Happy Halloween

We had a very busy but very fun day today! Dressing up is just so fun! I'm serious!
So the three kids got dressed in their costumes right off the bat this morning.

this PJ we bought for Baby #3 last November... Gabi would have been the size of a bean or so! Now look at her! The PJ says Lil' Pumpkin! So I thought it would be perfect under a Pumpkin bib and bonnet set I had kicking around as her costume:Elijah changed his mind this morning before getting dressed... the costume we planned on him wearing will be saved for next year; this year he was a "woof, woof, puppy"!

Samuel was the Cat in the Hat

We went to Elijah's music class and then headed straight to the Mall for trick or treating. We spent 45 minutes there collecting treats from the participating stores! Elijah and Samuel were so into it... it was so fun! Then we met up with Alexa, Luke and Erin for lunch in the Food Court. Got to use an Entertainment Book coupon on pizza/pasta before the book expires tomorrow! Yea!
That was a fabulous idea, Alexa, thanks!
Then home for quick naps and then to Moeko's Study Centre for an hour of games... there was a jack-o-lantern on display here that each girl carved this afternoon. We could vote for the best one.After this we went to Mom's for pizza-dinner... then out trick or treating in her neighbourhood! Again, the boys did amazing!!!! We were out for 2 hours... with Uncle Paul, Auntie Carla, Moeko and Misa. Gabriella helped Grandma hand out candy! (Daddy, we miss you having this fun with us... next year you cannot be away for Halloween!)

Carving

This morning we carved our pumpkins! This is Samuel's first experience with pumpkins. (he was only 10 months old last Halloween) I think he enjoyed it! Elijah will take his Jack o' Lantern to preschool today since it is his day to be the "news reporter" - a public speaking opportunity!

Pumpkin Patch Cake - part 2

Last night Moeko, Mie and I baked a batch of these Pumpkin Patch Muffins. We ate them for breakfast... boy, they are yummy!!! Thanks to the preschool teachers for passing along this recipe!we were able to get 1 dozen regular size muffins and 2 dozen mini muffins... in case you are interested in how many this recipe yields.

Pumpkin Patch

Yesterday we managed to get out to the pumpkin patch as a Family! Hooray! (yes, I NEED photos... not b/c I am in starvation of stuff to scrapbook, nope, I have enough but I NEED photos at the pumpkin patch, especially since this is Gabi's first Fall)
We had a nice time and I got some nice shots.

high fives!

Gabi totally picked up the pumpkins. She got this orange one up by her mouth and took at little suck on it!
Last night Alexa and I and our Students went to the scrapbook shop for their free scrapnight (every Friday night). I didn't bring anything else to do really, but I had my camera along so I got Sarah at the store to print out the photos from our trip to the patch... I got one spread done.The title is "Baby Boo" because on Elijah's fieldtrip I learnt that a white pumpkin is called a "Casper" pumpkin and then a crate full of these small pumpkins were labelled as "Baby Boo" pumpkins! Too cute.

gotta love mornings like this

I love it when we have a morning where the boys play... play together! This morning was one of those! I pulled out my tongs from my kitchen drawer for Elijah and a big Tupperware bowl... he was practicing hand-eye coordination. Ever pulled out your tongs (if they are this style) for your child to play with? Do! Or grab a pair from a $ store for play. I first saw this activity at Elijah's preschool open house in the Spring. They had tongs out with pompoms... the child was to use the tongs to pick up the pompoms and place them into an egg carton or something like that. Kinda fun way to practice such skills.

Preschool Fieldtrip

Today, along with most preschool's and probably Kindergarten classes and daycares in our area, we visited the Pumpkin Patch as a fieldtrip. The Class requires that a parent accompany each preschool child for each fieldtrip and meet on premise... so we dropped of Sammy and Gabi while Elijah and I went on a date. It was a beautiful day today! Couldn't have asked for a more perfect day, given our weather lately.
We started in the petting barn... here is Elijah with his teacher, petting a goat:Then we went on a hayride... boy you should have seen the mud under those tractor tires. Elijah and I sat on the first bale of hay, so we could see the mud real well all the way to the patch... it was kinda neat, actually:Mrs J. took Elijah's hand and led him to the squishy mud tracks... he got quite the mud stuck to his boots and inside his boots too! But I don't care... it's all good n' fun!Mrs S. set up a little photo area where she wanted each parent/child to come for a photo together, here we are with Elijah's pumpkin he chose from the patch (notice how muddy he got?!):the class:stay tuned for more... Family Pumpkin Patch Pictures. Jason will take tomorrow off to spend time with us before his final trip away this Fall...the weather is supposed to hold and since we NEED pictures to scrap of the kids with pumpkins (this is very necessary), we will go together! Yea!

saucer n' sushi

This afternoon, Elijah was pushing Gabi around in her saucer! She didn't seem to mind... quite a little game. :)And tonight Moeko made sushi for dinner. We had Devin, Sherry and Marayah over... it was real good! Moeko did a beautiful job on her rolls! Thanks Moeko!Marayah and Moeko

a bit of this and that

Grandpa and the boys, I like this picture a lot!Erin (8 weeks) and Gabriella (15 weeks) for an update picture...I went to Alexa's church's Women's Ministry bowling night on the weekend. It was great fun! I even managed to bowl with Gabi on my front! LOL, I think at one point we even got a strike(?)Alexa is hosting a student too, Mie in the pink hoodie and this is Karen's student, Hiroe... they came bowling too, it was a fun evening!Lunch at church on Sunday, yum! Salad buffet, farmer sausage and a dessert buffet... here is Sammy after his huge m&m cookiethen tonight... this is what bath time looks like here. I don't have the luxury [yet] of plopping Gabi into the tub with her brothers, eventually I hope...

Pumpkin Patch Cake

Elijah made pumpkin muffins today at preschool... he actually ate one at their snack time (I was surprised!) and he received the recipe in his backpack too. So I thought I would share a Fall Recipe with you (I took a bite of his muffin too, and it was yummy!):

Add and Mix Together:
4 eggs
1 cup of oil
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup white sugar
1 can pumpkin pie filling (15oz)

Then add to the above ingredients:
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. ginger
2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. cloves
1/2 tsp. nutmeg

1 cup Whole Wheat Flour
2 cups white flour

Pour mixture into cookie sheet or pour into a cupcake pan.
Bake at 350* for 25-30 minutes.

Frost with dry icing sugar or cream cheese frosting.

Freezes well. Can cut into smaller pieces for freezing.

Welcome Moeko!

Today we welcomed Moeko into our home. Moeko is from Japan and visiting Canada for 3 weeks. She speaks amazing English! It is a pleasure to host you! (Elijah is saying Cheese I think, which explains the face and mouth shape!)

Elijah's Curious George Party

On Saturday we had Elijah's party. We had 10 friends come to celebrate with us. It was a Curious George theme this year because Elijah loves Curious George (obviously). My brother, Paul, dressed up as "the man with the yellow hat" and came as a special guest. That was neat; thank you to Paul! It was a great party. Thank you to all our guests for taking the time to come, for still coming even with the change of date and for the wonderful gifts. :) Check out our slide show of the party:

Gabriella's Portrait

This morning we went to Superstore for Gabriella's 3 month portrait. I had it booked for last week Thursday, but had to cancel because of the episode that morning in the ambulance with Samuel and lack of sleep for us all!
The Photographer did a good job. She asked me if we could wait 5 minutes and she'd get the portraits printed up... of course, I'll wait! So I already have them, obviously! Sweet! I just bought the Econo package this time around (which still gives me 2 8x10, 2 5x7 and 16 small wallets), so I just have this one pose, which is plenty... isn't her dress so adorable? Alexa bought it from Gap when she was there 2 weeks ago and found great deals! Erin and her have matching ones! I just love it!

...and actually, here are the portraits Gabi had taken at Sears when she was a few weeks old (Alexa-I used those tie down embellishments, see?)they did a great job and I bought a bit more than I anticipated, but will have these in place of Canadian Baby portraits

Fire Prevention Week

Every year the Fire Halls have an Open House for the children. We went this year again. It was a really mild evening, which was a nice change from the rain lately!Of course, we "ran" into Alexa and Family: here Danika and Luke are waiting to get their tattoos
there is a little course set up for the kids to do, so here Elijah starts by pulling the hose to himselfthen they crawl under a tarp; Samuel participated toospraying a moving target, another fire fighterannual picture together at the open house... Samuel, Elijah, Luke, Natalie and Danika (all eating their free Timbits from the Timmy Cruiser)Gabriella enjoyed the lights and her time in Daddy's arms!