Halloween, St. Louis Style

I wasn't able to get all the kids together for a pic so everyone will have to settle for individual shots. Be warned. Colin's costume this year was an accident victim. We spent the evening in a neighborhood not far from our house. It's a popular trick or treating place for all the local kids including the high school. I think every child in the school district was there. Luckily, the rumor at the high school that the police were closing down the neighborhood at 8:30pm was true. Imagine packs of teenagers knocking on your door after 9pm. Some of the neighborhoods in St. Louis as trick or treaters to tell a joke for their candy. This was once such neighborhood. Here's Eva's joke: What kind of pie does a ghost like best? Boo-berry.

Pumpkin Carving Time

I love to carve pumpkins and part of the pleasure is the reaction of the kids. It feels like I'm "really" doing something as a mom. They love cleaning out and scraping the inside of the pumpkins which is nice since I don't like that part. We have a silly pumpkin, and angry one, a spider and a painted one. Eva wanted the angry and Liam picked out the painted one. The spider was a huge pumpkin I picked up at the grocery store for $5.

Images from the Past Week

Fuji apples are ripe so the boys and I headed across the river to Illinois for apple picking. It was sunny and in the 60s. We rode a wagon to the orchard. Liam didn't like for me to have my arm on the rail. He thought I might fall out.





Eva experienced a first this week. She lost her first tooth. She attended a birthday party with a Halloween theme. During the wrap the mummy game her tooth became caught on the tissue paper, when it was time to unwrap the mummy out came the tooth. She is excited and anxious to spend the tooth fairy money.

Sunday Blessings

I have a friend who posts weekly blessings each Sunday. It's a way of finding joy in everyday life. Since I can sometimes dwell on the negative, I thought I'd give it a try.

* Cooler weather coming soon
*Thrift store finds including jeans for three out of the four kids.
*Liam loving preschool
*General Conference and being able to listen to it on an IPod
*Quick dinners that don't taste quick
*Teaching another Sunday school lesson and feeling good about it
*Gas prices dropping
*Eva discovering Thoroughly Modern Millie(movie) and remembering how much I love it

My Boy Makes Me Laugh

I have this fabulous 12 year old boy. He has this magical ability to make me laugh.

Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow

I know I'm bragging, but my children have beautiful hair. It's a rich, chestnut brown color and thick with lots of body. Liam's hair is still in that blond turning to brown stage which all the kids went through. Eva's hair has been past her shoulders and part way down her back. We've been growing the bangs out, too. Tonight Liam decided to take a swipe at Eva's hair while playing with scissors. Needless to say I had to even up her hair. I know it's just hair and a vain thing to dwell on. She still has that beautiful smile and a pleasant disposition. I just wish we had chosen to cut her hair instead of needing to do so.

Before the Hair Cut


After the Hair Cut