Of pumpkins . . . and squirrels.

Ava & Sofia had so much fun scooping the guts out of their pumpkins this past weekend.


I grabbed the camera & got some pictures of them scooping. After they scooped they drew pictures of how they wanted their pumpkin faces carved.

Then it was my turn & I carved out the faces they had drawn...Well, in a perfect world I carved out the faces they had drawn. In our world I tried really hard to follow their lines & the pumpkins came out looking like jack o'lanterns so the girls were happy.

By then it was snack time so we brought the pumpkins inside so Daddy could see them that night when he got home. I totally forgot to take pictures. I lived to regret that memory lapse because a few days later I had to put them outside on the deck.

I had no idea what bold & pesky *#%! squirrels we have. He knocked Ava's right off the railing & went to town. He wouldn't even leave it when I was less than 3 feet away from him!! I had to make that ridiculous "scat" noise to get him to run away! And then he went into his tree & stared me down as I cleaned it up.

Ava & Sofia thought it was hilarious so luckily we didn't have any tears. They decided that the squirrel who ate Ava's pumpkin was just like those mean squirrels in Miss Suzy who kicked the nice squirrel named Miss Suzy out of her beautiful treehouse & trashed her place. For those of you who have never read Miss Suzy, she ends up befriending some brave toy soldiers & they all go back & kick those mean squirrels out of Miss Suzy's house & she lives happily ever after back in her beautiful treehouse. The end.

Speaking of outfits . . .

Ava & Sofia's latest & greatest . . .

Hair today . . . gone tomorrow!

Hair today . . .

Gone tomorrow!!

I didn't think they could get cuter, but they did! And, the bonus is that there was not one scream this morning when I brushed their hair!! We love the new haircuts!! (Ava in yellow, Sofia in blue)

P.S. They still love their Lenny & Joe's shirts but since it's cold they have to wear long sleeve shirts under them. Ava wanted to take it a step further, though. She still wants to wear shorts & thinks it will be okay b/c she can put pants under her shorts just like long sleeves under a short sleeve shirt. I really am quite lenient when it comes to choosing clothes - BUT - there are lines even I cannot let them cross!!!!

September events

So the month of September has really been dominated by school - which Ava & Sofia absolutely love. They also enjoy riding the bus, which we haven't missed once - yippee! - although there have been a few scares :o) They have gym & music & library and are also learning to read. They even enjoy the homework they get twice a week! Sadly, the joy of homework hasn't rubbed off on Xavier...

One of their days off from school we finally got to go sailing. We rented a Rhodes 19, which I have always lovingly referred to as a bathtub. It's a slow boat, but it was more comfortable for the girls.

Sofia & Ava loved sailing & I am so happy & am hoping to get them into lessons next summer.

Xavier also loves to sail & had an awesome time.

Yesterday they had another day off so we headed up to a zoo where you can ride on their elephant, Dondi. Apparently, Dondi was adopted by the handler in 1975 when she was a baby & he and his wife have raised her since then. She does a bunch of tricks & is definitely well loved.

The zoo also had a petting zoo where pygmy goats ran around a pen. Garry tried to buy some food so the girls could feed the goats...BUT...take a look at that bigger black goat just to Garry's left...

That goat actually ended up butting Garry out of the way - hard - and stuck his mouth up in the machine & stole all the food.

Sofia & Ava are pretty flexible so they were happy just petting the other goats.

Of course we also were able to go to City Park to ride bikes, we played outside a lot, they played friends A LOT and we had a really nice month.