October 31

It was a good day to bring in the 'maters.  I'd been stressing about bringing them in before the first freeze, and as it turns out I still had another week until that freeze came, but I felt better getting them in. These tomatoes would later become 4 batches of salsa!

It was also a good day to switch the kids' school pictures.  Two things learned:  1) growing too fast, 2) they're cute as buttons.

It was also a good day to take pictures of a fenced-in boy.  Hard to contain him now!

And of COURSE, it was a good day to show a few kids off in their costumes.  We visited a few neighbors down the street, visited Granny and Pappy, and then went to see Linnea and Christina at Whitworth before heading to the farm for the weekend.

Halloween Parade at G'ma and Papa's House

Look at these characters that invaded G'ma and Papa's house the Sunday before Halloween!  All littles were there, except Gracie, who had come down with a stomach bug the night before.  She and I stayed home and vegged.

Trick-or-treat.  They're so cute that I'd consider smelling-their-feet.  :)

Gracie was not feeling well, but we asked her to get in her costume for a pic to send with the boys.  Poor girl!

Jam-BOO-ree Tournament

Gracie's last soccer game of the season was in a weekend tournament right before Halloween.  They got to wear "costume" uniforms--and since we were the Firecrackers this year, we just added a little BLING to their jerseys.  G'ma Joan and Papa Greg were able to come up--Gracie played in the morning and cousin Brooke played a game in the afternoon.

Coloring and snacking in between games…

Me Too.

Gracie and Nels

Tornado Micah

Glass dishes moved up.  Cords hidden.  Plugs plugged.  This tornado is mobile.

Greenbluff with Goofies

Hidden Acres hosted the CP preschool field trip this year.  It was RAINY!  We had to call Kai to borrow a raincoat!

 Farmer Muriel talked to the kids about bee pollination and then we got to eat an apple.

 I love this picture.  :)

 Almost as much as THIS picture.  Joshy in the outhouse.

 Kai in the outhouse.

 Penelope talked to curious 4-year olds.

And then we went home!  Right before the downpour.  Phew!  Home for NAPS.

Boys with Flowers

Joshy's day with Mimi.  Josh and Kai BOTH created these beautiful flower centerpieces.  I would've LOVED to be a fly on the wall watching this process!  Such a sweet thing to come home to...

Crawling EVERYWHERE.

What a turkey!

The Concert

We have been hearing about THE CONCERT for months now.  Each time we see the Van Sickles, the kids continue to plan the numbers for their concert.  October 19 turned out being the day for the big show.  It was great timing, as Matt's parents were visiting from Juneau.

 Three songs, choreographed with costumes.  Only one meltdown by the end...

Lighters going during a slow song.

This was Olaf the snowman.

Owl Art

One October day, two eldest Lochheads asked for white paper.  They were going to make owls.  This is what they produced:

Gracie drew a "worksheet" of different owl parts and then colored and cut them out, finally gluing them together.  I was amazed at how she did this!

Joshy decided that one owl wasn't enough.  So he had four…each drawn with intricate artistic detail.  I was equally impressed with his approach.

And then I started analyzing the art.  What do these pieces say about our kids?  I'm sure my Whitworth psychology girls could enlighten me...

Big Sister Loves

This girl is starting to love to feed and carry Micah.  He'll let her tote him around a few feet and will let her feed him…most of the time.  Sometimes when I look at Micah I see the boy-version of our first baby…who's now SIX.

Fish on Film

Splashing is new for this littlest fish.

Upside Down, PLEASE!

 This boy LOVES to be upside down.