Pumpkin Patch time! This year we had so much going on the day of the Cal Poly Pumpkin Patch that I was afraid we weren't going to make it. We left the house at 7:30am to get to the Patch in time. We had so much fun picking out our pumpkins. We had to hurry since Preston had a soccer game (we skipped Chloe's and Derek's games). Preston didn't want to miss his game since his coach had promised to let the boys spray her hair with blue spray if they won. Since they have never lost yet....they were sure they'd be able to do it. Also, Preston's team had a pizza party after the game. Here are some cute pumpkin pictures for you to enjoy!!!
Farnsworth Kids at the Patch:
Derek and Chloe have MUSCLES!
"Look guys, a watermelon!"---Silly Derek!
Searching for a pumpkin can be so confusing...which to choose....
Perfection found at last! Doug snapped this pic at just the right time.
"Ugh...it's heavier than I thought...I can do it..."
Preston and his prize pumpkin.
Sweet pumpkin kisses from Derek. Aww, too cute.
Chloe found a walking stick to help her walk in the patch.
There was a lot of orange to see at Cal Poly.
A few years ago my family was privileged to "gain" a new member of our family. Jared Cass came to live with us. Jared quickly became my kids' best buddy. Over time he found his place in our family. Today he is serving a mission for our church in Italy. I couldn't be more proud.
Jared has been gone for over a year and still has 8 months before he returns. Our kids talk about Jared all the time. Tonight, at the dinner table they were offering cheers (with goldfish crackers). The first "cheers" was for good health (offered by Chloe). Health is something that little one doesn't take for granted and is usually her first "toast." Derek then toasted to Jared being on a mission to be happy. This gave me goose bumps all over. Because right now Jared isn't too happy. Life sometimes gets us down and our human communication issues sometimes feed into that. This is what has been happening to Jared. Poor kid. I know I have been frustrated with communication issues while he has been out on a mission too. We (our family) has sent him packages that he has never gotten. This has been a BIG frustration to me. Especially since they cost us an arm and leg to send. Anyway, when Derek said that Jared was on a mission to be happy it got me thinking. Happiness is His plan ultimately. Being on a mission and acting as Him is and does make you happy. Jared is on a mission to be happy. I know Jared's mood of being sad will be over soon. In fact, it probably already is. It makes me sad that he isn't here and that we don't have immediate contact (communication) with him to make it all better.
Jared has missed quite a bit at home since he's been gone. He's missed "his baby" (Derek) start soccer, learn to write, ride a bike without training wheels, do flips on the trampoline, his 3rd and 4th birthdays, etc. Jared wasn't here for Preston's baseball season, soccer, star student award, cool tricks on his bike at skate parks, getting glasses, his 7th birthday, etc. Since Jared has been gone Chloe has started school, learned to tie shoes, learned to write her name and sentences, paint really well, sing, transform her room, turned 5, cracked her skull, etc. Jared has indeed missed a lot while he's been away. We have missed him for sure. But we are glad he is where he is. We wouldn't have it any other way. So it's bittersweet.
Today I asked the kids about Jared. I asked each of them what their favorite thing about Jared was.
Derek said "He's happy and he laugh and laugh. He throw me way high and we laugh."
Chloe replied, "He hugs me and calls me princess. He loves my heart and my drawings."
Preston said, "Heavenly Father told him to go on a mission and he is. He is helping other citizens know about Jesus. I also love when he plays baseball with me and takes me for ice cream."
So sweet. They love him so much. He is their brother.
Tonight I am missing him (and thinking I have a lot of scarpbooking to do for him). So, I will do one of our lil traditions this Sunday night. I will make hot chocolate and sip it while watching our show Jared. Cheers to Jared for serving in Italy!
Well it is that time of year again. The time where we all may steal someone else's identity for an entire day. The Farnsworth children have chosen their alter egos and can hardly stand the excitement.
Preston will be
He is so excited to be Harry Potter. He has the robe, tie, wand, and glasses. Preston has been playing "Harry Potter" a lot lately. He is very much a Griffyndor fan.
Chloe originally wanted to be Cinderella AGAIN. Hasn't she been Cinderella 100 times already? Jeepers. I have been trying to talk her out of being Cinderella for so long now! But no, she wasn't having any of it. SO today we trucked her down to the Disney store. She was really upset that they only had one pair of "glass" slippers in her size and they were BROKEN. They didn't light up---tragic, I know. Chloe said that she was not going to be Cinderella unless she could have working light up shoes. Hurray! So I took her to a "costume store" (Party City). I figured they had tons of costumes and she could at least decide what she wanted to be. She had no clue what she could possibly be. At Party City I pointed at several costumes and asked if she wanted to be them, nope. Tey all had somethhing wrong with them. "Eww that is just too ugly mom." "Mom, no way, I am NOT being a bug (it was a bee)" "Sick, I would never wear yarn hair."-That was for Raggedy Ann. Anyway, I was starting to lose hope and march her straight back to the Disney store when I hear, "Oh, my, gosh!! Mom, Are these gold sparkly pants to die for, or what?" Gold sparkly pants, you just can't pass those up right?
And so Chloe will be
Sharpay from High School Musical. Chloe is so excited. She keeps telling everyone that she wants FABULOUS just like Sharpay and so it's perfect that she is being her for Halloween cause she is almost her in real life anyway. Yep, our Chloe. Ah, it's no wonder that at times we are glad we only have one girl.
Derek knew what he wanted to be the minute he saw his costume in late August. Yes, that's right. We bought his costume in August. Before school started. He knew and we couldn't chance them not having anymore in his size. The costume suits him well.
Derek will be
A monkey! Shocked? Yeah right. The child LOVES Curious George and acts like a monkey all the time. Now he gets to be one!
Now Douglas just needs a costume. he promised me he would dress up this year (he has NEVER dressed up for Halloween since we've been married). This is HUGE people. What should he be? He wanted to be a flasher but I vetoed that one. Geez. So what do you think? Give us your suggestions!!!!
Oh, for those who don't know I have two costumes Sleeping Beauty and Cinderella so I will be one of those. Again. And I do have the light up shoes. And they work. Just in case you were wondering.
A few days ago (Monday to be exact) Douglas went to LA and auditioned for Hell's Kitchen. This was at an open casting call were about 350-400 people showed up. He had to fill out a 12+ page application and wait and wait and wait. Then Doug was interviewed. Douglas was asked to come back the next day (Tuesday) dressed in a Chef coat and ready to be on camera. On Tuesday, Doug went back and they filmed him answering questions. They took a 20 minute interview and will rewatch it making notes for the editing team. The editing team takes all the 20 minute interviews and cuts them down to 5 minutes. Once the Associate Producer collects all the condensed videos from around the US (they have lots more stops-this was their first casting call I think) she meets with the Executive Producer of the show to view them. They then select a handful (50-60) people to move on to the next round. It sounds as though Doug has a fair chance of making it to the next round. Let's keep our fingers crossed. If he does make it we will know by the frist 2 weeks of November. We will know by the end of the first week in December if he is on the cast for the new season. Filming is set for the first quarter of 2009 so it will be sometime between January and March. If Doug is on the show he will be gone for 5 weeks!
Anyway, we are excited that he had the chance to go. Who knows what could happen? And if e doesn't make it on (and have the chance to earn his potential dream job) then at least he had fun trying out. So many people have said he should be on that show (one of my friends was actually going to try to sign him up for it). So now we can say that he did try!
Preston is very excited at the prospect of his Dad being on TV. He has taken it upon himslef to inform the entire student body of Sierra Vista Elementary. He knows a lot of people too (remember he was nicknamed "the kindergarten president" after his very first day of school ever). Chloe thinks it's pretty cool too though she wanted to know if SHE could be on TV. Yep, that's Chloe right? Then there's Derek. He's a little confused about what being on TV means. He thought it meant you were inside the TV stuck! Pretty funny huh?
I hope he has the chance to make it on. I think he would do very well. Doug is very competitive and would LOVE to create fine dining masterpieces again. He would be on fire and have the chance to show really what he is capable of. Doug would love to one day be the Executive Chef at a Michelin Star restaurant.
Grr! Come on White Lightening GO!
Doug watching the game intently:
Preston as a defender:
Chloe playing soccer:
Chloe's team banner:
We are soccer fans right now. The Lil Cupcakers are learning how to play soccer. They improve with each game. They are learning how to be good sports too (they have yet to win a game). Preston's team White Lightening is doing great! They are undefeated! Derek's "team" is awesome! We are enjoying our soccer season. When does it end again? JK. Enjoy the pictures!
Doing Cheers with everyone!
Melanie and I have been doing alot of activities together. Our kids love it! We love it! The kids feel like they each got to have a friend over when Melanie and her crew come over to visit. They especially like going places with her. I have really liked it because I can be alone with the kids for looonnnggg periods of time while Doug works and I crave adult interaction. Melanie has filled that void. But Melanie has been more than just a casual friend. We have become the Best of Friends lately and I really enjoy hanging out with her and her kids. They are great kids. Derek says Cole is his BFF even! Melanie's good friend James Yee likes spending time with all the crazy kids too. We were lucky enough to have him treat us to Kings Fish house in celebration of Melanie's birthday! The best part was that Doug had no idea we were coming. Preston, Chloe, and Derek thought it was the COOLEST thing ever to surprise DADDY at work! Doug was indeed surprised to see us there. Even though dining with 6 kids can be quite the experience the kids were pretty good and didn't even embarrass Doug--too much. LOL. What is also cute is that Preston and Taylor have been best friends since Kindergarten. Preston's two best friends are still Kai and Taylor.
James Yee, Cole, Preston, Taylor, Derek, and Chloe
Chloe, Taylor, Shauna, and Melanie
Taylor and Preston
My favorite story about Preston and Taylor:
One extremely hot day in the summer we all went to Raging Waters together. After setting up camp in the Kiddie Zone area and playing contently for awhile, Melanie and I decided to take turns taking Taylor and Preston on "big kid" slides while the other watched the little ones. Melanie took the two of them first. They went on a couple of slides and came back. My turn to take them. Yipee! Okay, so they wanted to go on Thunder Rapids. This slide is really a fun one, very popular too though, so the line was monstrous. While we were waiting in line the kids just started talking and playing and I just listened. They talked about Indiana Jones and Star Wars and then they started talking about the slide. Taylor wanted top know if Preston thought it was scary. Preston, the big tough-talker that he is reassured Taylor that he was NEVER afraid on this ride. But Preston did say that a couple of times before he almost fell out of the tube and probably would've surely fallen to his death if he had. We all know how Preston can tell tall tales. So Taylor starts to look a little concerned. "Well, if I get scared or you start to fall off the tube we could just hold hands Preston," Taylor suggested. Preston though about it and then screamed at the top of his lungs, "WE ARE NOT IN LOVE TAYLOR. WE DO NOT HOLD HANDS." Everyone in line cracked up and the two of them were so embarrassed. Ahh, kids.
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