Happy Halloween!

Halloween fun was had by all here at the Brenchley household. We have spent the past week dressed up and having fun at dance classes, school parties, ward trunk-r-treating, and trick-or-treating.
McKell was dressed up like a ghost. An easy costume you might think, but not so much. When she said that is what she wanted to be I thought, no problem. But looking into it further, not anything to buy and no patterns. So this is my made-up version of a ghost. She was quite scary with her face painted and all and loved being on the scary side this year.

Alyssa was our little witch. She was the one who decided first what she wanted to be this year, which means everyone else had to 'go with' her theme. She loved the long hair and I meant to get a picture from behind so you could see how little she looked with that long hair and big hat but I totally forgot. McKell was a witch when she was 3 and so we were able to use the same cape and hat, all I had to do was make a new dress. She had a good time this year and felt so big.

Nate's costume was quickly bought when the girls decided he was going to be a vampire. I had no desire to try and make it. I have a great picture of him smiling that I will put on here soon, I promise. He was such a cutie. He didn't really like the whole idea of getting dressed up until he found out he was able to get candy, then he didn't mind so much. He loves candy! He would go up to a house and hold up his little spider bad and they would put candy in it or he would pick one and then look up and smile and the people would say 'oh you are so cute have another piece' and he would help himself to another and then wave goodbye. He was so good to sit in the stroller and hangout while we walked around the neighborhood.

My kids loved all the dogs dressed up at the houses. They loved to stop and pet the ones walking around, so cute that people dress up their animals for halloween- not anything else.

Phil was missing in action this year again, we are SO glad he is done with nights now. We can get back into our 'normal' schedule. So what should the kids be for halloween next year? hmmm, need to start planning. Just kidding, I am not that crazy- will wait till January at least. :)

Happy Fall Y'all

We have been keeping busy with lots of fall things around here. We went to a pumpkin patch to pick out our perfect pumpkins.
They each were able to pick out one. (Notice throughout the post, Nate is crying in almost every picture.) I don't know why but he does not like to get his picture taken when we are posing them, other times- no problem. He had a blast riding in this car, he didn't care if Noah was in with him or not but he had to be in the car to enjoy it. The girls found something else they wanted to take home. They ask for a pet, mostly a dog, at least once a day. They were in heaven holding the little puppies and they are so good with them.



We always carve our pumpkins every year. It has been a fun tradition and Phil really gets into it. The girls like planning their faces and deciding what 'type' they are going to have. This year McKell's was scary, Alyssa's scary like McKells (surprise, surprise), and Nates was funny. Nate had fun helping get the guts out and loved when we lit them outside.

Alyssa did not want to touch the guts very much, she left that part to McKell. But she did want to add hair to hers with a marker, that got all over so she wasn't able to add anymore accessories.

We also went to another pumpkin patch, well it was called a pumpkin patch but it really was a little farm with some fun Halloween things. A great spooky barn, a little hay maze, corn box to play in, and lots of playground equipment. My kids liked the barn and maze but were pretty much obsessed with the animals. They would love to live on a farm!



We went with a bunch of friends. By the time we got all the kids sitting they were partially in the sun so we moved them to another spot, but my camera ran out of batteries so this is the only one I was able to get. I would say I will post the better ones when I get them, but by the time I get around to it it will be snowy outside.(There is some truth to all you out there who say there is no truth on blogs). So enjoy!

Carmel apples have been made, halloween costumes have been sewn, decorations have been put up- yep the fiberoptic pumpkins are out James. We are in the fall mode around here for sure.

Girls Just Wanna Have Fun

As you have heard me say over and over again and if you are around my girls you know they are obsessed with bugs. All crawly things. It is still pretty nasty to me but I heard about a butterfly tagging event and thought this is perfect for them. We caught monarch butterflies and put little tags on them, learned about the life cycle of monarch butterflies, and then let them fly away. Hopefully they will make it to Mexico where they will try and read their tags and post their progress on the computer. I have to admit I thought it was a lot more technical. I thought they had satellite tracking systems or something and that we could track their route to Mexico. So only like 5% of them will ever be recorded, waste of $10 that's for sure. But the kids did have a good time. Morgan and Amaya came with us and we even got Amaya to hold one!
To continue with the girls day, Phil was actually on call, we went to Michael's craft store and they each made an American Girl doll shirt and purse for their dolls. What a fun little craft and best of all it was FREE. We met their other friends Aspen and Trinity there and then we all went to the mall for lunch.

Since we are talking about girly things I will put some pictures of our girls day to see Disney on Ice. A friend called and said she saw some good deals on tickets and so we went on a fun girls day to Cedar Rapids. The girls had so much fun. They each picked out a treat, snow cone and popcorn of course everything was in Disney mugs and boxes. They were so cute sharing their treats and loving every minute of it. They love doing girly things.

Not to leave Nate out of the mix. Here are some pictures of his black eye he got. He fell off a little chair while we were up at Bluestem sitting around the camp fire. It looked so bad the first day and then it got all scabbed up like in the picture and then he pulled the scab off and it was all black and blue around his eye. It is almost gone now. At McKell's soccer game he was kicking the ball so much his toe got all bloody, he didn't care and ripped the band aid off so he could keep doing it. I say again- I can't believe the difference between boys and girls.

Apple Pickin'

We made our annual trip to the apple orchard to pick the yummiest apples ever, honey crisp. They really are the yummiest apples ever! We went one day after school when Phil was post call so he could come with us. The girls being totally obsessed with bugs had to bring their nets and caught a bunch of caterpillars and butterflies. Nate being obsessed with throwing things thought it was great to have so many apples that he could just pick up and throw whenever and at whoever he pleased.

I had to bribe the girls to have 2 hours of non bug talk while we were there and on the ride home. It worked and the prize they wanted was another bug case so McKell can take one to school with her daily. Yes, she spends every recess catching bugs.

Yes, that is the apple he threw flying through the air.

A few days after we went to the orchard Alyssa's preschool class visited the same one. I was the helper that day and so Nate and I tagged along. Nate was having a grand time walking around like the bigger kids. He started running down a hill and totally fell, he jumped back up and started running again and fell again. I tried to get him to walk but that wasn't acceptable. He fell at least 5-6 times, one time rolling down the hill. He got to a muddy part and fell there and was so dirty from the fall. He wouldn't let me get any pictures of his dirty face, shirt, pants, etc.

Alyssa's cute class on the bridge.