Pumpkins

It's been a busy month in our house with Phil studying and taking yet another board exam (felt like old times when he'd have to work all day and then come home to study all night. Ugh, bad memories) in addition to all the other regular activities going on.  So we just couldn't fit in a trip to the pumpkin patch this year.  Boo.

But!  I seized the day right after Phil's test and designated it pumpkin carving day.  So I sent him and the kids off to the market to pick up pumpkins and whatever else he deemed necessary to tackle the task at hand.

All set up and ready to do this thing.

The girls had fun playing with the pumpkin guts.

She was living up the squishy grossness.  Eventually shed her gloves so that she could squish with her bare hands.

But this is what this guy thought of pumpkin guts.  He still remembers the year I made them taste the lid of the pumpkin which totally grossed him out.  It's burned into his memory.

Being the awesome-face-your-fears-head-on type of parents we are, we of course made him reach right in there...

and get those pumpkin guts outta there.

Nope, not a fan.

And yes, he's been wearing this shirt for three years.  He refuses to let me retire it.

Got my pumpkin carved and ready to go.

He wanted to keep things simple with the pumpkin carving this year.  This was Jonah's pumpkin.  He didn't have much input on it as he was busy napping away while all this was going on.  Some day he'll be awake to join us...

I couldn't resist printing out a few templates for the kids to use though.

And it seemed easy enough.  At first.

Although my pumpkin was finished awhile ago, I somehow got roped into "helping" Lauren with her pumpkin.

Finished!

She did most of it herself and did an awesome job.

He worked really hard on his, too.  So proud of him for sticking with it even though it proved to be harder than it looked at first.

The whole pumpkin family.

All lit up inside.


So um, my seizing of the day was a tad premature.  As in, we did it ten days ago and uh, they didn't quite make it til the big day.  As in, I looked at them yesterday and one was completely black with mold inside and was oozing pumpkin juice everywhere.  Yuck.  And the others weren't looking too hot either.

One of these years I will remember this.

And the kids wanted to enter a pumpkin into their school contest tomorrow, but none of the above were salvageable, so this is what they and their daddy did tonight:

Happy last day of October, however you choose to celebrate it!  :)

Thank You

My sweet friend Lorie has continued to remember each of our kids' birthdays and always manages to send them their very own package in the mail to enjoy opening.  It's quite an exciting event around here whenever a package from Auntie Lorie arrives at our doorstep.

Just so thrilling as a kid to see your own name on a package and know there's a present inside especially for you.  Auntie Lorie is so good about these things!

Package opening day always draws spectators.

Not only is the outer package neatly wrapped, but the present inside is always wrapped in fun wrapping paper, too.  Non-Christmas wrapping paper, even!  Along with a hand-written birthday message from the whole Schnell clan, too.  Boy, I tell ya, she's really, really good.

This one just made his day.

He was a wee bit excited.

I take that back.  He was completely, totally, teeth-grindingly excited.

He disappeared to go build his new Ninjago car.  A little while later, he came and asked me to take his picture with this sign he'd made.  He asked me to send it right away so you'd know how much he loves his gift.  I'm very sorry this is so belated!  He would be chagrined to know it took me this long to show you this picture.  :(

A couple months later, another special package arrived at our door!

Which, like I said, always draws spectators.

Sometimes it's a little tricky getting past the packing tape.

That's when the spectators are happy to jump in and lend a helping hand.

See?  Wrapped in adorable pink Hello Kitty paper which is a far cry from the red and green striped paper I still try to pass off as good for year-round use.

This one contained an assortment of Lauren's current favorite things.

Very handy to have a big sis to read you the birthday greeting.

Mikey, equal parts mystified and amazed, asked me how Auntie Lorie always knows exactly what they like to play with.

I just answered that Auntie Lorie and her family are one of God's extra special blessings to us.

Thank you, Schnells.  Thank you for loving on our kids in this way, and most especially for your faithful friendship all these years.  We love you guys!


PS- And a very happy birthday to you, dear friend!

The Fair

Someday I will be done with late summer/early fall posts.  Unfortunately, today is not that day.  Ha.  So while it seems forever ago now, we squeezed in one last summer-esque outing last month.  Because the kids always love to visit the fair and have memories now of going every year.  But also mostly because we had bought the Costco pack of tickets, forgot about them, then remembered them one week before the fair would be packed up and gone til next year.

So away we went.  This time on a weekend day which meant CROWDED.  Boo.  But still fun.

Deep fried candy bar.  Because seriously, what's the fair without getting one of these?  One shared between the four kids seemed to be just enough of the sweet gooey stuff.

Then on to the stinky earthy-smelling barn to visit the animals.  Jonah loved.

How now, brown cow?  (Yes, I've been waiting a long time to use that line.)

Then Phil bravely went in with three of our kids to the farm-to-table kids' area.  Lauren fell asleep in the stroller and I tried to not appear too eager when volunteering to stay back with her.  Crowded spaces, kids running amok with mini-sized shopping carts, flight-risk small son, all converge into not my cup of tea.  But I sent the camera in with him.  ;)

It was totally their cup of tea, though.

Mikey and Allie were very determined to make rope because it meant you got to keep it after making it.  So determined that they waited over an hour and a half for their turn.

To turn the wheel which spun the three strings into a rope.

While the rest of us waited on a hay bale in a makeshift covered wagon.

Her very own rope!  Yee-haw!

And well, you can't come to the fair with Phil Tsai and not get to do this.

And come so close to a prize by popping three out of five balloons.

And not get (yet another) stuffed animal (after Daddy paid an undisclosed amount of extra tickets).

Yup, her too.

And him, too.

Why he does this every year still escapes me.

It's pretty safe to say they'd have not nearly as much fun at the fair if just Mom went.

And the remaining tickets (two shy but the nice carnival worker let them on anyway) were just enough for these two...

to come down...

the giant slide together with the exact same expression.

The giant turkey leg.  It's a Tsai family tradition.

The aftermath.