The highlight of our evening was going to see Nonnie. You can trick or treat at the nursing home--if you are looking to score a lot of candy in one place, this is the place to do it. It was neat to see so many kids there. We had fun going around town to lots of places that I went to as a kid; Robby and I even got some candy of our own. It sure is nice that the kids can get in and out of the car by themselves. 
Carving our Jack O'Lanterns is a big deal at our house. Probably because it was an event when I was a kid. Nonnie always made sure we had nice pumpkins to carve, even when we were in high school. When Sadie was a baby we got into the tradition of waiting until Halloween to carve--mainly because of pumpkin thieves. Now that we live in the country, that is not a problem, but Sadie thinks we need to do it on Halloween. C.W. joined us this year. The pumpkins all came out of our garden.
As always, T.S. wasn't interested in having his picture made. He even tried to cover up his pumpkin so it couldn't be photographed. Sadie, on the other hand, has become quite the camera hound. She pretended that her pumpkin had eaten her hand.
Sunday we celebrated C.W.'s second birthday. The kids had fun playing with their cousins, painting pumpkins, blowing bubbles and riding bikes. Happy Birthday, C.W.!
By the way, he announced that his maize is growing and his wheat is coming up nicely because of the rain.
What a fun afternoon!
Tonight was the Halloween Carnival. Halloween has never been T.S.'s favorite thing. We've always had to convince him to choose a costume. This year, T.S. was supposed to dress up as a ghost. We spent most of the afternoon trying to talk him into painting his face white. When Sadie was getting dressed, T.S. announced, "You know, I don't have to dress up." I didn't argue--every year I am usually at home by myself getting the kids ready since Robby has to be at the carnival early to get his class situated with their booth. 
Last spring, Sadie participated in a mini-cheer camp with our high school cheerleaders. All of the girls who took part in the camp got to cheer during tonight's football game.
Sadie wrote the following song. I think it is really cool.
The kids had a ball on the trampoline. They love to jump really high and do cheers (yes, T.S. joins in, too.) I know T.S.'s head is missing and that it is technically not a good picture, but I thought it was funny--it looks like he's jumping so high he jumped right out of the picture. Also, please notice how beautiful our sky is today.
Today, the sun is trying to poke out from behind the clouds, it is brighter outside than it has been in a few days. It is amazing what a little sunlight will do for you. I think the rain is finished for now. We are very grateful and blessed to have gotten a total of 1.8" yesterday. That makes our total since Saturday about 2.5". The rain fell nice and slow most of the day yesterday so it should soak in and help the wheat tremendously--our road is another story. But, that is part of the adventure of farm life.
It is rainy and cold today. We've had our first big cold front. The dampness is adding to the cold. We've got soup cooking on the stove and the boys are enjoying another day inside. Here are pictures out our front door. T.S. commented this morning that he thought the rain would help his wheat. That is his "field" with the trucks and tractor in it (under the stump). I'm wishing we would have planted some real wheat in his field; who knew we'd get this much moisture. He is a true farm boy, he also talked about how much this would help GeGe's wheat and milo.
We are very thankful for the rain. I'm expecting Noah to arrive any minute--we may need a boat when it is time to go to town and pick Sadie up from school.
As you know, T.S. doesn't like having his picture made either. I was chasing him around the house to take the "after" picture (for a before one, see today's earlier post--he wouldn't pose for that either) and what followed was probably similar to celebrities being chased by the paparazzi. He shoved the camera away (thus the hand picture) and ended up falling and hitting his head on the coffee table (thus the tears in the final picture). He decided he was okay and up for a game of "tickle time." That's when I got the last picture.
Why my kids beg to be tickled is beyond me. I view being tickled as a form of torture. But that is a game Robby and the kids have always played together. Surprisingly, it even has some rules.
It is rainy and chilly today. A perfect day to try a craft. We are trying papier-mache pumpkins. You can go to this website and see what we are attempting to do. We've put the first layer on and are waiting for it to dry so we can put the second one on.
T.S. lost interest after gluing on his first strip of crepe paper. He chose to blow up a balloon and kick it around instead.
We picked some of our pumpkins today. We are waiting for the rest to ripen. When we put them on the front porch, the kids were excited that Petunia wanted to be in the picture. Sadie says this picture can be our Halloween card. (like I am that organized)
You'll also notice the kids' boots. We call them irrigating boots. Wal Mart calls them chore boots. The kids and I each have our own pair to wear in the pens when working with the animals.
much.
The kittens are doing quite well. They are mobile and enjoy time out of the box. Right now we are trying to teach them to drink from a bowl and to eat moistened kitten food. Neither is going too well. They put their whole face in the bowl of water and come up sneezing trying to get the water out of their nose. A few will eat the food off of our finger, but only walk through the saucer when we put the food out for them to try. Hopefully they will catch on soon. 
