Box

I bought a new (gigantic) light fixture for the dining room and it came in this gigantic box. (Which is still in the playroom.) Amelie wanted to make a house out of it.

We got a book called Not a Box, which is very timely.

Waiting on Piano Lessons

Most of the time, I take Amelie to her piano lesson by myself. For some reason, on this day, we all went. This is the old location, which was in a neat old house (with cats).

James likes to draw. I think that's a guitar :) 

There was also a toy ukulele. 

So serious. 

Library

I got a new job at the library! Here's me on my first day:

And then here are just some other photos of us enjoying the library. James met up with his BFF from preschool to compare notes about Kindergarten since they're in different schools. 

And here's Leah playing in the play kitchen in the children's area. 

I’m still working at the shelter (doing both jobs) for a bit longer, though that will ease up in December when they get someone new hired.

Grindstone

We went to Grindstone Nature Area with some friends and threw rocks in the creek - this must have been Leah's first time.

There were no fewer than three families/couples getting professional photographs made (on that bridge up behind us mostly). The light was gorgeous.

I guess this was the only picture of Amelie. Can you spot her? 

Voting

James and I walked to our polling place to vote in the midterm elections. He went with Sam later in the day, too.

Snow

Leah got to play in the first snow of the year. James was terribly, horribly, mortally, deeply offended that school was not cancelled for the snow, even though it didn't stick to the roads at all. They had a late start a few days later which mollified him somewhat.

Leah loves to go outside anyway, so this was just a fun new experience for her. She'll stand at the door and say "Side!"

Corn Maze

It seems strange to post these now with snow on the ground, but we took the kids to Shryock's Corn Maze. They had the most fun by far in the barn:

Amelie took many turns on the rope swing. 

And Sam and Leah went down the slide many times

I sent this video to Grandma Doris and she wrote back that Leah was very brave!

The corn pit is always a big hit: 

Amelie in the corn - at least she didn't lose her glasses!

Here's Sam burying James. 

I don't remember what it was over, but James was not having the maze itself. We did not make it over to the astronaut. 

Leah in the pumpkin patch. I'm in love with these overalls. 

Amelie and Leah and I trekked on a bit farther. 

Happy Halloween!

First, some pre-Halloween festivities. We went to a Halloween party at a friend of Sam's from high school and Amelie put together a costume from the costume drawer. Here she is sneaking candy:

Leah's teacher at school sent this to me from their costume parade: 

Eating supper and waiting for it to get dark outside:

Everyone wore a bib to attempt to keep their costumes clean. Amelie was suspicious about the eyeliner whiskers until they went on - then she was a fan. Leah was the only one who ate a good supper.

Sam's folks came over beforehand to see the kids. They very helpfully took this group photo of us before we went out and passed out candy while Sam walked around the block with Leah. My friend from work and his wife came and walked around with us, too  - they're Thor and the Scarlet Witch. (Not pictured - another friend brought her two kids, just because we seriously live in the best neighborhood in Columbia.) 

I bought a banana costume from a lady on Facebook for $5. 

I also got Leah's costume on Facebook for $5. I just couldn't believe that I didn't have a costume from one of the other kids that would fit her - but she's (mostly) in 18 months stuff, and we just had baby costumes and the homemade 2T purple dinosaur. I showed great strength of will and refrained from getting her a $35 Max costume from Where the Wild Things Are.

After much deliberation (and talking us into buying *two* new swords, two trips to costume stores plus an additional purchase of green pants that weren't the correct light green), James decided to be a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle

Amelie is Kikinari (apologies on the spelling), which is a ninja cat. I sneakily made her (sort of) smile in this picture.

She's making THIS FACE in all of the others. She had a sword, too. 

One of our first stops was at Mrs. Linda's house. She had special treats for her former daycare kids. 

One of the houses had a hotdog station again. James ate the whole hotdog. (Amelie ate maybe a 3rd and then I and our friend Sam split the rest of it.) That same house also had music playing and projecting up on the side of the house. At first it was Halloween-type spooky stuff, but then some of the other kids requested "Baby Shark," and it got stuck in my head for the rest of the walk.  

James went the whole way around the big loop - which is a mile! Wow! Our friends ended up taking him the rest of the way because Amelie had to run home and use the restroom about 75% of the way through. Leah was a trooper and carried her bag with great seriousness. Everyone got some candy and stayed up past bedtime.  

I'd taken their pumpkin buckets to Leah's daycare for a game today and they didn't make it home, so James and Amelie had to carry pillowcases around with them to trick-or-treat. Hey, at least they hold more candy. Here's them with their loot:

A happy Halloween was had by all!