Days with the Dorans

This was a GREAT Halloween full of wonderful blog fodder, thanks to my children's HILARIOUS one liners! Before I get to that, I should mention that (as has become tradition) my folks' came over so that my mom could hand out candy while Jeff, my dad and I went with the kids trick-or-treating. This was our second year dressing in "theme" and it was a HUGE hit. The kids got compliments at nearly every home they went to as well as from passersby. I also painted their faces this year which was fun for me(well... I painted 3/4 of them... Al did opt for some red on her cheeks). Sean started off in the wagon which was good. We started down our street heading to my Nan's and hitting all the houses on one side of the street on the way (we hit the other side on the way back). After a few houses, Zach said, "Let's go to this neighbor's house." Joe said, "They're not our neighbor really." To which Ali replied, "Joe... Don't you ...

As a teacher, I feel sad sometimes that I miss so many of my kids' parties and fun school activities. Thankfully, I have a GREAT mom. There is a LONG list of reasons why I love my mom. Among them is that she loves me so much she braves an elementary school on Halloween (not a fun thing to do) with her camera in hand so I can have a taste of what it was like for my Bigs. Thanks Mom! I love you! Ali in the parade Turning a friend into a mummy Decorating a cookie My favorite second grader. Making a super cute craft (It is a toilet paper roll wrapped like a pumpkin.) And of course, eating some treats!

The Bigs were so excited Sunday to FINALLY carve their pumpkins! We listened to some "Halloween" music while they worked. I did all the cutting this year, but they designed their faces (more on that later). As they were working, I read my blog from last year regarding pumpkin carving and learned that Joe was the only one that really gutted his whole pumpkin. Hearing this made my competitive little middles determined to get the job done! Though Joe was the first to gut his entire pumpkin (this is a picture of the ' unpumpkinish ' looking pumpkin he could find), the middles were quite resilient and stuck to the job at hand! Al had a pretty big pumpkin, but she dug right in and got just about every last seed out of there on her own. All the kids have discovered my love of pumpkin seeds, and sadly... so has Jeff (I liked it better when he didn't like them... more for ME!). She designed her pumpkin's face this year and was very excited about it (especially ...

Our Saturdays are always busy with soccer but this Saturday we also had the Pumpkin Festival at the Littles ' school and with all our focus on the Bigs (or rather their activities) it was time to do something for the Littles . I was worried the Bigs wouldn't want to go to a little kid party, but since it involved dressing up they were all about it. We didn't put on any make-up because we had soccer later and Jeff and I only put the head-wear of our costumes on (he being the wizard and myself the witch- and contrary to what my students may think, I did not dye my hair dark for Halloween.). Ali stayed glued to my side but the boys had a great time! Joe loved that he got a little pumpkin to decorate and Z had fun putting stickers on a pumpkin. Sean spent all of his time playing a ball game (figures). They did all of this while Al and I were watching a magic show. Ali loved the magic show, though I was tired after remembering the same show (and jokes) from the past year...

Tomorrow is the yearly Pumpkin Festival at the Littles' school. I am excited for everyone to wear their costumes even though it will be a busy day going there and then off to soccer games all day and finally a night with friends for Jeff and I with NO KIDS (can't wait for that). I offered to make play dough for the Pumpkin Festival. It is given away as one of the prizes for the kids. Jeff had practice at church, so I waited until Sean was in bed to put my troops to work! They were thrilled to help out and as they worked, they talked about "Dorans' Play Dough Factory" and it seemed to work that way- like a well-oiled machine. The first batch the middles helped mix up but after that I did all the mixing and cooking while the 3 Bigs rolled the dough into balls and put them in little sandwich bags. I laughed at Joe documenting all the happenings. He took this picture of all the different colors we made as well as pictures of his sibs playing with the dough, roll...

The kids were very excited yesterday to receive a box in the mail because when they receive a box in the mail it means one thing... GRANDMA! It has become a bit of tradition that Jeff's mom sends the kids fun little care-packages on the holidays full of fun little games, books and homemade delicious treats! I was out getting my hair colored (dark) and then Jeff took Joe to soccer practice so by the time they opened the package they had already showered, brushed teeth, read books and were eager to check out the loot. I didn't even know that the package had come and was surprised when Jeff told them they had to wait for me to get home. I told them they had to clean their rooms before opening anything and while I didn't check under beds, I saw carpet so I was happy... Of course one of the Dorans isn't really aware of the excitement that comes with one of Grandma's packages. It worked out fine because I was giving Sean a bath while the 3 Bigs were checking out t...

After a very long day, it was time to head back to the farm to go on a hayride and get our pumpkins. Thankfully (unlike their rip-off for the playground) they were running a HUGE deal which was $1 hayrides and $5 pumpkins. Unfortunately (or perhaps fortunately) for Jeff, he couldn't join us. He spent all night sick and I spent the night on the couch. I feel horrible for him remembering how MISERABLE I was- but I (thankfully) had a weekend to try to get back to functioning... At least now that nasty flu has gone through the entire family never to come back again (I hope). Jeff spent all day sleeping so it was good for the kids and I to get out of the house and let him continue sleeping! Sean had a great day at my folks' (my mom took the Littles back to their place to watch them since Jeff was home sick), but it seemed once we got to the farm, he decided all his 'goodness' was used up and it was time to be "Terrible Two". Thankfully once we got in the wa...

Ah... Fall! It is my favorite season~ beautiful colors, wonderful smells, crisp air, warm donuts, cooked pumpkin seeds... I also think "Family Picture" when fall arrives. We have pictures of our family of three when Joe was just a month old and have done it every year since (many posted on this blog). We always go to a family farm in our town and this year was no different. It seems over the years the little farm has grown, and grown and grown. I am happy for their booming business. We usually stay away on weekends for that reason but yesterday the weather was just too beautiful, so we loaded up the troops and were off! When we got there it WAS packed. There was no way we were going to wait in line for donuts and cider, but thought we would let the kids play in the playground and see the goats and such. That was until we noticed that our usual 'free' farm was now $8 PER PERSON! So with my mom (who snaps the pictures) that would have cost us over $50! (That...