Where is your father?

A couple of Sundays ago, we were enjoying a relaxing afternoon. I was making dinner, and Allison headed upstairs to play with her daddy. About 20 minutes later, she came back down looking like the beauty you see above. Mascara. "Where is your father?" I asked. I was afraid to visit the scene of the crime. We marched up the stairs and into the bedroom, finding clues along the way: black streaks on the walls, eyeshadow ground into the carpet. And there he was. His feet were dangling from the bed. His face was wrapped in a pillow. Daddy was fast asleep.

Tricks and treats

We got in the Halloween spirit this year with a little pumpkin carving. We got bolder than ever before with a couple of new techniques -- power drilling and shaving. You'll see the results below. You'll also see that Olivia chose Ariel for her pumpkin. Allison just made our lives more difficult by throwing goop around the kitchen and dancing in it, then by insisting on putting her feet in the pumpkins.



The girls loved their costumes this year. They were especially excited about the makeup -- even Allison, who would gaze at herself in the mirror again and again.



We went to our neighborhood's annual trunk-or-treat, where Allison got a lot of practice with all her new Halloween lingo. Click on the videos for some cute action.

We rounded out the evening with the good old-fashioned door-to-door thing. Both girls had ultimate endurance to hit up house after house. Allison was a little hesitant at first, but soon started walking right in to people's houses. One family had done an awesome haunted house across their entire front yard. Olivia went through it twice and loved it, despite the eerie ambiance and scary people popping out everywhere. That girl has some serious guts for a 4-year-old. Happy Halloween to my beautiful girls. I had so much fun experiencing Halloween through them.

Going for a walk

Last week we went to Syracuse's annual pumpkin walk. It's our third year going. We love looking at the hundreds of carved pumpkins and picking out our favorites. Here are just a few that caught our attention. Notice the picture of the pumpkin with Allison's hand on it. She gave it a hug.

The first snow

We woke up this morning to find our neighborhood dusted with snow -- just a hint of what's to come. Now, at noon, it is gone.

Uncle John's black car

During Uncle John's visit from California, the girls were obsessed with his Honda Element. We can't count how many times Allison said, "Uncle John's black car!" (She's a great little talker.)

One morning Olivia asked for a ride around the block. When they got back, Allison went out to join them, and that led to at least an hour of fun -- climbing on seats, opening doors, and looking through compartments. Allison somehow rounded up four different chapsticks and quickly became very possessive of her newly found treasures. John is a very patient and sharing uncle.

Pumpkin patch kids

Last week we had a surprise visit from Joe's younger brother John, who came here from California. Our first adventure was a tractor ride to the pumpkin patch at J&J's. The kids came away with some great carving pumpkins, and Uncle John found a rather interesting one for himself.

A peek at my past

I used to be able to do a nice toe-touch. Now, I'm really good at changing diapers and eating chocolate. It's been 10 years -- a decade, you know -- since I donned that frightening little skirt. That's right, I was a cheerleader. I'm proud to say I did more yelling back then than I do now.

"ALL RIGHT, WOODS CROSS!"
"GO, WILDCATS!"

Are you feeling it?

My sqaud, or as many as could make it, got together for a little reunion this weekend. We all agreed that we felt old. It was fun to see the girls and catch up. Here's a little peek at the now and then.

Produce production

The Sweet Sixteen apple:

"Crisp and juicy with an exotic yellow flesh and a very sweet, unusual sugar cane or spicy cherry candy flavor."

That's the description offered by the apple's inventors, the University of Minnesota, and we agree with it. We have been loving our Sweet Sixteen tree. It has the most unique apples we have ever tasted, and they are huge.

We took one of our Sweet Sixteens to the Extension program's apple and cheese tasting event, and the hosts were very impressed. It's a fun event, and it's free. They provide everything. This was our second year attending. Click here for pictures from last year. If you're feeling jealous right now, don't despair. There's another event this Friday, from noon to 1 p.m. at the Ogden Botanical Gardens. Enjoy!

Now, take a look at some of our bounty this season.

Aside from the apricots and apples, we harvested tomatoes, bell peppers, red cherry peppers, basil, spaghetti squash, butternut squash, acorn squash, yellow summer squash and zucchini. We also grew cantaloupe and orange-fleshed watermelon, which you will see below.

The fountain of youth

Today we went to a big church meeting (stake conference) in Ogden. Our meeting was in the building next to the Ogden temple, so we went a little early and took our camera for some shots on the pretty temple grounds.

Everything was going just swimmingly ... until Allison decided to go for a swim.

Actually, what happened was that Allison was sick of Olivia holding on to her, so she started to bite Olivia's arm. Olivia tried to yank her arm away, and in the mayhem, Allison lost her balance.

Before we knew it, she was submerged. Joe ran and fished her out. I stood gaping like a fool, with my hands over my mouth. Once the shock wore off, though, we couldn't stop laughing.

Joe took Allison home for the first half of the meeting. Then they slipped in and joined us for the second half. I'm sure people just figured he was out in the hall with a fussy child. :) Little did they know.

Pretty in pink

Here is Olivia before her first soccer game.

Below, Olivia is at her second soccer game, where she had her first try at being the goalie. This game was extra fun, because she played against the neighborhood boys. The boys won, 1-0.

To be honest, Olivia doesn't seem to care about soccer. She likes being the goalie, but when it comes to running around the field and chasing the ball, she doesn't get into it. She mostly shuffles around leisurely, waving to people or picking up litter. We even caught her picking her nose.

Click on the video below to watch Olivia's inaction -- er, I mean Olivia in action.

Below are Olivia and her friend Brandon after the game.

Here is Olivia with her friend Jack.

Below, we have Boston, Brandon and Olivia.

Good game, kiddies! Go Pink Flamingos AND Black Knights!