2013 Halloween

With practices and homework we were running out of time to carve pumpkins this year.  Luckily Wednesday nights are free for us, so we did it the night before Halloween.  As with last year Andrew and Claire could not wait to start and Grant was disgusted by the whole thing.  Andrew and Claire did a lot of the work themselves this year.  They started with cutting around the stem.

 

 

This is the part that Grant really hates - scooping out the guts.

 

Then onto the fun part - carving.  First they drew their faces on the fronts of the pumpkins.  They came up with the faces themselves.

 

 

Claire got one of the eyes out all by herself.

 

Andrew was very serious about carving his pumpkin and getting it just right.

 

Then out came Claire's pumpkin's mouth.  She only needed a little bit of help in the corners, but otherwise did most of the carving herself.

 

Grant wanted back in the activity when it was time for pictures.

 

These pictures are a bit out of order, but you won't mind, right?  The Saturday before Halloween we had a Fall Festival party at the church.  The kids look forward to the food and the games every year.  I went around the games with Grant, so I didn't really get any pictures of Andrew and Claire, sorry!  First up was a fishing game.  They put the line over the plastic and then a prize magically appears on the line.

 

Grant and his friend Julia loved this game where they tried to eat donuts off of a string. 

 

Finally we had to get some help for Grant.  He was do determined to get his donut!

 

 

Next up was miniature golf, or as Grant plays it miniature baseball.

 

Grant really liked the beanbag toss.  He did this game a few times.

 

I painted this lovely pumpkin on his cheek.  Julia got hearts on her cheek so Grant also got hearts on his other cheek.

 

Andrew showed up to play the cake walk.  They each got to play enough to get a mini cupcake.

 

Then onto the big day!  This year Grant was a fireman, Andrew was an Air Force pilot and Claire was a cowgirl.  She really wanted this pink hat when we were in Wyoming.  I told her that she could get it if she was a cowgirl for Halloween.  My mom made her super cute costume again this year. 

 

Grant's daycare did a costume parade and games for the kids at lunch time. 

 

 

They walked in the backyard and waved at everyone.

We tried our best to get a group picture of everyone.  Grant plays the most with the boy to his right, Ian and the other fireman, Kai.  The daycare is run by Julie on the far right and her two daughters Chelsea and Rachel.

 

Of all of the games and things to play with Grant went through this tube the most.  He thought this was so, so fun. 

 

His hat is on backwards, but he was trying the bean bag toss.

 

Playing in this tent was quite popular.

 

Then at 1:30 Andrew and Claire had their costume parade at school.  Claire apparently forgot to wear her hat in the parade.  I'm not sure you can really tell what she is without the hat.

 

Andrew loved his costume because it was easy to put on and because of the sunglasses.

 

I took them to Krispy Kreme for free donuts (if you were wearing a costume). 

Claire specifically wanted me to take a picture of her cool pumpkin donut.  It was actually just a regular donut that they hadn't cut the hole out of and then frosted it.

We went trick or treating in a neighborhood nearby.  We went with Grant's friend Julia.  We didn't think that Grant would last the whole time but he did.  He loved getting more and more candy and didn't complain at all.  When we got home they sorted and traded candy.  Overall, it was a very successful Halloween!

The pumpkin patch

On a recent Saturday we were lucky enough to have all of the games in the morning so we had a free afternoon.  We decided to seize the opportunity to go the pumpkin patch.  we got there just in time for the beginning of a hay ride.  Grant really loves this part of the visit because it is pulled by a big tractor.

 

Getting Grant to pose for pictures is still a challenge.  He always looks like he is in pain.

 

Headed out to search for pumpkins.  There were fights over who got to push the wheelbarrow.

 

As always, we have the rule that they have to be able to lift their pumpkin into the wheelbarrow.  If they can't do that then the pumpkin is too heavy. 

 

 

Claire almost dropped hers.

 

Grant picked his up but needed some help getting it into the wheelbarrow.  They picked out their pumpkins quite quickly.  Andrew is good at looking for one with the perfect carving surface.  He also gives advice to Andrew and Claire about pumpkin selection.

 

Getting all loaded up. 

Claire thought that she could still push the wheelbarrow, but Danny had to do it.

 

We went and looked at the different colored and shaped pumpkins.

 

This one was shaped like a crown.

 

This one kind of looks like a claw holding a ball.

 

Grant would not look at me for this picture.  He would only hold this little pumpkin and not any of the funny shaped ones.

 

One last pose.  They were very excited to talk about the pumpkins and ideas for how they would carve them.  When we got them home they arranged them just so on the front porch.

Grant is playing soccer!

My friend BreAnn told me that she was interested in signing her daughter up for Kidz Love Soccer which is a parent participation program for kids Grant's age.  It was going to be challenge with Andrew's baseball schedule and Claire's soccer schedule.  However, I knew that Grant would love having something to call his own.  Plus he loves playing soccer in the backyard.  So, we signed him up for the class with his friend Julia.  The class is for half an hour every Saturday. As you can tell here, he was a little nervous on the first day.  At the beginning of class, the coach blows the whistle and the kids line up on the orange circle.

 

 

The idea is for the kids to learn to play soccer while playing other games.  At the beginning of practice they play a game with colors involving the ball.  For example, they have to dribble the ball to the blue flag. 

 

She was demonstrating what to do at each flag.  The idea is that when they hold the cards and work on dribbling the ball, they won't want to use their hands to move the ball.  I was surprised to see how the kids first thought is to try to steer the ball with their hands rather than their feet.

 

She also taught them the soccer stance.  When they are on the orange line with the ball they are supposed to stand like this.

 

 

 

Off to try out the new skills!

 

Oops, the no hands rule isn't going over very well.

 

 

Here are Grant and Julia during their favorite part of practice -water break.

 

The next practice Danny got to the be the helper parent so I could take some pictures.  It was hot this day and Grant didn't really want to run around.  They are headed towards one of the flags.

 

I love these two pictures because they are so Grant.  Danny is trying to tell him to put the ball down and kick it with his feet rather than carry it around with his hands.

 

Then in the next frame Danny has given up and Grant has won.  There will be no dribbling of the ball today.  He was going to carry it back to the orange circle no matter what.

 

He finally got into things when they used the ball to knock over cones.  The games they use to teach the kids are really great.  They do colors and shapes with the games so that kids this age can really understand.

 

A big kick to knock over the cone!

 

At the end of every practice, they get to kick goals.  Here are Grant and Julia kicking the ball in.

 

A break away shot from Grant...

 

...with a big kick to score a goal!

 

Except when it has been hot, Grant really likes his class.  He asks all week if it is time for his class yet.  He has definitely improved and is using his hands less, but everyone once in a while he still grabs the ball.