Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween from our Princess Witch and our Chili Pepper!



More tomorrow, showing all the activities of the day.

Pumpkin Carving Results

4 Pumpkins
Originally uploaded by Dan and Ann

Here are our jack o'lanterns for 2008. Left to right...Dan's Monster, Ann's Kitty Cat, Sadie's Happy Face, Helena's Baby Face ("Mommy, make her look like she's a little bit yelling!").

Tomorrow is the big day!

Pumpkin Shell

A slight variation of a favorite nursery rhyme:

"Mom and Daddy, pumpkin eaters, had a Nell and couldn't keep her.
We put her in a pumpkin shell...

And there we kept her very well."

Sadie and her pumpkin

I love this one!
Originally uploaded by Dan and Ann

We have quite an assortment of pumpkins at our house right now. Inside the house, we have two tiny pumpkins that Sadie has drawn faces on with a sharpie, a slightly larger pumpkin that I drew a face on and a medium size pumpkin that Sadie decorated with felt, googly eyes, pom poms and gems at the Etna Library Spooky Halloween Craft Party.

Outside the house, we have four pumpkins waiting to be carved. A very big one for Dan, a big one for me, a big one for Sadie and a smaller one for Helena.

On the deck we also have a gourd which Sadie drew a face on with marker. It's getting kind of rotten, so I made Sadie take it out of the house. She can't bear to throw it away yet.

After Halloween, we are going to put the pumpkins in the woods and watch them decompose. Sadie saw this on the PBS Kids show "Sid The Science Kid" and is eager to try it at home.

Getting Ready for Halloween

3 pumpkins, 2 kids
Originally uploaded by Dan and Ann

We are all getting very excited for Halloween. These are our pumpkins that we got at Poverty Lane (yes, we have been to Poverty Lane a ton this fall!). They are waiting on our deck and we'll carve them this week.

We're also going to bake Halloween cookies for Sadie to bring to daycare for a special snack on Thursday.

There will be a Halloween themed post every day this week and lots of pictures of the girls in their costumes on Friday.

Grandma and Grandpa...we know you probably will not be able to comment, but do you know if children in Israel celebrate Halloween? I told Sadie that I didn't think so, but that they wear costumes on Purim.

Feel better, Grandpa!

Mommy and girls on the tractor
Originally uploaded by Dan and Ann

Grandpa's foot got run over by a car! We hope it's feeling better very soon and you and Grandma can go and have a fun time in Israel. Sadie says, "I love your foot, Grandpa!"

We love you (not just your foot)!

Bonfire

Some pictures from the Homecoming Bonfire...

Warming up in the gym lobby:


Alumni Parade:


Sadie exhausted (we woke her up to see the fire once it was lit):


Nellie and Daddy:


Go Big Green:

Pre-Homecoming

Sadie, Helena and I headed into Hanover this morning to see what was going on before Homecoming Weekend starts tonight. We watched them building the bonfire.

Sadie would have watched indefinitely, but it was cool out, so after a while, we went and got some lunch. I decided to take the girls to the Hop, which was our favorite campus lunch spot back in the day. Nell slept through lunch, but Sadie had a great time eating with the "college teenagers". I let her get chocolate milk as a treat.

After lunch, we went to the Hood Museum. They had a family guide with pictures we needed to find and Sadie had a great time finding all of them. They also had some pencils and paper out to sketch with. Sadie drew "that naked baby with no diaper" (it was a renaissance Madonna and Child, and she was right; baby Jesus was not wearing a diaper).

We went outside to play on the X Delta, a moving sculpture.

And finally, we came back home!

Sister Time

Sadie and Helena love to be together. Although they go to the same daycare, it doesn't seem like they see much of each other during the day. The preschool room is all the way at the other end of the building from the baby room.

Lately, they have been able to play with each other a little bit. Nell is becoming interested in toys and is very interactive with smiles and coos when Sadie talks or sings to her. Sadie especially loves it when we let her cuddle with Nellie before bedtime.



Thanks to Nana for this cute set of matching blanket sleepers!

Good times outdoors

running between the rows
Originally uploaded by Dan and Ann

Sadie and her friend Katie had a wonderful time running around among the trees at Poverty Lane yesterday. The weather was gorgeous and the orchard wasn't too busy. The girls picked apples in the heirloom section of the orchard and Sadie picked quite a variety of different kinds and mixed them in one bag, so I also bought a bag of Macs, just in case her mystery choices weren't delicious.

Another one from the orchard

Looking studious
Originally uploaded by Dan and Ann

It's important to always have a pen on hand if you're with Sadie because if she notices a desk or table anywhere, she will want to sit down and write.

At Povery Lane Orchard, this litle desk is in the shed where they have the gourds and squashes. Sadie sat at the desk and wrote for a while. This was just a quick candid, but the light and colors came out well and I love Sadie's intent expression.

Cuter by the Minute

Cutie Nellie
Originally uploaded by Dan and Ann

Nell has reached the age in babyhood where she is getting cuter and cuter everyday. She's full of smiles and is trying to laugh. So far, all we get is a little "heh!" but the giggles are on their way. She's reaching for toys and starting to notice her own hands and feet. She loves to "sit up" and stand with support, just like Sadie did when she was a baby. She is eagerly trying to roll over but hasn't managed it yet. If we put her down on her back on her playmat, she tries and tries to roll to her front. Tomorrow, she'll be 3 months old.

Just FYI, although it looks like it in this picture, Nellie does not have gigantic feet. I just bought these furry boots in a larger size so they would last through the winter.

Halloween

halloween portrait
Originally uploaded by Dan and Ann

Sadie is very excited about Halloween this year. She has her costume and loves it. Today, she drew this picture of herself in her costume. Can you guess what she is going to be? My favorite detail is her trick-or-treat bag in her hand!

I asked her to tell me about the picture:
"It's me and my friends trick or treating near a pumpkin patch. The ghosts are my friends. We all have treat bags!"

Over the last few weeks, Sadie has started drawing people with specific facial features or clothes to distinguish them. We've seen drawings of Grandpa with glasses, Santa Claus with a beard, Mommy wearing an apron, Nellie in her Halloween costume, and Daddy at the lab.

Poverty Lane Orchard

Mama, she tipped over!
Originally uploaded by Dan and Ann

Sadie's song about apples, sung to no particular tune while eating a free sample apple and dancing around while I was holding Helena under my arm and trying to pay for our apples, cider and a little gourd.

"I love this apple!
It's juicy.
It tastes like apple juice.
I'm chewing it...it makes apple sauce in my mouth.
My lips taste like apple juice.
Oh apple, apple, apple!
Juicy and yummy, oh apple, apple, apple!"

Happy Birthday Mommy!

A very happy birthday to Ann, who is the best Mommy anyone could hope for!

Baby's First Dartmouth Football

And they lost (of course).

Helena seemed to like the game, at least until she fell asleep.


Sadie preferred her huge rice krispie treat and her balloon D to any of the football action.


But we still had a great time with Grandma and Grandpa!

Riverview Farm

On Sunday morning, Nana came to visit and we went to Riverview Farm to pick apples. We didn't end up picking any apples because Sadie didn't like the mushy apples underfoot and most of the apples were above her reach, but we had a lot of fun with other activities.

Sadie had cider and a donut.


Helena relaxed in the grass.


We all walked through the corn maze and Daddy and Nellie posed in this pumpkin head cut-out. Sadie would not put her head through.


We posed Sadie by the wheelbarrow like we do every year, but she just made goofy faces and wouldn't smile.


Sadie, Nana and Daddy took a horse and wagon ride and we bought cider and apples to bring home. It was a great fall activity!

Do they look alike?

Do they look alike?
Originally uploaded by Dan and Ann

Do Sadie and Helena look alike? We think they do. Their faces are the same shape. Their eyes, eyebrows and mouths are very similar. Their noses are a little different, but Sadie's nose has changed since she was a baby. The big difference in appearance seems to be their coloring. Helena is not as bald as baby Sadie was and her hair is darker. Nell's skin tone is different and we think her eyes may turn out to be blue. They are actually getting more blue and lighter as time goes by.

Souvenir

Photo Strip
Originally uploaded by Dan and Ann

When we were at the Willows a few weeks ago, I saw a photo booth and immediately brought both girls in for photos. I love these old photo booths. This was a really good one, with black and white real film photographs. Most of the time now, photo booths use digital cameras.

Sadie and I had a lot of fun in the booth. As you can see from her expression, Helena was a little concerned about the whole thing.

Dance Class

Dancing with Scarves
Originally uploaded by Dan and Ann

This past Saturday, Sadie started dance class at Creative Movement School of Dance. Her class is for 3 and 4 year olds and includes tap, ballet and jazz dance! Sadie had a great time in the class. She was really excited, participated the whole time and loved wearing the dance clothes and shoes.

During the ballet section of the class, they divided the kids into two groups. One group had blue scarves and tried to copy Miss Ellie and the others had red scarves and copied Miss Tammi. Here's Sadie with her blue scarf, following Miss Ellie's movements.