Thing 1 and Thing 2

The Cat in the Hat dropped these two off at our house the other day. 

And boy are they silly. 

Really silly. 

Here they are doing typical Thing 1 and Thing 2 crazy moves. 

Thing 1 is extra crazy. 

See?

These guys make me laugh. 

I love my sillies. 

Carving Pumpkins

This afternoon, we carved pumpkins. Fun!

Well, mostly I scooped out and carved the pumpkins and the kids climbed around me. 

Peter is getting really into Halloween stuff this year and it is so fun. This is his pumpkin. He wanted a spooky, mad pumpkin. 

Working on pumpkin #2... 

Clara's pumpkin is a happy, silly pumpkin. 

The kids LOVE their pumpkins and had to sit with them for a long time before going inside for dinner. 

Nice pose, Clara. 

Happy Halloween!

School Pictures

Peter and Clara had school pictures taken the other day. I didn't think anything of it until I got the link to the photos. 

Holy moly, this is really cute stuff! 

Ben and I have never had professional photos taken of our children, but now after I have seen these I want to do it about once a month. 

This photo is of Peter's class. Peter is in the light blue shirt in the front. It is not the best pic of him, but I love seeing all of his friends and his teachers.

It makes me think of my own preschool photo and how much I love looking at it and seeing old friends. (I am in the middle of row two with my hand held up to my chin.) 

Here are a few of my favorite Peter pics...

I mean, come on. How cute is this? 

Peter is so strangely posed in this one, but I can also totally see his personality coming through so it makes me love it despite the awkwardness. 

Cute. Too bad it looks like he's missing an arm. 

Here is Clara's class. She was not as photogenic as her brother. She looks worried in every picture. Still cute, just worried. 

"Wait, what do you want me to do?" 

"I don't know who you are lady, but I am not smiling." 

"Okay... are we ready to go yet?" 

Out of ideas

I've run out of ideas of things to do with my children, so here we are at the play area in the local mall. Classy.

Future Soccer Star

Today, Peter had his first soccer class. Our neighbor is an Argentinian soccer star, so we couldn't pass up the opportunity to take one of his classes. 

It was a perfect fall day and Peter was so excited. The team huddled up for a meeting before practice. 

Coach Ariel (our neighbor) and his brother, Coach E, sent the kids through an obstacle course. Peter is the one in the red shirt. He had a blast doing zig zags around cones and jumping over hurdles. 

Can you see the joy on his face? He loved every minute. 

Clara and her dad explored the rest of the park. 

They had lots of fun, too. 

Action shot. Go, Peter! 

"How much longer do we have to hang out here, Mom?" 

Soccer star!

Pumpkins

We took the kids to a pumpkin patch over the weekend. They each had cute Halloween outfits and loved seeing all of the pumpkins. 

They especially loved playing in this gigantic pumpkin! 

We could have moved in. 

"Can we live inside a pumpkin from now on, Mom?" 

It was hard to leave the giant pumpkin... 

But we saw our friend, Eyal, there. So fun! And there is nothing better than a wagon ride at the pumpkin patch. 

"Faster, Dad, faster!" "Again, again!" (It was about 90 degrees. Sorry, Ben.) 

Hoarding pumpkins. 

It wasn't too long til these guys started throwing hay on everyone. 

Not exactly the most popular activity of the day. 

And now for our annual unsuccessful attempt at a family photo... Ta da! 

Celebrate!

Yesterday, Ben and I hosted an engagement party for my cousin, Mac, and his fiancé, Silke. It was our first party in over 3 years -- since our pre-kid lives.

We had a bunch of set up to do, including the most important part -- the bar. 

We put some tiki torches around the yard and candles on the tables. Even on the kids' table. That candle didn't last long. 

We couldn't have asked for a more beautiful day. 

Our guests started arriving at 5. These two -- Aunt Debbie and her daughter-in-law, Laura -- were among the first. 

Ben with the groom-to-be, Mac. 

The patio filled up quickly. Thanks to my mom for her recommendation for putting all of the tables in the yard. She was right... everyone stood around the bar the whole time. Shocker. 

The kids' table was pretty cute. 

And the food was delicious! 

I think everyone had a pretty good time. 

We need to do this again soon!