Ghoulish Decor

I must confess, I love decorating for Halloween.

We began with leaf rubbings last month . . .

. . . then added a big pumpkin decorated by Joy and Pink Grandma, . . .

. . . milk jug jack-o-lanterns (thank you, Pinterest) and some of the kids' artwork, . . .

. . . a couple of hidden pumpkins to find each morning . . .

. . . the bat mobile (it's actually rather soothing to watch those little guys flutter around when the fan is on) . . . 

. . . a pumpkin Joy painted at school, some spiders from Red Grandma . . .

. . . and a ghost Joy cut out in kindergarten.  After she brought it home, she added four more ghosts so there would be one for each family member.

I even decorated myself.  It's fun to see that little jack-o-lantern smiling up at me all the time.

Pumpkin Portraits

It's that time of year again, folks.  Time for me to buy each of my children a Halloweenish shirt, hand them each a pumpkin, and try to snap a decent picture before things get too crazy.

"Smiley" 

"Super Smiley" 

"Situation Rapidly Degenerating" (even the faces on the shirts are SO over this)

"It Ain't Over 'Til the Little Lady Sings (Er, Cries)"

Halfway through the photo session, Joy asked why Anna's shirt says "My First Halloween."  Oops--it's her second one.  Sigh . . . my baby isn't really a baby anymore.

Seasonal Art

Daniel made a fun art project about seasons at preschool yesterday.

The teacher traced each child's hand on four paper bags to make trees, then decorated the trees with different colors of tissue paper to indicate which season it was (they used cotton balls to make a snowy winter tree).

Joy felt inspired to make a similar project of her own . . .

. . . while Anna played with the rest of the pom poms.

The seasonal trees were so cute that I decided to hang them in the kids' room.

We'll just ignore the fact that Joy put summer ahead of spring. :)  And no, their room never looks that tidy unless I'm doing a photo shoot . . .

. . . 'cuz kids live there.

Conference Plus Gardening

It's that time of year again, folks.

Time to watch General Conference . . .

. . . and play with Grandma's toys between sessions. 

Anna wanted to play the organ, too.

We watched some of the sessions at Uncle Mark's house, then helped Aunt Connie plant seeds in her garden.

Um, Daniel, you don't need to rake the leaves while they're still on the trees.

Anna was pretty excited to find a chair her size.

Happy Conference Weekend!

A Little Descanso

The kids and I visited Descanso Gardens with some friends today.

We admired all the snowy egrets . . .

. . . clambered over rocks and rills . . .

. . . and strolled the paths to see what was blooming.  Joy's favorite find was the enormous leaf she's carrying in this picture.

Cheerios and Eye Patches

It was my turn to teach Daniel's preschool again today.

He're our group, plus Joy who is always happy to join our fun activities.  She would also answer every single question if we let her.  She's definitely her mother's daughter.

Stringing Cheerio necklaces was a big hit, but the most popular activities were . . . 

 . . . putting on costumes during play time . . .

. . . and playing with the bicycle pump.  Go fig.

Just Swingin'

We spent home evening at the park with a friend who has a swing he can drape over any sturdy tree branch.

All the kids had fun swinging in it. 

Even the big kids had a great time.