Halloween and Rileys Art Corner

Trick or Treating   I wanted to take the kids trick or treating for Halloween, so we took them to "trunk or treat" at a local church. It was very cold out so we went fast, but they loved getting dressed up! We just put costumes over coats so they wouldn't freeze. Riley and Nora went as Ladybugs and August was a pirate. 

 

 They are so cute all dressed up. Here are the kids post trick or treating and checking out their loot. One of the vehicles was made to look like a gumball machine and it was full of balloons. August has been merrily playing with and chasing around his prized possession ever since.

 Caps For Sale Costume
    This costume turned out really cute, but after many adjustments to the caps, I could not get them to stay on his head. He got a kick out of playing in it at home though and loved looking in the mirror and saying "Caps for sale, 50 cents a cap".  He sleeps with that toy monkey a lot too.  Riley picked out this book at the library one time and the kids were really taken with it so I bought a copy for Christmas last year and it is still a favorite in this house. Not sure how that man keeps all of those caps on his head, he is a very skilled man. 
 

Decorating The Pumpkin

 

This year instead of carving our pumpkin I just gave them some markers and they had a blast coloring all over it! I had Noras cold and was feeling really tired but coloring on it turned out to be a great solution.  I let Riley use sharpies so it wouldn't wash off in the rain but August used crayola washable markers.  Haha, I forgot that Riley gave the pumpkin glasses.

Fall Things and Riley's Art Corner
        Riley has been bringing me all sorts of pumpkin drawings and decorations for the house. She has also been making a lot of staple bound books and bringing them home. They had an author as a guest speaker at school and she came home using words like author and illustrator.  I love to hear about what she is learning at school. We just had conferences and so far Riley's teacher has noticed that she is a people person and good at making friends. She noted that Riley is very patient and is good at playing with the kids that aren't as good in social situations . She is also ahead of the curve so far for what she is supposed to be learning with reading and math. She comes home and likes to practice and I get to be a student a lot. I am proud of her for being a good listener and for trying really hard.

 Riley and August spend a lot of time coloring and making things together. Below is a monster, mommy, queen and her kid. Riley is painting a car in the other picture and having fun mixing colors. She has been wanting a guitar like Papa so she invented her own. I didn't help her with the design, she asked Keenan to cut the opening and I helped her thread the elastic through for the strings. She loved it so much that she made one for August too!

Here Riley is reading Nora a book she made that she calls her Pungin (Pumpkin) Book.  She was the author and the illustrator. She has gotten a lot better at playing with Nora and not just holding on to her. There is also a drawing of the praying mantis that we caught and a drawing of Riley.  She made some people that stand up too. She uses a lot of my tape but it is fun to see what she comes up with.

This little pumpkin is a decoration above Nora's changing table

I have been ripping out the garden during nap times. It was a good season. I love to pick things then make dinner with them that same day. I didn't do a lot of canning this year. I guess I didn't feel like I had the energy for it, you can't do it all.  I did freeze quite a few green beans, tomatoes and green tomato salsa.