Potter's Halloween parade

The little kids and I went to see Potter's Halloween parade at school.  Here is Potter with his teacher, Mr. Henderson, dressed up like the Joker.  Potter decided to dress up this year at a black king chess piece.  I have better pictures of his costume, so read on!!

Molly's Halloween Party at RDN

On Halloween I was asked to substitute in Molly's class, as one of the regular teachers was out with an ill child.  It was so much fun, a great day to be in her classroom, with reading the kids lots of Halloween books, getting their costumes on, and the having the celebration with all the classes in the Big Room.  Sadly, this meant that I couldn't be in Caleb's class at all, but I don't think he minded at all.  I couldn't even get him to wear a costume at school so he went as himself.  Molly, on the other hand, took great joy in dressing up as a black cat, complete with face paint.  There were so many adorable costumes, lots of pirates this year, that it was hard not to post way more pictures of the class.  Each class then headed back to their respective rooms and had lots and lots of treats and drinks!  Such a fun day at preschool!!

Loving sibs....

This makes parenting worthwhile, when you finally catch the children both smiling and having a good love on one another.  (I am sure that within minutes of this photo, chaos ensued).  But who am I to be a pessimist?? 

Jackson's Pumpkin Farm with Daddy

While I spent several days in Buffalo with Granny and Granddad at the hospital, Dave and the kids managed to find plenty of fun things to do.  They made a second trip to Jackson's to actually get a pumpkin to carve before Halloween (which at this point was about 4 days away) and to also visit the animals and play in the bounce houses one more time.  I think they succeeded in having plenty of fall fun!!

Trooper

We found out a few weeks ago that Trooper has a tumor on his spleen that surgery will almost certainly not correct, or that Trooper will be able to survive through.  We are treasuring every moment that we have with him until the day comes for us to make that very rough decision.  The children have been even more attentive to him than usual, as evidenced here by Potter sharing some laughs with him.

Clark family loss

Dave's mom, Netsy Clark, passed away on November 5th, after a short battle with cancer.  

I have many photos and memories from the past few weeks to share.  I know you'll understand my delay in getting things back up to speed.  I will have many photos to share of our family from the week that we all spent together following Mom's death.  

Please check back again soon.  Many thanks for all the prayers and support you have provided to our family over the past few months.

We had our first fire of the season last Monday.  The kids have been waiting for this, as we had the chimney sweep out a couple of weeks ago, but had not ordered the wood.   They love to help wad up the paper and watch the fire catch.  And now that it has been cool outside, sitting by a toasty fire is such a treat.  

Fall leaves

A continuation of the raking that was done last weekend.  Sadly, looking at the backyard now, it looks like we never touched one single leaf!!

Backyard fall fun!

Last weekend was gorgeous and we spent a great deal of time outside in the backyard playing, raking and goofing off.  The dog just liked being around us and the kids loved jumping in huge piles of leaves.  They did some raking as well, but mostly were just running around like crazy.  Even Dave managed to mess up my pile of leaves!!

Making applesauce

After picking apples when Grandpa and Grandma came to visit, Dave and Potter decided to make a huge batch of applesauce.  It is so delicious!!

Family portrait

Right before my parents left, we got everyone (well, almost everyone) in a group shot.  What a great visit we had with them!

Another playground

Enjoy my 'slide show'.  Ha - clever me!!!

Waiting for and feeding the geese

When we got to Grippen, the geese were way, way, way down the river.  Once they saw the group of us hanging around on the riverbank, they figured out we had the goods they wanted and they headed down to us.  Caleb got very excited when he saw the 50+ geese coming towards us.  They had all been throwing rocks in the river, but I helped them realize that geese don't like being pelted while they are eating, it is bad for their digestion.   All of the kids had a good time socializing with the geese.  Grandpa even got a couple of the geese to eat the bread out of his hand, as did I.  This is such a nice outing.  And I don't think the geese had been fed for a while, as they scarfed down everything that we brought in record time.

Apple Hills

We took the kids, with Grandma and Grandpa, and met Dave at Apple Hills yesterday afternoon, despite the fact that the sky was getting blacker and blacker on our way there.  It didn't end up raining and we were able to pick a bunch of Ida Reds, which were quickly turned into a pie once we got home.  It is quicker to get the amount of apples that you needs instead of say, blueberries, but the kids thought it was fun anyway.  We have consumed all but one slice of the pie in less than 24 hours, so I may be making another one tonight. 

Playground time

Quick trip to African Road playground, a favorite.  

Backyard fun

Everyone found something to do in the backyard.  Grandpa showed off his soccer skills with the Spongebob ball.  

Bike ridin'

Caleb was not initially wanting to ride his big wheel bike.  Things turned around quickly though and then he was off down the sidewalk with a little backwards glance.  Luckily, Grandpa had a portable tire inflater in his car, so he was able to pump up Molly and Potter's tires, which made them have a much smoother ride.  Molly is really getting the hang of riding with her training wheels, although she really needs a helmet.  Potter of course, can ride all over, and they were all happy that Grandpa was around to watch, supervise and help out.