Pumpkin Carving Night 2009

Our three "pumpkins!"

Pumpkin head!

Just a small portion of our pumpkin seed/guts collection!

Ready to carve...Daddy is such a big help! Dom and G did do quite a bit of the cleaning out and carving by themselves this year though.

Carving away...the "old-timers"

Gooey hands!

Peace out pumpkin carvers!

Nick made a plan for his 30 pound pumpkin and it took quite a while to just clean out the inside! But he did it all by himself!

G's finished pumpkin

Dominic holding his pumpkin up for the "unveiling." With the lights off, each of the kids stood on the steps of the garage, holding up their pumpkin with a candle in it, showing their glowing pumpkin face for all to see! It was a fun moment for each one-while everyone cheered!

Hope took it upon herself to "organize" the guts from the seeds...thanks Hopie!

All of the pumpkin carvers

This night is one of our most treasured traditions with the Glassers and Langston clans! Our Fall would not be complete without this night. The kids added a new component to the night this year- The Haunted Bonus Room! OOOOOHHHH! The four older boys had us walk through the bonus room in the dark while they grabbed at our legs, arms...anything they could get and screamed spooky screams!

Such fun! Taco soup is always on the dinner menu and one of Kim's delicious desserts-she used apples that Hope had picked from a local orchard and it was soooo yummy!

We just got these cute letter blocks in on an order for the Barn Girl's Boutique...couldn't resist putting them up AS SOON AS I GOT HOME!

Grandpa Comes for a Visit

Grandpa came up for a night and brought our cousin Kaden with him! What a treat for Dom and Gianna!

While Grandpa did some projects around the house for us, the kids had a wonderful time playing together.

Grandpa hung this FREE headboard for us...(our friends, the Glassers, found this headboard for us for free at a garage sale. I just covered it with new fabric and wah-lah!)

I got this mirror at a garage sale and we have not taken the time to hang it because it is so big and heavy...Grandpa just put it up so quickly for us.

He also hauled some gravel and bark to our house for our backyard and it looks so great now!

Thanks Grandpa for all of your hard work!

Dinner with Dom's Teacher

Dominic made a place setting for Ms. Grotsky, his kindergarten teacher. We invited her for dinner tonight. On the menu (Dom's choices): Spaghetti, garlic bread, salad, corn. Dessert: brownies and ice cream!
He has been waiting several weeks to have her over for dinner-his excitement was very sweet!

Dominic gave her a tour of his room, (and of course G had to give a tour of her room too), played with some of his toys (and some of G's too), and showed off some of his latest tricks (i.e. headstands off the couch, parachuting dinosaurs, cars flipping off the table etc.). At first he was quiet at the table, but then he got his voice back!

Gianna had to be in a picture too! She loved Dom's teacher...but who wouldn't? We are very lucky to have her in our lives.

Leaf Storm 2009

Today the wind was sooooo fierce! It knocked over our basketball hoop, garbage can, outdoor light top...when the kids hopped out of the van after school they ran in circles, chasing the leaves-it was like the first snow, but instead the "first leaf!" It was very exhilirating to watch the extreme weather!

The girls collected a bunch of leaves, but made the mistake of setting them down in a pile-the wind swooped them up again!

Something I have dreamed about...

When I was teaching, and parents would come to volunteer in the classroom, I knew that volunteering in my own child's classroom was something I definitely would not want to miss out on...the only thing I was worried about was- if I was teaching, how could I be involved in my kid's classrooms at the same time?

Fortunately I am taking a few years off from teaching so that I am not going to miss those times I often daydreamed about in the past.

TODAY was my first official volunteer day in Dominic's kindergarten classroom and it was such a pleasure to be on the "other side." I got to enjoy these little guys and watch in amusement at all the things I may have tried to correct or guide as the teacher. Just listening to them read to me, not having to make notes or plans about what I was hearing, but ONLY getting to celebrate every little thing they did was fabulous! I listened to their stories, their thoughts, and laughed whole-heartedly with them for 2 full hours! I did not intend to stay that long, but we were just having so much fun learning together I could not leave.

It was so fun to watch our little guy in his learning environment. He was the helper to the new kid from New Zealand. No matter how many times we reminded him to use his quiet voice, his enthusiastice LOUD voice came out (thanks Daddy!). Some thing truly are hereditary! Dom listened thoughtfully, with hands folded each time there was a group lesson...although one time he did ask me if he could sit on my lap (music to a mother's ears). When rolling the dice, counting out the "diamonds" and then seeing how many he and his partner had together, his smile was contagious- I couldn't help but be drawn to him. He proudly asked me to listen to him read the books from his book box, and his finger followed the words across the page so carefully...I didn't even have to remind him! Our little guy is not so little any more and I am proud of the boy he is and is becoming. Today was such a great day!

Toast to Shannon

And here is to you, my friend Shannon, the one who urged me (when I wanted nothing to do with it) to start this blog. I look at it as more of a family scrapbook where I can write about our life and our friends and family can catch glimpes of the "Riccobene life!" Thank you Shan for setting it up for me and telling me "I had to do it!" It has been 1 year of blogging and I am so happy I have this place.

Elwha River Bridge

My husband is amazing at taking in the treasures around us, in our community. When he sees something in newspaper or hears about a trail, river, or community event from someone he makes sure that our family partakes in the wonders around us! In the newspaper recently there was an article about the Elwha River Bridge opening up-both to vehicles on the top level, and to walkers on the bottom level...well of course we headed up there the next day! As you can see it is beautiful

As we stood on the bridge looking down we saw massive amounts of salmon jumping upstream-they were HUGE! The kids could not wait to get down to the river...so through a closed gate we went-down to the river where the kids were able to see salmon dead and alive making their way up the river. They were very excited!

Vinny pointed out this heart rock to me as we were walking along the riverbank-if it were not so huge I would have snagged it for myself!

As we climbed up the "shortcut" Vinny led us on back up to the bridge, with rocks making our feet roll, having to hang onto tree limbs every few feet, and working muscles I have not worked in years...I was thankful for this simple day with my family.

FARM TOUR 2009

The finished masterpieces at NASH'S Organic Farm. We always start at Nash's because they provide pumpkins, paint, vegetable pieces, and cutting tools for the kids to decorate pumpkins each year. It is always a big hit! When the kids were younger they mostly painted...now they go all out with creativity!

Taking a moment to cheese for a picture!

Gianna painted her pumpkin and then she directed Daddy as to which veggie pieces she wanted where!

The Masters at pumpkin decorating!

These two were amazing this year with their independence!

Working together...it's a family affair!

Nick's masterpiece-highlights: unibrow and sideburns!

Dom's finished product

Gianna's finished pumpkin

These two have so much fun together! They are more like brothers than mere friends.

Loving on my girl

There is an awesome old Weeping Willow tree at Nash's that hides a kid's wonderland. The branches are thick enough to walk along, a swing dangles down...beckoning the kids to come and sit for a while. The area hidden beneath the tree is huge and the kids love to play in it each year.

The Dairy Farm has a Hay Scavenger Hunt where the kids go crazy throwing hay, trying to find snack packs of gummies!

The sweet 4-H kids have a petting area for the kids, and Gianna loves this part. She could have pet the animals all day!

One of the new baby calves-named Tiana- that G sat with for a while.

Inside the huge barn at the Dairy Farm, jumping from one hay bale step to the next.

Cramming into our car to go to the next farm...(Greg had to go pick up his Dad, so we all go into our van), singing at the top of our lungs...Open the Eyes of My Heart Lord!

We made it safely to the Pumpkin Patch Farm where Greg and his dad rejoined us. This has always been one of the kids' favorite stops on the Farm Tour.

Looking out on the hay ride around the farm

The Glassers + Gianna!

We had just enough time to try a new farm this year (it gets trickier and trickier each year with soccer and football games on Saturdays to have enough time at the Farm Tour). We LOVED Lazy J Farm-there was bobbing for apples (organic and deliciouso!!), a hay maze, music, and a sand pile...

Our kids would play in a sand pile all day if we let them!

A successful Farm Tour Day! We are so lucky to share this tradition with the Glassers each year. Usually Grandma and Grandpa get to come too, but this year they had to cancel at the last minute...we missed them!

Science Rockets...Ka-Pow!

Alka-seltzer, water, film canister and some decoration...that is all it takes to make a rocket shoot into the air!

The Rocket

Watching and Waiting for the rocket to shoot up

After-I was not fast enough with the camera to get the rocket shooting into the sky...but the boys had a great time! (over and over!)

On the market...

We just listed our house on the market last week and we are excited for where this next stage will take us. We can't wait to get on to a place with more land, more room, and no CC&R's!