October with kids

Just in case you were wondering what the month of October looks like when you have kids, here you go:

Driving to Grandpa and Grandma's house to spend General Conference weekend

(Who can resist those chubby legs?)

Visiting a pumpkin patch with preschool friends

Chillin' with cousins after Aunt Becky took our family photos

Riding ponies at Farm Country

Cornbelly's at Thanksgiving Point.  (I can't overemphasize how much fun this was!  I'm so glad our friends invited us.  Cassie and Benson both had a blast.)

Halloween!  I'm pretty sure this is the first time since Trevor was 11 that he has worn a costume.  He's not a huge fan of dressing up for Halloween.  I thought Waldo would be the perfect costume for him, and he said that if I got him a Waldo costume, he would wear it.  So I had to make it happen!  Even if it involved lots of red duct tape.  Also, for the record, Cassie requested to be a fairy for Halloween.  Yup, that's year 5 of the wings.

All boy

It's pretty fun to see how different Benson and Cassie are.  Some days I think to myself, "Benson is such a boy!"  He really is into "boy" things, especially cars, trucks, and "diggers" or anything construction related.  When he sees anything with wheels, his immediate reaction is to say, "brrrm brrrm!"  We ran into this tractor at a pumpkin patch and I had a hard time tearing him away from it.

Same story with this sweet ride in the mall.

Benson is more brave than Cassie in a lot of ways.  He is definitely a thrill-seeker.  He likes to jump off of beds/chairs/stairs etc. into our arms, and he loves when Trevor tosses him in the air.  He isn't afraid of animals at all (Cassie is usually a little wary, or at least cautious).  He will chase dogs that are much bigger than he is, just so he can pet them.  And he's a little too brave on the playground for my taste.  He goes down slides by himself without any hesitation.  He loves to climb as high as he can, then stand at the top platform on the very edge and grin and giggle.  I am constantly standing underneath him, because I honestly wouldn't be surprised if he thought it would be a good idea to jump.  Crazy kid.

Running after pigs at a pumpkin patch.  Go get 'em!

 He would have gone down this by himself if I let him...

 I'm pretty excited to use these pictures for blackmail someday.  I guess part of being a little brother is wanting to be like your big sister sometimes...

 I can't believe I captured this pose...seriously, priceless.

We love you, Mr. B!

Try to remember the kind of September...

(Just a little reference for all my musical theater nerd friends out there...3 gold stars if you can name the musical!)

Really though, September was so long ago that I'm trying to remember what we did.  Good thing I took pictures, or I really would have forgotten.

Cassie started some new adventures: dance and preschool!


Her dance teacher holds classes in her basement and is ridiculously good with little girls. Cassie adores her.


We are doing a co-op preschool with 4 other moms/kids in the neighborhood, and I love it.  (Missing one friend in the picture.)  I was a little hesitant to create our own curriculum, but it's actually going very well and hasn't been too much work.  I know it's not for everyone, but I love being involved in Cassie's learning and watching her interact and learn with the other kids.  I couldn't handle teaching preschool full-time, but I love the once-every-five-weeks gig.

Every year about mid-October, when the leaves start changing colors in the valley, I think, "Gee, wouldn't it be great to go on a drive up the canyon and see all the beautiful fall colors?"  And then I remember that the leaves up the canyon changed colors a month ago, and I kick myself for missing it again.  Well, not this year! We took a scenic drive in the mountains on a Sunday in September (along with every other family in the county...seriously, there were tons of people that day) and caught the beginning of the changing leaves.  We went on a 5 minute "hike," as Cassie called it.  It really was beautiful!

And we enjoyed the fruits of our labors...well, the vegetables of our labors: carrots, onions, peas, beans, and tomatoes from our garden!