Happy Halloween from the Ingalls... I mean Barretts.

Ma Paw, Mary, Laura and Carrie Ingalls.  Little House on the Prairie

Some costume shots.  Grinnin was a bad dog in a criminal suit.

We did our traditional Halloween festivities at Sage Meadows again this year.  Nanner and Poppy were out of town so we hung out at the Pool's house.  We enjoyed a pot luck of appetizers, trick-or-treating hayride, passed out candy to trick-or-treaters, and got way too much candy.  Our group this year included the Parkers, Reeds, Bunchs, Terrys, and Pools.  

 Mrs. Mitzi's house is a Halloween must-see!  She has taught all the girls, currently including Ella and Berkley.

Pretty sure these 2 haven't missed a Halloween together.  That would also apply to the littles.

Carrie Ingalls and a Ninja Berkley.

Ma and Pa strolled behind the truck in our carriage, aka golf cart.

Halloween class parties

So glad the girls love holidays as much as I do. Tomorrow is class party day and we are hard at work making crafts and snacks.  Emma is making Frankenstein Rice Krispy treats for Ella's party .  They turned out super cute and were delicious.  The chocolate on the top made them so yummy.

Eva Grace is making monster cupcakes for her class.  Cupcakes are her specialty, especially if they are funfetti!

Uncle Adam always helps with these projects!

Lots of eyeballs in all sizes.  (The melted chocolate in the ziplock didn't work well.  The black icing in the tube was much better).

Emma and Ella tested out our glow-in-the dark slime.  This is the craft we choose to do with Eva Grace's and Ella's class.  We even found some monster bags to put it in.

I love being able to volunteer in the girls' classes and getting to know their classmates.  

Ella added groceries to my list.

Ella added to my grocery list :)

Pgols - pickles

Qtse - cuties (little oranges)

Bluebers- Blueberries

Abos-  apples

Ham

jus- juice

ranes- oranges

ERB- 5 years old

Is that a pony? Nope, it's just Grinnin

Ella can now ride Grinnin, 5 months old, like a horse.  Grinnin now weighs over 40 pounds.  

Grinnin 6 months
El- 5 years old

Carving out FUN!! Our 10th Annual Pumpkin Carving with Uncle Adam

Every year Adam (and the other uncles when they are in town) carves a pumpkin with the girls.  

This is serious business!

One of our favorite pumpkin carving steps is burning out the inside.  I don't think most people do this step but we like the smoke and fire coming out the face.  It feels Halloweeny.  We do it every year.  The daylight hindered our flame view but the smoke still entertained us.

All E's have all A's.

Went to the first parent teacher conferences of the year.  All E's are doing great- all A's and no demerits/pockets changed. WooHoo!

Red ribbon week, Tv celebrity day.

It was red ribbon week at NIC.  This was our favorite day- tv celebrity day.  Emma went as Olympic runner/hurdler, Lolo Jones.

 EG, Abby and Chloe went as the USA Olympic Gymnastics team.

Happy Fall :)

No more training wheels at the Barrett House

 Ella is completing milestone after milestone lately.  Saturday she learned to ride her bicycle with no training wheels.  WOOHOO!  Go Ell's.

(She should still be in a stroller, not on a bicycle without training wheels.)

Sorry video is sideways.

Stuck

Only Eva Grace could get stuck in a car.  At one point she was completely wedged between the passenger seat and the doors.  Typical Grace.

Our precious family is getting bigger. Our new addition will be here in March!

 We are all SO excited!  Friday night the entire Brown family was together.  Aaron and Chelsea came in along with Andrew and Sarah.  After our delicious dinner (by Mom), Andrew passed us out presents from the "apple orchard" they had visited last weekend.  Turns out, there were ultrasound pictures in there of our newest family member.  Sarah is due in March.

Blog author.

Meet the blog author.  This is what busy kids will do to you...

Ella's first field trip

Ella had her first field trip this week!  They went to the petting zoo.  She was most excited about getting to ride the school bus for the first time.

 The hayride.   I love going on field trips as much as she does. I love meeting all her classmates and some of their parents. 

 Ella and I wore our hair the same so we could match.

Some friends in her class.

We are not perfect...

I prefer to only write about the positive and fun things going on in our lives. That is what I like to record for the memory books, but I don't want anyone to look back on these publications and think our lives were completely peachy all of the time. So here goes. An honest peek into our momentary struggles.

Emma got her first C on her report card this 9 weeks. She had all A's and 1 C... In Social Studies. I believe it was due to carelessness and she is grounded until her next report card comes out from most extracurricular activities. (We might re-evaluate at mid-terms). Emma is also struggling with some attitude issues. (She is 9).

Eva Grace made 1 of her friends cry this past week and said something very hateful to another friend. We struggle with her being mean at times. I don't know what is going wrong... We are working hard on this. She also got her pocket changed today (for the first time in her life) for cheating on a spelling test. UGH! (She is 7).

Ella is having problems behaving. She doesn't like to listen or mind. She is also very rude at times. Saying "please," "Thank you," and other mannerly words will only be said if she feels like it. It is embarrassing at times. (She is 4).

Fall has arrived and Pinterest has made it fun.

I love my front porch.  Lori got a new machine (it is on my Christmas list) and I have kept her busy!  She made my Trick or Treat pillows, I recovered the other swing cushions, and she made me stickers for my pumpkins.  I also hung Mama Ruth's fall wreath on my front door :)

Pinterest nail idea.  

Ella rocked them.

 Pinterest snack.

Eva Grace's, Emma's and Ella's monsters.  They topped theirs with cereal and graham crackers. (The Oreo's had disappeared... uh hum, BURT)

Our refrigerator is haunted.  The girls named the ghost Sally.  She came for Halloween and loves to say things as you open the refrigerator door to try to scare you.  

  

 We had a ghost like this in our bathroom. I need to swap out the picture with ours.

We made pumpkin muffins but they were NOT good. We were so disappointed.  Next time we will use a different recipe.  Making them was fun though. :)

Hot chocolate is always better out of seasonal cups.