Here's the Diehl

Total organized chaos. But the kids love it! Julia's school does a little Halloween parade each year and get the kids all dressed up. I think no one sleeps at nap time that day due to excitement, at least it seemed that way. Julia's favorite teacher, Ms. Nathalie, also dressed up as Wonder Woman. She's in the background of the second photo below. Hysterical. Costume complete with magic lasso made of crepe paper and a toilet paper roll. Julia and Campbell (the blonde cutie) are best buds these days, and they do just about everything together.

I left work today to the perfect Fall weather. Cool, but not cold. A little wind so that the leaves were just falling off the trees like in a movie. And the leaves are in full color. Then I got home to my favorite Halloween task...or at least one of them. The pumpkin carving. Now, I admit it. This is a post solely to pat my own back. Julia and I found a photo of a Hello Kitty jack o lantern and she said she wanted me to make that. So, I tried. And, lo and behold, it actually does look like Hello Kitty. Only a house full of girls would have a trick like this. Happy Halloween!

I was smarter this time. i waited until the day before the show to tell Julia we were heading to Disney on Ice. And as if that wasn't exciting enough....we were going with Bridget, one of Julia's most favorite friends (one of mine too...her mom that is). We had a great time seeing the Disney characters skate around. And the troupe was much better this time around...far fewer falls from double axles. The best part: the kids all picked out one toy. And they earned it with great behavior. And, yes, the girls are in princess dresses. Til next time Mickey!

Remember this same pose when Julia did it? Well, here is Stairway Fun 2.0. Of course, I can't find the old photo of Julia. But it's on the blog somewhere.

As the evenings get darker, we tend to stay inside more. Inside play means more drawing and painting and crafts. Julia and Schuyler decided it was time for some of their own Halloween "decorating". Jules took out her crayons and went for it. Schuyler tried a little bit too.

Our posts get more and more infrequent. It's not because we aren't doing things. We are. But the things we do lately are more along the lines of home addition/construction decisions/spreadsheets, preschool parent board planning, and Wootton High School reunion planning (sure, we have time for that). In between emails and phone calls, the girls are finding sweet moments together to play. They play together so well now. We hope they remain best friends forever....in between fights. Today I was working and the girls were drawing together. Schuyler actually will pick up a crayon and scribble. It's handy in restaurants almost every weekend. Julia drew some lovely Halloween decorations that she proceeded to hang on the basement wall. "For trick or treaters" As far as I know, there will be no trick or treaters in my basement. Hopefully by Halloween things will settle down a little bit.

Although the weather has been about 90 degrees, fall is in full swing with pumpkin picking and festivals all over town. We headed north to Larrilands (the best u-pick farm ever) for some of their fall fun. Miraculously, I did not come home with 20 pounds of apples...which I tend to do. We did have apple fritters and face painting and farm animals and live music and the best part...the Boo Barn. At first Julia was too afraid to go into this fun little kid-friendly spooky house, but then a few girls led her along and then she was in heaven. The seven-year-olds then tried to take Julia back through...all holding hands....she pretty much got adopted by a small cute brigade of girls. Schuyler wasn't feeling too well and so got carried around, but she enjoyed the wind in her hair and the fresh air.  Ready for adventure!  Inspecting the coven of witches.