Pumpkin Time!

Amari, Austin, and I picked pumpkins from plants that grew on the farm this year! We had been checking on their proress all season. When I spotted several orange ones we went over with the wagon and took our pick. Austin wanted a little pumpkin whih he quickly called his "baby pumpin" and Amari used her stengthto pick up the big ones. We carted them back to the house and had lots of fun carving out jack-o-lanterns!

Amari started Pre-K!

Amari is now going to a "Big School"..she started Pre-K in the Mayfeld school district and even rides the bus to school now! She is doing well and although she sometimes misses her friends at Rainbow Pre School she seems to be making new friends in her new class.
Her teacher is Mrs. Moore and she is doing very well learing her letters and numbers. She really excited about the prospect of learning to read and we have been working on that at home too. She often asks to "read" books to me.. some of her favorites are "BUGS", "Hurry up Jesse", and "Wodney Wat"
Today we went to a Halloween party at her school and Amari was very proud to be a part of the costume parade. She was in her bat costume..which is soooo cute and Austin tagged along in his blue monster costume.
Im so proud of my little girl...

week in chautauqua

so we spent a great week in chautauqua! on tuesday morning we went on a hike through the ancestral woods with a forester to get an idea of the next cutting and care of the woods. the hike with 3 kids under 4 in tow was supposed to be a fun hour in the forest. it turned into nearly three hours 2 of which we spent LOST... and guess what the forester did not have a compass. isnt that in forestry 101? always carry a compass. mom(alexis) did try to guide us out but got us into a swamp..which if we could have possibly crossed it would have gotten us out at the right spot... but eventually we got back to am old logging road and made our way out..whew!

that afternoon we rushed to the talk about our family history at the institution. we got there about 45min late because the damm bus never came to pick us up from the parking lot and we ended up walking. the good thing is that uncle ernest brought along his friend who is a videographer and he filmed most of it. cant wait to see the rest..really interesting stuff..we have mayflower passengers and signers of the dec. of independence in our fam!

on wednesday night we went to see chinese acrobats at the institution and it was awesome. amari now wants to be an acrobat...she has been practicing her moves since the performance. the rest of the trip was spent hanging with fam and enjoying the lake.

Amari's Preschool Graduation

Amari's class put on a graduation show... they danced and did "Wiggles" songs. It really was super cute. We loved watching all the little ones try and keep up...most did they really did a great job. Once Amari spotted us in the audience she began to giggle everytime she saw us. too cute. She made a request afterwards..she wants us to sit in th front rown next time so that she can see us better.

kiddie pool

So I was on a mission yesterday to get the kids in the water. First option failed, the old kiddie pool sprang a leak after I had scrubbed it clean and was refilling... so on to option B. New kiddie pool. After "Nene" graciously picked up a new pool (the kind that has rings that are filled with air to create the sides) I went to work to get it going. There are three rings to fill with air...okay so I knew that using my own hot air would not only take about a year but it would leave me dizzy for just as long. I knew there was an air mattress pump somewhere so i began my hunt. Checked in closets, under beds, on shelves... no luck. Finally got tipped off to its location and after moving some heavy furniture..wa la there it was. One success. I bring the air pump down to the wadded up piece of plastic that was soon to become a pool; only to discover big hole on end of pump small hole on end of pool. No workie. Okay so I start thinking...there is an air compressor on the premises! I run out to the garage and after figuring out how to turn the thing on I get the air to come out of the nozzle. I drag the orange plastic pool thingy over and guess what?! Small hole on nozzle exact same size as small hole on pool. No dice. At this point I sorta gave up...I did have visions of running to the store to find the proper attachment...but no sadly that did not become a reality.
Well there is a happy ending. This morning my dad produced the perfect attachemenr for the compressor and in about 5 min I had the rings full of air and the pool full of water. What took me all afternoon yesterday...with out success took me 5 min this morning. I think the sun was in opposition to my ruler Uranus yesterday...that must be it. Okay off to splash in really cold water.
Mission number 2: Get 2 year old boy to actually get in water with out fear... results pending.

Austin loves tractors

Austin has a passion for anything that has wheels. He thinks his Tata is a god when he is on his tractor. He will sit at the window and longingly watch his god/grandfather working on his farm machines. He will sit on tractors as long as they are not turned on. He has yet to brave a ride with the motor actually on. He did take a ride on the lawnmower the other day and seemed to enjoy it...I guess he is working his way up to the big machines.
He also loves motorcycles...specifically the noise they make. When he hears a "vroom vroom" he gets excited and shouts "momo cy kle". Just wait till he can drive...watch out!