It's Fall Time!!!!!!!

    It's fall again!!! My absolutely favorite season of all seasons!!! The time when it's cold (or supposed to be cold . . .) and rainy (or supposed to be rainy . . .)! The time for pumpkin pies, hot chocolate, cozy blankets, and fires dancing in the fireplace (scary!!). The time for red, orange, yellow, and brown leaves that drift through the frosty air and decorate the grass below. And the time for the carving of the pumpkin!!

     Mom bought a lovely pumpkin at the store this morning, and Annie and Jonathan had the honor of slicing it open and ripping out its intestines.

Jonathan digging eagerly into the helpless orange blob.

Annie pulling out what she calls the 'soapy hair' strands of pumpkin intestine.

The now separated seeds and pulp.

And here, is the poor humiliated un-intestinalized pumpkin.

 They had a lot of fun as they complained about the slimy texture of the pumpkin pulp. We now wait eagerly for the seeds to be sprinkled with salt and toasted in the oven. (It's a delicious snack that we all enjoy.) And I'm not sure what will happen to the pulp . . . poor pulp.

Happy fall to you all!! 

(Hey, I rhymed! I guess I'm a poet and just didn't know it!)

Sixteen Years and a Hot Challenge

    No, it's not me. I still have quite a few years before I turn sixteen. Sorry to burst your bubble! =)
    It was actually my big brother, David's, sixteenth birthday!! His real birthday was on Saturday, October fourth, but he had his party on Friday. He invited a few boys over for dinner and games on Friday and I'm sure they had a blast.
    On Saturday morning, we had delicious Winchell's donuts for breakfast!! (Yum!) Nothing happened during the middle of the day, since we had things to do and places to go. But that night, my grandma (mom's side) and my aunt (also mom's side) came over for dinner.We had beef stew, really amazing homemade garlic bread sticks, and a super sweet and syrupy fruit salad. It was scrumptious!!!
    After dinner, we all situated ourselves in the cozy living room to watch David open presents.I got him a really cool ultimate survival guide. =)
    Then, on Monday morning, to complete his advancement to age sixteen, David was given the challenge of eating a pepper. (Quick background story: On Emily's sixteenth birthday, my aunt [mom's side] brought a hot pepper to show us and challenged Emily to eat it. She did and got twenty dollars. So, obviously, David also wanted to do this!) The pepper my aunt got for David, was a habanero pepper: one of the hottest. David completed the task and almost drank all of our milk in the process (it was super hot!). He recieved his twenty dollars and is now an official sixteen-year-old Miles teenager!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DAVID!!!!