Smell My Feet

On Wednesday our ward had it's Halloween party complete with trunk-or-treat. Today the kids went trick-or-treating at Sterling office. We got SO much candy that I am glad Halloween is on a Sunday and there will be no more!

I forgot to take pictures of the kids BEFORE they got any candy so this is what I was able to get AFTER the sugar high already commenced...

If you can't tell Griffin is a lion.

And Mesha is a horse (of course!).

You can see them a little better in this picture. Griffin had the hardest time not being able to eat the candy the moment someone gave him a piece. But is was fun! Hooray for Halloween!

Pumpkin Time

We carved our pumpkins for FHE this week. Mesha picked out the shapes for her pumpkins face this year.

Mesha and her pumpkin.She loved to look at the inside through the pumpkin's eye.Griff and the pumpkin carnage.Daddy, Griff, and Griff's finished product.After we were finished we went outside to light the candles and see how they looked. Unfortunately our doorknob is the kind that turns on the inside even if it is locked to the outside. We got locked out. After trying to find a way in for a while we ended up driving over to our landlord's house (a whole 45 seconds away by car) with the kids unstrapped in Sterling's car. He was very nice about it and let us in with no hassle. I'm glad it was a warm night. By the time we got back in however, Mesha went straight to the potty and Griffin needed a diaper change and a bath! Ah life.

The All Important Nap

This is what happens when you have no nap and not enough nap.
I don't know why they don't believe me when I tell them they need to sleep longer!

Pumpkin Patch

We went to a pumpkin patch last weekend. There are SO MANY around here so I chose one that had a free petting zoo. The kids loved it. You could buy little ice cream cones full of animal food and you would have instant friends! The chickens were by far Mesha's favorite. We could hold up our food cone and they would poke their heads through the fence and bite chunks out of the cone. Hilarious. Griffin loved the lose roaming goats. He tried really hard to ride them, I'm glad they didn't ram him. I fed a pig out of my hand. Can you say yuck? My hand was so dirty and smelled so bad after 1 second of contact with that animal's mouth. Gross. Besides that they were cute.

Mesha liked the tractor!

The kids petting a sheep/ram kind of animal (Sterling and I can't figure out how old this thing is. It is small like a baby but those horns make you think otherwise...)

The chickens, oh the chickens!

What is that? I have no idea, but it was cool!

Cute little boy.

At the end of the day we didn't get any pumpkins at this place, we picked some up at a farm stand instead. For some reason pumpkins are so expensive around here. There are so many and everyone and their dog grows them so I don't know why that is. I am used to going to any old grocery store and getting them for a decent per pound price. Oh well, what can you do.

Apple Harvest Festival

New England is all about the harvest. It is a big deal around here! We went to the Apple Harvest Festival to celebrate! We spend a few million dollars and let the kids go on some rides and play a game.

They had pony rides for FREE (I was shocked by this news. If the kids weren't so tired I would have put them on multiple times or go myself...). Mesha LOVED it! I was so proud. She has had some "freaking out" issues in the past (I feel there is a theme in our blogging, Mindy) and she didn't have any of the problems I was expecting her to have. She was ok that she couldn't ride the white pony because we were in the "large" horse line (she picked it out). She was fine with some girl coming up to her and slapping a giant helmet on her head without saying a word. She let a stranger lead her away from me a stick her on a huge horse (yes, now I am exaggerating a little bit...) and she was happy, excited, and smiling the whole time! Yay Mesha!

Griffin on the other hand was a bit too close to nap time to enjoy his pony experience.

They provided off site parking and a shuttle to the festival so we got to ride a school bus. Mesha was in heaven. Again, she had so much confidence and an obvious lack of freaking out. It was a good day.

I'm So Glad When Daddy Comes Home

Sterling came home on Friday. Yay! Both of the kids were alive when he arrived. We had some rough days but we survived. I don't know how people do that kind of thing on a regular basis. I'm glad it's not me I guess. While Sterling was gone, along with missing him I was always super envious of all the fun things he got to do. He had tons of free time with no kids to deal with, he got to talk to other adults daily, and he had a bunch of per diem to eat out with for every meal of the day for two weeks if he so chose. However I am NOT jealous of the 10 extra pounds he brought home with him! Yikes! I guess eating out isn't all it's cracked up to be. I am glad to have my chubby hubby home!

Love

This is what I love.

Why Bother?

Why bother scrubbing, disinfecting, wiping, mopping, and otherwise cleaning your kitchen when 20 minutes later it looks like this?

Here I Go Again On My Own

Deja Vu? Sterling went to Wisconsin for training. Apparently 7 weeks in Rhode Island wasn't enough. This time it is only for 2 weeks though. I still made a countdown chain for "the kids" (that's my cover for making childish countdown chains for myself...). I am so lonely. It's so quiet here at night. I haven't left the house in over 24 hours (don't worry I have plans for after dinner). The kids have been pretty good. They have slept in and Mesha has told me she loves me at lunch everyday since Sterling left. Tender mercies you know. I am grateful for the internet and a way to reach the outside world while still being home with the kids. I must say though, I wish I had a backyard like no other. I bet the kids would agree. Someday guys, someday.

Here are some random pictures that don't have anything to do with this post!

I made some growth charts for the kids. I'm happy with how they turned out, now I have to put them up and USE them!

When stacking blocks just doesn't do it for you anymore. I need a pantry with locking abilities...