Halloween at the Pumpkin Patch

I love Fall and the fun of farms and pumpkin patches. The kids loved swinging on the big tire swings, and running through the hay maze. They kept racing to see who could finish first.

They also loved feeding and petting the animals

And of course, the tractor ride to pick out a pumpkin.

We all got to show off the pumpkin we picked out of the patch.  Or course, I thought my 'pumpkin" was the absolute cutest and best pumpkin there :)

Getting all dressed up for Halloween.  Tionne and Kimball were both Spiderman, Errie was snow white and Joey was Darth Vader.

Oh the fun of carving those pumpkins

Motherhood

This is sweet little Errie's letter that she wrote to her mom (with the help of her therapist Celina Tolano). Poor Errie would come back so sad and heartbroken when she would go to a parent visit and her mom just wouldn't show up.
It taught me a lot about how critical mothers are. It may seem like we're just there all the time, not doing anything too amazing. But Just being there--That's the amazing part. We are ALWAYS there for them!  Even if it may not be monumental. They have that constant assurity and safty to fall back on.
One day after another dissapointment of her mom not showing up for a visit, I tried to talk with Errie to help her get her feelings out.  She said looked at me at said, "I'm really mad at my mom for not coming, but I'm not mad at you mom cause you're always here with me."
To me, that solidified what motherhood means. The precious, sacred opportunity to get to teach these sweet children that they are loved. To be an earthly reflection of the constant love of our Savior and Father in Heaven. I truly believe that if they can feel our love and consistently, they will be better able to feel and know that Heavenly Father is ALWAYS there for them.

Treats, Duck hunting and clothes

One Day when Errie and Tionne were at their parent visit, I got some supplies for Joey and Kimball to have a fun party at home (they always felt like they got the raw end of the deal when E and T got lots of treats/toys at their parent visit, and all Joey and Kimnall got was a strict mom :).
So they got to play something new AND eat candy at the same time!  it was fun to see their creations.

There was a road show near our house one Saturday so we took the kids to see the old cars and got to talk with the firemen/women.

Kimball all slicked up for his 50's day at school to celebrate the 50th day of school.

Peter and Joey went duck hunting for the first time with his coresident Joe, They had a blast and were able to get a few ducks. Peter came and took the breast meat and made fajitas out of it. It was actually pretty good. The kids liked watching the butchering process.

duck fajitas

Joe's third grade project about snakes

This picture cracks me up and was  great visual for the stark contrast in some aspects of Joey and Kimball's personalities. Kimball's pile of school clothes laid out for the next day is on the right, Joey's on the left. Kimball would meticulously fold and lay out each item in a very neat pile. Joey would grab something out of the drawer and throw it in a crumpled pile.Kimball went through a phase of being very particular about things being neat and in order--like his place setting for dinner had to be in the perfect order, just how he liked it.
Also in this picture, is the patched over hole Joey made in the wall. He was sitting in his room and I heard a loud crash. I came in and he was sitting on the floor holding his head and there was a big hole int he wall. Apparently he was sitting there playing and fell forward and smashed the wall. Like I've always thought, he's got a hard head :)