Halloween

Last weekend we carved our pumpkin.  Rather, Michael carved our pumpkin.  Jackson got his hands in it a little bit as well though!  Rachel watched but didn't want to touch it.  

He didn't like the taste of it though!

The finished product!  Turned out pretty good!

And of course today was Halloween.  You'll never guess what Rachel went as...her new favorite thing - a cheerleader.  Jackson was Cookie Monster.  Jackson got to dress up this morning for school.  They have a costume parade in the morning.  This is him and his closest friend, Logan (who was dressed as Scooby Doo, but Jackson just called him a puppy dog because he doesn't know who Scooby is!).

Getting ready to go out trick or treating tonight!

Pretending to eat his cookies!!

Rachel and Kendall.

He tripped and fell...had to pick up his candy!

Rachel with more friends...

They had a good time tonight... It was a rather warm Halloween evening this time - you never know how the weather will be each year!  Jackson got hot in his outfit and wouldn't leave the hood/head on.  He started out flipping it off after each house but then he wouldn't even put it on anymore...his whole head was sweating... 

And this picture isn't Halloween, but they got Shrek and Donkey masks at Wendy's the other day and were pretty cute trying them on!  Just wanted to share.  

Hot Air Balloons

Last weekend, we went to a new event close by called Owl-O-Ween - held out a local college nearby.  They were having hot air balloons, a band, food, fun things for the kids, etc.  I won't go into details other than to say they have a lot of kinks to figure out for next year (it was their first year hosting this event)... Three food trucks for thousands of people just wasn't enough.  

Anyways, the kids enjoyed seeing the hot air balloons up close and being able to trick or treat from them!

It was a cold night so we were all bundled up.  And Michael took all of the pictures this evening so he didn't make it into any of them...

It's Beginning to Feel Like Fall...

Today we went out and got a pumpkin.  We decided not to go to the big pumpkin farm this year because when we have in the past it always turns out to be stressful and kids never want to take the pictures I envision having.  So we went to the nearby church that sells pumpkins and got ours from there again.  And managed to get a few cute pictures while we were there - even if they were taken on my phone!  I didn't even take the big camera this time...I know you're shocked...

And tonight our neighborhood had a Fall Party.  Nothing big but it was fun.  We had a cupcake walk (I ran that), face painting, pumpkin bowling and of course the playground.  At one point while both of our kids were running around and playing with their friends, Michael and I realized that this is probably the first time that we weren't having to run around chase at least one of them.  We kept an eye on them but even Jackson was such a big boy tonight and played with the other kids on his own.  Nice!

Rachel and Bella with their mustaches...

Jackson loved the playground...

Rachel and Naomi with all of the carved pumpkins...

My babies...

Rachel with Kendall and her sister.  

Cheer, Trucks and Bears

Remember last year when Rachel played basketball (I used that term lightly) for her school?  Well, they also have a spirit squad (cheerleading) to cheer for the basketball games and other events at the school.  She saw them perform once last year and seemed to like it but never said anything else about it.  A month or so ago, Michael and I were talking about it all and thought of asking her if she would like to cheer for it this year - she obviously isn't playing basketball again.  She's not doing gymnastics again this year either.  She really liked swimming but that's during the summer. (Although she is taking tennis lessons for an hour a week for 6 weeks right now - with her friends on Tuesday afternoons... so that is something else!) 

 So, I asked her if she might be interested and she was very much so!  She started practicing right away on her own and got some of her friends to show her cheers.  Any free time she had, she would be doing cheers.  And we hadn't even signed her up yet.  Well, yesterday morning was the day to sign-up - the first 60 kids would get on.  Michael took her and they got her signed up for the team.  They will practice once a week in the evenings and then cheer for the basketball games on Saturdays (times to vary I believe)...the season will run from November - mid-February.  Hopefully this will be something she enjoys doing.  

After they left her school, they went to Touch-a-Truck.  It's something our county does once or twice a year.  They have a fire truck, ambulance, police cars and motorcycles, SWAT vehicle, tractors, etc. all outside for the kids to touch, see and take pictures with.  Here are a few that Michael got.

Even a couple of Rachel's friends were there that day as well and they all got on the fire truck together.  Rachel and Jackson are in the back here.

Also yesterday afternoon, I took Rachel to see The Berenstain Bears Live at a small theater on the Marietta Square.  We were up in the balcony but it was a small place so we could see pretty good.  If only all the other kids were more quiet, we could of heard better as well.  She really enjoyed it though.  

This is Rachel with Sister Bear afterwards.  Sister Bear was Rachel's favorite.  

I'm sure we'll have more cheerleading pictures to come soon.  

Oh and Halloween is right around the corner as well!