Halloween

The kids had a fun Halloween. Marcus and Natalya enjoyed joining Raquel at her school party where they played fun games, ate lots of goodies and made cute crafts.

On Halloween the kids started their trick or treating at an assisted living home. Where I thought the residents would love to see the three kids dressed up and they could get a few pieces of candy. I was right about the residents loving the kids, especially Marcus, but I was way off on the candy. All three kids came out of there with a full plastic pumpkin full. Marcus thought it was too much and most of the candy the residents gave him he would throw on the floor right after they handed it to him.

After getting loads of candy in a short amount of time we headed to Wendy's for dinner and to think about what to do with the rest of the evening since we definitely didn't need any more candy. As we were eating we noticed that across the street they were having Halloween activities at the shopping center. So we all headed over to trick or treat through the stores and enjoy a few games and treats.

Raquel was not done having fun yet and wanted to trick or treat in our neighborhood and so we headed home to hit the streets. We were able to hit the houses on our street before it started to rain. So we hopped in the car and went to a few select friends houses to show off our costumes and then home for the night. I don't think we will need to buy another piece of candy until Easter with how much all three kids collected.

Raquel getting ready to pumpkin bowl at her school party.

Eating her yummy treats!

Rapunzel and Rapunzel at Wendy's

waiting for their food.

Marcus and Raquel at Wendy's

Marcus surveying his candy stash.

Natalya & Raquel checking out their treats.

Natalya and her bag of candy.

She could hardly lift it because it was so heavy.

Trunk or Treat

Our ward trunk or treat was tonight and the girls were very excited to finally dress up in their Rapunzel costumes and of course get candy. I made the girls dresses and hair pieces and I think they turned our very cute. But I definitely will think twice about making such elaborate costumes again. Marcus was Superman, his costume was easy a recycled dog costume from Sammie when he was a puppy. It fit Marcus perfectly and no one knew the difference.

Rapunzel, Rapunzel and Superman

Showing off their long hair

Enjoying some candy. Marcus is becoming

quite the candy-oholic.

The girls played a few games at the trunk or treat before

we headed home for the night. They are trying to eat donuts off

of a string with out any hands.

Bugfest and Pumpkin Patch

Bug fest

The Virginia Tech Entomology Department put on a great activity called bug fest. Grandma Clinger, the girls, Marcus and I had lots of fun learning all about different bugs. The girls were even brave enough to hold a cockroach and millipede. They had all sorts of bugs on display, along with games to learn about them and tons of fun crafts for the girls. We learned about bed bugs, ticks, bees, cockroaches and butterflies to name a few.

Enjoying bug fest!

Raquel holding a cockroach.

Grandma and the girls checking out the millipede.

Butterfly Natalya, just one of the many fun

prizes the girls got at bug fest.

The Pumpkin Patch

There are so many fun things to do on the weekend that we had to fit in one more while we were out. We headed to the pumpkin patch where the girls and I took a hayride out to the patch to pick a pumpkin. The girls had fun on the giant bales of hay that were near the patch while I enjoyed the beautiful view. Marcus had fallen asleep on the way so Grandma stayed with him in the car. After we had all the fun we could handle the girls and I headed back to the car were we tried to start the car but it wouldn't start. If you know the what Virginia is like around here you know that everything is one a hill. The parking lot of the pumpkin patch was no different and we had parked sideways on a very steep hill. We were so lopsided that it made the car think we were out of gas. We were running a little low but not completely out. Luckily we were parked in the right direction and no cars were in front of us so Grandma got out and pushed while I put it in neutral and pushed from the drivers side. We coasted down the steep hill to the main road where the car started right up and we were on out way. We did stop at the nearest gas station and filled up the car just in case we wouldn't make it home from out in the country.

Picking their pumpkins

Playing in the hay

Playing on the car made out of hay

School Lunch

Natalya, Grandma Clinger and I joined Raquel for school lunch. Raquel was so good to take her little sister through the lunch line and make sure she got to the lunch table with her food. Natalya had so much fun being a big girl and eating lunch with the Kindergartners. It was fun getting to meet and talk with some of Raquel's classmates and see what she does at lunch. We will definitely have to do it again soon.

Eating lunch with Natalya

Big girl Natalya is ready to take on school lunch.

Orange Belt

Raquel tested for another belt advancement in Taekwondo earlier this month and passed making her an orange belt. Here is a video of her testing. She was great and did it perfectly.

The awards ceremony to receive her orange belt was at a roller rink about 40 minutes away. Luckily Grandma & Papa Clinger were coming in town so they meet us there and helped with the kids while the girls enjoyed eating cupcakes and playing in the huge ball pit.

Raquel showing off her new orange belt.

Enjoying a cupcake!

Having fun in the ball pit

Fire Station open house

The kids love going to the Fire Station open house every year so we went again this year and invited our friends along for the fun. The girls sprayed the fire hose, explored the rescue vehicles, jumped in the bouncy house and enjoyed the free popcorn and root beer floats.

Trying out the fire hose.

Dressing up like a fire woman with her friends Luke and Nick.

Checking out the trucks.

Luke, Sparky the dog, Raquel and Natalya

Stroke School Swim Meet #1

Raquel did great at her first Stroke School Swim Meet of the season. They had her swimming with the stroke school 1 girls even though she is in stroke school 2. But she is still one of the youngest swimmers and did great beating all her old times from the spring and coming in 1st place for the stoke school 1 girls 8 and under.

Girls 8 & under 25 yard SS1 freestyle

Raquel's time 33.50

Girls 8 & under 25 yard SS1 backstroke

Raquel's time 35.74

Boob

Raquel made this cute drawing at school. It made me laugh when I read what all the ghosts were saying. I asked Raquel what she wrote and she said Boo. I told her she was close but that she had actually spelled boob, which also made her laugh. She has now corrected her spelling errors on all her new art work that she brings home.

Home Depot and the Fall Harvest Festival

It was 49 degrees and windy. A perfect day in my mind to stay home and snuggle in a blanket and watch a movie with popcorn and hot chocolate. But the kids decided they wanted to brave the cold and have some fun on Saturday.

So we first headed to Home Depot for their kids workshop, which is usually inside and warm. Not this time, we thought it a little crazy that they had tables set up outside for the kid to build their helicopters, since it was freezing outside. We braved the cold and had had the kids start on their projects, but before long our hands were freezing and we could barely hold the hammer to nail. So we packed up our projects and headed over to the pumpkin painting station so the girls could paint. I gave them a quick 5 minutes to finish so that we could head inside the store. At this time both Marcus and Natalya were crying from the cold. Home Depot was serving nice warm hot chocolate and grilled hot dogs so we grabbed a few and went to warm up inside the store. Poor Marcus couldn't stop shaking once inside. We enjoyed our warm treats inside while doing a little shopping and thawing out. We headed back outside to find a firetruck and more activities. The kids had fun climbing all through the truck and eating cupcakes and hunting for prizes in the hay. It ended up being lots of fun but we sure liked being able to get back in our car and warm up.

Home Depot Kids Workshop

The kids in the fire truck.

Poor Natalya was freezing.

Marcus loved driving the truck.

Hunting for prizes in the hay.

Raquel found a prize!

After a freezing morning you would think that we would head back home and snuggle under a warm blanket, but that is not what we did. We headed out to the Fall Harvest Festival at the Meadowbrook library. I'm glad we went the kids and I had lots of fun and the sun came out and the wind stopped blowing so it wasn't too cold. The kids got to look at another fire truck, ride on a hay ride pulled by horses, play lots of games, eat popcorn and makes lots and lots of crafts.

Fall Harvest Festival

Checking out another fire truck.

Petting the horses that pulled us on the hayride.

This was no leisurely hayride but a hang on to your seat you may fall off the edge type of ride.

I was just glad the girls sat on the inside.

Smiley Marcus enjoying they day with his new fireman hat.

Natalya making one of the many crafts, a pet rock.

The girls were in heaven being able to make so many fun things.

The girls had fun playing lots of different games and collecting tickets for prizes.