I have such a love hate relationship with Halloween.  My kids love it, and I do love their imaginations and love of dressing up.  But EIGHT pumpkins?  That’s a lot.  Couldn’t 3 or 4 be sufficient?  All the candy?  It drives me crazy.  Gore and evil?  Hate it.

I do love happy excited kids, though, so I guess I’m not too down on Halloween.  They had a lot of fun just getting into their costumes (and character) and trick or treating.

Was that enough photos for you?  I think the funnest thing about Halloween for me is looking back through the photos of past years and seeing how my kids have changed and grown.  I mean, look at my Brenna.  My big, beautiful, grown up girl.  She’s always had very strong opinions about what she’d be for Halloween.  Never again will she be a hermit crab.

If you just haven’t had enough here are some links to past Halloweens:

2011

2010

2009

2008

2007

2005

As soon as Logan got the party invitation he knew just what he wanted to give his friend Rusty.  He drew sketches and pattern pieces, and then cut them out.  I followed his directions and did the sewing.  The arms and legs took a second try because they were too teeny to turn right side out the first time.  It was a good education in the importance of seam allowance.    There were very elaborate plans for clothes, but I talked him into something simpler– little bitty bat wings.

The word is that he’s well loved!

My parents came to visit and we packed as much into the short time they were here as we could.  Right after we picked them up from the airport we packed lunch and headed to Castlewood Canyon for a hike to the “rock forts” as my kids call them.

The next day our sweet Logan got baptized.  He planned the service himself, picked the songs, made phone calls to his Primary teacher and our Home Teacher for talks, asked his sister and piano teacher to give prayers.  Barry baptized him and he asked my dad to confirm him.  It was so sweet and beautiful and a wonderful reflection of Logan and who he is and who he loves at this time in his life.

I’m kicking myself that I didn’t get a picture and Logan and Papa together.

On the last day their flight didn’t leave until 9:00 pm, so we had some adventures that day too.  The weather was perfect for visits to Dinosaur Ridge and Red Rocks.

Our tour guide Dan-o-saurus took us back 150 million years to touch some stegosaurus bones.  You can then the bones from the rest of the rock because of their color, texture, and taste (so Jonah licked the rock).

Here are some dinosaur foot prints from underneath.

Logan is being stepped on by an apatosaurus.

Back in the 1930s when they were building Alameda Highway they uncovered this field of iguanadon foot prints.  The footprints are colored in with charcoal to make them more visible.  Pretty amazing, huh?

We made a quick stop at Red Rocks to see it, then wandered around Ikea for lunch on the way home.

We love you Granny and Papa!  It was so fun to have you here.  See you again soon!

Our exuberant, sweet, bouncy, spinning, creative, handsome Logan turned 8!!  He wanted an art party, so we drew, painted, and tie dyed t-shirts.

There were a lot of boys who had a lot of fun.

And of course on that hot July day it degenerated into a water fight.  The 4 Super Soakers he got contributed to that too.

One night last week we put 6 Year Old Logan to bed with much fanfare.  “Good night 6 Year Old Logan, I’ll never see you again (dramatic sniff)!”  “Oh, how will we ever get along without our 6 Year Old Logan?!”  As everyone has gotten older this tradition of dramatically saying good-bye to the 2 or 4 or 10 year old forever has really become a family affair.  It’s not just Barry or I saying the tearful good-byes, but a slew of brothers and a very dramatic sister too.  The birthday kid laughs and laughs and loves the attention.

Then, lo and behold, we woke up to a 7 Year Old Logan!  I try to only do big birthday parties on even years– so 3 friends came over to do whatever Logan wanted to do.

We made monsters out of marshmallows, frosting, and candy.

And built sprinklers out of pvc pipe.  (The idea came from Eren at this vintage chica.)

The building wasn’t really appealing to the 6 and 7 year olds, but the 9 year old brother was an awesome engineer and kept everyone happy by figuring out the best ways to get water on the trampoline.

I made masks for the boys out of their requested colors, we had cake (which tasted good, but fell and looked a little sad), and opened presents.

And even though it was small and simple it was the best day this guy could have dreamed of.

It certainly left me exhausted.  Just 3 extra boys multiplied the energy here by 30!

After I got out of the shower this morning I heard Jonah exclaiming “I caught it! I caught it!”  He did tell me a few times yesterday that there was a big, cool spider by his window, but I didn’t think much about it.  He caught it this morning and he and Logan did all they could to learn who exactly their bedroom visitor was.  This is what I found on the table when I sat down for breakfast:

They used their field guide searching skills and discovered they had a Daring Jumping Spider.  Jonah made him a habitat in a jar.  Logan drew a picture.  All the boys went out in the rain in search of small insects to feed him.

I love it when stuff like this happens with absolutely no input (or interference) from me.  I hadn’t even eaten breakfast yet and I could count it as a good school day.

I have been buying Bare Books by the dozen.  My kids love to fill them up, especially Logan.  He has a series about a character named Mr. Bob who has all sorts of adventures with aliens that I have yet to take pictures of.  This book, however, was given away, so Barry snapped some pictures quick (and made a photo copy) before it was gone forever.  His very favorite neighbor friend had a birthday (his BFF as he calls her).  Such a special occasion called for some book making.

“Yum cake.  Bob opens his present…Look suuper (the 2 u’s make it extra super, no?) fun!”  Can you see how clever his illustrations are?  The candles smoke, the people lick their lips and their eyes look toward the cake.  I can’t stand how much I love his drawings.  I need to share more of them here, but I worry about the fairness of it.  You know, giving my kids equal time.

The first present can turn into all sorts of things.  Here they march to another present.  They’re marching!  And he knows to make their eyes all squinting and half-moony because they’re all so happy.  I tell ya, my 6 year old is an artist.

I think all the intense study of Calvin and Hobbes and Tin Tin that my kids do has lent to all the action and sequence they get into their story making.  They really fill up a lot of their non-school time drawing comics and making books.  (Ssshhhhhhh! Don’t tell them we call this kind of thing Language Arts.)

(Can you see where he gets the idea for the squinty half-moon eyes?)

So, a couple of you guessed right on the purpose of my cushions– they’re for our “new” camper!  We’re heading out for a week to try them out, so I’ll have pictures of the whole thing soon.

In the meantime, enjoy these photos of a 6 year old birthday party.  I’m up to my packing deadline, so I can’t say much.

Later, skaters!  I’ll see ya in a week or so.

When I made this little batch of shirts for Hunter, Logan was insistent that he knew exactly what needed to be printed on this one, so I did what I could to make his vision a reality.  We got out my dusty gocco printer and the fabric inks, and just like that we were done.  It was one of those projects that made me wonder why I don’t do it more often– it was so quick and painless and made my Logan so happy and proud.

It is a rare thing to have something so potentially messy go so smoothly, but it sure is a happy day when things work out.  I think with a big brood of small people the more spontaneous projects are the ones that end the best.  For me, at least, when i plan and prepare I have way too much invested in the outcome to be adequately relaxed, patient and kind about the process.  Does this ring true for anyone else?  I need to somehow find a happy medium between the spontaneous and the planned so that there can be more happy collaboration between the kids and I.  How do you guys plan happy creative projects with your kids?

A few weeks ago I had an issue of Home Education Magazine out from the library and in it was an add for Bare Books.  My kids kept eying it, then we saw posts at Soule Mama and Balancing Everything about the fun of filling them up, so I thought I’d order a box full to coincide with all the writing I hoped would ensue with the unveiling of the typewriter.

It looks like I will be buying bare books like groceries.

The day they arrived we cracked open the box and everyone got started.  Logan filled his up in no time with the story of “Tom and the Magic Roller Coaster.”

I can’t even tell you how much I love his uninhibited 5 year old drawings and handwriting.  He is fearless in his art making.

Brenna and Jonah wrote stories too.  After writing and dreaming all day long Jonah was so filled with pride in his work.  As I tucked him in he said, “Mom, I never knew I liked writing as much as I like reading.  It feels so good to write something someone else will read and really, really like.”  He’s still at work making sure his handwriting is neat as he goes.  It’s fun to watch their personalities magnified in their work.  I will definitely post more books soon.

I’ve got a board book of our backyard birds in the works for Hunter who says “buhr, buhr” with his little pointer finger constantly.  We have an Audubon calendar and he will stand beneath it with his arms stretched up making all the noise he can to get someone to lift him up for a closer look.

It’s been embarrassingly long since I last drew something.  It really feels so good.  (Here are closeups of the goldfinch and robin.) I’m almost finished with the house finches that are nesting on our front door.

They have 5 eggs now.

My front door is going to be a mess when they hatch!