Pumpkin Partaaay!

It's taken me awhile, but I had to post pictures of Dave and Becky's (a.k.a. Bebo and Uncle Bones) pumpkin party last Sunday. Bebo went all out, and we had so much fun....

Graveyard Cake

Bebo herself

Peyton gets creative at the craft table.

Libby discovers pipe cleaners.

Contemplating her next move.

Plinko!

Girls just wanna have fun....

Peekin' in on the garden.

Shawn and Shane make a future business deal.

Someone's had too much juice box.

Buddy was worn out from all the kids.

Libby crashed upside down on daddy's lap.

Peyton fell asleep on the way home....

....and finished her nap under big sister's wing.

The Monster We've Created

If you know her well, her Halloween costume choice won't surprise you. After trying it on tonight and watching (at least) an hour of various interpretations of the Broadway musical on You Tube, our little star is born. The sun'll come out tomorrow.....

Playing Annie in this year's version of our own trick-or-treat adventure.... Our own little Halloween diva!.... (In this picture she's insisting her audience please get quiet.)

Here she gives a big finish into the microphone which she constructed herself.

Scary, huh? What have we created?

Pumpkin Patch

We were busy this weekend. We went to the pumpkin patch yesterday and today we went to two different parties. As I'm writing this Shane is snuggling in bed with Peyton watching t.v., because she's so exhausted we're trying to temporarily cork the crying so we can make a bedtime plan. It seems to be working for the moment.

Little Miss Independent gets her own water (and ice) from the fridge.

Peyton snuggles with daddy after he introduces her to a dinnertime first, cream corn. Blech.

Snuggly

Heading for the pumpkin patch.

But first, a stop to feed the goats.

The girls rode the cow train by themselves this year....

They were so happy, and so grown up.

As the train took off down the field I surprised myself by getting all teary. It surprised Shane too, and he loved pointing it out because he's usually the one crying. But look at this picture, would you? We just bought the girls a ticket, put them in a barrel behind a four wheeler and without any hesitation they rode off without us. It helps to know they'll have each other, but this was a "bigger picture" moment for me. Libby has friends at school who I've never met. She writes the letter four, which I didn't teach her. She's absorbing things in the world that I'm not a part of, and while I'm thrilled that she's the little sponge she is, I just want to be there to see them soak it all up. And I can't be. At least not always. What if my little sponges soak up the wrong things?

..... So, I guess I keep pouring on the love during our time together, and always be there when the train stops....

...and rest assured I'm not the only one who loves these little girls. Sigh.

Picking sunflower seeds.

Picking LOTS of sunflower seeds.

Navigating the hay maze.

Two little ghouls, and one not-so-little spook.

Done wore out....

....and I am too. So, the pumpkin party pictures will have to wait till tomorrow.

Ram Rod

There's nothing I love better than sweet snuggles from my girls. But in all honesty, I think sleeping with Peyton is the equivalent of having one of these sweet, furry creatures in my bed. Lucky for her she's cute.

Monday, have mercy.

Brrrrr....

Today was a gorgeous fall day, but it's cold when the sun goes down. Not cold enough to kill off the bazillion fleas running rampant all over the valley, but cold enough to warrant long sleeves. Tonight, Peyton chose Libby's coat with faux fur.

Oh. fur. cute.

A Good Week

I took this shot of Libby with her teacher last week when I got to take her to school. She loves her teacher!

This was a good week. I finally started to feel like I was getting (a little) caught up at work (not ahead, mind you. Just not so far behind.) and like I might be able to pull off being a working mom. It's all I ever talk about, I know. It's just that I'm totally caught up my own world over it. I question every minute if I can hack it, and this was a good week.

On Wednesday I picked the girls up and brought them back to school to get some work done. They usually fall asleep in the car and last week it worked out perfectly. I managed to get them from their car seats into the stroller without waking them. Then, I wheeled them into my classroom and turned the radio on to some white noise to drown out any other noise coming from the hallway. They slept this way for about an hour and a half. It was so peaceful. Then, by the time they woke, we were ready to head home.

Crashed.

When we got home I ran a broom over the floor and had the girls get into the corner to get outta my way. The light was so perfect, I set down the broom and grabbed my camera.

We just ordered Libby some new shoes from Zappos. I'm putting Zappos on my list of things I love. I ordered them at 4:30 on Monday. They arrived at 2:00 on Tuesday. Shipping was free. She wore them to pose for a picture and hasn't touched them since. Sigh. I guess Peyton can wear them eventually.

Dr. Peyton listens for a pulse?

Puppet theater. Only it killed my knees to be in there.

Look who's gonna be a junky. Just like her momma.

Thursday night meatloaf by Grammy Jane. We've been eating a ton of sweet corn lately, too. Soooo delish. I do love corn in the fall.

Corny.

Yesterday as we ran errands we came across this HUGE nest on top of a streetlight. The girls were impressed, but we wished we could've seen the birds....

I was going for the shot of my little scientists spellbound by such an enormous nest. What I got instead was a whole bunch of (almost) four year old goofiness caused by pointing my camera lens in her direction. She's a total poser these days.

Peyton takes it all in.

This child WILL NOT keep her clothes on. Every time I turn around someone is naked and needs to be dressed before we can leave to go do anything. And it's not just Shane. The girls are just as bad. Ha! Bah dum bah! Seriously though, I asked her, "Peyton, where are your clothes?" Her reply, "My backpack!"