While Holly is at preschool, I've been trying to do something with Greta. It's hard because she plays on her own so well that it's easy for me to have some me time. But, I'm really trying to improve and focus on my girl. This past week, we met some of our favorite friends at the park - nothing like digging in the sand and burying little dollies. I haven't taken nearly as many photos lately, so I brought my camera along. 

Moving into our duplex on the block we currently live on is one of the best things we've ever done. We were instantly apart of a really great community and there's a ton of kids, 3 Holly's age, one Greta's age and a bunch of babies. It's so fun to live here! We carved pumpkins with our neighbors one afternoon. The kids were only interested for so long and then they were off to play and left us Mommas to all the hard work. I am so grateful to live where we do!

Each year, our church does an all out Halloween party and dinner, and after the kids have had so much fun playing, we all head outside to hand out candy from the trunks of our cars in the parking lot. It's a lot of fun! I think every year there's more and more kids. Holly "gets" Halloween and Greta is definitely catching on! I think I have them convinced to trade their candy for a toy. I have mixed feelings about this sugar-rush holiday.

My daughters' mermaid costumes made their big debut at their halloween themed ballet class. I'm so happy with how they turned out! They have great movement and the girls didn't want to take them off after their class. Success! It was fun to be able to sit in the girls' classes and watch and take video and pictures. And I can't believe it's been a whole year since Holly dressed up as Cinderella for her ballet class! I cannot believe how much Holly has grown in the last year in height and in length of hair!

It's no secret that my girls love crafts, no matter how simple the craft is. Last week we painted some $1 pumpkins we bought at the grocery store. Super simple activity, super effective. Their amount of concentration as they smear paint on their pumpkins is awesome. Holly actually painted the top of her pumpkin with copper paint and the bottom with purple. She showed restraint that's unusual for her. That's kind of exciting! Holly has been talking about Halloween decorations that we need to put up. When we've commented that we don't have any, her response is that we need to make them! I guess I'm at "that" phase of life - decorating for holidays. It's not really my thing, but I'm happy to have it coincide with the crafts we're doing anyways! I have a few halloween craft ideas that I've seen on the internet, but if anyone has any to recommend, I'd be grateful!