Fall Fun

Interesting Fact: an average oak tree has about 200,00 leaves. And they lose almost all of them in the fall. And we have about a million oak trees-- so guess what we've been doing around here?

Raking leaves! But of course, the real fun is jumping in the pile.

Kaelyn did the most work so she got the first jump!

Here goes Kenna!

Jaren gets some serious altitude. We have big hopes for him on the Basketball court!

Just another reason why I love this time of year so much!

Happy Halloween!

One of my favorite things about Halloween in California is the great trick-or-treating weather. You don't have to cover up your costumes with coats, and you can feel your fingers and toes the entire time! Jaren was sick earlier in the week so we were crossing our fingers he would be better for Halloween. He was very excited that he didn't miss out!

The Fireman and the Ladybug. (There's probably a romance novel out there with that title!)Jaren liked to remind everyone that he was not a firefighter, but actually the fire chief! And Kenna squeezed into this ladybug costume (size 2T) because she thought it was "so beautiful!" Kaelyn wore it when she was little and Kenna pulled it out of the costume box and fell in love!

Its hard to imagine sweet little Kaelyn as a witch, but I have to say she pulled it off. And she developed quite the wicked cackle as well!

Oh and Greg's costume? We like to call it, "Rogaine gone bad!"

It takes a family to carve a pumpkin!

We decided to simplify this year and only carve one pumpkin for the whole family. So we each had our own very important jobs. We all picked out the pumpkin (no Pumpkin Patch this year, we were supermarket sell-outs!) Kenna and Jaren were the scoopers. Kaelyn designed the picture and she and Greg carved the pumpkin. I supervised (of course!) and also roasted up the pumpkin seeds.

Kenna just realized she was supposed to stick her hand in to pull out all the gooshy seeds inside.

Are you serious? Jaren was not excited about it either at first. But then they got into it!!

Behold the young artist at work!

And here's a look at the final masterpiece.