Falling into Autumn

Yes this picture was actually taken in Vegas...

... well sorta-it was up on Mt. Charleston.

We went up there on Thursday to have preschool. We were learning about fall and the changing of the leaves so I felt it would be fun to let them see what it looks like. The only colors we saw were brown and yellow though- I miss real fall. But the kids thought it was great. We found a spot with good sitting rocks and read our stories and a learning worksheet.

They ran around trying to catch the leaves, they never did catch one. They tried to put the leaves back on the tree, but they wouldn't stick (I know you're shocked :) ). There was a nice breeze that blew the leaves every few minutes so the girls started yelling at the wind telling it stop. The girls had fun scooping up handfuls of leaves and threw them on me.

We then took a walk and didn't get very far, but the had fun climbing on rocks and adding leaves and pinecones to their fall bags. Rachel really wanted to find an acorn but had no luck. The only animal we saw was a lizard (we really are in a desert). I thought about taking them up higher but the peaks have snow on them already and we weren't learning about winter. After our walk we went back to our rocks for a picnic lunch. After chasing 3-4 bees out of our car we were on our way home.

Trunk or Treating

The candy has begun! Last week we had a Halloween Party that the girls got to dress up at and then we went to the annual classic car show and trunk or treat.

It's a great idea! The dads don't grumble because they get to go look at cool cars, the Moms want to take the kids to a fun Halloween Activity, and the kids love it because they get to dress up and get candy. The genius who came up with this idea must have a family.

Grandma Wendy was able to join us this year at the car show and they girls were super excited. Rachel chose to be Belle and Ashley is a flower fairy but calls herself Tinkerbell. Most of the cars get decorated as well. Their favorite was the head in the crystal ball that moves when you rub it. Rachel's braver this year with all the "scary" stuff and Ashley isn't phased by it.

fire safety week

Did you know that this week is fire safety week? Well we do, and today was our fire day. It started with our smoke detectors not liking the smell of bacon cooking on the griddle, so they let us know. Then the organized day began with a tour of our local fire station, with MOMS Club. Ashley finally decided at the very end that the fire station wasn't scary. Rachel loved every second of it. She would climb in one side of the fire engine (I learned the difference btwn fire engine and fire truck) out the other door around the back of the fire engine and back in. She didn't need me or a friend. She used their outdoor pull up bars and smelled the herbs growing in their garden.

After a quick stop to the grocery store for jello (the girls wore their fire hats in) and lunch we started our weekly preschool hour and the theme was... drum roll please... Fire Safety! I know you were completely surprised. We read Fireman Small and Curious George and the firefighters, practiced crawling under smoke, stop drop and rolling, went on a smoke detector hunt, sponge painted dalmatians and counted all the dots they put on them. Ashley 7, Rachel 80! For our snack we orange and red jello (fire) and let the girls use whip cream to extinguish it. Oh and the girls were fascinated with our science experiment. We lit a candle and talked about how a fire needs air just like us and then used a baby jar to suffocate it and watched it go out. They each needed to take turns putting the candle out.
The best part in my opinion was after nap. We filled up spray bottles with water and put out chalk fires. Daddy got home from work just in time to help Ashley and start the water war. Rachel's aim is getting a lot better.

Seeding the Lawn

Rachel was helping daddy reseed the lawn and then Ashley joined in, so Rachel was showing Ashley how it's done. "If you spill a big pile just use your hands and spread it around like this"

Stories before bed and anytime

My girls LOVE books! They love to "read" them and to listen to them, even non fiction. Mike captured one of the many times both girls are in my lap and the dog at my feet listening to a library book. Tonight's book of choice was "Watching the Sun". Mike laughs because we usually have 30-40 books out at a time. What can I say we created little book worms.

Confrence Weekend

The first weekend in October (and April) are a special weekend for our Church. It's the weekend that General Conference is held. We listen to our prophet and other apostles speak to us, giving us encouragement, counsel and warnings. In hope of being able to listen to some of it for a change, our Family Home Evening the Monday before was getting them excited. I told them the story found here of a family who made a Conference Reverence Tent. So we tried our own. I also downloaded pictures to color, a temple sewing card, apostle memory game, made cinnamon rolls on Sunday all in hopes of hearing some part of the 8 hours. And guess what? It worked!

The girls may not have sat in the same room the entire time but when they were they were quiet and Mike and I were able to listen. It seemed having a physical space was a good reminder to them and they actually respected it. As soon as we'd turn it on Rachel would get excited. They would try to match the speaker to their picture in the Ensign. Unfortunately, she kept getting confused because their tie was not the same one they were currently wearing. Only downside was we sat on the floor. Mike's idea is next year to have a reverence room, so we can utilize the furniture.

Pumpkin Patch

It's October 1st, the first Saturday of the month which means in our family it's time to go pick a pumpkin. In preparation of the fun morning we did our preschool lesson on pumpkins. I actually learned something too. Weeds grow so abundantly that they use hay to stop them from growing. That explains all the hay at a pumpkin patch.

We made "Peter, Peter pumpkin eater" puppets


and pumpkins out of lunch bags.

We made a prediction with whether a pumpkin would float or sink. Rachel said sink, Ashley said float. Who was right? Ashley!


Rachel was very surprised to see it float Just to be fair we tried a bigger one too


making sure it's bobbing and not sitting on the bottom

Then Saturday morning we headed to the orchard. Not only do we get pumpkins but we also pick apples and buy some fresh apple cider.

Monday we were at Grandma Wendy's. Rachel suddenly was very concerned that we didn't bring Grandma Wendy any apples. Our MOMS Club was going the following day so I told her we could go and pick some apples just for Grandma. Rachel was quite relieved and told her, "Now when a kid says they are hungry and want a snack you can give them an apple!" So we went back Tuesday morning, braved the threatening rain and picked a couple more.

Hiding their apples, and Ashley eventually showing off her very own apple