~~Fun Family Fall Pictures~~pumpkin picking & carving, halloween, and birthdays.

We went to Disney Live! Mickey's Magic Show, as a family, and it was a blast! None of us have ever gone to one of those shows, but it was highly entertaining and captivating to see! I think the magic tricks are fun, and I would love to know how they did the tricks!
We went to a pumpkin patch to get pumpkins, per Caleb's request. He wanted to go to the patch and pick out the best pumpkin. We only drove about 30 minutes away, and we could pick which ever one we wanted, and take our time. I love MN Grown Vegetables!
It was a big pumpkin patch, and the kids loved walking around looking for their treasure. I liked that their were wagons available to tote the pumpkins back to the van!
It was quite an experience, and the kids had a great time. Nathaniel didn't come with us, but we still had fun. Nathaniel was with a friend for the day.
Caleb loved riding in the wagon, too.









Time to go home. It was chilly outside, but that didn't stop the kids from getting their pumpkins. They had so much fun! Then, we went home and had hot chocolate and marshmallows.

A few days later, we had a night of carving pumpkins. It was a fun experience, and the kids had a blast!
They all loved digging out the guts of the pumpkin, separating the seeds, and cleaning out the pumpkins.
Cole loved eating the raw pumpkin guts and the seeds. He didn't seem to mind the flavors, and we didn't think it could hurt him any.



Mmmm....pumpkin goo!
Madelyn wanted a kitty on her pumpkin, so I drew what I thought a cat would look like, and did my best.

Caleb wanted a bat, so I drew a bat and carved that out for him.
I had a winking pumpkin with hair around the sides, and Terry had the traditional pumpkin with fang-looking teeth. I think his was the scariest. However, Nathaniel made his pretty interesting..and he was very creative!
Guts and glory come to mind when I look at his freaky pumpkin. :)
Cole's pumpkin was a silly face.
We separated all the seeds, cleaned them up, and baked them. They were delicious! Terry's special recipe.


Then it was time for trick or treating. The kids got to dress up in their costumes for church that morning. They each wore the same costume all day, except Caleb. Caleb was Spiderman in the morning, and a Power Ranger for evening.
Madelyn was a bumblebee (which she was last year...but I might as well use it two years, right?) and Cole was Jo-Jo the Clown.
It was fun to see kids handing out candy at a few of the homes.

The kids had a great time, but it really got cold outside.
Lena, our pugachin, was even dressed up. Nathaniel dressed her up in Maddy's Tinkerbell skirt, and some angel wings.





It was a fun day. We like doing Halloween because my kids love to dress up, and they love to get candy. That evening we celebrated Nathaniel's birthday, our friend's son's birthday, and the grandparents were over. It was a busy night!

Halloween around here...

We didn't really know what to do this year with Halloween. It really depends on the weather here in MN, but this year wasn't too bad for temperature. We spent the morning at home doing different things that needed to be done. Here are a few photos that I took a few days before Halloween. My kids love dressing up, and it is (almost) a daily fun activity for them.

Madelyn is in her purple unicorn outfit. She got this costume from my friend, Lisa, from a garage sale special find. It is so warm and cozy, and Madelyn loves it!
Here is Nathaniel in the pirate hat, and one of his new favorite shirts from Terry. (hand-me-down)
Cole is wearing the Jo-Jo hat. I know it is a girl's hat in the show, but it looks cute on him!

After that, we helped some friends move to their new home. We got home about 5:30, and our kids were tired. However, they still wanted to go treat-hunting. We had considered bringing them to a local church party (games, outdoor petting zoo, outdoor blow up jumpy-thingy...etc.) but we had come home too late for that. We got the kids in their costumes, and went to a local neighborhood.
Cole was super happy that night, and he was in a warm costume as Pooh Bear. I have to say that I was excited about this find...$1.25 at Savers! That was a great deal, and he can now play "dress-up" with the kids.
Isn't he a cute little Pooh Bear? Caleb and Madelyn had a lot of fun, too. They picked out their duds.
Caleb was a jester/clown and Madelyn was the "itsy, bitsy spider." Maddie's costume was a little too small, but she insisted that she wore that one. We did hand-me-down costume attire this year.

The owner of this home was all dressed up as Princess Leia, from Star Wars. I thought her costume was superb!

It was a fun night out with the little ones. Nathaniel was with his dad this year. I am not sure how it worked out, but he has only been at his dad's one other Halloween in his life. Nathaniel had wanted to be with us this year because his best friend was going to have his birthday party/celebration. But, his dad said no, because he wanted to have him for trick-or-treating after all these years. I really had no clue that it was that important to his dad, or I would have offered to make it work out for him to be able to have that time with Nathaniel. Nothing I can do about that now. At least he had a good time.

The kids had so much fun, and enjoyed walking around in their costume. It was fun to hear them saying the 'ol phrase, and then thanking the home owner. After about 15 homes, the kids were getting tired and cold. So, we packed them up and headed home. In the car, I had smelt something...so I asked Terry, "Did you give the kids candy?" He said he didn't, and then he asked the kids...

Terry: "Are you guys eating candy?"
Caleb: "I'm not eating any."
Madelyn: "I am!" (Have to love her honesty there!) ~LOL

We get home and Madelyn had about 4 wrappers/candy around her. It was pretty funny.We started to undress the kids from their costumes and get them in their jammies when the doorbell rings and knocks come on the front door. I had turned our outside light off, and it was evident we were not participating in the giveaway. Still the middle-school age kids lingered, so I hollered that we weren't handing any candy out. They left. Terry told me to just stay out of sight while he put the kids to bed. So, our house was completely black. I was in the basement talking to my aunt. About 10 minutes go by, and we get another banging on the door. I wait. Then, more banging. Seriously? I couldn't believe that they knocked the first time, but 2 times? So, I head up stairs, and call for Terry. I hear the kids laughing and talking loud. So, not only did they rudely go to a dark home, knock 2 TIMES!~ they hang out waiting...loitering! So, Terry opened the door and told them to go. I was furious to say the least. I can't believe how rude their behavior was. Anyway, the kids had fun, and I wanted to share the photos.