How Do You Measure Up?

Our trip to the city (I say that like I live on a farm! Ha!) included a visit to the aquarium. We love aquariums. We had a season pass to the Long Beach Aquarium where we got to go to members only nights and be the only ones staring in front of a 30 ft high tank. Something so peaceful about that! Well, visiting this one on "field trip Friday" was a little bit different. Not quite so... serene. Still, we had a nice time. Zoey saw all the kids taking pictures, so she took the camera and had fun... here are some of her favorite pictures...

The Lorikeets

And Moon Jellys


And here are my three kids (yep, three) seeing how they compare in height to a shark.

Max - always the one with the map!

Zoey

And...

I know. I have my hands full.
But I love them anyway.

Through a Child's Eyes

We were driving into the big city of Cincinnati today. We don't actually drive too often in a city since moving to Ohio (we live in a quite suburban or even rural area), so things are noticeably a little different. Max always yells, "oooh, the city!" whenever he sees more than one large building in a row!! So as we were cruising through the more industrial part of the city, Zoey noticed a smoke stack coming out of a factory and exclaimed with joy, "Look at that! I see where they shoot clouds into the sky!" Ross and I just smiled. It certainly looked exactly like that... big, puffs of white shooting into the air! How sweet and refreshing to see something in a different light.

Falling Leaves...

Falling Leaves, Calling Trees
Pumpkins in Halloween,
Apples are So Sweet,
For a Treat,
In the Season of Fall.
Going Trick-or-Treating,
It is So Much Fun!
Come On, Come On and Play With Us.

original song by Zoey

It's even cuter when she sings it, but I wanted to post her cute poem/song so that I wouldn't forget.

We are having beautiful weather... finally the Indian Summer I was waiting for, so we went outside to play in leaves and just enjoy the sunshine.

Pumpkin Carving

We got into the Halloween Spirit with a little pumpkin carving. I had the kids draw their designs on their pumpkins, and then Ross did his thing with some tool.


They drew on the pumpkins first, so here is Max's design. I just thought it was a cute pumpkin with a button nose and smiley face.



And Zoey decided to go theme... She drew a ghost and spooky tree. And then a haunted house with the word "Boo!" Here is Ross doing his part of the "carving".

And here are the finished products:

Happy Halloween!!

From our Football Player (with his "I'm tough and don't smile picture":



And our Peacock!





We had a Halloween party and then Trick-or-Treating tonight!! They kids had so much fun running around our neighborhood and then getting home to count and sort all of their goodies!! It all just makes me smile. Love the joy they get from simple things. Happy Halloween!

Designer Z Dogs

Do you remember the picture of Zoey's cake this year? If you don't, here is a reminder picture:


She learned this way to draw a dog some time in Kindergarten and it has quickly become a signature drawing of hers. If you ever receive a card from her, she often draws a dog on it. Here are a couple I have saved:

Ross and I just love it. We think her dog drawings are so cute and they just show her love for the animals and her artsy side all in one cute picture!

So the other day we were stuck inside due to rain... and we needed a project! The sewing machine had taken up residence on the dining room table (yep, I'm still keeping at it) and I had some leftover fabric...so Zoey and I decided to make a pillow! She sometimes calls one of her bed pillows her "huggie pillow" so I decided to make a dog/huggie pillow! She drew a big version of her signature dog, and then she cut out both sides of fabric. She also designed the ears. We sewed them up and she stuffed them and voila... a designer dog pillow!! So cute that we quickly had to make Max one too. Here she is with her pups (affectionately named Pillow Cushion and Love Dog)

Zoey and The Stupid, Smelly Bus

Zoey is a fan of the Junie B Jones books, and the other day, she came rolling in on her Stupid, Smelly Bus, to do a little show and book stamping.

We have a pretty awesome bookstore, very close, that brings in all kinds of authors for book signings and shows like this. We love it. Not only for that, but just because it is nice and newer and our kids love to go and hang out and read!

So, when we found out Junie B and Mr. Woo (the bus driver, naturally) were heading our way on the bus tour, Zoey and I made plans to attend. We are glad we did. It wasn't crazy crowded and Junie B was so animated and hilarious. It was really very, very cute. I am glad Zoey got to "meet" one of the characters that she has read all about and also to see her perform in action. I didn't get the greatest picture of her with Junie B, but we drove in right behind the bus, and got a picture of that!