A Window into Warnerland: Autumn Activities

Is fall not the best time of year?! As if the weather and beautiful leaves were not refreshing enough, it seems like there is always something to look forward to in this new world of 'life with kids'.

I remember that before kids, I would carve a pumpkin each year and literally spend 30 minutes getting it cleaned out completely before spending another hour and a half or more carving an artistic face into it. Now it's a race to keep attention (and to keep orange pulp from traveling around the house!) This year, I had to laugh out loud as the girls' differences showed themselves so clearly. After the top was cut off, I tried to get the girls to pull the pulp out. Aly touched it with the tips of about two fingers and then sat back and said, "I'll just sit here until we make the face. I don't want to get messy." Caroline, on the other hand, had her entire arm to her shoulder in the pumpkin (I had already stripped her down...I know my daughter!) As I was picking seeds out of the pulp, I heard a muffled little voice and looked over to find her head in the pumpkin, singing a little song! I looked over at Aly who just smiled and said, "Caroline's crazy."-- a typical response to her little sister!

The girls' school had "Farm Day" last Friday. The kids were encouraged to dress up as cowboys/girls or farmers. Aly and Caroline got in the car the day before and announced that they were going to be a kitty and a duckie. This actually worked out well for me, as we don't own boots, overalls, hats, or anything so "un-princess-like". This is what we came up with:

The Kitty and the Duckie

Shakin' those little tail-feathers

A group of friends and I have been scheduling a visit to a great pumpkin patch/ corn maze farm just outside of town for almost a month. It seems that our plan has been deterred each Friday with rain. We finally made it last week, just in the knick of Halloween-time! It was cold, crowded, and REALLY windy, but the kids all had a blast! And once I was home with 2 napping girls and a hot cup of tea, I could admit that I had a great time too!

Hayride

The wind-blown kids

And finally Halloween. This is definitely the year that the girls "get" what was going on, and they
had one of the longest days having to wait. I woke up with a case of pink-eye: my eye was so crusted-over and swollen that I fit the day well as a ghoul! Aly wanted to be a ballerina, an outfit she's worn 4 days a week for almost a year. So to make her "costume" a little more special, we bought the glitter make-up she's been eyeing on the Halloween aisle of Wal-mart for a month now. They were definitely more excited about wearing the make-up than any other part of the Halloween festivities!

Patiently waiting for the big moment