Pumpkin Carving... and a costume preview

 Last night we carved up the pumpkin... one step closer to the long awaited Halloween!

showing off the finished product

 This morning, she had to wear her puppy costume as we went outside to play in the leaves!

jumping in the pile

Last Thursday, Emily was giddy up and go on Trigger... bareback and backwards through the obstacle course, enjoying a fine fall day on her ride.  Then on Friday, my happy-go-lucky girl came down with some sort of mysterious illness.  At one point in the morning, Emily came to my classroom complaining of a stomachache.  By the time a guest teacher came in my place, a rash had started to cover the crooks of her arms and legs.  The afternoon brought on flu like symptoms... but then there was this rash that now covered most of her body!  A dose of Claritin and Benedryl knocked out the rash by the early evening, some good solid sleep, and by Saturday there wasn't any sign of being sick.

We spent Saturday morning at the park, and then went to see Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good Very Bad Day movie with some friends that afternoon.  Sunday?  Just a lazy day at home.

Today she wowed again with her improving swimming skills.  Emily and her friend, Seneca, that swims with her spend as much time giggling in the water as they do blowing bubbles.  But, it's amazing  how well she's doing on her strokes as she swims laps lengthwise across the pool.

Last weekend, we got a special treat!  The Leavitt-Barker clan was in town.  Most of them anyway.  (This family was our NICU neighbors, and we've always kept in touch.)  They were in town for a wedding, but since Kean has leukemia, he was safe and sound back at Grandma's house.  We met at their hotel, and while all the girls swam, the grown ups sat pool side and had a great conversation.  Those swimming lessons are paying off, Emily was able to enjoy swimming with a grown up!

Thursday was our big return to Swiftsure, and Emily met her new instructor Megan.  But since the horses all had their shots that day, no one was getting to ride.  Emily spent her hour grooming Trigger, reviewing horse parts, and finished up by painting Trigger's tail.

And our little school girl continues to be exhausted.  Three times this week she fell asleep before dinner was even on the table!  There was no waking her up, I tried, and she slept all the way through the night.

One last note, there may be some Halloween excitement building in the air.

Webb Nursery's Fall Festival

Last week we were at the Sawtooth Botanical Gardens celebrating fall.  Emily made butter, smothered a pinecone in peanut butter and bird seeds, and went on a scavenger hunt with her friend Ginger.

Yesterday we went to the nursery to celebrate fall there.  Fall is a pretty easy season to celebrate.

Emily picked out three mini pumpkins, and one large one for carving.  She wandered through a straw maze, tossed bean bags through a jack o 'lantern face, tossed rings onto pumpkin stems, and transformed a mini pumpkin into a spider.  She chose a butterfly to decorate her cheek, then passed on bobbin' for apples to avoid the chance of smudging the artwork.  There was also the wagon pulled by a team of mules that took us for a ride.  It was a beautiful fall day!