Pumpkin Carvers

Jillian and Bridget picked out their pumpkins yesterday at the Willow Grove patch. All of us drove out there in the afternoon, and slogged through the thick mud and pouring rain in searching for the just-right-pumpkin. Jillian found hers quickly, and then went to work helping Bridget find hers, as well as a tiny one for the new baby. It was a quick trip, thankfully, because the girls were a bit cold and miserable by the time it was over.

Left to Right:
New Baby, Bridget, Jillian

After some naps on Sunday, we got going on the pumpkin carving on Sunday evening. Daddy opened up and scraped all the pumpkins, and Jillian was brave enough to reach in and pull out the insides of her pumpkin. Bridget wasn't so thrilled with touching the insides, preferring to just turn her pumpkin upside-down and shake the stuff out. Jillian then took charge and drew faces on both hers and Bridget's pumpkins. Mommy and Daddy worked on their own, as well as making one for the new baby. The girls were both very proud and excited about their jack-o-lanterns.

Sophie's Missing

This is a picture from earlier in the day when Jillian was at pre-school.  Sophie likes to sit by Bridget but then Bridget will get her in a strangling choke hold and I have to rescue Sophie.  But Sophie just keeps coming back.  She and Bridget think it's playing I believe.

About a half hour after the girls had gone down for their naps we noticed Sophie was missing.  First we crawled around Jillian's bedroom in the dark calling for Sophie since she may have gone to sleep under the covers.  We searched under the bed and in the closets-nothing.  Then we did the same in Bridget's bedroom.  Then we searched the whole house, in every nook and cranny. We wondered if she jumped the fence (almost impossible) so started searching the neighborhood.  Julie and Brock started looking in the woods and Bob went around asking the neighbors and walking along the road.  After about an hour and half of this Rick came and started searching too.  All the while I was hoping Jillian wouldn't wake up to bad news.  About a half hour later Jillian woke up and came in the kitchen and said, "Sophie is stuck."  We looked and sure enough Sophie had gotten in the small space in the hide-a-bed where the mattress is stored and couldn't get out.  Jillian saw her head peeking out of a crack.  Still can't figure out how she got in there.  We were sure happy Sophie was here and it was a happy ending. 

Visiting

I borrowed another picture from Dianne because hers were better than mine.  The girls went to visit the twins and Dianne had made cupcakes so the girls could frost them and decorate with sprinkles.  Bridget wasn't sure what to do at first but then picked it right up.  They made some yummy tasty cupcakes. 
Then they played with the Play-Doh for a long time.  Jillian and Harper played with the horses together for quite awhile while Bridget and Ava went their separate ways to play.
After we got home I put the girls down for a nap and shortly after Tierney, Cale, Ty, and Brock came so Jillian got to get up to see them.  When she finally had her nap she was definitely ready.
Then they got to go see Cousins Andy and Adam at Meagan's Senior Night.  After all that running around they had a very good night's sleep.

Pumpkins!

It has been awhile since they were able to ride the toys outside so today that's all they wanted to do.  They wanted to carry that plastic pumpkin around in the jeep pretending to deliver it but couldn't figure out how to do that.  Jillian thought of the wagon, so hooked it up and off they went.

I thought they were very clever about this chalk drawing.  Jillian used a hula hoop to draw large circles.  Then I put a stem on the circle and she made a jack-o-lantern.  Sort of a crazy jack-o-lantern with blue eyes.  She then decided to color it orange but that was taking way too long.  Meanwhile Bridget was doing credible job on her pumpkin.  I guess it was supposed to be a jack-o-lantern.

Senior Night

The cousins, Ty, Jillian, Bridget, and Brock, came to watch Senior night as Tierney and Macee played their last scheduled home game at CRHS.  (Cale was there also but left after the presentations.) Jillian and Bridget got to watch the festivities and then they got in line to slap hands with all the players.  It was a quick game so they got to run around afterwards to try some volleyball and see Tierney for a picture.  Today I asked Jillian what she wanted to be when she grew up and she said, "A volleyball player".  Good answer.

A Trip to the Pumpkin Patch

They rode the bus to the pumpkin patch and Jillian was thrilled to sit with her friends.  They sang the Wheels on the Bus song on the way to Willow Grove. 

The first thing the kids did was to see the baby bunnies.  I think this was the highlight of Jillian's trip.  She has wanted a baby bunny for a long time.  They showed them how to approach the bunny slowly and then they could pet it.  She followed directions very well while some kids just chased the bunnies. They also got to feed the goats and see the baby pigs.

It was rainy and cold so by the time they got to pick out their pumpkin, they were ready to go home.  She was very proud of the pumpkin she picked and was excited to take it home.

Pirates

On Thursday, one of the few nice days, Jillian found Brock and convinced him to play Pirates with her.  They went back and forth on the two zip lines chasing each other.  Jillian was the boss Pirate.  And Brock didn't let Bridget try the zip line this time. 

Bridget saw Jillian spinning on the swing so she decided she could do that while Brock and Jillian were playing Pirates.  She barely reached the ground so it was pretty hard.

Rielee's Here!

It's rare that Rielee gets to come play since school started but Friday both Jillian and Rielee didn't have school.  The first thing when Rielee gets here is to go in the dress up box and get everyone an outfit to wear.  Here Rielee is trying to pull up Jillian hair to fit under a fancy hat. Rielee ended up as a hula girl.  Bridget put on a fancy skirt that she wouldn't remove all day.  It is great having Rielee come as they play and get along so well.  I even had time to work on some projects.  And Bridget follows them around fascinated by what they're doing and she is completely happy doing that.

Here is Bridget in her fancy skirt.  She loved to twirl around in it.  She would twirl and twirl, get a little dizzy, and go again.  But she never got real dizzy so she would fall down.
That evening they got to go watch Cale play his last home football game.  Bridget tried to show Mommy her twirling in the grandstand but it was too hard in that small space.



Play, Play, Play

Jillian and Bridget started the day with a visit with Ava and Harper.  They were immediately attracted to the house for all the horses, especially since it raised up by itself.   They had a great time there seeing all the toys new to them.  I borrowed this picture from Dianne since I forgot my camera and phone.    

The girls spent all afternoon outside in the beautiful weather.  Bridget surprised me by wanting this helmet on and then getting the glider bike.  Papa put the seat down and she got on and rode and rode.  She wasn't very fast but she had the right idea.  She also felt she was a "big" girl for riding a bike like sister.  Jillian always wants to do this catching game with the ball.  She is getting pretty good at it.  I don't remember what it's called.

They ended the day with a visit to Tierney.  They played downstairs there for a long time as they have the coolest toys downstairs.  They especially enjoyed Tierney throwing them on the giant bean bag. 


Jillian's Gone

Jillian spends a lot of time arranging dolls and furniture in the dollhouse and she keeps Bridget away by giving her something else to play with and Bridget goes along with that.  When Jillian does that I call her "Ruby" from the cartoon "Max and Ruby" as Ruby always tries to distract Max from her things.

But when Jillian goes to pre-school, Bridget heads right for the dollhouse and plays and plays.  She has found a treasure.  But when Jillian returns and sees the dollhouse she lets everyone know she is not a happy camper.

What a Difference a Year Makes

 

A year ago Jillian made a witch's house like this and it really looked like a crazy witch's house and she needed a lot of help with the basics of putting it together.  This year she looked at the pictures, figured out how to put it together, and did all the decorating herself.  Big girl now.