Pumpkins into Jack-O-Lanterns

Last weekend, Sadie asked Gabe if we could, "turn a pumpkin into a Jack-o-lantern?" Of course he couldn't resist and said, "Sure!" After naps, Gabe decided to make it happen. He followed all of the steps that Sadie said we needed to do including cooking the pumpkin seeds so she could eat them. (They were quite tasty too!) Ms. Georgia at her school had carved a pumpkin for them earlier in the week and she loved it. The girls were really cute trying to help Daddy. I just stood in the background and took a few pictures.

Sitting at the table drawing the face on the pumpkin while drinking hot chocolate.

Helping Daddy.

Claire "helped" too by adding in super sound effects.

Gabe and Sadie finishing up the pumpkin and putting the candle inside.

Our finished pumpkin.

Sadie and Claire with the finished pumpkin. (I love that Claire has put on Gabe's shoes to take the pumpkin outside.)

Halloween!!

Minnie Mouse, Repunzel, and Waldo.... sounds like a Gillespie Halloween to me.

We have had a fun Halloween weekend so far with another Halloween party on Monday for the girls. I really hope the costumes last that long! We started out Friday night going to the Fall Festival at Gabe's school. The girls had a great time as Minnie Mouse and Repunzel. Sadie told us last week that she HAD to have long hair and I went out searching for a Repunzel wig for her and couldn't find one anywhere. I had tried to avoid it because I knew it would be a little difficult for her to manage. I ended up calling my parents who found the last one at their Target and priority shipped it so she would have it for her costume. Well, I got her hair nice and slicked back with gel and hairspray (thanks for the tips Rhonda), got the wig on, and right before we left she tells me that she doesn't want the long hair! "Mama, I don't need long hair anymore." Seriously! So off we went with slicked back hair and the wig in the front seat!

Anyway, the girls had a great time and came home with way too much candy. Even for me and I like candy. We are well stocked for a long, long time.

Did I mention that Claire knows how to play the cute card and get just a little attention.

Sadie with her friend, Annabelle.

Sadie in the jumper.

Claire and Gabe. He was "Where's Waldo" with the other guys he works with.

Claire showing off some candy.

Claire saying "Cheese."

Sadie getting her face painted.

Claire getting her first face painting. She did great.

And another cute picture of Repunzel.

A trip to the Corn Maze

Picking up a pumpkin is hard work! The girls had a great time last weekend when we went to the corn maze for Emerson's birthday party. It was a party filled day since we had Sadie's party that morning. The corn maze is such a fun place for the girls to run around and see so many things. They have animals that Claire just loved and a train that Sadie would have stayed on the whole time. We also went on a hayride to the pumpkin patch. We're making some great memories and loving every day!

Sadie and Claire on the hayride.

Hanging out.

The girls are so sweet with each other. They loved riding the train together.

Emerson had a farm theme birthday party with some great hats. Claire has a great, "Quack, Quack."

Here is Claire looking at the cow. We went to see the animals and had all walked away. I turned around to see Claire not wanting to leave the cow. She was just standing there starring with an occasional "Moo." She LOVED seeing the animals.

...And Claire looking at the water. She is really an outdoor girl. She loves being outside.

Party Time!!!!!

Sadie is turning 4 in a few days and the day of her birthday party had finally arrived. She woke up this morning saying, "Today is my dirthday party! Today is my dirthday party!" After I got her dressed, I was just sitting on the couch looking at her because she just is looking so grown up. She surprises us every day with the new things she is learning. Just today on the way to her party, the cupcakes were between the seats in the car and she said, "Daddy, I have 24 cupcakes." She was right. Anyway, we had a lot of fun at Jumpin Jungle with the Lamms and all of the friends that came to celebrate with us. Sadie chose to have an "Olivia" party. (It's a cartoon pig from Nick Jr.) It was kind of funny to me that when I was looking for party supplies (and Olivia is not easy to find) that all of the Olivia stuff had something to do with a diva party! I just thought that was funny. Hopefully Sadie isn't too much of a diva... yet! I posted more pictures than I usually do, but it is her birthday.

Sadie and Kinley.

Claire didn't know quite what to think when her friend Mia showed up. They are in the same class at daycare and haven't seen each other outside of daycare yet. It was pretty cute.

So the pictures loaded out of order, but here is Sadie counting her cupcakes.

Sadie and all her friends, going through the jump houses.

Les is at the top of the slide and he sent Sadie and Claire down together.

Claire and Mia going down together. More like tumbling down together.

Sadie and her friend Braxtyn.

Just a cute picture of Sadie in the midst of craziness.

On to the party room. Sadie with her cupcake.

Here's Sadie, licking the icing off her cupcake. That's about all she eats of cupcakes.

Claire is trying to figure it out. She got one polka dot of red icing on her hand and it turned into red everywhere.

And some presents.

Again, the pictures loaded out of order, but I just thought this one was so cute of the whole group. We thought it was funny that you could tell that most of the left side is in daycare together. When we told them to sit in a line in front of the slide, they all went to each other and sat down. Again, it was pretty cute.

A princess dress is always a hit.

Les and Hannah loving on Claire

Sadie with her present from Lincoln.

An Abundance of Apples

Well, I'm teaching 4th grade this year and with that comes a lot of writing. One of our sentences when we were recently learning about context clues had to do with an abundance of apples and all of the things that were made out of apples. I was remembering that lesson last weekend when we were picking an "abundance" of apples and wondering how we were going to use them all.

It was a great Saturday to be at the Apple Festival. We had a great time with the girls. The older they get, the more fun it is to watch them learn things and enjoy new things. Claire really had a great time seeing the trees and "running" (or as close to running as she gets) through the orchard. We tasted lots of apples and even some honey. Snow White even made an apperance and Sadie was in awe. This was her first time to see a "princess" in person. The girls pretty much ate apples all day. And for dessert...apple turnovers! Yummy!

Checking out the loot.

Tasting, tasting, tasting

...And more tasting

Showing her apple to the camera.

Clarie excited about her apple. (After tasting it of course.)

Sadie and Snow White

Sadie in the jumper.

Talking to Johnny Appleseed

Eyes!

Cute story about Claire...We were playing "school" this afternoon as we do many, many days and I was the student and Sadie was the teacher. Claire was back and forth. They decided it was naptime so I gladly laid down on the bed. Claire then went and turned the rocking chair away from the bed and sat down. She would sit in the rocking chair, turn around, put one finger on her nose and say, "Shhhhh!" she would then point at me and say as sternly as a 20 month old can, "Eyes!" (as in, "close your eyes.") I wonder if she might have been telling on herself without knowing it!

Goodbye Baby Furniture

I can't believe the girls are going to be 4 and 2 soon, but that's reality. So we decided it was time to sell the baby furniture. We sold it pretty quickly on Criaig's list and before I knew it, the new owners were coming to pick it up. I spent last Sunday afternoon in Claire's room moving her clothes into her new "big girl buckets" and cleaning all of the baby stuff out. I found lots of baby socks, burp rags, and even the hats from the hospital that the girls wore after they were first born. I didn't expect to get quite so sentimental. I'm usually not that way, but there's something about not having that crib in there anymore that makes me a little sad.

I put the girls in the crib for one last picture before it was gone.

Here's a picture of Sadie at about 3 months old in the crib.

And Claire's first crib picture. About 1 month.