Ward Trunk or Treat Party

Halloween was on a Sunday this year, but our ward Trunk or Treat was on Sat. so the kids were still able to dress up, have some fun, and get lots of candy! Matthew (and all of his cousins) were ninjas this year. Andrew really wanted to be Scooby Doo. Owen made a great Captain America. We also took them to the Boofest in downtown Franklin earlier on Sat. where they got more candy and we lost Matthew in the crowd for a while. Yes police were involved and everything. After a while I felt like I should go back to the car and he was there waiting for us, praying that someone would come find him. Talk about one of the most stressful half hours of my life! But hey, the kids got lots of candy and I bet that is all they will remember!

Halloweeen pancakes

Halloween was on a Sunday this year and we knew we wouldn't go trick-or-treating on Sunday, but we did want to do something fun, so we made Halloween pancakes for breakfast. To be honest, there was more candy then pancakes, but it was a fun activity. They also got to go through the Halloween box that Grandma and Grandpa sent. The candy grillz were their favorite!

Halloween FHE

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Our Halloween family home evening was so much fun this year. It is so great to have so much time with all of our family. Holly made yummy pumpkin soup for dinner (it was almost too pretty to eat) and I made some mummies for the kids. Then we voted on designs and carved Jack-O-Lanterns. Some of the boys weren't too excited to help clean out the pumpkins. Still, we ended up with two great looking pumpkins. Throw in some spooky music and Halloween treats, and it was a great night!

Fall Farms

One of the fun things about fall is hitting all the fun farms. We went to Gentry and Honeysuckle Farms this year. They had fun picking pumpkins, playing on farm equipment, doing corn mazes, seeing animals, watching the pumpkin cannon, watching the hillbilly hog races, and trying the other fun things they had for the kids to do. Matthew was a little bummed because he could do the long corn mazes because he already had his boot/broken ankle. Matt took him to a haunted forest later when his boot was off. The farms here are a lot of fun, but we miss Patterson Farm in Cleveland because they had a yummy fresh bakery. Maybe we will find one here next year!

My funny Owen

Owen is such a fun kid. Since he is the only one home all day, we get to spend a lot of time together. Right now two of his favorite things are Ben Ten (we pretend battle with different aliens all the time- his favorite changes all the time) and cars. Not like Disney cars, but real cars. He can tell you if the car is a Honda, Toyota, BMW, Mercedes, Dodge, etc. We recently went with Emily to take her BMW to the shop and Owen decided he wanted this BMW convertible. He asked if he could have it for Christmas. When I said, "Sorry," he said, "But I will share with Daddy!" Another one of his favorite things right now is his Captain America costume. He loves wearing it. He even fell asleep the other day fully decked out. He didn't even bother taking off his shield. Oh, and I threw in a picture of Owen's curls all combed out- fro style, just because it is funny. Gotta love that Owen!

Owen's 4th birthday

Owen turned four on Sept. 24. Earlier in the week he was in charge of snack at school and he took in these fun Ben Ten cupcakes. For his birthday Matt had the day off (he just got back from a 2 week conference in Tucson). We had the traditional donuts for breakfast. Then we took Owen to Jump Zone in the morning, which he loved (even by himself!). His daddy played with him during the day. When the boys got home from school we went directly to Chuck E. Cheese for dinner and lots of games. When we got home we had a family Ben Ten party. Owen requested his favorite- cheesecake, which Nana made. Then he opened a ton of Ben Ten presents. He really loved his new Ben Ten sheets and Humongosaur stuffed animal, the Ben Ten movies from the Richardson grandparents, Ben Ten omnitrix and toys, Cars color changers, a kung zhu pet, and a new bike. (More family around = more presents I guess!) Anyway, it was a great day and he is happy to be a big 4!

Science Center

Nashville's science center is always a big hit with the kids. I've blogged about it before, but this time the favorite was the space walk. Usually there are big lines for this so we don't do it, but they do love it (even though they yell, "Atomic Wedgie!" the whole time).

After school snack

We try to do fun after school snacks sometimes with the kids. This one was a big hit!

Owen at Mrs. Jenny's preschool

Hatcher Dairy Farm

Feeding and milking cows!

Fire truck!
Owen all tired out after the trip to Gentry farm.



First day!
Holding his "Owen" that he made for the first day.

Mrs. Jenny lives just around the corner and does a preschool Monday and Wednesday from 9-11:30am. Owen has four other boys and one girl in his class. He loves it! Mrs. Jenny taught K and 1st grade for a few years before she had her son Tyler, and she does an excellent job. He says his favorite part is snack. He also likes riding his bike there everyday and all the fun activities they do. We've already done a few field trips- Gentry Farm, Fire Truck, Hatcher Dairy Farm. On one we even got to ride on a bus- his favorite thing they've done! She blogs about all the fun things they do every week and I added her blog under our friend's blogs in case any of you grandparents want to check in on what they are doing!