My little pumpkins have been busy lately. The boys have been making appearances, hours at a time, beginning anywhere from 2-4am. They just think that’s a good time to play and destruct. After they’ve been doing it all day, I have no energy left to fight them at that hour. They’ve been so wild and crazy that it’s actually awoken Todd from his peaceful slumber lately too. Since I can’t force them to sleep, we try to only intervene when they are getting into major trouble, which actually is quite often…

Anyway, we had a fun time pumpkin picking, going through hay mazes, riding ponies, watching animals play and get fed, and going on hay rides. Taylor made friends with another little girl at the pumpkin patch and her parents and I were talking about how nice it would be to have a bunch of hay bales dumped in the front yard to keep the kids contained. It kept them busy, safe, and enclosed for quite some time. Perhaps an idea for next year. Joseph shocked me and loved the pony ride. I was pleasantly surprised because $5 for 30 seconds of walking through pony poop with a crying kid was not going to be my idea of a good time. The smile on his face is something I will probably never forget. Taylor, of course, loved it too. She has now been on the same pony three years in a row and she thinks the pony remembers her. Jackson looked at the pony, said “nope” and tried to hide amongst the pumpkins. He was not at all interested in any equestrian adventures.

Tonight, we carved our “family pumpkin” as Taylor so adorably put it. It was fun to see the kids play in the “spooky goo” and watch their little faces get so excited as the pumpkin changed into a jack o’lantern right before their eyes. They are definitely more challenging as they all get older, but it is so much fun to do stuff like this with them that we could never involve them in much before. I have never been much of a fan of Halloween before, but having kids has changed that for me. I’m actually excited to get them all dressed up next week and walk around the neighborhood begging for candy. Maybe there will be a Reese’s in it for Mama…

And although this is not Halloween related (he was just chilly), here’s our handsome man in a hoodie.