Pumpkin Time!

On our trip to the pumpkin patch, we picked up some pumpkins to decorate. The kids picked pie pumpkins. They were very eager to come home and paint them.

Kaitlyn picked a pretty metallic rose color and painted on a face with black paint.

Preston's favorite color in the whole world is orange. Can you guess what he painted his orange pumpkin? That's right, ORANGE! He also added a few streaks of other colors, but the rest of the pumpkin is orange paint.

This is Preston's orange pumpkin.

Here's Kaitlyn's pretty pumpkin.

I placed the pumpkins on our mantle by our family portrait.

I also got 3 mini pumpkins and knew exactly what I was going to do with them. I painted all 3 pumpkins white. It took several coats to cover all of the orange. Next time, I'll remember to just buy white spray paint.

This is the table in my Family Room. I wanted to add a little more fall decor besides the floral arrangement. I decided to replace the 3 red candles with the white pumpkins.

I really like the look of the white on the black candlestick holders. Plus, the wall is painted a light gray so it really shows up well.

Here's a further look at the table. I love it!

Then, it was time to carve our big pumpkin. Preston and Kaitlyn helped take the guts out.

Don't mess with him!

Here's the finished look. You can see our template on the counter behind the pumpkin. We just searched for a template we liked and printed it.

Here's our pumpkin with the lights off. It turned out great!

We have big plans for the Halloween weekend. Can't wait to share it with you!

Pumpkin Patch 2011

It's time for our annual visit to the Flower Mound Pumpkin Patch. As soon as the kids came home from school, we headed out to see the pumpkins.

There were some pretty big pumpkins out there. But they were also pretty expensive ($30-$40 for some). So, we just looked at the pretty pumpkins and decided to buy a big one at Kroger for $5.99 (and it benefits our family!).

The kids always love running through the long rows of pumpkins.

In fact, here's a pic of Kaitlyn doing the same thing in 2007!

The horses liked eating the pumpkins too.

The kids always like posing in the wooden cutouts.

Craig likes to pretend he's 'driving' a tractor.

Here he is in 2007 'driving' a tractor too. Such a country boy at heart! Yes, that's Preston when he was 1 yr old with lots of curly, blond hair.

Here are my 2 favorite kids!

Kaitlyn took this picture of Craig and I. It turned out pretty good!

Then it was time for a hayride. Like I said before, I enjoy going on hayrides.

Here is our view from the hayride.

The kids loved the mazes too. This is the smaller maze.

There goes Kaitlyn into the bigger maze.

Kaitlyn and Preston walking around the maze.

The only way to get out, is to come down the slide. We should do this in our backyard!

Ever since the State Fair, I've been looking out for unusual things to share with everyone. As we were waiting for the kids to come out of the maze, I saw a mom holding this bag of snacks. They looked like pretzel rods and are called 'Matdongs'. The bag says it's a 'lactic-acid fermented snack'. Don't even know what that means, but it doesn't sound appetizing. However, her kids seemed to enjoy it.

We always let the kids go in the big house made of pumpkins to pick what they want. Preston had a hard time deciding at first.

They each chose a pumpkin and I picked out 3 minis to use as decor in my house. Stay tuned to see how our pumpkins turn out!

The pumpkin patch is a fun tradition that we look forward to every year. I hope we have many more memories to come!

Vintage Photo: This picture was taken in 2008. Kaitlyn was almost 5 yrs old and Preston was 2 yrs old.

Harvest Stew Festival

It's time for our annual visit to the Keller Harvest Stew Festival. Craig had to work so it was just the kids and I. We are always willing to attend local festivities, especially when they're FREE!!

First, the kids got to make fish masks.

This year, there was a petting zoo. Preston was not afraid to get in the pen with the animals.

Kaitlyn was a little more hesitant and just reached over the fence to pet some of the animals.

Then, they got their faces painted. They both chose witch's hats.

Kaitlyn and Preston really enjoyed all the different games because they got to choose the prizes. I was so happy there weren't any candy prizes, but toys. They actually had some decent ones too like silly bands, basketball hoops, bouncy balls, etc.

Everyone loved the cookie decorating table.

Next, we loaded up on the trailer for the hay ride. I actually really love hay rides. It's one of my favorite parts of Autumn.

We had entertainment on our hay ride.

The kids went in the bounce house after our hay ride.

Finally, we had some popcorn and lemonade. There was stew and cornbread, but I like to know exactly what's in my food before I eat it. I figured popcorn and lemonade was safe enough.

It was a fun night, perfect weather, and lots of activities.