Happy Halloween!

For Halloween, Annie wore cute pumpkin clothes.

 Emily and Ellen chose costumes from our dress-up bin.  

This means Ellen was superhero-vampire-dinosaur.  Translated, this means she wanted to wear a Barney costume, cape, and she wanted the gray spray in her hair.  

This means Emily was a vampire princess.  Translated, this means she had Jon do awesome makeup, fake blood, and gray hair with vampire teeth.

Abby got an awesome chicken costume as a hand-me-down, which was absolutely PERFECT for her.

Pumpkin carving

Slave labor

This fall I made tomato sauce from our tomato garden.  The girls wanted to help, and I was more than happy to let them peel.

Annie turned one

Back in October, Annie had a birthday.  I can't believe my baby turned ONE!

Ellen played soccer

Emily took a break this year, but Ellen played soccer.  She had a lot of fun.  She was VERY excited about her trophy!

Homecoming parade

I took the littlest girls on my school's Homecoming float this year (the parade started before Emily got home from school).  They LOVED throwing candy and yelling, "Go Bulldogs!"

Broken arm

Annie was playing on an old mattress with her sisters, and somehow ended up with a broken arm.  We think someone either fell or landed on it.  It was a "greenstick" fracture, which means it only cracks on one side, not all the way through.  She had a soft cast for a few days until we got in to the orthopedist, and then she had the pink cast for two weeks.  It didn't seem to phase her in the least.

She charmed EVERYONE at the orthopedist's office--they even gave her that lion!

Well, it's possible that it affected her eating.  Just a little.

Bathtime was a challenge, as well.  That saran wrap didn't work AT ALL.

Similarities

Ellen and my dad look pretty similar when watching football on Sunday afternoons.

The best part of this was how/when it was taken.  I texted the picture to my mom saying Ellen reminded me of my dad.  She sent that picture back asking, "What do you mean?"  I just about died that they were both passed out on different couches 1000 miles away at the same time.

First days of school

Ellen was beyond excited to start school, and especially to ride the bus.

 On September 30, Ellen said, "My teacher is going to miss me.  I'm going to miss her."  I asked where her teacher was going, and she said, "You said I got to go to school in September, and tomorrow is October."  Poor thing!  So sweet!  We then had a discussion about the school year, and what we really meant.  I am so glad that she loves school!

Some summer fun