Not so scary scarecrow...

The kids had fun this week preparing their costumes for Halloween.  Halloween can be a tricky topic amongst friends.  Some love it, some hate it, and we choose embrace the creative and fun side of it.  We're careful which costumes we choose, careful which houses we go to.  Like any other 'issue' when parenting kids in today's world, we choose to ground our kids in why we celebrate the things we do, what we need to be careful of, and how we need to respect other peoples reasons for doing what they do. 
I have great memories of Halloween as a kid.  My mom had these adorable cardboard cut outs that we hung up every year, I can still picture one of them.  It was a pumpkin that had moveable legs and arms.   We always carved pumpkins.  Growing up, our neighborhood wasn't the prime area for trick or treating.  We had a lot of 'old order' mennonites (for lack of a better term) who defnitiely didn't participate in Halloween.  Every now and then they'd hand out a bag of chocolate chips or a piece of fruit if they forgot to turn out their lights!  But, Mom always has, and still does get a real joy out of seeing kids dressed up and having fun!  She still keeps track every year of how many kids come to her door.  Thanks Mom for creating such great memories!
We carved pumpkins, iced cookies, assembled costumes and had a pizza supper with Dad and Mom, and then met up with friends before canvassing their neighborhood for treats.  Isaac was a little leary at first, but he warmed up quick and got the hang of looking cute in exchange for candy!  He always knocked lightly on the doors and even said a few 'pics-a-peeps' (trick or treats).  He refused to have anyone put candy in his bag...HE had to take the candy from them and put it in his bag.  Uncle 'dude' was a great sport and carried him from house to house on his shoulders.  Olivia was dressed as a French artiste, Abby was a beautiful princess, and little Isaac was an adorable scarecrow.  I made the scarecrow costume for Olivia when she was little and it's served our family well.  I was thinking today how sad I will be to retire it....

Yardwork...

This time of year brings a whole new meaning to yardwork around here. Being surrounded by trees is worth the work but it's such a hard time of year to get motivated to go outside. It's blowing and raining lots here but we had a break from it all a couple of Saturdays ago and took advantage of the blue sky. We introduced our Japanese student, Ayano, to leaf raking. She was a good sport and helped here and there with raking the leaves into a pile...but she was tickled when she realized why we were making such a big pile. The girls had a blast running and jumping and even little Isaac seemed pretty happy surrounded by crunchy leaves. We ended the day with a hot dog roast out back....but by then it was coooold!

Pumpkin 'Patch'

Why the quotation marks around patch you ask? Well... the term 'patch' was a stretch of the imagination for this field trip...but Abby had fun nonetheless. Abby is in preschool this year again and this was her first field trip of the year. There are a few pumpkin patches to choose from around these parts. Most offer petting zoos, hay rides, apple orchards, hay mazes...you get the idea. Well, this farm had just opened for business and I'll give them 'A' for effort! I think it could have been a little better prepared but luckily a group of 4 yr olds are less worried with the details than I am. The kids had fun petting the goat, pig and bunnies. There was a hayride and at the end they got to pick a pumpkin....off the lawn. Well...can't win em' all. Mr. & Mrs. Mann are very active farmers in our community and their main farm focus is berries...I've bought a 'few' berries off their stands in my days. Mr. & Mrs. Mann were so kind and informative to the children. Here's a few pics from our trip. Luckily it didn't rain because it's been one wet week around here!

Fall....

This is what I get to see every time I pull up my driveway in the fall. I love this vine that has taken over the cedar tree. The picture doesn't do the color justice but it'll have to do. The colors are so beautiful around here right now...I love driving these days! I know that if we let this vine keep going it will eventually choke out the tree but I don't have the heart to cut it down.....

Harvest Time...

It's been such a long while since I've posted. I have lots that I could be posting on but can't seem to find the time to get er' done! Today is the official first day of fall and although the days are getting shorter we've still had some beautiful weather here. Many of you have gardens that are bursting forth with fruit and veggies....not me. BUT, I have a few friends and acquaintances who do and I have been lucky enough to reap the seeds that they took time to sew! I got a bushel full of prune plums from one friend which we've enjoyed immensely! Rob keeps bringing home bags of beautiful veggies from a dear, sweet couple who is neighbors to one of our farms. They've even started stopping by for visits and hanging more bags of veggies on our gate with notes claiming that they're from 'Joey', their horse!
This past week a wonderful woman from our church gave me the last of her damsen plums from her tree. She told us that she'd saved them just for us but we needed to use her tall ladder and that Rob should come and climb it! It was a beautiful day...we got buckets of plums and some wonderful visiting time with Elizabeth. Elizabeth is a woman I so admire. She has been widowed for many years now but still manages a huge property (full of fruit trees) and balances it with the daily life of farming. Elizabeth is a strong, strong woman of God and is not shy about challenging you to give your all to the Lord. She has taught me many things from her Mennonite heritage...how to make borscht, how to make plum jam, to never shy away from hard work and how to trust God for EVERYTHING ! She's my kind of gal! She makes no excuses for herself or anyone else! Well, Elizabeth...I did it, I made the jam..with a few tips from Tillie too! This jam will be used sparingly due to the amount of work involved and also because it is used in a cookie recipe at Christmastime that my hubby loves! It's been fun to use up all these fruits and veggies that I wouldn't necessarily go out and buy on my own (like beets!) So thanks, my friends, for your goods and for your friendships!

Fall is my Favorite....

Last week when I was driving down our road I caught a glimpse of leaves tumbling behind me in my rearview mirror....and I realized...fall's officially here! I love fall more than any other season. Usually it means sunny, cooler days, beautiful colors on all the trees and chilly evenings. Lately it's been pretty blustery around here and there are leaves everywhere to be raked! This weekend we will celebrate Thanksgiving and also remember the loss of Rob's Dad on Thanksgiving 3 years ago. It's a bittersweet time but we are thankful he's with his Heavenly Father. These are a few shots of my house this time of year.....Kim gave me the acorn/leaf/sunflower bowl fillers that you see displayed on my Grandma's old stove! Thanks Kim! I love being able to have this old stove. My dad originally purchased it for my Grandma when he first started working...what a nice son! It's great for seasonal decorating!

P.S. If you're looking for a cool giveaway head on over to Cindy's blog and leave your favorite fall recipe in exchange for a chance at a really cool prize!

a-MAZE-ingly wet....

Yep, we braved the rain on Saturday afternoon and headed off to the Chiliwack Corn Maze with a bunch of friends. Well, it was just overcast when we left, slightly spitting when we arrived, and by the time we got started...out and out raining/pouring! We mucked through the mud of phase 1 of the corn maze, although it wasn't too difficult since the correct path was blazed in fresh mud! We're talking sideways, slippery cornstalks blowing with rain in our faces....ahh, the things we won't do in the name of fun! It was so wet that we didn't get too many pictures but here's a few. Once we were done phase 1 (we didn't brave phase 2) we had a quick look in the barn at the animals, and some of the kids rode the ride-on tractors. 'My' men were decked out in their John Deere duds so we took advantage of the dry barn to snap some pictures. We had planned on spending the afternoon there having a hot dog roast in the provided pit but our plans quickly changed and we headed to some friends' house for a bbq with the gang....and to dry out! Fun day despite the weather.