Trick or treat

Caden mentioned wanting to be Steven from Minecraft about a month ago, so I ordered his costume from Amazon.  Unfortunately, it wasn't predicted to arrive until November 4!  I panicked and asked Facebook if anyone had a costume from years past.  A sweet mom of a little girl in my class elected to make one for me!  Here is Caden wearing it proudly!  I did a horrible cutting job at the bottom.

His actual costume arrived the day before Halloween.  It was hard for him to see out of the eye holes bc it was intended for teenagers, but he still got lots of candy.  😊Now the candy-eating begins!

Jack o' Lantern Pizza

I ordered this from a Papa Murphy fundraiser at school.  It came with s'mores pizza too!  We had the Smith's over that night to enjoy it.

Fall party

The costume Caden picked out.  

We went to a fall festival at Waco Baptist church downtown.  Two of my students attend there with their families.  We enjoyed hot dogs, and a few crafts and games!  There was even a bounce house!

Our Jack o' Lantern

In our carving the jack o' lantern, I told the story of how Jesus chooses us to be his children just like we choose the pumpkin from the store or patch.  He also cleans out our yucky sin just like we need to clean out the yucky pulp.  We also always carve a smile because when Jesus makes us His child, we have great joy.  When adding the candle, I talk about how we need to let the light of Jesus shine from our lives so others can see, just like the light from the pumpkin!

Gigi

We met Gigi at McAlister's so that she could give Caden his Halloween (fall) goodies.  He was especially pleased with the little light-up dog that makes a design on the wall.

Homestead Heritage Sorghum Festival

Mark and the boys came down for Labor Day and we all took the kids and Howard family, plus Nana and Papaw, to Homestead Heritage for their Sorghum Festival.  It was hootttttt!!!

We all got to watch several demonstrations and even watch some singing at the end.  We ate some yummy brick-oven pizza for lunch.

One of the highlights was a hayride around the property.

Happy Thanksgiving!

From our little turkey!

Zoo Tunes

Caden met his little friend Alexander at the zoo for Cameron Park's Zoo Tunes.  Mieke and I enjoyed conversation while the kids played.  We looked around the zoo first, then went to hear the symphony play on the lawn.

Checking out the turtle

Galapagos tortoise

Little Indians

The symphony

 Listening to the music

Face painting afterward  

 Caden chose a cat!

 

 Afterward, they got to experiment with the instruments.  It was so much fun!  Caden loved this!

He seems especially fond of the guitar

 

Rat-a-tat-tat!

Trunk or Treat with Alexander

Today, we met Alex and his mom at a local church for Trunk or Treat.  It was a perfect evening with all the little children in cute costumes.  There were lots of cars and cheerful people handing out candy.

I recycled Caden's birthday James the train as a costume.  I just added Papaw's suspenders to hold it on.

The boys laughing at each other

Yummy!

On the hayride

The sunset was beautiful!

Afterward, we went to Gigi's for some Halloween treats-a bag from Aunt Robbie and bag from Gigi.

Cheese!

Checking out a bag o' goodies

These are his goodies from his school party

Mayborn Pioneer Day

Today, Nana and I took Caden to the Mayborn Pioneer Village for their "Pioneer Day."

Running up and down the hill

Playing ring toss the easy way. :)

Knocking down bottles with Olivia

Writing in the pioneer schoolhouse

Caden liked the bell

Inside an old cabin

Churning butter

Washing clothes

Watching an apple pie-making

Silo Tree Farm

We visited the tree farm again this year.  This is our third year to visit (see here and here)!  In the past, we have gone with friends, but we enjoyed it with just our family this year.

Caden enjoyed the kiddie "train" for the first time.  I don't remember this last year.

A traditional family photo:

Fun with the duck races.  This is another first for him:

Of course, we had to ride the ponies!

Walking through the haystack.  He wasn't as enthused about this.

They had inflatables this year.  Much to Caden's delight!

 Picking out the pumpkin: