Pumpking Carving

It was a cold and blowy day on Saturday so we decided to go to Grandma & Grandpa Feenstra's house and carve pumpkin's! Grandma has a great big garden and this year it grew many tall pumpkins. Why? We don't know....they were just tall not round like you think pumpkins usually are. Anyway, we spent the whole afternoon there....digging out the pumpkin "guts" then drawing the faces out on news paper so mom and dad could carve them into the pumpkins! After everything was done we made doughnuts! Nothing is better than homemade doughnuts!!!

The kids with their pumpkins!!!

Ian making a face like his pumpkins face.

Kendra with her pumpkin...it even has curls on the sides....even though you can't see them....they are really there!!!!

Lucas with his scary pumpkin!

Gavin found the only round pumpkin in the bunch!

Painted Pumpkin!

This one is for you Megan! Here is the finished pumpkin that Megan (my sister) and I painted. The kids think that there should be cookies in it, but I disagree because I know they wouldn't last long and the possibility of it being broken is high! Enjoy and enjoy fall!

Pumpkin Time Again!

Today was the Pumpkin Parade and it was a beautiful day! It was sunny and actually quite warm and muggy...sitting in the sun was not a good idea. This year Lucas was the only one scheduled to be in the parade, but Ian and Kendra found a way to be as well. Lucas rode with all of his friends from school, while Ian and Kendra walked with our next door neighbors through the parade.

Lucas' class...can you find him waving in the middle of the bunch?

Lucas loving his ride and waving to all of the people.

Ian walking with the Huizinga's. Bill Huizinga is our local state representative and just happens to live next door. They have 5 kids, the oldest two (Garriet & Adrian) play with Ian. Ally, the only girl of the bunch, (sound familiar), plays with Kendra. They asked if Ian and Kendra would like to walk with them and hand out candy...they of course jumped at the idea. The only bad part was that they were out of candy by the time they got to us at the end of the parade!

Kendra showing us her empty pumpkin!

After the parade we ate supper and fellowshipped with a group of friends from church. They happen to live on the parade route so we sat in their front yard during the parade and retired to the back yard after wards. The kids had tons of fun playing and got really dirty...can you see Gavin's legs? The bath water was pretty brown after bath's tonight:)

When cousins come to play!

Lucas, Sadie, Gavin, Cassidy, Kendra & Evan


Yesterday we had a fun and busy time as Cassidy, Evan and Sadie came to play. Aunt Stacy had a dentist appointment. Kendra, Lucas and Gavin had fun playing with Cassidy and every once and a while they could stop and come and talk with Evan and Sadie who would quickly reward them with smiles and cooing...that is until that fell asleep. Oh, we missed Ian, he was off at school, hopefully next time he will be around!

Here are a few picture we snapped while everyone was sitting still....a rare moment!

Cassidy, Kendra & Evan

Sadie, Lucas and Gavin

Do you think Lucas would like a little sister? He's NOT getting one! He will just have to borrow Cassidy's.

Kendra and Evan...I think Evan is even smiling:)

Lucas' First Day of Preschool

Lucas had his first day of Preschool on Monday. He was so excited to go he asked every 5 min. for the whole morning if it was time to go. I think that he had fun...it was hard to tell. He is in the Spanish Immersion preschool class so it was all Spanish. When we were singing he leaned over to me and said "does she always talk this was, was she bornd this was?" It was pretty cute. I think he will do just fine....as long as he learns to listen even though he may not always understand:)


Ready to go!

Who said he could grow so big?

Working hard at glueing. He was making his placemat for during snack time.

Getting his foot painted for a foot print....Lucas said it tickled!

The Adventures of Frog and Toad

It was a warm September evening, yes we have them every once in a while in Michigan, and the kids were all sleeping in their beds. Beth went out to water the plants and who did she find? She found long lost "frog." You see, frog has been living in our pond since we moved in, he even wintered somewhere in the pond and surprised us all when after the pond came back to life so did he.

Frog could often be found sitting, sunning himself on a rock and would just watch those watching him. But, several weeks ago it seemed that he had been replaced by a smaller version who didn't care much for being watched. So, imagine Beth's surprise when she spotted him sitting atop a rock this evening. Now, if we only knew where he had been...maybe looking for toad.

Toad.....he must have been away with frog. Toad was found near the back of the house and had been missing for ever so long. Beth spotted him as she was watering other flowers. She didn't expect to see anything as the lighting was poor, but all of a sudden, there he was. Now, as we all know, frog and toad usually travel together. So, perhaps frog went to look for toad and was working on coaxing him back to the pond.

Who really knows where frog and toad went for this adventure...we are just glad to have them back in our pond eating bugs!

The pond....although we don't have the fountain...that was just used when the pump broke. There are 7 fish in there to keep toad and from company. One, lovingly named "fat albert."

Cubs "looking at the fish."

Cheddar taking his turn "looking."

Thanks for hearing about frog and toad adventure....hope there is no more chapters to this one!

Engelwright Lake on Labor Day

For Labor Day this year we didn't go camping...as is our usual practice. The three older kids did go camping for 2 nights with Grandma and Grandpa Feenstra and had a wonderful time. Even went tubing which they report was lots of fun. Kendra says, "we even went really fast." Ian had to sing in a church service on Sunday afternoon with his fellow spanish speaking friends so we did that then headed to Matt's parents cottage on Engelwright Lake. It was the first time we had been there so there was much to explore and do. The kids report that it was their favorite thing to do and we all had a wonderful time!

Ian, the serious fisherman. Didn't catch anything but stuck to it anyway. Matt caught two bluegill, one with a worm, the other with a piece of mushroom:)

Kendra splashing in the water.... I think she is part mermaid as she loves to stay in the water and is almost impossible to get out!

Lucas was on the prowl for frogs. He and Ian caught many...scaring their mom as often as possible!

There were some really big snails that we saw on the bottom of the lake. Kendra collected them and Gavin enjoyed looking at them and taking them in and out of the bucket.

Four really cute, wet kids sitting on the dock! Thanks grandma and grandpa for inviting us!