Fall Has Arrived!

One of my very favorite activities this season, is my mom's Annual Halloween party! She typically has it earlier in the month, but we all had other commitments in the beginning of October, which made this party a bit later than usual. This party has always seemed to mark the start of Fall for me. I love it. Throughout the year, my mom puts on AMAZING parties. Whether it be for a holiday, a baby shower, a bridal shower, or WHATEVER, my mom has the gift of "Party Girl." I always look forward to her "events." The decorations are GORGEOUS, the food is INCREDIBLE, the company is FABULOUS, and it is so much fun to plan your outfit for these occasions. But once a year, we get to gather at my mom's house for an intimate party of just our immediate family, where "casual" is expected.

The food remains grand...







The activities are still fun...



The kids always rock their costumes...







And we just get to hang with the family...







In preparation for this party, I got the urge to make Caramel Apples from scratch for the first time. This was such a fun activity for me during the week. I had done quite a bit of research on the internet, looking for the best caramel recipe, but it turns out there are a lot of complications when it comes to making homemade caramel, and then dipping your apples into it. I combined tips from 3 different recipes and then formed my own strategy.

I first made the caramel...



And then I dipped the apples...



And then they got their first coat of chocolate...



And then they got bedazzled...



The most fun was watching the kids (and older "kids"), pick the one they wanted...



I've spared you all of the "secrets" to caramel apple-ing, but should you care to venture in this activity, I'd be happy to share them with you. :0) This was a pretty "spendy" activity, but it was well worth it, and I would definitely do it again next year (or week, lol).

This week, we FIIIIINALLY (according to the kids) broke into our Halloween Pancake Molds...



And after watching The Biggest Loser this week, I was inspired by Ana Kornakova and all of her fancy hair styles. I couldn't wait for Bea to wake up the next morning so I could play...





And speaking of "playing", I caught the kids playing nicely together on more than one occasion...



And "Hi Ho Cherrio" seemed to be the game of the week...



Wyatt drew us more pictures...







Wyatt helped make dinner...



After MOPS we went to McDonalds with our friends...



And we were all fascinated by the bee that kept going in and out of my drink...



We had a lunch playdate with friends...



And while the littles were playing, the mamas got to eat AMAZING food, and watch a certain televised wedding together. ;0)





Wyatt had a wonderful opportunity this week. He absolutely loves public speaking and teaching. For quite some time the Coordinator of the childcare for MOPS has been letting Wyatt read the Bible Story to the younger kids while they are in their class, which he has loved. But, for the passed few months he has been asking to teach the Bible lesson in his regular Sunday School class on Sundays, and in his Sparks class at Awanas. But so far, I do not believe he had been given that opportunity. Well, last week, his Awana leader had pulled me aside when I went to pick up the kids, and she let me know that Wyatt had asked if he could talk to the kids about the importance of tithes and offering (something he has been learning about in school recently). Apparently they were going to be focusing on that topic the following week anyway, and they had wanted to let me know that Wyatt was going to be giving the lesson the next week. I was so excited for my son. :0) Using his notes from school, we practiced his "speech" over and over at home in the days leading up to Wednesday...



He did AWESOME on the big night! It was like second nature to him. He was so well prepared. He read his notes great, and then he felt free to ask the kids questions about what he had just shared with them (something we did not practice). I have no idea what Wyatt will do in his future, but if his present is any indication of his future, I am going to be beaming with pride for a LONG time. He is such a special child, and I am so excited to see where Wyatt lets the Lord lead him!

(OK, calm down Elizabeth, lol.)

This week in school, Beatrice learned about the letter "K"...



And the kids got to make Kangaroos...





And Beatrice got to be King (I realize that that's not how this whole thing works, but "Queen" doesn't start with a "K", lol)...





And she learned about the color pink...



We picked up where we left off in our study of the United States this week. We discovered that Connecticut was the 5th state entered in to our country. We learned that Connecticut was named after this area that the Native Americans had called "Quinnehtukqut"...and that Connecticut has the oldest continuously operating newspaper in the United States (the Hartford Courant published it's first issue in 1764!)...and that the first school for hearing disabilities was founded in West Hartford...





And that dinosaur tracks were discovered in 1966 in Rocky Hill, CT by a bulldozer operator on a construction site. Archaeologists ended up discovering a total of 2,000 sets of dinosaur tracks at that site. After giving away most of the findings to museums around the country, they kept some for themselves, covered them with a dome, and turned the area into Dinosaur State Park. We created some tracks of our own. We first made playdough...



And then rolled it out...



And then made tracks in the dough...



After the dough had dried in the hot sun for several days, the kids wanted to paint their tracks...



We also learned that from the time the U.S. Patent Office opened in Washington D.C. in 1790, that it has granted more patents to inventors and companies from the state of Connecticut than from any other state. In addition to the sewing machine, the American bicycle, the portable typewriter, and much more(!!!), we also learned that the "wiffle ball" was invented in the state of Connecticut...







Once we got started, the neighbor kids started coming out of their houses like crazy...





We closed out our week with our Connecticut dinner. I served these delicious pan fried (in butter) chicken pieces, with an accompanying gravy, white rice and asparagus...



When it came down to dessert, I only had one real option. In all 3 of the books that I checked out on the state of Connecticut, they all referenced "Indian Pudding". I guess Indian Pudding would be our ticket! You first made the pudding on the stove with with milk, molasses, spices, cornmeal and eggs...and then you baked it in the oven for 2 hours...





As I told my friend, "It looks like doggy diarrhea, but tastes like gingerbread pudding. In both cases, I'm not a fan."

Between the Shoofly Pie from Pennsylvania, and now the Indian Pudding from Connecticut, this family is closing the chapter on all things Molasses!

Here's to looking forward to Massachusetts and their Boston Cream Pie! :0)