice to see that all the kids get along so well and like to play with each other. It will be a bit sad when that stops and they start to play with just a few kids.

The home was decorated in such an incredible way. The theme of the party was "pumpkin patch" and it looked like a pumpkin patch. The picture above is just one small part of the front yard. The yard was huge and decorated with so many hay bales, pumpkins, corn stalks, balloons, and etc. It was just beautiful when you when you entered the home's gates. The mom did tell me that she is having parties this whole weekend and this way she only has to really decorate once. It was pretty amazing.

Looking at this home makes me a bit worried to ever have her friends come to my home. I knew that going to this school I might have to deal with these issues. Right now Lauren does not seem to really notice these things yet. I know the day will come.