It's been a long time since I've posted; I got tired of sorting through photos and journaling about our lives. But the kids and I really enjoy looking back at posts I've written in years past, so I decided that I should try to keep it up. So here goes.
Amelia got a tie-dye kit for her birthday, and I was a little nervous about how it would go, so I delayed and delayed and delayed actually using it. Finally I decided that if we were still going to try it out this fall, we needed to do it before freezing weather arrived, so we picked a warmish fall day and gave it a try. I was surprised at how easy and fun and minimally-messy it was! Megan needed help getting the rubber bands or zip-ties tight around her shirts, but Amelia could do it almost entirely by herself. We did the actual tie-dyeing outside on the deck, which was a good idea because some definitely got squirted on the picnic table and the floor, and it was much easier to clean up outside. We also put the clothes we were dyeing on cooling racks so that they wouldn't soak up other colored puddles. The girls did shirts, leggings and socks. Coincidentally, the next Thursday was a spirit day at school - Tie Dye Day! The girls decided to wear all their tie-dyed clothes at the same time. I'm sure they were the most colorful kids at school:
The girls had to look at every single pumpkin at our nearby farm before they would choose one to take home (they really remind me of me and Becky when we were little!). Thankfully I had procrastinated long enough that there weren't too many pumpkins left.
The farm has a little petting area with some goats and chickens and ponies. The kids tried to feed the animals, but the goats weren't interested in the grass, the chickens tried to peck their fingers, and they were afraid of the ponies. They did, however, LOVE the barn cat, who was very tolerant of children.
When we went to the pumpkin patch, Nathaniel wanted to choose small white pumpkins (they're actually a kind of gourd, I guess) instead of a big orange pumpkin. When we got home, he wanted to sleep with them. That was three weeks ago, and they are still in his bed! He calls them "baby" and refuses to lay down unless he knows they are in his bed with him. Sometimes he even says "bank" and tucks them in with his blanket. He is wearing his "reer reer" jammies (or firetruck jammies, for those who don't speak toddler.)
I signed both girls up for Lego Club at the library last month, since Megan is finally old enough to go. They sat next to each other and cooperatively built a castle. I asked Amelia if she would have wanted to sit by someone else, and she said "No, I always want to sit by Megan because she's my sister!" The library has some really interesting building pieces.
The little maple tree in our front yard dropped half of its leaves all at one time, and they didn't blow away immediately. So for the first time ever, we had enough leaves to rake up a little pile. The kids were ecstatic! The girls took turns burying each other, and they did such a good job that you can barely see them in the following photos. Even Nathaniel got in on the fun by throwing leaves in the air and running through the pile.
We decorated our trunk for our church's Trunk or Treat. I showed the girls a few examples of decorated trunks on Pinterest, and they quickly decided that they wanted to do an under the sea themed trunk because they wanted to play the fishing game. So I asked them if they would make some sea creatures to live under the sea, while I taped three sheets of foamboard together to make our fishing area. Their friend Aiden was over, so she helped with the shark. This was a great project for them - it kept them busy for ages and they were so proud of their decorations. Everyone at the trunk or treat loved the fishing game, too, and thought it was clever that their "fish" were actually little bags of goldfish crackers.
