Pumpkins Pumpkins Everywhere!

 With it being Halloween time, we are overloaded with pumpkins.  It has been a fun pumpkin-y week.

We went to our local farm to pick some pumpkins.  They had a cute photo station set up. 

Going on the tractor to get out to the pumpkin field.  I think the tractor ride is a favorite.  We were the only ones at the farm this evening.  

Picking from hundreds of pumpkins is hard work.  Hannah wanted a small one.  She was a good searcher. 

The farm had a few extra family activities. We had fun in the hay maze.  

There were frisbees for throwing.  

And balls for shooting.  

And pumpkins for climbing.  Honestly, the children did not want to leave.  Adam got really upset and told us he would give up his bed and live there forever.  Yet we brought him home anyway.

A couple of days later we carved our five pumpkins.  The kids did a good job scooping out the seeds and the gunk.  We roasted the seeds that evening. 

The older girls all carved their own pumpkins.  We have some cool jack-o-lanterns now.

There were other pumpkin things this week too.  We made pumpkin-shaped sugar cookies.

Hannah and Adam got pretty covered in flour during the making of the cookies.

Having a cookie decorating party. 

Some of us really liked adding the decorations.

We also did a pumpkin craft.  I had never tried cutting the apple in half and dipping it into orange paint to make pumpkins.  But I think they turned out really well. 

So it has been a very busy and very fun week of pumpkins. 

Long Overdue

 This blog post is long overdue beginning of the school year pictures.

We have been preparing Adam for preschool for about three months.  We wanted him to be excited to have a new teacher and meet other kids his age.  His feelings for preschool have wavered between excitement and sadness.  The picture caught an excited moment. 

Megan is starting second grade.

Rachel is in third grade.

Whitney is in her last year of elementary school - the great 5th grade. 

The girls all do school virtually.  It will likely stay that way until at least January. I was a little worried about virtual school, but after a few hiccups on the first day, everything has been fine. 

On the other hand, Adam actually gets to go to preschool.  He even gets to ride a bus.  His class is only about six kids so social distancing isn't too challenging. Adam hasn't told me too much about what he does at preschool but he still likes going. His teacher is impressed with his reading abilities. 

In fifth grade my teacher, Mr. Droke, gave out Droke Dollars for good behavior.  He would have auctions and we could purchase random things.  So I decided to copy this idea while schooling at home.  The Keeler Kash is given out if the kids are good at school and do their homework without complaining. 

The last Friday of the month is Keeler Kash auction day. I bought a few little things, like this car that Adam bought.  But most of my auction items were coupons like "Extra 30 minutes of video games" and "One no having to clean day".  These coupons were more loved than the actual items.

Anyway, school has gone well so far. It is hard to believe how big my kids are getting though.