Starring the Stewarts: October 2009

Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Picking a Pumkin and Carving It!

This evening we headed to the only pumpkin patch (that I know of) in Arlington. Our mission was to take pumpkin pictures and pick a pumpkin to turn into a jack-o-lantern. I warned the kids on the drive to the patch that I would need to take some pictures, hoping that they would be geared up for posing when we got to the patch! Well... you can see that that warning didn't really help! I'll give my Emmy credit, she was a good subject today, but I can't really say that for everyone else! It didn't help that the patch was pretty crowded! For an extra tiny pumpkin patch nestled between Kohl's and a Methodist church, there just wasn't a whole lot of room for everyone to spread out!
Well, enough whining about not capturing the perfect shot of the Stewart 4! We had fun, and the whole experience was documented! Chels we'll leave the perfect group shot up to you this Sunday! Praying my gang cooperates...still thinking of the perfect bribe! ;)

take 2 of the group shot! Ella, Carson, Cade, Emma

Emma Claire found the perfect pumpkin!

Ellie's silly smile!

Emma and Ella

Mommy and Emma

group shot from kind of far away! Everyone was dressed prepared for the pumpkin patch except me. Today was one of my long runs for my White rock 1/2 training. I had just finished a 7.5 mile run, and I definitely looked it!

working on a pose for Mommy

Emma, Ella, Carson

Emma Claire jumping off the hay

Sam captured me taking pictures with my phone!

Snapping pictures for Facebook

Ella Cate and Daddy

sisters smiling for my phone

Cade and Carson had the best time playing chase!

Daddy and Emma

Ella Cate's little pumpkin

Cade's little pumpkin

Emmy's little pumpkin
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After the patch, we headed to Chik-fil-A for a yummy dinner. As soon as we got home from dinner, it was pumpkin carving time!

The girls tried on their masks that they made at school today before the carving began!

Our warty pumpkin getting carved

the carvers....Ella was sulking for some reason at that particular moment...not sure why!

Cade, Emma, and Carson. Ella had lost interest and went to watch Sponge Bob.

yucky pumpkin goo

Carson was the expert carver, who wasn't scared to scoop the goop!

Costume Preview!

This week the little ones' had their Halloween parties at school, so they were able to dress up! Ella Cate chose to be a flapper cat, Carson was a blue Power Ranger, and Emma was Tinkerbell. Instead of going out and buying new costumes we let the kids choose a costume out of their playroom closet. They have so many costumes that they love! Flapper cat was a hand-me-down from our friends, Blue Power Ranger was given to Carson for his b-day, and my cousin gave the girls Tinkerbell costumes last Christmas. They were so excited with their choices! I think they are going to keep their selections the same for Halloween night, but if they decide to change their minds we have many other choices! My kids LOVE costumes and dressing up!!

Ella, Carson, and Emma...it was still dark when we went into the front yard to take pictures before school!

Ellie showing her cat claws! ;)

Tinkerbell Em

Carson showing his Power Ranger muscles!

Fall Trip to The Dallas Zoo

Last Sunday we spent the afternoon at The Dallas Zoo with Brenda, Chels, Colt, and Carter. Bren has a family pass that allows all of us to get in and park 2 cars for no cost(other than the yearly fee that she pays, which is not a bad price)! Unbeatable deal!! We always enjoy our days that we spend at the zoo with our friends! Thanks Bren for keeping your family pass! We love you!! :)
The kids really got into the coin drop in the reptile area. They stood and watched to coins spiral down for quite a while!

The new exhibit was an albino alligator exhibit. The gators kept pretty still and looked fake, but no matter how still they were they still spooked me out!!

Colt gave Carson a boost to look at a GIANT snake. Carson was in heaven because he got to have Colt's undivided attention, since Cade was unable to come to the zoo because of a football game.

The highlight of the day was getting to ride a pony! The girls wanted to do this so bad at the State Fair, but there we couldn't find a pony to ride! They were so excited to see this pony that they could ride in the children's' zoo! Ella Cate got to go first!

Emma Claire

Emmy again! The last time that the girls rode a pony was when they were 2 at The Mesquite Rodeo! Back then they were not near as brave!!

Carson's turn!

Another perk of the family membership is that Brenda gets a certain # of carousel passes a year. So on our way out of the zoo everyone got a carousel ride. The girls rode with Chels and Carter. Here is Emma striking a pose!

Ella (left) Emma (right)

Colt and Carter rode in a nest that they spun around the entire time! It made me sick to my stomach to watch!!
To top off our fun day we stopped at a snack vendor that was having happy hour. We got ice cream sandwiches, popcorn and bottled water all for $1.00... can't beat that!!

Thursday, October 15, 2009

Splish Splash, Elly and Cooper were taking a bath'

Last night, after Emma got out of the bathtub her spot was taken up by our puppy. All 70+ pounds of him hopped right in the tub and plopped down next to El! He LOVES the water!! He prefers to drink his water from a running spout or hose, or even dropping from the sky in the form of rain! ;) He sat patiently while El scrubbed, lathered, and poured on her Cooper. They both had a blast!!

look how BIG he is!!

Emmy and I were watching in amazement as Sam snapped away! Nothing short of a Kodak moment!

Carson's 5th!

Carson turned the big "5" last Sunday!
Since he already had his dual swimming birthday party with Ethan in August, we celebrated low-key on his actual birthday. However, it was nothing short of a really fun time! Carson was all smiles, all day!
Carson's buddy Ethan arrived at the house around 3:00, and Carson finally got to open his gifts from Mommy, Daddy, Cade, and the sisters! He was soooo excited!

These are a little out of order, but Carson got a Wii!! His very own game system! Sam did lots of research and found that this game system offered the widest choice of age appropriate games. Carson LOVES it already! He is a great bowler and tennis player! ;)

sooooo excited!!
Around 4:00 Carson's best girl-friend Ashlyn arrived! We then took the bunch to CiCi's for an early dinner. Believe me, all eyes were on our table, can you tell why? :)

Carson, Ethan, Emma, Ella, and Ashy

Carson and Ethan...all smiles! :)

Emmy, Ash, Elly

After CiCi's we headed to River Legacy Park for "After Dark in the Park" (a fun fall festival) Sadly it was raining, and it was reeeaaallly cold, but we all hung in there and had a great time! We almost switched our venue to Chuck E. Cheese, and I'm so glad that we decided to stick to our original plan!