Fall :-)

Fall is here.  Some days are warm and sunny, some are chilly! We seem to be collecting a lot of pumpkins this year!

 Halloween just wouldn't be the same without our witch. So funny to think that Gage used to be scared of her!

 Posing with the pumpkins

 Crazy eyeball man!

 Riding bikes...

 Or, more specifically, riding bikes with the sole intent of making skidmarks on the driveway!

 Still nice enough to be outside swinging!

 And playing in our spider-infested playset!

  Craft season is about to get into full swing.  Here are our mummy toilet paper rolls :-)

And our spooky "lipstick" ghosts!

Fun run

Today was a fun run at school. The goal was for the kids to run 35 laps..and both of them did it!  

2nd grade was up first. Savannahs class named themselves the Funky Fowlers.

Gage's class named themselves the Rhodes Rockers. 

He was so proud that he ran all 35 laps.

glad it was a beautiful fall day for this and that I was able to be there to cheer them on :-)

Green stripe

I thought that karate people went up in "belts" as they advanced. But..today Gage got a green stripe on his belt. So...apparently there are steps for stripes in between belts!

Smidge

Savannah always wants to hold Smidge. But...smidge doesn't like anyone but me to hold her. She will sometimes snuggle the kids when they are sleeping - I often catch her snuggling Gage at night. She's finicky. So...savannah was very excited that she was able to hold smidge for a minute. Literally, one minute. You can see how happy smidge looks about this ;-)

Mummy

We mummied the door for a Sunday morning craft project!

Gage's first field trip

Gage's first field trip was great!!! I am so glad I was able to be there for it. 

Instead of face painting...Gage opted for arm painting!

They had a blast on the slide. To kids would go in at a time, and as they climbed the wall...the kids would all tell "go Gage go Gage go Gage" for every kid who went in. Super cute :-)

Here is Gage and his friend Collin, riding out to the pumpkin patch.

His prized pumpkin...

So...the kids got a chance to fish...with cane pokes!! What?! I thought cane pokes were from they times of Huck Finn! But...it turns out that people in the south still use cane poles all the time. The other moms were shocked that I had never fished with one..and that I thought they were not used today. Hmm...learn something new every day.

Finally, we stopped by to pet a calf. Then...Gage decided he was hot, tired, and ready to hit the road. So, we checked out and headed home. Great day :-)

Fall Festival

Year two of Fall Festival is on the books. It was a huge success. We had 30+ carnival games, face painting, pony rides, a petting zoo, a medivac helicopter (which had to take off about 30 minutes early for a call, which the kids thought was super cool!), snow cones, and all sorts of fun stuff.

These little rats were super cute...and that's not something I ever expected myslelf to say. I loved how they kept peeking out of their little bins.

We had the chick fil a cow, sparky the fire dog..and all sorts of fun!

The kids were doing gymnastics courses, digging for plastic spiders in piles of hay, finding jewels and pirate treasure buried in the sand. 

And now...mommy is very glad it s over!!!

Addict!

Hello, my name is Gage, and I am addicted to Pepperidge Farms raisin cinnamon bread. It is the only thing I want to eat for breakfast and dinner every single day since I tasted it last week. This morning I ate three pieces for breakfast. I cannot get enough of this stuff. If I could figure out how to toast and butter it for myself at school, I would eat it for lunch every day too. 

Naked letters

Just hanging out after a bath - naked - and writing word and drawing our family on the mirror.

Pumpkins!

The high today is 66! Yes! What a treat. As soon as I saw the forecast I knew it was a pumpkin patch kind of day. 

First stop..the petting area. Although kids were running around like nuts trying to grab bunnies..savannah (aka the bunny whisperer) had no trouble picking up bunnies...

Gage loved this little white bunny

Mommy loved this sweet baby donkey who was so soft and fuzzy!

Pony rides too

A corn maze. We could not find the exit!! We ended up exiting at the entrance. 

 They played in the corn crib!

And...when they got home and they took their shoes off...there was a trail of corn kernels down the hallway.

Gage did some Spider-Man moves in th bounce house!

They climbed tire mountain..

And went down the big slide

Gage went down too...but he was a little (lot) scared. He also hurt his tush when he flew out..this 20 food slide was enough for him...we would not try the 40 foot slide (savannah did)!

They climes hay mountain..

All that playing makes kids hungry for cupcakes ;-)

We wrapped up with a pumpkin patch and a hayride!

Fun fun fun day!

"Fall" has arrived

Well...the weather finally "cooled off" to 82 the other day (but..it was back up to 92 today) and our kids are actually playing outside!! Touch football. Baseball. Frisbee. And riding a toy truck down the hill.  So good to see them OUTside!!!

Helper!

Look at who was a big helper today at Target!!! He loaded up three or four bags on one arm and said "mama, I'm weawy stwomg, aren't i?" all the way out to the car :-)