Our Pumpkin is Ready

 

Our Jack-O-Lantern is now carved,

but it was a bit of a process to get there.

Saturday afternoon we woke Sara Wells up from her nap (you can see the kind of 

dazed look on SW's face) and got ready to carve our pumpkin!

Don't worry, Miller holding the knife was only a pose for the picture.

 Ella explained to Sara Wells how the whole process was going to work.

 First we draw our ideas for the Jack-O-Lantern

 We choose our favorite and then draw it on the pumpkin for Daddy to carve.

Sweet Ella chose Miller's.  Unfortunately the design was not quite big enough for carving.

 Daddy draws the face on.

 And cuts off the top.

 And then the fun begins...

Dig out the "gooey stuff."

 As hard as they tried, the spoons just did not get the job done.

 They had to go in with their hands.

Miller was not thrilled about that.

 I'll be honest, I agree with Miller.  It is pretty slimy and gross.

 Then Daddy starts the carving.

I love Sara Wells' face in this picture.  She was very into the carving!

 Our pumpkin carver disappeared in all of our recent moves, 

so the carving took a little bit longer than normal...

But we finally got a pumpkin that everyone is happy with!

Now we just need our Trick-or-Treaters!

Last Minute Halloween Idea

Halloween Ghosts

What you need:

Pretzel sticks
White chocolate chips (one bag makes enough for 2 bags of pretzel sticks)
Chocolate chips (or you can use edible markers)
Parchment Paper

Melt white chocolate chips.
Dip pretzel sticks in white chocolate.
Lay on parchment paper to harden.
Melt chocolate chips.  Use toothpick or small paint brush to paint on ghost face.  (Using a edible marker might be easier for little fingers, I just did not have time to go to the store to get them)

They are a guaranteed hit!  My good friend (and often mentioned recipe provider) Mary brought these to our church picnic on Sunday and all the kids loved them.  The Lee kids did not get to go so I thought we would make them this week.  They were loved by all.  I sent the majority of them to school with Ella and Miller for their friends in their class so that I would not eat them all!

The picture quality is not the greatest because the pictures are from my phone.  I could not find my battery charger for two days.  A little bit of panic started to set in.  I found it tonight in the bag that I took to Ireland!  Unpacking is one of my very least favorite things to do.  I guess I just got tired of unpacking and put the bag away with a few important items still stowed away.

Birthday Celebration

Murray's birthday was Monday.  We had planned on having a family birthday party Monday night and Monday for lunch just Murray and I were going to go out for a birthday lunch.  But as anyone with kids knows, plans can change very quickly.

Miller ended up having to stay home from school because of his asthma. 

 Then I thought if he is home, I might as well keep Sara Wells with me too since I would no longer get anything done that I would do kidless.  So, our birthday lunch now included two more.   

And then I thought, if we have 2 we might as well get Ella out of school and have her join us too (she only missed lunch and the last 30 minutes).  Plus, I left her school bag sitting on the kitchen counter.  

As we were driving to school I told everyone the plans.  Then Daddy called declaring where he would really love to have his Birthday Lunch.

Chuck E. Cheese!

What a good Daddy!

The kids had a blast.

 And I think Daddy did too!

 After lunch the kids and I rushed home to get ready for the party that night.

As I have said before, Ella and Miller love to decorate!  So, to get to this point took about an hour.

 About 45 minutes longer than I had anticipate. 

 For his birthday cake, Murray requested Key Lime Pie.

Here are a few of Ella's photo journal of the beginning festivities.

 Even one of herself...

 Inspired by his Chuck E. Cheese prize, Miller celebrated Daddy's birthday ninja style.

 From Miller: Angry Bird

Miller has had his eye on these for sometime and finally found the perfect excuse to get one.

 From all the Lee Kids:  Super Hero Cape!

Now Daddy has a cape just like Ella and Miller.

Happy Birthday Murray!

We love you!

Happenings

It is hard to believe it has been a week since I have been here.  We have just been busy with everyday life.  Between school, grocery shopping, laundry, story time, soccer practice, bible study, 2 no nappers...  the weeks just fly by!  There is just not nearly enough time to get everything done that we want to do!  

One thing that the all three Lee kids cannot get enough of is sidewalk chalk!  

It has been awhile since we  made our last round of sidewalk chalk so I thought we would give it another try.  This time we tried to make bigger chalk using toilet paper rolls for a mold.  The last chalk was too small, they blew through it in about 5 minutes.  

The kids loved their new chalk!  And it is going to last us awhile.

One suggestion...If you decide to make the sidewalk chalk using toilet paper rolls, the key is to let the rolls dry all the way.  I am talking about a couple of days, you have to be patient.  My advice is to just put it away for a few days so you will not be tempted to check and see if it is dry.  If you peel it off too early, this will happen...

I still did not wait until it was all the way dry, but you can see the difference in the two.

My dad came in town this weekend.  We had a great weekend with Granddaddy!  Sara Wells found a new person to cling to instead of Mommy!  She was never far from Granddaddy.

And neither was Miller...

nor Ella.

Saturday we all headed out to Ella's soccer game.

It is hard to believe that Ella only has one more game!  The season has flown by.

Murray has his first season of being a soccer coach almost under his belt.

And Sara Wells is now an expert at keeping me busy at the games!

Here is my attempt at trying to get a picture of Granddaddy with all of the grandkids.  Not too successful.

As you might have noticed in these pictures, Sara Wells has found her new favorite hairstyle.  I have already made my confession that I think it just does not get any cuter than these sweet little pigtails.  Now Sara Wells agrees.

Literally the first thing she says when I get her out of bed in the morning is "tails, tails, tails."  And if I cannot put them in that instant, there is major crying until I can get those pigtails up.  My, this one has got an opinion!

But how can you resist such a cute one!!!