Happy Halloween! For GO's first Halloween, we dressed up as the cast of NCIS. GO went as Abby. I was so proud of her not pulling her braids off. And she loved her little studded wristbands. My favorite was her "Bert the Hippo", just like Abby on the show!
The boy Caterpillars came as DiNozzo and McGee - you guess which is which. (CW dressed himself in his "cool" Hawaiian print shirt...thanks again Aunt CC...).
We headed up to the church for our Fall Festival. It was hard to get pictures of the boys, because they were running from game to game. GO spent time in the Toddler room with Cookie and Hubby.
Princess and Prince came to visit us. Princess was a pretty orange witch.
Prince came as Harry Potter.
These are some of the better pictures. Most of the others are of them rushing past the person with the camera!
The one good shot I got of the Caterpillars on the haybale. I wanted GO in the picture, also, but there was no holding them there while we got her!
Happy (Early) Halloween!
~Lone Butterfly )i(
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Saturday, October 24, 2009
Wow, football is a bigger hit with the Caterpillars than Hubby and I ever expected!
It was pretty chilly, but dry (such a good thing), so GO was all dressed up in her long sleeves and hat cheering her brothers on from the sidelines.
I am really hoping we will be able to let the Caterpillars play football in the spring. I think they are going to LOVE it again.
THANK YOU Granddaddy and Minnie Mouse for giving B10 and CW this opportunity.
~Lone Butterfly )i(
Friday, October 23, 2009
The entire family spent the day cleaning, so instead of going out for a family night we went to our local grocery store (YAY Ms. Ardith!) and got something to make together at home.
The Caterpillars found this recipe in the Paula Deen Kid's Cookbook and couldn't wait to make porcupine! (I'll let you know, it's an all-beef dish.)
They helped measure the ingredients and fix the baking dish.
We knew it would be an interesting dish, but we were not prepared for what came out of the oven!
I can see why they are called porcupine balls...however, we've decided the next time we make them will be for the Cub Scouts. (B10 and CW have decided they should be called "Rotten Meatballs, full of Maggots".)
For dessert we made fruit tarts. CW made one (full of peaches) and B10 made one (mixed fruit).
The raspberries were DELICIOUS! The full meal was really good, the Caterpillars rated the porcupine balls a 9 out of 10. And we got fresh green beans that they snapped and cooked (a first for them).
GO loved the green beans and our pretty plates. It was really a good night and a nice time to not have to go out and spend money. We are hoping to do it again soon.
~Lone Butterfly )i(
Friday, October 9, 2009
Today the Caterpillars and I drove out to see Edelweiss and LG. We decided to do a bit of geocaching in their neck of the woods. Edelweiss had checked to make sure that they were still there (we had a massive flood down here and many geocaches in the area were swept away). It was a muddy trip, but besides the couple of swarms of mosquitoes, we all enjoyed ourselves!
LG and CW show off the treasures they have already found.
B10 is always fun to have when we are geocaching, because he's got no fear of sticking his hand down holes in the ground or up in trees. He pulled this lock-in-lock box out for us. It was one of the ones that survived the "Great Flood of 2009".
B10 really helped out carrying GO part of the time I was working with the GPS. You can tell she loves and trusts her big brothers!
After geocaching (we found FOUR!), we headed to the local park to play for an hour or so. The boys were off and running to the playground, while GO, Edelweiss and I hung out on a park bench.
I love seeing CW with LG. When he's with LG or Little Sheep, he really gets to be a "big brother" to another boy. It's kind of cool to see him do for others what B10 does for him.
The park was awesome! So much to climb on - plus I got a really good lesson in how to use my telephoto lens on my new camera.
After the park, we headed back to Edelweiss' house for a hot dog lunch. It was awesome to spend time with friends we haven't seen in a while. I hope to do it again soon!
~Lone Butterfly )i(
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
I got my new camera (Happy Birthday/Merry Christmas!) and one of the coolest things to see is how pictures of animals come out.
B10 is always bringing home something. He and CW caught a shrew today, which they immediately brought up to show me.
Then, I took a few photos of B10 with his lizards (Moses and Joshua). I am AMAZED by the camera and the detail it picks up.
I'm not sure if you can see any more of the love seeping out of B10 when it comes to animals, but it's there!
~Lone Butterfly )i(
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
Disney is opening their newest movie, "A Christmas Carol" on November 6th. It's a 3-D movie and their marketing campaign is outstanding.
There is an Amtrak train traveling around the country, with interactive exhibits and an 11 minute preview of the movie. Since the Caterpillars are in a version of "A Christmas Carol" at our local community theatre, I thought they would enjoy seeing the train.
We invited their friends, a homeschool family that lives down the street from us.
It didn't rain on us, which is good - because the line was LONG. We got there pretty early, and that was a great thing. Any later and we likely wouldn't have been able to do both things. The train was awesome.
I was amazed by the HP screens, they are truly amazing. Plus, getting to see actual writings by Charles Dickens, in his own handwriting, is really cool!
At the end, we got to morph our faces into characters from the movie. I can't wait to see how those turn out when they are emailed to us!
There was a little booth to get temporary tattoos and activity sheets. B10 picked the Scrooge one, while the other kids got snowflakes.
Finally, we watched an 11 minute 3-D preview of the movie. It was beautiful! Absolutely amazing. Our family will be going, perhaps not the first weekend, but before Christmas, I'm sure.
It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience. I am so glad we were able to do it.
~Lone Butterfly )i(
