Happy Halloween

I hope everyone had a happy and safe Halloween! We enjoyed a weekend full of festivities with a Halloween party Saturday night, a fall festival at church on Sunday, and trick-or-treating tonight! I have to say, I think I am Halloweened out! I've got a lot to post this week, so stay tuned. (Mom, I promise I will post our MO fall festival pictures soon!)

R-E-S-P-E-C-T

I'm a little proud! I don't like to be braggy, but isn't that a little part of my mom job, at least sometimes?!? Anyway, I am so proud of both girls for earning the character award for their class the first month it was given. I know they were both anxious about starting a new school this year, but probably not quite as anxious as I was. I am so glad to see that they are both adjusting well, and behaving as they should.

Lemonade and Cookies

Our neighborhood had it's garage sale this month, and for the first time, we were going to be home and able participate. I'm not a fan of having garage sales because I usually can't get myself together enough, but now that I am not working, I thought it may be worth a try. The girls asked all summer long to do a lemonade stand,and I wouldn't let them because we don't live on a very busy street, and I didn't want to sit out there all day. So I thought the garage sale would be a good opportunity for their entrepreneurial spirits to get to work. They sold cookies and lemonade,and sold out of both. But really,who could resist those cute, sleepy faces and messy haired little girls? They had a great time making posters for their stand and serving the customers. They each walked away with about $20 and couldn't have been happier!

Pumpkin Patch

Well, yet again, I am way behind. My days are too short, and my to do lists are too long! (just like yours I'm sure) October has been a very busy month full of fun, so I guess I can't complain. We were fortunate enough to have Kevin's mom come for a visit early in October, and she got to join us for our annual trip to the Porter pumpkin patch. I have to stop taking and keeping hundreds of photos from each event because then it takes me way to long to go through them. Therefore, I'm only posting a few that I quickly grabbed so I can play a little catch up today. We had a great time as usual, and of course, picked out lots of pumpkins!

Our First Camping Adventure-Bedtime

The girls couldn't wait to get their pajamas on and sit by the fire. So here they are in their eclectic evening wear.

Kevin and Lincoln singing This Little Light of Mine! I've said before, the boy needs routine.

The girls trying to get in a game of uno before heading to bed.

Londyn bundled up and ready for a fun night in the tent!

Skylar trying to get warm before crashing for the night.

And one of the final pictures from our trip cuddling on daddy's lap trying to stay warm on chilly morning. Lucky for you, this is the final camping trip post! We really had a great time! Not because everything was perfect, we were completely prepared, or had any idea what we were doing. We had zero expectation, and were just focused on spending time having fun together! It worked! I think everyone thoroughly enjoyed our one night camping adventure!

Our First Camping Trip-The Campfire

We may be the only campers that use duraflame fire logs to start a camp fire, but you know, whatever works. (And just so you know, we didn't go out and buy these logs, they were left over from last winter's storm) However, we figured out these are not actually supposed to be used for cooking, so if you were thinking it was a good idea, it wasn't. It didn't work. I mean, it started the fire, but if you try to roast a hot dog using a duraflame log, it starts to look a little odd. Odd enough for smart people like us to stop and not let our children eat the roasted hot dogs. We then read the warnings on the side, and sure enough, they're not to be used for cooking. Next time we'll go the traditional route and learn to start a real camp fire with lighter fluid and actual wood.

The boy downed three cold hot dogs before I could get even one roasted for him! He must have been starving.

Lincoln was not so interested in the smores, but was quite excited about the Hershey's bar.

Skylar was practicing her creative photography skills, she apparently likes this diagonal angle.

Our First Camping Adventure-Fishing

Despite the title of this post, you will not see any fish. We didn't actually catch any. It's all about the process I suppose. Thankfully, no one had any expectations, so it was still a fun way to spend an hour or so. Maybe we'll have better luck next time.

I can't believe she was so eager to get a hold of the worm. I was impressed.

Lincolnl wasn't quite sure what to think about the worms, but he did spend some time observing.

Our First Camping Trip-On the dock

This was a completely relaxing way to spend a Saturday. It was a gorgeous day outside. The temperatures were perfect, the sun was shining, and little to no wind. After we played around in the tent, we hung out at the dock for a while waiting to take a boat ride around the lake. We also had a bite to eat considering we forgot the ham and bread for the sandwiches. I remembered the cheese and condiments. That counts for something, right?!?! Londyn flipped around a little as usual, and the picture of Lincoln really has nothing to do with this post, but I left it in anyway.

Getting ready for an ever so exciting boat ride. Londyn kept seeing the speedier boats go by wondering why we couldn't ride on those. They were also less than thrilled with the stylish life jackets they were required to sport while on the water. Despite those things, we all still managed to enjoy a few minutes out on the water.

Our First Camping Trip-Hanging Out

We spent most of the day Saturday just hanging out. After the tent was set up, they wanted to spend some time playing inside. Londyn is working on a book that she started before she left, and Skylar chose to spend her time doing a little reading. There's always time for a little language arts.

Lincoln decided to see how messy he could get, and we just let him go. He was having a great time!

Our First Camping Trip-The Tent

Well, I'm breaking our first camping adventure up into several posts because I may have come home with tons of pictures (none that are that great, but I love them because everyone was so happy) and am tired of making collages. So, for starters, we have the tent assembly post. When I asked Kevin how long he thought it would take to put up the tent, he said twenty minutes. I may have laughed a little. I was proud of him, however, that he managed to get it up in about an hour. I was secretly afraid we wouldn't get it put up at all and would end up begging to rent a cabin. I underestimated him. Anyway, he had lots of help, and the kids were beside themselves with excitement when he was finished! I'm pretty sure we could have just hung out inside the tent for the rest of the day and they would have thought it was a great trip. Way to go Kevin!

Now let me finish by saying that we came on this trip with a tent, 3 sleeping bags, and we bought air mattresses on our way to the campsite. We purchased camping equipment last spring, and never have made time to go. We are not experienced campers. Kevin went camping a lot as a kid, but I don't think he quite had a grasp on the planning and work that is also involved. Anyway, camping looked like a lot of work to me, and not particularly my style of getaway. But, we decided to do it as simply as possible, and it worked out pretty well for a fly by the seat of your pants, one night adventure. I will say that there is no better way to learn what you may need for a camping trip than to forget it the first time. I'm all about learning from your mistakes, and let's just say our trip provided many learning opportunities. We still survived and had a great time just being together without the usual distractions.