I want to try and do fewer, shorter posts than trying to cram two or three months' worth of stuff into one giant post because it takes a really long time. This is a labor of love, people!
First up, karate belts! The kids have been making great progress since they began in August, and at the end of September, they were ready to move from white belts to gold belts. The class has a lot more fun things for them to work on (take downs!) but is also 45 minutes long instead of 30. I figure I logged about 9 hours in the dojo (karate school) so I should've at least earned an honorary belt! In any case, enjoy the pictures. I'm also including the video of when they received their belts.

The kids with Shihan (:Sensei" is below the Shihan level, in case you're thinking The Karate Kid. As I understand it, Shihan Olson is one of only 6 in the country). The kids (and I) love his teaching style.

Bella shows off her new belt!

We celebrated at Orange Leaf frozen yogurt.

What were the kids so enamored of? The Westfield water tower. My kids are easily amused!

 Fall kind of got crammed all into one weekend around here. Friday night I took the kids to their school's Fall Fest. It was a great night and the kids and I really had a great time!

Bella got her hair sprayed orange and green (and later some pink, just for good measure).

Ryan tackled the inflatable. We got lucky-the mom manning this inflatable wasn't taking tickets, so the kids got in line over and over again!

Hay ride! Granted, it was on the back of one of the school's small lawn maintenance tractors, and only went to the field behind the school, but they'd made a "pumpkin patch" with goody bags and the kids each got a "pumpkin."

 The next morning the kids and I were up bright and early for the Westfield Youth Assistance Program Walk/Run. We enjoyed it!

Ryan gets a pic of the sunrise...on his toy Lightning McQueen camera.

And we're off!

I love this picture of Ryan. He is running ahead and his feet are not even touching the ground in this shot! He walked with me to the halfway point, then sort of ran ahead for the trip back. I was grateful for people who stopped him so I could catch up-that boy is FAST!!

Bella chose a group of older girls to befriend right at the starting line. They walked with her (and carried her on their backs for part of the return trip!) the whole morning. God bless friendly junior highers!

 After that, there was another Fall Festival! The kids and I stayed for two and a half hours!

A little something for me: apple cider and cups of chili from the chili cookoff!

The kids in the endless loop of the inflatable line.

As Bella is still gung-ho on being a firefighter, she asked for the deluxe tour from the fire fighter. He took her around the truck and explained every piece of equipment and showed her every storage bin. Also pictured is my finger!

She requested this picture, the little model!

This is classic kids: Bella is all serious (I realize it's pretty dark to see) and Ryan has this goofy life-loving grin on his face.

 I have to include this video! Ryan's dance moves completely crack me up!

That's a frisbee on Ryan's head. And a scowl on Bella's face (no idea why).

 And the next day Joshua had off so we headed over to the pumpkin patch-also where we picked blueberries a few years ago (see this post) and strawberries this summer see this post ).

The boy loves him some hay rides!

He found the right one! He just couldn't pick it up!

Don't be fooled-Bella only picked this up for the picture. It magically turned too heavy and had to be carried by me or Joshua.

And of course you have to exit through the gift shop! We got off cheap with pumpkin carving kits and ice cream. Okay, so it wasn't really cheap, but you get the idea...

We bought some decorations and the front porch is finally ready for fall!