Days with the Dorans

It is the third year that we have dressed in "theme" for Halloween and I have to admit that it is such a fun tradition for me and I do hope that the kids choose to continue it.  This year, it was all about Star Wars.  I also got a GREAT mask for Jeff to be Darth Vader (and a kid Jedi costume for me because it was cheaper).  We had plenty of light sabers and accessories around the house so it was a perfect choice for our family!  Ali's good friend lives kiddy-corner from us so Al was very excited that they could go trick-or-treating together (of course Joe now has decided that next year he has to have some of his friends come join us).  Sarah and her cousin and fam came along and we hit the streets for some treats.  Sean was great!  He was really into it this year and went to every house the Bigs went to (though always a few steps behind).  They got a lot of compliments on their costumes which was fun.  We ran into other paren...

Today was the BEST HALLOWEEN EVER!  Since my classroom Halloween Party was last Friday, I actually got to go to MY kids' parties... (something as a teacher I never get to do).  I came home. Sat. Sat some more~ and had lunch in my quiet house and that in itself was heaven. Life has been so busy this season, but I did manage to do some fun things (that I haven't yet mentioned) with the kids this Halloween season.  I added a picture above of how I displayed some of the art stuff we did this season (ghost feet paintings and spider hand paintings).  We also made light up ghosts (milk cartons & glow-sticks) and monster eyes (toilet paper rolls with eyes cut out of them and glow sticks stuck in them to hide in the bushes).  I was also feeling crafty so put some pineapple, mandarin oranges and cool whip in some old glasses I got from my Auntie for some 'candy corn' dessert.  Just having that hour off (from ALL kids) was wonderful!  Of course, going...

The kids have been so excited to carve their pumpkins. I have felt sick and so today I took the kids to Sunday School and came right back home for a nap.  When Jeff got home from church, Al was off to play with a friend and it wasn't until she came back that we FINALLY started the gutting.  I always gut the pumpkins, but having no energy, after opening Ali's, I was spent so Jeff helped.  Sean really didn't want his pumpkin cut, but finally the Bigs talked him into it.  He didn't touch the pumpkin at all though and for some reason I didn't put it in his hands like I have for the others in year's past (probably because I'm not thinking straight and so spent).  Z and Al didn't really want to gut their pumpkins either.  In fact it was mostly Joey and I (again) that gutted all the pumpkins and separated flesh from seed (Joe loves seeds just as much as I do).  The two of us talked and worked and every now and then Al and Z would come and preten...

After deciding we needed to find a new family farm for our hayrides and pumpkins, I turned to one of many suggestions left by friends on Facebook.  Jeff had practice at church and my dad was going to a football game so I loaded up the kids, picked up my mom and we were off.  I had to stop at the bank (and for dinner and gas) so by the time we got there it was dark. I wondered if I had made a mistake by bringing everyone out so late, but you can tell by Z's face that it was well worth the drive!  There were tons of cars there but the way it was set up it hardly felt crowded!  All of their kid 'stuff' was free.  They had live animals all in areas based on storybooks (the rabbits were Peter Rabbit, the goats were the Three Billy Goats Gruff... you get the idea).  There was a track of little pedal tractors that the kids could ride around on, slides and all sorts of things for them to play on.  They could have stayed there forever but they really wa...

We have been so busy this fall.  We literally haven't had a single day off in... I don't know how long!  Halloween is less than a week away and we don't even have pumpkins yet! So with Ali's dance not starting until 7:30 and a BEAUTIFUL fall day, we decided to head out to our favorite pumpkin patch for our annual picture, a hayride and some pumpkins.  Sean and I met Jeff, the Bigs and my folks there. They were already eating donuts and splitting a half gallon of cider ($12.50 OUCH). In years past, Jeff used to go to Long's (the farm) quite often for their donuts and cider but with their major increase in prices the last couple years, we haven't been going and this was our first and only trip of the season. As always, after our treats, we sat down for a family photo.  It was actually quite perfect (as perfect as our family can get).  Sean was happy to be at the "Puckin Patch" and for once he seemed to just sit and smile for a while.  It wa...