Samantha painted a pumpkin again this year, and it looks almost exactly like last year’s.

And as usual, I carved my pumpkin.

And our little ghouls were Wonder Woman and a lady bug.

We started the evening by painting pumpkins.  I intended to do this at her birthday party, but I was too ambitious.  Halloween afternoon sufficed.  Her pumpkin was solid blue.  Naturally.

I carved my pumpkin during “nap” time.  If you don’t know, I LOVE to carve a pumpkin.  I usually don’t see how I can find the time, but then magically, Halloween afternoon opens up.

Samantha as a bee.

Our pumpkins.  Mine was carved.  Samantha’s were all painted blue.  Brian’s was a bee (whose eye got smudged).

Samantha wasn’t thrilled to go on a hayride, but you have to to get back to the big pumpkin fields. (We were towed by a big noisy tractor!)

Ellie didn’t seem to mind.

Once we got there, Sam was in search for a little pumpkin. I think she was trying to find one that she could carry because she would pick one up randomly then decide it was too big or too heavy! We got the smallest one that we could find, but it’s still a mostly normal size pumpkin. I guess she was thinking she could find something like we have as decorations all over the house.

(Brian, why didn’t you tell me that Ellie had a tail?!  I would have fixed that!)

We skipped out on the hay maze, but maybe we’ll try it next year.  This was the first year we tried the jumpy things.  I knew she would have a blast. She mostly played in the big pumpkin, but went down the Sabertooth Tiger slide once!

Samantha and I had shaved ice as a treat.  Hers was blueberry and bright blue!  Here she is trying to do “silly eyes.”

(Ellie isn’t doing it right either…)

We had a great time.  We saw several families that we knew, so I guess it was the weekend for picking out your pumpkin!  Now it’s time to research how I’m going to carve my pumpkin.

It was almost cold and pretty windy, so we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves outside.  Here’s a family picture.  (And don’t mind my hair, as I said, it was windy.)

Silly girl with windblown hair.

Look out, Little Man!  Don’t you know that you’re supposed to keep your eyes on the road?

Whoa! Here comes Optimus Prime, ready for Trick or Treating!

We decided to get the kite out since it was so windy.  The three little ones helped me put it together.

What are those two scheming about?

Let’s go fly a kite!

On our way home, we drive by a golf course and small lake.  There are usually geese, ducks and squirrels around that we look for.  She also looks for frogs, but I haven’t ever seen a frog there.  A few weeks ago, we didn’t see the squirrel in its usual yard.  She told me that she would get on Mommy-Daddy’s ladder and climb the tree and go look for the squirrel nest.  I was shocked that she knew squirrels lived in a nest, up in a tree, and that she needed to get a ladder to get to the nest.

Ballet is going well.  The first few weeks were a little rough getting her there, but she was fine once she got there.  Now, it’s no problem.  She likes to go and really enjoys the class.  She is definitely the youngest in the class.  It’s a hoot to watch those little girls.  I made a tote bag for her clothes and shoes.  Samantha picked out the fabric herself!

We’ve been talking about Halloween a little bit lately.  Last year, she was terrified of her ladybug costume.  I had it hanging up on her closet door for the whole month of October so we could look at it daily and talk about it.  That didn’t help.  The three times she wore it, she threw a fit each time as if I was torturing her.  This year, it’s a different story.  I was thinking of making a costume for her.  So, I tried to take her to look at some costumes in the fabric store books.  She didn’t seem interested.  We talked about various ideas, but one thing kept standing out in my mind.  I found one, and she loves it.  Chances are, if you’ve skyped with us in the last few weeks, you’ve seen it.  If not, skype with us, or wait until Halloween to see it.  :)

Lastly, she has started singing along to Raffi.  She can sing the ABCs and Twinkle Twinkle Little Star on her own, but singing along is something new.  I recorded some today, so check it out.  Raffi and Samantha sing Five Little Ducks.

Here’s an old picture from Labor Day weekend at Diebert Park.

The week before Halloween, the Moms Group at church had a Halloween party. I decided to go since it was in the late afternoon, and she could have a go at wearing her costume. Once we got to the party, she was fine. She loved eating the apple slices, running around with the other kids, and eating more apples. She got a bag full of goodies too.

On Friday the 30th, Hoover had a Family Fun Night at the nearby park. Once again, it was trauma as the costume went on. At the park, we got to eat a hotdog, go through a trick-or-treat line, go on a hayride, and I was going to try to stay for the movie, but it got late.

Then the big day. It was a mostly normal Saturday until the doorbell rang at 4:30. Yes, it was early, but it was a neighbor. Samantha had just gotten up from her nap and wasn’t in her costume yet. Brian was outside cleaning the fleet, so I figured I’d put her costume on (the. horror.) and go outside. As it got later, I asked if she wanted to go on a walk, and she said “yes.” We walked up the street and as soon as I started to go up a driveway to ring a doorbell, “no, no, no!” rings throughout the street. Brian was still outside (at our house) and noted later that he heard the screaming down there. Once she realized that people would put a bowl of candy in front of her, she was much more inclined to go up and ring the doorbell. She never did say “trick or treat,” and she wanted me to hold her as we got close to the door, but she did enjoy her evening I think. We came in and had dinner. (I know, backwards order.) Afterwards, she picked out some Peanut M&Ms. I don’t know if she had ever had them before, but I think she liked them.

A while ago, I went to our new Joann Fabrics. oh. my. gosh. Some serious fabric in that place. You take a number when you first walk in and maybe, by the time you’re ready to leave, someone will call it so you can get your fabric cut. I wanted to buy some fabric to make Samantha a tutu. I thought she would enjoy playing with it. I ended up making one for her and one for her friend, Sydney. Sam has yet to put it on. She hides in the corner when I ask her if she wants to wear it. But, she does the same thing with her ladybug Halloween costume. The ladybug costume has been out for about 2-3 weeks now, and she won’t have anything to do with it. I figured she would be reluctant with it, which is why I got it out so early. That girl of mine doesn’t like change. She is seriously routine-oriented. Anyway, Joann Fabrics was awesome.

We were going to try to head to a Pumpkin Patch this weekend. However, the weather doesn’t look promising.

It’s hard to believe that Samantha’s birthday is coming up! She’ll be two next week! What a silly girl she is. She makes me laugh.