Happy Spooks to You!

Tonight was trick or treat night in town...and that means...CANDY TIME!  After school we headed home to relax for a little while and then it was time to get those costumes on.  Rapunzel and Darth Vader were excited and ready to go.  Andy and I both said that this was the best trick or treat experience we've had with the kids so far.  They were both in great moods, the weather was decent, and this year we drove to the different areas in town and walked around to our favorites houses.

 

Ava getting ready to trick or treat at The Robinson's house.  She's an old teaching colleague of ours and so sweet!

Isaiah's ready to go too...despite being up since 4:45 this morning.  He woke up to use the restroom and discovered that The Candy Corn Bandit had eaten all the candy corn and wanted to look for clues right then and there.  After telling him "no" and that he had to wait until morning, I think he just rested in bed with us and never really fell back asleep.  Hopefully he'll crash tonight!

Next was Lindsey and Donald's house...another teaching colleague and friend.  We met up with The Brown's and Ava and Isaiah got to play with Jackson and Grant.  Ava and Jackson are in the same kindergarten class this year and chase each other at recess.  Gina (his Mom) and I kid that we need to get lots of picture of these two now...they may be homecoming dates in the future.  Here is Jack, Isaiah, and Ava.

Taking a little rest in Lindsey's house. 

As we went on we ran into Ava's best bud Reagan.  We called it good after about an hour and fifteen minutes of trick or treating and headed back.  The kids had a blast.  Isaiah had his preschool party today and Ava has her's tomorrow.  We're also headed to Ames tomorrow to trick or treat at all the grandparents houses.  More fun to come!

For the past two nights the kids have hid candy corn pieces around their room to try and get that Candy Corn Bandit to come.  They've succeeded each night and when they wake up, the candy is gone and a note is hidden in their room giving them a clue as to where their little Halloween gift is located.  One more night until that little creature disappears until next year.  Here is Ava playing with her new girl's Lego set.  Have you seen these?  They are awesome and she's all about them.  She constructed the whole thing by herself by looking at the instruction manual. 

 Still hard at work!

 

Silly Isaiah playing with is the Batman Lego set he found this morning.

Last night we carved a few pumpkins.  The kids helped us dig out "a little of the pulp and seeds" but enjoyed instructing us on how to carve the faces.  We kept some of the seeds and roasted them tonight.  Isaiah loved them...Ava not so much.   

Ava digging in too!

Ava with her "dog" pumpkin.  The sides have Clifford looking ears and she wanted whiskers by the nose too. 

Isaiah loving his...what he calls "Spooky" puppy.

We also made pumpkin and ghost cookies...a think more frosting and sprinkles are on these than cookie!

Isaiah putting marshmallows and sprinkles on his.

This was taken a few days ago when we made the dough and cut out the shapes...can you tell it's a Saturday because the jammies are still on?

 

 

 

We also went to Reiman Gardens with Grandma and Grandpa Van Slyke for trick or treating and some crafts.  Here are the kids before we left.

They still had the Lego displays up and had treats at most of those locations.

The kids posing in front of the Reiman Gardens picture.

 

One of the cute little Lego bunnies they had on display.

This fox was neat too. 

More candy...

...then the kids stopped to pose in front of the Lego garden man.

You've gotta have a picture in front of what we call "Nomeo."

The kids like this bean sprout Lego model.

Walking along with Daddy.

Isaiah and Grandpa

The boys

Ava and Grandma

Mommy and her love making a mask.

Daddy and Isaiah playing at the Lego table.

 

Ava sporting her princess mask.

Isaiah creating his.

Grandpa and Ava checking out the different kinds of spiders they had on display.

Look at the size of this guy!

Ava having a turn with Legos.

Check out Isaiah's mask...he was so proud!

One random picture thrown in.  Andy put Ava's hair up all goofy and she looked just like Cindy Lou Who from The Grinch.

 

How crazy is it that Halloween is tomorrow and November is starting.  I really think time keeps going faster every year.  I was warned by my colleagues many years ago when I had Ava that time slips through your fingers and to enjoy every moment with the kids because they grow up fast.  WOW...isn't that the truth!  I love my babies so much and the time I spend with them is precious.  I wouldn't trade these moments for the world!

 

My Three Happy's:

1) We've already started to decorate for Christmas.  Call me crazy...but I love looking at it for as long as I can.  I counted 13 tubs of Christmas decorations along with the 11 trees I have...better start now or I'll never get done.  Last weekend when Andy went to the ISU game the kids and I stayed home and started putting up trees.  I forgot to take a picture of the tree in our family room downstairs that has all our family ornaments...ones Andy and I had growing up...ones we've bought since we got married...and random other ones.  The kids each have their own 5 ft tree in their room...weird to say "their room" since they share now.  I keep telling Isaiah we'll get it painted soon.  He's a trooper sleeping in pink and purple room!

Ava decorating her tree.  She has so many ornaments!  I let the kids pick out a few every year and they always get some as gifts too. 

Ava loves to decorate...wonder where she gets that?

Isaiah working on the top of his new tree.  He had a smaller one but this year I got him a bigger one to hold all his ornaments.  He said the baby can have his old tree.  Sounds like a plan.  They were so excited to open their ornament box and it was so fun to hear them comment about almost every ornament they took out. 

 

2) I love this new subway art Christmas sign I got.  Who knows where I'll put it?

 

3) This precious new baby growing everyday! On Saturday our new love seriously moved ALL day.  From lunch until 9:00 at night I felt constant movement.  The past few days I've felt hardly anything...I think he/she's worn out!  We find out on November 20th what the baby is...can't wait!  I LOVE being pregnant!

 

My Favorite Thing:

*Pumpkin muffins:  I made a batch the other day and absolutely love them!

Fun in the Fall

Is October seriously almost over?  I feel like I just got my fall decorations out.  The house is filled with pumpkins, gourds, Indian corn, candles, and lots of other little goodies that make me take a deep breath and think...I love this season!  When I went down in the basement yesterday and looked in the storage room I thought...alright...it's about that time to start digging my 12 tubs and 11 Christmas trees out.  In a week or so, that's what I'll be doing.  But for now...how about I update you on this month...since I haven't blogged AGAIN.  I'm trying people...really I am!

 

October is always a fun time to make Halloween crafts.  The kids have been busy making pumpkins, ghosts, witches, and lots of other little things to decorate our house for Halloween.

 The kids have always loved crafts...the messier, the better!

 

 We've made four trips out to the apple orchard so far.  In these pictures Grandpa and Grandma Van Slyke met us out there one day after school.  When I ask the kids what their favorite part of the apple orchard is...they always say "everything."  There is so much to do and it never gets old!  Grandpa and Isaiah are hanging out together in the corn pool.  Isaiah is trying to bury Grandpa's legs.

 

Grandma and Ava goofing around too.

 

Where did the rest of Boo go?

 

How cute is my Bootles?

 

 Time for a little sliding down those huge slides on potato sacks. 

 

As always we left with some goodies.  Grandpa and Grandma got the kids a bat and ghost yard decoration, a few little Halloween trinkets, and a bag of apples.  We of course had to buy a dozen of their amazing apple donuts!

What's more fun than leaves?  I LOVE the smell.  The trees in the front have lost all their leaves and we finally got those picked up.  Here's Isaiah zooming through a pile on his big wheel.  Jackson loves being out front with us so we have a rope that he can roam around on. 

A few outside snapshots.  This area has even more pumpkins and gourds now.  I love using our dried cornstalks around the light pole.

The front porch

On the sidewalk on the way to the porch. 

Ava and Isaiah had this idea after church one Sunday to pretend they were going to the apple orchard.  They drove around and around getting pumpkins and gourds.  It's fun to see their little minds create games...they want us to be no part of it.  They're in their own little world!

Daddy's helper...this guy loves that leaf blower!

Every fall Uncle Alan and Aunt Karen invite us out to their farm to pick pumpkins and gourds.  Let's not forget the tractor and combine rides.  They had some unique gourds this year.  We came back with way too many.  This year I put lots of them in our house and they look really nice on our dining room table and by the fireplace.  Isaiah and Karen...he loves when she helps him!

Grandma and Grandpa Richardson, Jody, and Ayden were there too.  Ava with Grandma...showing off what she calls her "purse gourd." 

Time to ride that combine.  Those kids were up there and ready to go!

Everyone waving good-bye before they went out into the field.

See you later! 

They also rode the tractor...and of course my battery died here.  So this is the only picture I have.  The kids got to drive the combine and tractor so they had a ball!

Isaiah was invited to his first official friend party a few weekends ago.  Cayben is a little guy in his preschool class...to the left of Isaiah...and he had a super hero birthday party.  Isaiah went dressed as Batman.  Here they are having supper.

The crowd...it's so fun to see Isaiah making new friends.  He loves preschool!

Digging into that cake!

Playing a little air hockey downstairs after cake.

Our school celebrates fire safety and prevention each year.  Kid in preschool through first grade ride the firetrucks to the station in town to learn more about fire safety from the fire fighters.  Another thing that I love about this small town...all the fun things it has to offer for kids and the school to community connection is great!  Here's Ava on top of the firetruck with her class.

Isaiah in the black hat is riding in the truck in front of Ava with his class.  It was nice they both went together and it was during my lunch break so I could take a few pictures.

Isaiah's whole class...and off they go!

 

What else????

Little Baby Richardson is doing great!  I have another appointment coming up next week and then will have the ultrasound in November to find out who's in there?  It's a toss between boy and girl when you ask our families.  I feel like it's a boy and probably because that was what I was last used to when I was pregnant with Isaiah.  I'm very lucky that I've never been sick, crave healthy foods...not junk food (sounds yucky actually), and sleep well...hence why I don't bog as much...I hit the pillow around 8:00 every night.  This Mama is tired by the end of the day!  To hear the heartbeat at the last appointment was such a comforting feeling to know that this little one is really in there!  We are so fortunate to be blessed with our new little one who will be coming before we know it...it's a gift from God...and how lucky we feel to be given the opportunity to be parents again.  The big change...my stomach is HUGE.  I'll have to post a picture sometime...it's crazy how big you get as you have more kids!

The kids are in their full bunk beds now.  We put these in Ava's room and the baby will take over Isaiah's old room.  We're going to start painting and updating Ava's room soon so Isaiah's not sleeping in a "girl room."  I'm going to attempt a beach type theme...wish me luck!  They've been doing great sleeping together.  In fact usually Ava's up in the night to go to the bathroom or just wakes us up to come and lay with her until she goes back to sleep...but this whole week since Sunday night...they've both slept like rocks and have not woken up once!  Love it!

My Three Happy's
1) Now that football is over for Ballard, Andy is going to continue laying the chocolate brown laminate floor that is in our family room and continue it into the dining room.  I love the original hardwood that is in there, but with 2 soon to be 3 kids and a messy dog...it's so hard to keep clean. 
2)I can say that we've kept the upstairs of our house clean for a whole week...did you read that correctly, CLEAN.  That's a task that is almost impossible to do...but we've kept up with is and it's to nice to walk home to an organized house!
3)My parents have officially planned a 2013 fall trip to Disney World.  We are beyond excited.  It will be so fun to take our new little 7 month old with us to experience it for the first time.  We can't wait!
4)...okay...have to have a 4th happy.  I'm sure most of you read my sister's blog.  She had an early ultrasound and found out she's having another girl.  We're so excited for her and her family.  Another precious Larsen girl on the way.  Miss Isabelle is super excited about it.
5)One last one...the Ankeny craft fair is 2 weeks away.  Love that place and Ava wants to go for the first time with my Mom and I.  Isaiah will probably go with Andy to the ISU football game.  He's all boy and not really into that stuff. 

My Favorite:
Soups...enough said. Soups have sounded amazing to me lately, and it doesn't matter what kind: French Onion, tomato basil, vegetable, cheesy potato...you name it, I'll eat it!

*****Alert******  Before Halloween I've heard that there is a creature named "The Candy Corn Bandit" that will be coming to our house to play tricks on the kids and to leave little gifts up until Halloween.  You may remember his cousin "The Sweetheart Snatcher" from Valentine's Day.  We'll be keeping an eye out for this little candy corn critter that creates mischief and trouble in our house at night.  The kids don't know about his yet...so shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.

Happy Saturday!