Our candy buckets are loaded with goodies (although, somehow all of the twix, butterfinger, and snickers disappeared already...luckily the girls haven't noticed yet) and the costumes have already retired to the 'dress up box' in the basement. We had a fun-filled Halloween and hope that you all had more treats than tricks! 
Isabel started First Grade. This is the thread of her 'blankie' that I had to sew into her clothes for a whole week after school started. She had a hard time adjusting to being away from home all day and this seemed to help a bit...this, and a family picture in her pencil box. I am happy to report that she now loves school and cries when the weekend is longer than 2 days because she misses her teacher and her friends. Ashlen started her second year of PreSchool at Fantasyland...needless to say, she adjusted just fine!
We finally started building the pergola on the back patio (now, ask me if we have finally finished it yet...I am putting the last coat of paint on the little top boards today so that they can go up, then we have to wait to paint the big boards until the spring because they are treated and were still very wet). The girls had a blast 'helping' us with the construction. The outfits were entirely their idea...you can't see it in the picture, but they both have pencils behind their ears:
We really enjoyed the Pumpkin Festival this year....other than some really obnoxious gnats, the weather was perfect! Much deserved after last year's rainy disaster! We were there every night (except for Saturday night because the Festival closes after the parade...wink, wink)
Isabel won 'Pumpkin the Fish' with her first throw (good thing I bought the extra large bucket of balls...geesh). Pumpkin is no longer with us, but it went pretty well...he is swimming in a happy place with lots of fish treats now!
Isabel has lost more teeth...I think she has lost another since this picture, which brings us up to five ginormous adult teeth pushing their way into her tiny mouth...ugh. You know those little clay jars with words like 'Grandma's Bingo Fund' and 'For A Rainy Day' engraved on the side? I need one that says 'My daughter has chicklets sprouting in her mouth' because braces are in our very near future. We also took a trip to Tanner's Orchard. It was super muddy, but the girls had lots of fun and I got lots of goodies (were you aware that they sell butter there...oh my goodness...it is amazing!!!!), so it was a successful trip!
Isabel recently watched 'Hannah Montana, The Movie' and is now in love with horses. I am incredibly intimidated by horses. As a kid, I loved them and always wanted to have one...as an adult, I can't get past thoughts of paralysis and certain death. The ones tied to a metal bar don't scare me too much, so she got her equine fix at Tanners. I did take them to a riding ranch last week and they loved it, but I was a nervous wreck...I think we will stick to carousels! We have been blessed with a great couple of months...and are all looking forward to the coming holidays! 
I have to get a video clip of this last one...they learn to skate backwards by pushing off of the wall, then shaking their little tushies. It is pretty much the cutest thing ever! Unfortunately for her dad, Isabel shows great promise in the tush-shaking because her backward skating is really impressive!
No, it is not bad lighting or an optical illusion or some nasty photoshop trick. Yes, the tooth is gray. I turned gray about two weeks after it became horizontal. I know. Gross. So, I was very relieved when I realized the girls' annual dentist appointment was coming up. They go to this AWESOME dentist just for kids...so, there were lots of distractions as the dentist finally removed it for us. He was a little surprised at how hard it was to get out of her head...hopefully the rest of them are not stuck as well as this one because I just can't handle another snaggle struggle. Here is her beautiful new smile with the new adult 'chicklet' tooth poking through:
They organized a Backyard Talent Show to raise money for St Jude. When I agreed to come up with a little act for my girls to do in the show, I honestly pictured a few kids playing around on the back patio for their parents. Wow. Just, wow. The entire backyard was packed with people and the crowd overflowed into the surrounding yards. This picture does not even do justice to the crowd...it was just the best I could get from my seat:
There was a silent auction for signed memorabilia, a bake sale, and face painting. The girls who planned this event organized every specific detail of the show...every word was planned and every consideration was made in advance. I was completely overwhelmed to see how much work these four girls put into raising money for St Jude. Morton has a few kids that are patients of St Jude and a couple of the girls came to watch the show tonight which made it even more special. I had to blink back watery eyes a few times tonight because I was so proud of the amount of effort these four girls (and their families, of course) put into this project, as well as proud of our community for supporting the show so well. 
Here they are with a long-lost-friend:
Our friends' girl sang a song in the show...I was so glad to finally hear her sing because I had heard great things about her voice and they were correct...she is really talented:
The acts included everything from water balloon tricks to a magic show to jump roping. My girls planned a little dance to 'My Loose Tooth' by The Sippy Cups. Isabel was a girl with a loose tooth and Ashlen was the Tooth Fairy. To put it mildly, Isabel was a bit shy for their act. She pretty much just stood there during the song, but Ash did her part (despite worrying about Isabel) and I was proud of Isabel for staying up on the stage for the whole song with her sister. At least I don't have to worry about her running off to Hollywood someday...her stage fright is pretty intense! But, no tears until after the act, so I am just happy they gave it a shot!!!
I hope that this warms your heart as much as it did mine!!! There is nothing better than kids helping other kids 'just because'!!!
Usually I try to give my posts equal time at the 'top of the blog', but I am way behind and I have nothing but time tonight, so be sure to keep scrolling down for more new posts!
And yet he still found time to annoy me:
Ash loved her cupcake and she knew she could get away with eating lots of extras since it was 'her birthday':
Isabel had fun playing with her friends too (Can you tell I caught them off guard?):
We opened presents at home. Here, she is excited about a new outfit for Emily, her American Girl Doll:
And here she is introducing you to 'Candy', her newest webkinz:
And here is a very unflattering picture of her in the world's cutest jacket. Do you think she will still hate me for this picture when she is my age? I am only counting three chins and one elf-ear from this angle, so it is really not that bad!!!:
Despite the weather and the pool-less luau, it turned out to be a great party and she is already looking forward to turning five. Ugh.
At least five different types of monkey bars:
Rubber climbing ropes everywhere:
And, yes, even a ZIP LINE!!!:
Also, the wonders of wildlife hatching right before our eyes...honestly, I took this picture to use as a real-life example of molting in my science class, but I think it is really cool:
Right next door to this park was the neighborhood pool. We took the kids there to swim for a couple of hours...Isabel saved her sister's life. Yes, you read that correctly. They were jumping off the side and Ashlen went down a bit too far and jumped in and couldn't touch. Isabel knew it was deeper there because she had just jumped from the same spot and had to swim to the side. She saw that Ash was trying to tread water (thank you swimming lessons), so she swam over to her and grabbed her and swam her over to the rope. She used one arm to hold onto the rope and the other to try to keep Ashlen's head above water. I noticed this about the same time as the lifeguard because she was juming in to save them about the same time I was noticing the drama...amazing what can happen when you are sitting right there!!! I was so proud of Isabel...she got to pick out a new swimsuit for her American Girl because she saved her sister's life! After all that, we needed to relax, so we went for pedicures:
Isabel was very ticklish...her nail lady (what is the correct title here???) thought this was hilarious!
When Uncle Nate got home, he let the girls try out his new bike:
Our trip was full of lots of other fun things like shopping, going out for dinner and ice cream, and going out to see the wooded acres that they just bought and plan to build on soon! And we can't forget playing with the cat toys:
No wonder Ashlen threw a very rare temper tantrum when we had to leave...they had so much fun on this trip!!!
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