October 29, 2016

(click here for pictures)

• We slept as late as we could this morning since we knew that we had a busy day. The kids, however, only slept as long as they were required. Graham must wake up at 6:30 every morning and then have to lay in bed waiting until 7. Most nights, we hear Anderson tell his brother to wake him up in the morning-he doesn't want to miss any of his ipad playing time.
• Whitman and then Keaton did climb into bed with us this morning and Whitman made it clear that he was hungry. He wanted a pancake with syrup and a fork and a plate. Once we were in the kitchen, I tried to offer him leftover doughnuts, coffee cake and even apple cake (he is the only Dennie kids that will eat it.) But nope, he just wanted his pancake with syrup and a fork and a plate.
• We all had some downtime this morning but we also left the house cleanish. We left a bit before 11 and didn't return until nearly 7 tonight. The first stop was Sams to pick up some meds and then to Toys R Us. 
• Jason met us there and our first stop was the American Girl section. They were giving out a free gift (which was really just a lot of paper) but the girls all took one. Then we headed to the back of the store for the Lego event. They were giving out pieces of Legos and with those you could make a Frankenstein. The kids all built their creation at the store and then we looked around for a little bit. For some reason, I lost all track of time and thought that it was an hour later than what it was and hurried us all out of the car.
• In the car, Robby asked what we were going to do for the next hour and 15 minutes and that is when I realized what time it really was. That all worked out well though because we had time to stop by Nonna's house for lunch. Yep, more funeral meat! I think that we have about eaten it all now.
• We had a bit of downtime there and then were off to the next event. The church down the road had their Fall Fest today. We have lived out here for 5 years but this is our first one to go to and we aren't really sure why. The kids had a wonderful time today and I am sure that we will go back next year. Nonna and Pops even showed up and walked around with us some.
• There were some carnival games with candy as the prizes-my Anderson completely filled his bag. There were jumpies which were Whitman's favorite ever. They had a train going around that Campbell and Whitman rode on twice. Campbell said that she wasn't going on it again because it was bumpy.
• They had a hay maze and a hay slide. Keaton was the only one of the Dennie kids that wanted to ride on a real horse so Pops waited with her in line. Then they have some type of spinny ride that everyone except Reagan and Anderson rode on. Another highlight was the lemonade, popcorn and cotton candy. 
• The best part of the fest was the cake walk-and the Dennies walked away with an arm load of cakes. There were 50ish spaces on the cake walk and the first few rounds all 10 of us were walking around. A Dennie won and then another Dennie won. Then Nonna won and then we had a lull for a bit but boom, more Dennies won. Campbell was the last one to win so everyone but Pops, Whitman and Robby left with a goodie. Campbell picked a box of oatmeal cream pies, Reagan picked a huge pan of brownies, I chose a package of cookies (that I sent with the kids to church this afternoon), Graham picked sugar cookies and Keaton and Anderson picked Halloween cupcakes.
• When it was nearly time to go home, Robby ran the cakes home so they would melt in the car and I herded the kids to the front. We had been just letting the big ones go where ever they want but next time I do that I will need to make a note of their shirt colors in my phone. I did find everyone and we grabbed a drink and popcorn and loaded up into the car.
• The first stop this time was back at Nonna's house to drop of Whitman. It was his turn to spend the night with Nonna and Pops. I saw a few pictures and it looked like he had a "sticky" (nutella) for supper and spent some time coloring. He was pretty happy to be over there by himself.
• The children's Sunday school teachers had a fellowship so we dropped the kids off at church for childcare. There was only one other family of kids but the kids all had a blast. We had a blast too-I won a gift card and Robby won a pot of mums. Our table was entertaining and there was lots of food-chili, potatoes and apple pie.
• When it was over, we waited until the last minute to go and pick up the kids and then we headed all the way back home. The Wilsons arrived soon after we walked in the door. Shannon brought chili and the fixings. I pulled out my desserts and she had plenty of desserts too. We ate (again for some of us.) 
• After eating, we worked up our nerve and called the kids back into the kitchen to start carving their pumpkins. My girls did a face and the boys worked on Darth Vader. I say 'boys' but Anderson had no part in the pumpkin carving. He can't stand to touch the stuff inside and wanted nothing to do with it this year. 
• It took forever to get the pumpkins carved. I was still working on Graham's pumpkin long after he and Robby had given up. Layne was the most dedicated pumpkin carver and worked almost as long as I did. Tony was the over achiever because he carved two sides of Brett's pumpkin. When the pumpkins were finally finished, we took a few pictures of our pumpkin heads.
• When we Wilsons left, the kids started showering and we started picking up (why, oh why didn't we carve pumpkins outside?) The kids helped us pick up (some) and then it was bedtime for all Dennies (except the ones who needed a bowl of ice cream!)