Carving Pumpkins

The kids have been waiting anxiously to carve a pumpkin for Halloween. With our busy schedule there has never been a good night, until last night!

Our children lovingly call cleaning out the pumpkin pulling out the 'guts' and Alyssa takes no part in it anymore. Too icky for her.

Logan always has to try eating some. Last year he ate quite a bit of raw pumpkin, this year he wasn't too sure.

We gave the man the knife, but each child got to draw a different part of the face.

Our finished pumpkin!

Now we are ready!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!

Divided on Tuesday

This past Tuesday evening found the family split - some going to Alyssa's soccer game and some going to trunk-or-treat at church. So, I'll split this post:

TRUNK-OR-TREAT!

Robert took Natalie, the three friends she invited, and Jake to trunk-or-treat at church.
They had games set up all over the gym. Robert set up a race for candy in the corn game. With two buckets of feed corn (for deer feeders) they mixed in candy and the kids had to dig in and find it (five piece limit I believe).

There was face painting, donuts on a string, cupcake walk, bean bag toss and more. All the kids had a blast.


After game time, they had a costume parade and then went out to the parking lot for the trunk-or-treat and hot chocolate. They came home with so much candy I wondered why I had bought any to hand out on Friday! They have been nice enough to share with Alyssa and Logan and me, who were at the soccer game.

SEMI-FINALS!

Alyssa's team, after winning last Saturday, played in the semi-finals for her age group. It was a great, tight game and her team really played well - everyone. Unfortunately they lost 0-1. So, a season over, but a great season. Logan tried to stay warm by snuggling with me in my jacket. It was pretty chilly after the sun went down (the game started at 6pm) and, although I had gotten him to wear a long sleeve shirt (see post 10/22 "But it's cold"), he had no jacket and crocks with no socks. Honestly I still forget that it has started to get chilly after the sun goes down, or I would have brought a warmer jacket and blanket!

After the game last Saturday, the team met at Scoops for ice cream and trophies.

Alyssa had a great time this season with her team. She had a great coach and made a bunch of new friends and that's what it's all about!

Way to go Alyssa!

Heads Up!

After Jake almost took out the snake with a scooter, we spent the next little bit watching it weave through the leaves and sticks in our front yard.

We were amazed when it got to a tree and started climbing up. I have never seen a snake actually climb a tree and it was amazing. The snake would reach and try to find anything sticking out to give it a little something to climb up on - no matter how small, if it was sticking out in the least bit the snake would use it as a hold. Once it got a bit higher it would go out on branches and wrap around the trunk to continue climbing.

That really is the snake way up in that tree. You might need to play "I Spy."
And, after that wonderful time observing nature, we now know to look UP as well as down when looking for snakes.

3-0

The soccer season continues as Alyssa's team won their first tournament game today!
They move to semi-finals which will be on Tuesday. This is good news and bad news. Good news that her team won, bad news that the next game falls on the same evening as the Trunk-or-Treat at church. She was hoping to go around with her friend (they are dressing the same), but that will have to wait until Halloween for real.
Way to go Alyssa and the rest of the Piranhas!

But it's cold!

The days, lately, have been cooler than our normal warm Georgia summer. (I guess it is the end of October, after all!) With Jake's last soccer game starting at 6pm and knowing we would be staying for pizza and the handing out of medals, I brought along a sweatshirt for Logan. He would have NOTHING to do with it (notice the lack of socks and shoes on his feet)! He screamed until we took it off. I brought the sweatshirt because he wouldn't let me put a jacket on before we left the house. Today I tried tricking him with putting on a long sleeve shirt - no deal!
It's going to be a long winter!

Soccer Medal for Jake

Monday was Jake's last soccer game. He has had a blast this season. I'm glad we decided to have him play. It's been fun watching him learn to play on a team and practice his math. He would keep score, every game, (scores aren't officially kept at his age level) by holding up his fingers to show how many each team had - this also helped him watch his teammates play when he was on the sidelines (a hard thing to do at his age). They played three on three without a goalie and switched out players every 5 minutes.
His friend, Ryan, came to watch his last game. Jake was so excited he talked about it for a week and counted down the days until Ryan would come watch his last game.
After the game they had a little pizza party and handed out soccer medals. Jake brought his to school the next day to show his class. He said his teacher was very excited for him that he got to play soccer and got a medal. He has a great kindergarten teacher! :)

Now we just have Alyssa's season to finish - her first game of the tournament is Saturday!

A Beautiful Fall Saturday

Yesterday's rain cooled the temperatures down, making today a beautiful sunny and cool October Saturday. With no soccer we had a lazy morning with crepes for breakfast. Then I took the kids to the Oconee County Fall Festival. We had a hay ride to and from the parking area . . .

ate kettle korn . . .

saw the horses (no rides this year) . . .

played in the corn box . . .
(Jake is on the phone with Robert as he relaxes in the corn and just like last year the kids want one of these in the basement)

. . . you know, my mom use to alway check to see if we washed behind our ears by saying "do you have carrots growing back there". That is what came to mind when I looked behind Jake's ears after being in the corn box - EVERY time he came out of the corn box . . .

Logan wanted to go on the train ride, but he was so excited about everything else there, the train was just one more "exciting thing" and we left with the hayride back to the car being enough for him.

The kids played all afternoon (very few chores got done today) and we ended to day with a great roasted carrot and ginger soup with cornbread on the side. The soup went over with mixed reviews. Robert actually liked it, even though he still put hot sauce in it. I loved it. Jake ate it all. We put mini chocolate chips in the shape of a smiley face, which got Alyssa to finish hers, Logan to eat more spoonfuls than he would have and Natalie to choke down the bowl so she could go to her friend's for an hour after dinner - with only a spoonful or so hidden in her water cup that she tried to get into the sink before I saw. But smelling roasting vegetables for two hours and then baking corn bread was a perfect end to a beautiful fall Saturday.

Roasted Carrot Ginger Soup

(This recipe serves 10, so I cut it in half)

1 1⁄2 pounds carrots, peeled and halved lengthwise
1 pound parsnips, peeled and quartered lengthwise
1 large onion, sliced
3-inch piece of fresh ginger, peeled and chopped
6 tablespoons unsalted butter
3 tablespoons (packed) dark-brown sugar
8 cups rich chicken broth (more, if necessary)
Salt, to taste
Pinch of cayenne pepper
1/4 cup crème fraîche, for garnish
Snipped fresh chives, for garnish

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F.
2. Combine the carrots, parsnips, onion and ginger in a shallow roasting pan to fit. Dot with butter and sprinkle with brown sugar.
3. Pour 2 cups of broth into the pan, cover well with foil and bake until vegetables are very tender, about 2 hours.
4. Transfer the vegetables and broth to a large pot; add the remaining 6 cups of broth, the salt and cayenne pepper. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer, partially covered, for 10 minutes.
5. Purée the soup in batches in a blender or food processor, adding more broth if necessary. Return the soup to the pot; adjust the seasonings and heat through. Serve each portion dolloped with a teaspoon of crème fraîche and sprinkled with chives.

The picture is, of course, not from my actual table, but it really tastes as good as it looks. I'm glad we have cooler days now and I can actually make soups. I can't wait to try out the beet and apple soup recipe I found.

First Chorus Concert

Alyssa is in the middle school chorus. Last night was her first concert. She did great and even had a part in one song playing the maracas.
Robert was out of town and missed it which also means I took the rest of the kids with me. We had to drop Alyssa off an hour early and Jake fell asleep on the way over. I was going to go shopping, but decided to just stay and wait. The concert was at the Mars Hill Baptist Church and they have a nice playground area in the back where the kids played until the concert started. I had brought a book to read.
The kids did great for the first half hour, which was when Alyssa's group was singing. They then played relatively quietly for the next half hour. As the chorus director was making some closing remarks and the 6th graders filed up to sing the traditional last song, the boys decided to start wrestling - in my lap! I filed them out and left Natalie to watch Alyssa sing.
We went home for brownie treats and right to bed.
All the chorus group were great and we look forward to the other concerts throughout the year.

Rain!

Last week we got just a bit of rain! It rained for a full 24 hours, from Wednesday all the way through Thursday . . . . constantly. It was wonderful and in the end we accumulated 4 1/2 INCHES!! It is nice to get a lot of rain, but it is few and far between. We have been dry since then. We continue to pray for more and we appreciate any we get.

Soccer is Over for Natalie!

Natalie's last soccer game was this past Monday. Afterward the team had a party and got their trophies. Natalie had a great season and her team only lost one game! Natalie's coach, when giving her her trophy, said that she was the one who scored the first goal of the season! I had forgotten about that. She is already looking forward to next season.

Alyssa and Jake also had games that night, all three at 6pm! Robert watched both Alyssa's and Natalie's game being in between both fields (it's a good thing they played in fields next to each other) and Logan and I watched Jake's game across the street.
Alyssa's game was her last regular season, but she will start the tournament for her age group soon. Jake has his last game next Monday. Our weeks will calm down a bit, but I'm sure will be easily filled with other activities. During soccer season it seemed that only Wednesday was a calmer day without having to rush dinner in order to be somewhere. At least we have a bit before spring soccer.

Not Phazyme Fast!

It sure wasn't "Phazyme Fast", but we finally got some gas relief here in Georgia. After two hurricanes went through the Gulf of Mexico it seemed that Georgia suffered the longest and with some of the worst gas shortages and highest gas prices in the country. I knew that when the national news kept singling Georgia out, saying the state was suffering a gas shortage, things were bad. This last week the pipelines are finally at 100%, gas stations no longer have shortages and prices have been coming down. As recent as a week and a half ago we still had gas prices around $4.00/gal. We have dropped almost 70 cents in the last week and I saw gas prices at $3.39/gal coming home from church. I'm still jealous of my sister, in Arkansas, filling her tank at $2.85/gal this past week - maybe we'll get there soon. I was almost tempted to fill my tank when I saw prices at $3.59/gal - it has been SOOO long since we've seen them that low, but I thought, if they keep coming down, I'll wait a few more days. I'm glad I waited.

Cookie . . . TWO

Logan, like anyone, loves cookies. This was particularly evident when Alyssa made chocolate chip cookies and he was on his third before we saw and pushed the cooling rack back from the edge of the counter. When he wants a cookie he asks politely, with his hand outstretched - "cookie?" Once he has a cookie he then holds out his other hand and says - "two." That is said as a statement not a question. He will continue to say "two" until he has gotten a second. We need to start making our cookies smaller.

A Birthday of His Favorite Things

Yesterday was Robert's birthday. He wanted "good" pizza for his birthday dinner, which means his crust not my quick one I usually make. The "good" crust tastes best if it ferments overnight, but he told me he wanted pizza after I went to bed, so I made it in the morning and it got to ferment all day - still tastes really good!

He does the tossing and makes the "good" sauce, again not my quick can of tomato sauce with a sprinkle of Italian seasoning, and they turned out beautifully. (I cleaned up the kitchen after, and if his shirt is any indication of what the kitchen looked like that was a good birthday present from me)

Without enough notice, he didn't decide on what birthday dessert he wanted me to bake, I bought a key lime pie (his favorite) to put the candle in. I would have baked him anything - you know I love to bake! (see my birthday post 9/25) But the pie was good and I'll just have to bake something else later. The kids got him goodie presents, by that I mean he gifts were: a gallon of chocolate milk (which we opened as a "day before" birthday present), a BIG bag of peanut M&Ms, grasshopper cookies, and the Monster Slim Jim! These were all chosen because they are his favorites and in hopes of being shared . . . he was a good dad and shared his presents (except the Slim Jim, much to Jake's dismay).

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ROBERT!!
WE LOVE YOU!

No Longer Babies

Our little silkie chicks are no longer babies. They have grown and are very "fluffed" out.

Although I am still kicked out of the garage (the van, I mean) because their cage is there, Natalie likes to let them run around the backyard - after Izzy is put away. They actually stay in one area and close to each other. If you separate them, they will chirp loudly until they find each other again and will then quiet down.

This picture is great in showing the little mohawk of feathers they get on the top of their head - both are like that. Natalie is doing a great job taking care of them (with some reminders at times), laying new paper under their cage and giving them fresh food and water.
You can tell when Natalie spends a lot of time with them because they will follow her around and not run away when she goes to pick them up.
Logan likes to chase them, maybe we should put him in the house too, when the chicks are out back.

The circle of fire!

So, it's not lit yet, but Jake loves building wood. He doesn't just build block towers to be knocked down, he constructs!

The other day he was working with blocks and train tracks.

After getting the circle of tracks balanced on it's edge, with help from support blocks,
Jake moved the center supports away and had it just resting between blocks so it wouldn't roll away.

He will spend hours working on different structures (even running out late to the bus one morning because he started building while he waited for the bus to come).
His favorite is fanning out all the triangular block, in between two, to make an arching hill - I'll have to take a picture of that next time.