~ Leap Of Faith ~




The Collins Family
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Thursday, October 29, 2009

Halloween Festivities Phlog Post

Yes, it is time for another Photo-Blog post.

Last weekend both of the girls were invited to a Fancy Nancy tea party birthday. They had so much fun digging through their dress-up box to find things to make them "fancy". This picture was taken right before I found Addy rolling around in the leaf pile. Picking leaves out of a boa scarf is always so much fun.
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Levi took off running as he didn't want any part of the "fancy" picture.

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Addy is a little frustrated with her foam stickers as she is having trouble peeling of the backing.

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Well aren't these sunglasses fancy?

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All dressed up!!!

The girls love baking cookies with their Nana. I think they liked using the Halloween themed sprinkles the best. My mom (the health nut) used wheat flour to make them...that is probably why we still have some left in the container this week. Levi is actually the only one eating them.
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Papa let the girls help scoop out the pumpkin brains and separate the seeds. I am not sure what is scarier, the size of the jagged knife he is using to cut the pumpkin or the face he is creating.
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The girls both had their preschool Fall Flings on Wednesday morning. We are so thankful for the one day break in the rain and the overall nice weather.

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Exploring the hay stacks.

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Most of the other kids were satisfied with a festive pumpkin on their face, but not Jaidyn who requested a blue cat.

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Silly face pumpkin decorating!

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Making a bag of trail mix to take along on their hay ride. I finished her bag off on the drive home after the party. MMmm, a perfect mix of sweet and salty.

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The hayride was a big hit with all of the kids.

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Addy is searching for large plastic spiders amongst the hay bales. I think we need to also be searching for our missing red hair bow.

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Addy is getting ready to leave on the hayride. Oh great, she is already sitting herself between two boys.

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Hunting the corn pit for treasures to put in her treat bag. If it wasn't candy, she pretty much put it back. She definitely went for the good stuff.

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Watch out, she's a serious sack racer!

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Here's Addy with one of her good little preschool friends.

The best part of the Fall Fling was getting to spend time and enjoy the morning outdoors with my two favorite girls.

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Jaidyn received a sidewalk chalk kit at her Fall Fling party as one of the party favors, so yesterday we took advantage of having a nice afternoon and drew all over the entire driveway.
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We have a very busy next two days planned and after I told Jaidyn our plans for the next two days she said, "whoa, we have a couple of exhausted days coming up". :)

Friday, October 23, 2009

I Love Fall!

Grandma Penny came to our house for a visit and the kids have been looking forward to it all week. Last night we carved our pumpkins and it was definitely a group effort. I hope they last until next weekend, but at least we will be able to enjoy the Jack-o-Lanterns all through the week.

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I have no idea why they picked me to draw the face on the pumpkins. Drawing skills are not one of my finer qualities. It will be obvious when you see the pumpkin faces.

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The tops are cut off and they are scooping out the Pumpkin brains. The girls worked hard to pick out all of seeds so we could have roasted pumpkin seeds, but I messed them up when I was cooking them up in the skillet. I guess I didn't cook them long enough as they were soggy and too oily to eat. Bummer!

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Squishy, Ooey, Gooey!

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I think they turned out really cute! Grandma Penny and Wes made up for my lack of drawing ability with their carving skills. :)

We have so many beautiful fall colors in our yard right now. We have reds, oranges, and yellows. The bushes and trees are gorgeous! If it would stop raining and the yard would dry up some we could actually go out rake a pile and play in them.
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Early in the week we had a day in the lower 70's so my mom joined the kids and I on a hiking (more of a walking and stroller pushing) adventure to Ha Ha Tonka State Park. We couldn't have asked for a more perfect day.

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The girls are peering through the bars at what is left of the castle ruins. Jaidyn wanted to know where the dungeon was.

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The girls with the Nana on an acorn hunt.

We have a busy upcoming week with the Halloween activities in full force. Halloween is my favorite holiday so we have been reading lots of Halloween/fall themed books all week. We watched the 1st Harry Potter movie this afternoon and I have Twilight to watch tonight after I get the kids in bed. Wes is working tonight, but I am looking forward to a nice relaxing evening!

Sunday, October 18, 2009

What next...Mt. Everst??

Levi has found that he can climb about anything to get what he wants. He either pushes his little yellow chair, my rolling desk chair or turns my post office box or laundry basket upside down to climb up on something. Tonight, I secretly watched him climb up on the dining room table.
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Wow! This is a little higher than the usual chairs that I climb up.

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My mom took the 3 kids to eat and play at McDonald's earlier this week and she said that Levi just couldn't get his 2nd leg up on the first stair to go up in the tunnels and slides and she said she wasn't about to help him out in his efforts either for fear that he might get stuck up there. She definitely didn't want to have any part in that sort of rescue mission. :)

Finally, after being cooped up inside for several days because of cold rainy weather we had a chance to get outside today for a stroller walk and sit outside on our deck while dinner was cooking.
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Levi is thinking he is pretty studly in his new Cardinal's Baseball beanie. It's a bummer the Cardinals choked in the playoffs.

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These pictures were taken shortly after we had to hold him down and pull a huge splinter out of his hand from climbing down the deck stairs. Notice the snot from his nose and tears on his sweatshirt. Poor little guy!

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He put the sunglasses on all by himself (upside down).

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Cool dude!

On Saturday we spent the good part of the morning waiting in line at the doctor's office to get our seasonal flu shot. They had a Flu Shot clinic and we showed up only an hour after they started and yet our kids were the last young ones to receive the child based shot as they were then out. I am not sure what we would have done if they weren't able to get one as I know that the health department was out of them also. The bad part is they could only give Addy and Levi a half dose because of their age, so they have to return in a month to get the 2nd portion. Grrr, as if the 1st one isn't bad enough for a little one.

Tomorrow, after preschool, my mom and I are going to take the kids to Ha Ha Tonka state park. With the leaves turning and a day in the upper 60's it should be a perfect day for trail walking. I am looking forward to it.