Favorite Photo Sunday

Things are eerily calm around the house today considering its Halloween and all! We are decorated, dinner is in the crock pot and we have no other plans until our friends and family arrive in a few hours. The girls have been playing outside most of the morning and have now moved to their bedroom and set up blankets over their bedsides to make forts underneath (I think a few of my battery LED tea lights may have disappeared underneath with them). So while I wait for my memory card to finish loading so I can clear it for tonight's festivities, I thought I would post a Favorite Foto post- yes, it used to be FFF (Favorite Foto Friday)- but you take what you can get right? :o)

I have a new camera! I am still learning how to use it. It's an entry level SLR camera by Olympus and I love it! There's not too many bells and whistles- but there are enough to keep me happy and testing.While we (we meaning ME) were cleaning up the front yard yesterday Emily got out the Touchable bubbles and started playing with them. They aren't easy to catch- but if you do- the bubble will hang out for quite some time.

We hope everyone has a safe and happy Halloween tonight!

I Love a Costume Parade!

We had the annual costume parade this morning at the girls' school. Its always fun to go and see everyone dressed up and excited for the holiday. Ashley was very excited because today was her day to be helper and line leader in class- so she got to lead the class in the parade.

The weather was beautiful today (high 70's, low 80's) and we are hoping it will continue through the weekend!

And she's free!

Maddie had an appointment with her orthopedic doctor this week and I'm happy to report that her cast is OFF and she is on the mend! They gave her a splint to wear to remind her to take it easy and she still has to rest it and not participate in sports or PE for 4 more weeks. Still- she is happy to be free of the cast! She is still favoring her left hand over the right, but we'd rather her be careful. To celebrate we carved a pumpkin for her to enter into the school pumpkin carving contest. She choose the design and helped me as much as she could with the carving process. Her pumpkin says "Give Blood" and has a vampire bat on the back. It's very cute and while it didn't win- she's still happy with how it came out and we are proud of her!

School Pictures!

Such young ladies! I still can't believe these girls are 6! We had a marathon morning the day of school pictures! Luckily I had the morning off and was able to be home to tackle all this HAIR! I still remember lamenting at their first birthday (and second) that they had no hair to do anything with! Sheesh! I whipped out my spiral curler and tackled three heads of hair. I worked up a good sweat and got a super good workout! In the end they looked super cute and we're very happy with how their pictures came out! EMILY

ASHLEY

MADELINE

A Day at the Patch!

The rain finally gave us a small window this weekend on Sunday and we took the opportunity to try out a new pumpkin patch~ Tanaka Farm!It wasn't really a patch- but a farm. Pumpkins were still on the vine and we could literally "pick" our pumpkins (which is a big deal for us city folk!).Spooky ghosts!

The girls had a great time exploring. There was a corn maze, a petting zoo, tractor rides, hay mazes, and the favorite~ pumpkin canon.

Somewhere in that puff of smoke there is a mini-pumpkin destined to be smashed to smithereens on the nearby hill. Much to the delight of all the onlookers!

Everyone picked their own pumpkin this year. We can't wait to carve them!

The rain was back by the evening- but we were already home. It was perfect timing and a perfect day!

It NEVER rains in Southern California !!!!?

I think we get the "lame weather" award for the year here in SoCal. Sure we've had some amazing days- but our summer was less than stellar and now that we are into Autumn- well- we got slammed with a storm this week that yes, was much needed, but was not convenient to our plans at all! (Because it's all about us right?) Ho hum- we made due and ran with Mother Nature as we ventured to Disneyland last night for our annual trick or treat night at the park.This year they moved the event to the Disneyland side, instead of California Adventure. This of course allowed for more tickets to be sold, I'm sure. Bundled in our rain gear and Halloween costumes- we set out for the park- with a brilliant display of lightning in the distance. Ah- the things we do for our children!The girls took it all in stride and had a wonderful time. Emily stepped off the tram into a puddle up to her knees and spent the entire night in soaking wet shoes, pants and socks. Never complained once! Such a trooper! Her poor feet though looked worse than prunes when we took her shoes and socks off at the car. Emily is a vampire this year, Madeline is Cleopatra and Ashley is Princess Tiana from The Princess and the Frog movie.

Did anyone order a pizza???We were able to ride some of our favorite rides (Haunted Mansion- done up for Nightmare Before Christmas and Pirates) and we then met up with the Jarboe family for some trick or treating fun!
Emma wasn't too sure about the whole thing- but she was having a good time by night's end.

We were rained on for a good couple hours in the beginning- but the skies did clear eventually. We left the park happy with many full bags of treats (and three tired girls!).

Back to School, Back to Blogging

Perhaps I have been sidetracked lately. My passion for blogging hit a stand still~ but lately I have heard it calling me. I don't know why I thought I'd have time to blog this summer. To say we were busy is an understatement and despite less than summery weather- we certainly made the most of every day and kept busy busy busy!
We are all back to school now. The girls are in First Grade and loving it. Above is a picture from the first day of school. The longer day has taken some getting used to for them (it's an hour and 15 minutes longer than last year), but each day gets a little easier as we figure out the best way and time to complete homework, have snacks, practice piano and run some extra energy out.

Our biggest news of late is that we have our first broken bone! Madeline fell off the monkey bars at school a couple weeks ago and I got "that" call that I have been dreading since the girls started school. Luckily it is a small fracture- no surgery- no need to reset- just a short cast for 3 weeks and no PE for 2 months. She's doing well with the cast (yes it is her right arm) and has adapted to writing with her left hand very easily. Cutting is the only major challenge and with 2 sisters around- there is always someone willing to cut for her.

We also recently got to go to Disneyland with EMMA for her first visit! She loved it all, even the characters. We look forward to MANY more visits to Disneyland with the Jarboe family! The girls recently discovered on our one on one days the Princess Faire where you can meet princesses up close and personal! We had to take all our girls through- being princesses themselves!
So busy doesn't even describe our lives of late. But it's the kind of busy that makes you smile and realize that your children are going to have wonderful memories!