Leaves Have Fallen

It seemed like the leaves fell off the trees all at once this year, so we haven't been able to play in them as long as we would have liked. But (between snowstorms) the weather has been nice for getting outside to play and to gather up all of those leaves. 

Playing football at Grandma's house. After some practice, Zeke could throw fairly well. Catching needs some more practice. 

Nora's a natural at running with the ball. 

Riding the motorcycle while Grandpa and Daddy were playing catch with Zeke. 

After church, in what leaves are left. 

Zeke gathering the leaves from the slide. 

Halloween Tree

Around the end of September we got this crazy idea to do a Halloween tree. You know, like a Christmas tree, but with Halloween decorations. The kids had a blast helping decorate. 

We have so many Halloween items, and most of them usually stay boxed up because we don't have enough space to put them out. We used them all this year. 

Spider web taking over the back of the tree. 

Aaron has a Lego ghost train, which ran around the tree all October.

We loaded up the flatbed car on the train with various kinds of pumpkins: orange peanut m&ms, mellowcreme pumpkins, and pumpkin pie spiced white chocolate covered almonds my mom brought us from Costco. However, the load kept disappearing ... into Nora's mouth. 

It was a fun experiment and we enjoyed it. The tree is becoming a Thanksgiving tree as we speak, then of course it will be our Christmas tree. We'll see in January if we've still got the endurance to put snowflakes and snowmen on it!

Ghost and Bunny Halloween

Halloween was greatly anticipated at our house and the evening did not disappoint! Our little bunny and ghost had a great time. 

Nora even had a fluffy tail to go with her pigtail bunny ears. It was cold and she wore her coat, so I don't think many people got to see her tail. 

Zeke and Aaron had a grand time painting this little pumpkin on Halloween afternoon. 

Zeke even had a Boo sign, which we forgot about until after we had taken an initial round of pictures. Fortunately, we remembered it right before we left home. 

Our first stop was to walk a neighborhood of older people we know and love, who are generous with both their treats and their love for us. This year we did the walking part at dusk and not after dark. It was perfect for being not too dark and cold but still in the spirit of the night. 

Then off to see grandmas and grandpas and cousins, pose for more pictures, and get more treats. 

Fluff, fluff, fluff. 

Potato Harvest

We enjoy digging potatoes for a lot of reasons. Time spent with our Loertscher family. Satisfaction of working hard and accomplishing something great. Joy in digging the dirt on a sunny fall day. And of course, anticipation of eating yummy potatoes all winter long (at least for me and for Aaron....we're still working on the kids). 

The kids also love potato planting and harvesting because they get to play in their great-grandpa's backyard, which doesn't happen often. They also like looking around his old house when they go inside for bathroom breaks. This time Nora was fascinated by the fact that the doors have actual keyholes. 

We felt like we didn't get much accomplished in the potato-producing department because -as Aaron put it- we're growing kids. It was a constant teaching process. Showing them how to clean off the potatoes and where to put them, reminding Nora to walk where we had already harvested ('the fluffy dirt'), teaching Zeke to stay with the work even when he didn't want to, correcting Nora when she called the potatoes 'tomatoes', and showing Zeke how the potatoes grow off the roots of the plants. We talked to them about digging for potato treasure, and that made everything a little extra fun! The kids even got a turn to dig. 

Zeke the scarecrow.

Nora in the house. I took this picture because she is just so cute, dirt and all. When I told her she was adorable, she said 'Yes, I am.' Then she pointed to her shoulder and added, 'Look I have beautiful dirt!'