Pumpkin Carving

Even though it's almost Halloween I had to get these pictures in the blog. It seems like it is getting harder and harder to find time to carve pumpkins. But the kids love it, so we will always make time. Ellie especially loves getting in and cleaning the pumpkins. She was covered in goop and very happy. We roasted some seeds and got these done the night before Halloween.

Halloween

So we should make a rule that Halloween is on the last Saturday in October. Monday for Halloween is just plain cruel. That said, the kids enjoyed themselves, the rain stayed away, and I survived. We met our friends at their churches party. The party had games for candy and even a blow up jousting and racing area. Of course, Ellie loved that and Jack didn't do it. Then we went trick-or-treating. The kids had a blast and got plenty of candy. As usual Ellie could stay out all night and Jack is ready to be done after about an hour. But they came home with plenty of candy! Just made for a long week for the grown ups.

Family Halloween party

Our friends Drew and Renee had a family Halloween party the week before Halloween. Everyone was supposed to dress up so we came up with a pirate and parrot costume for Doug and I. Then Ellie decided she wanted to join us as pirates. Jack stuck with his Mario costume from last year(gotta like that, it saves a little money). It was a really fun party, should have taken more pictures. They had karaoke, bobbing for apples, and since it was still light when we got there the kids got to run around their property like crazy. We had to leave by 8:30 since Ellie had an early morning swim meet the next day, but we had a good time.

Nana and Papa bring pumpkins

Nana and Papa came to watch football and volleyball and brought pumpkins. The kids were so excited to set the pumpkins out and we were able to get some fun pictures!

Jack's great game

So Jack wasn't feeling very good but he had a crowd coming to watch him. He also is by far the smallest player on his team so he has yet to score. He came through with a great game, even catching a pass for the two point conversion. He was so excited and nice it happened when he had the whole family! Way to go Jack!

Pumpkin Patch

We headed back to the kids' favorite Pumpkin patch, Bauman farms on the Friday furlough day. It wasn't as busy as last year, probably because it was a little bit drizzly, which made it a much better day. We ran into so many people that we knew, so that was a lot of fun. We also ran into some friends for the kids. It was perfect because the girls both wanted to do the zipline and dark maze and the boys did not, so everyone was happy. We ate great food and brought home some apple cider (Jack's favorite). The only down side is that farms really do aggravate Jack's allergies so he wasn't feeling great by the time we left and had to skip his evening football practice. We stopped at the Nike outlet on the way home and I got my first 2 Christmas presents which made me really happy. It was a very fun day!

Football

Jack is playing flag football for the third year. He is also a Tampa Bay Buccaneer for the third year. This year he is in the 3/4 league so he is definitely the smallest on the team. He often plays center and gets to snap the ball. He loves this and he is very good at it. He is able to throw the ball from much further away than most centers we have seen. Like always, Jack is the one who always knows the score. He is also the one who is always concerned about getting the win. So far they have only won one game. We are hoping that luck will change. It is fun watching Jack play!

His favorite job.

A lot of kids in this league still have the qb stand right behind the center, so this is really good. He always plays this position when he is on offense.

Kian on the right is one of his best friends. This is also a good shot to see the size difference.