Carving Pumpkins

We carved pumpkins tonight! The kids had fun drawing faces on the pumpkins, scooping out the guts, and carving (with some help from Jeff).

Alex with his similarly toothless pumpkin

With the carved pumpkins at their new home, the front stoop

Big Dave

When David grins, we often joke that it looks like he wants to eat you.  He smiles with his whole big happy mouth!

Smiling Brian

Mrs Schiller, the twin's nanny, took this great photo of Brian.

Pumpkin Patch

Alex and Elena were home on fall break, so we headed to the pumpkin patch at Stoney Creek Farm today to find the perfect pumpkins.  The kids had a blast on the hay ride, pumpkin train and other fun activities. 

Fall Leaves

Alex worked very hard after school one afternoon to gather the leaves into a pile.  He and Elena enjoyed the results!  

Cute Hats

Preying Mantis

The kids found a preying mantis outside our house today, so we cut a hole in the lid of a formula can and brought him inside. Apparently the air hole was bigger than it should have been, because the creepy looking bug kept peeking up out of the can to look around our kitchen, and it startled me every single time!

Elena's preschool teacher, Mrs. Spicer, has a terrarium.  So the preying mantis was brought to school to share with her class!

UPDATE: Elena came home from school a few weeks later and announced with authority that the preying mantis "got dead." Interesting way to share that news...

Alex's First Grade School Photo

Such a classic first grade photo, complete with the missing front tooth! Since this photo was taken, he has lost two more front teeth.  We joke that the babies have more teeth than him right now.

Elena's Preschool Photos

One of the mom's at the preschool, Sonja Clark, takes photos of each of the kids each year.  She does a great great getting each child to be natural and genuinely happy for their photos, and the results are remarkable. 

Yet another great school photo!  Which one do you like best?

Snow White

 Elena has watched the Snow White movie almost every day since picking out her Snow White for Halloween this year!

Big Dave

Don't you love his chubby cheeks?