Halloween

 

The parade at school... first up, kindergarten and 

Spidey (aka Thomas)

Here comes Sarah the bride...

We don't live in Kansas, but we're close... Candace as Dorothy

Modeling both the costumes and the jack o'lanterns!

 An (almost) full moon shining on the lake for Halloween.

Miss Sylvia Kittywhiskens checking out the haul...

 okay, this is just a gratuitous picture because I love my bad kitty so much.

A special gift from far away

Imagine how happy the twins were to receive a package from their birth mother! Thank you, Terry W., for bringing it back from Ethiopia and mailing it to us!

Beautiful table linens and basket from Ethiopia.

  We got some new photos, too.

Pumpkin patch

With autumn comes the annual pilgrimage to our local fall extravaganza, Vala's Pumpkin Patch.  This year, Anna, roommate Kenzie and new college buddy Allie joined us for the fun.

Littles on the upper floor, college kids on the bottom of the Old Woman's shoe house.

Candace on the pedal go-karts.

 Thomas waiting for the pig races to begin.

 Thomas' pig wins first place!  He has the award winning snout to prove it.

Sarah was also chosen as a pig cheerleader...

 her pig got second and Sarah got this groovy spider ring.

 Strangely, Mickey Mouse was at the pumpkin patch.

Thomas "pulls" the twins royal pumpkin carriage.

 Pumpkins selected fresh from the field!

Broken :(

Tough week at the Spears house... last Wednesday, Sarah took a tumble off the monkey bars at school.  A trip to the ER revealed that her shoulder wasn't broken, dislocated, or separated... but when her pain was still high on Monday, I took her to the orthopedist.  Turns out, she has a broken collar bone.  Pretty plain on the X-rays, so I'm not sure why the ER doctors didn't see it.  Anyway, the sling is her constant companion for three weeks.

Poor little Sarah was in a lot of pain.

Monday night, it was Candace's turn.  Tumbling and dancing shenanigans in the kitchen led to a collision between Candace's forehead and the granite counter top.  Fortunately, I was able to close the cut up with a butterfly closure and a band-aid... we really didn't want to reappear in the ER so soon!

An unhappy Candace.

Hopefully Thomas doesn't feel like it needs to be his turn next!

Wedding bells are ringing

This weekend, we attended the second family wedding in the last month. This time I remembered to bring my camera, so I have some pictures of the event. This particular couple, Kristina and Brandon, are among the littles' favorite relatives. The bride is my cousin John's daughter. The littles were very happy to attend the wedding and hang out with the cousins. It's always nice to get to see the extended family, and we've had parties three times in the last few months to catch up with everyone!

The happy couple with the littles.

Me with my sweet Anna.

Candace caught the bouquet Kristina

 tossed just for her little girl guests.

My Anna and my cousin Connie's Anna... both freshman at UNL.

 They did not catch a bouquet, but they didn't seem too sad about it.  :)

Thomas and cousin Caden coming up with

 new uses for the table decorations.

Cousins Moira, Sarah and Candace hanging out.