Pumpkin Carving

Last weekend my Dad and his girlfriend came over for dinner and a little pumpkin carving action. After the Parmesan chicken was cleaned up we brought our pumpkins in and got to work. I think the hardest thing was deciding what to carve. My middle chick was determined to do her pumpkin 100% on her own. And with the exception of making the first cut to take the top of, she did. She scooped, cleaned, drew and carved her pumpkin all by herself!

The other two girls wanted something a little more than a pumpkin face so we went to a couple different sites for inspiration. Better Homes and Gardens and Martha Stewart both have some awesome ideas!

We ended up with a scaredy cat and a cat face. And here they are...

(Please don't mind my little chick in her panties. We're going through an anti-pants phase.)

Did you get creative with your pumpkin carving?

Harvest blessings.

This Side of Heaven

I just finished another incredible book by my favorite author, Karen Kingsbury. I absolutely love her writing. I love how I read the pages of her books and feel like I am deep in a Bible study. I close the book feeling spiritually full.

This Side of Heaven is about a man named Josh who finds out he has a daughter from a wild trip to Las Vegas. He has no medical proof the girl is his and his family finds the whole situation a little too impossible. Despite every one's doubt he dreams of one day being a father to his precious little girl.

This Side of Heaven is another story of how things may not always go the way we want but God's Will is always better.

Blessings.

Pumpkin Pickin'

I am blessed to live in a part of the country that experiences all four seasons. Each season has it's own personal beauty, but autumn is by far my favorite. It is also my middle daughter's favorite season. I love the colors, smells, food, drinks, decor, weather, all of it. She loves her October birthday and celebrating at Green Bluff, picking pumpkins.

Last weekend Tall Man and I gathered our little chicks, packed a lunch, picked up my sister and niece and headed to a little slice of Harvest Heaven in a small farming community called Green Bluff. My favorite mother and father-in-law came to town for the weekend to join us, as well as my sister-in-laws family.

First we had lunch and opened a few presents. My sister-in-law brought each of my girls a ginormous sucker. Thank you so much!

I got an awesome Abreadcrumb & fish sweatshirt. I LOVE it!!

We enjoyed the live music for a bit and decided to get to work finding the perfect pumpkin, the rest of the presents could wait for later. But first I had to get a snapshot of me and my Tall Man. People always offer to take a picture of us but we always end getting at least one shot with one arm stretched out.

My sister and niece are ready to go!

Off we went, my three girls in their denim jackets, Tall Man and I in autumn colored sweaters. Of course I planned this! The photo ops were endless! The birthday girl found the biggest pumpkin she could hardly lift off the ground.

Littlest chick changed her mind a few times and left with this one.

Our oldest chick is so cooperative when it comes to getting her pictures taken. The younger two... not so much. I end up taking a ton of pictures of my oldest because she's just so willing.

My favorite father-in-law got this picture of me trying to get my girls situated so I could take a picture.

Before we left we were able to get a few pictures that may or may not make up our Christmas card this year. I love the way my oldest is admiring her Daddy in this picture.

All three chicks, sort of smiling and in my general direction. Yay!

The Tall Man and I. I really like this picture of us, may be a new favorite.

Now back to business. Paying for these pumpkins. We ended up with the three pumpkins the girls picked out and one white pumpkin for me. Our grand total for four pumpkins... 51.41 pounds!!! Wowza!!
I love the whole experience of going to Green Bluff. In fact we were counting how many times I said "It's all part of the experience." I think the total was six times in three hours. The traffic getting there, the parking in a field and walking forever, live music, pumpkins for $0.35/lb instead of $0.22/lb waiting in a line for thirty minutes to pay, the beautiful smiles on my girls faces when they find the perfect pumpkin... It's all part of the experience. I love it!

Harvest blessings.

Field Trip

Last week I went with a handful of moms and about a dozen preschoolers on their first class field trip. We met at the preschool, loaded up the students and caravaned twenty minutes down the road to a place called Carver Farms. My family has been to Carver Farms before and I've taken a couple MOPS group trips out there as well. This trip was especially fun though. It was the first time I went out there with only one child. Not that I don't enjoy all my chicks together but if you're a parent you know how nice it is to spend time with just one of your children. You can give them your undivided attention and really enjoy what you're doing with them.

We spent a couple hours at Carver doing a lot of fun things. First we gathered together and went through the corn maze.

When we made our way out we were directed over to the many rows of popcorn. Each person could pick two ears of corn. Any size or color. We also took home a copy of drying and popping instructions for the popcorn, I'll have to share with you how that turns out.

While we waited for our tractor ride we picked a couple green peppers.

Then climbed up onto a trailer and sat on bails of hay while a tractor pulled us out to the pumpkin patch. Once we were given instructions all the kids and parents unloaded and spread out to find the perfect two gourds, two mini pumpkins and one small pumpkin. This was the fun part, watching all the children run around looking for the smallest mini pumpkin or the gourd with the most "warts." They were so cute! My littlest chick found her two favorite "little mini pumpkins" and a couple small gourds. I found a really cool yellow gourd that looks like a star at the bottom.

Once every one's bag was full we loaded back onto the tractor and to a large maple tree with picnic tables around it. Here everyone got a bag of popcorn and gathered around the tree for a class picture. Here's a snapshot of my little one picking popcorn out of her teeth with her teacher. Lol.

When we got home I cleaned up our harvest and took a picture to share. I'm terrible because there's a part of me that really wants to spray paint some of these babies a nice Heirloom White.

Harvest blessings.

Pumpkin Patches and Harvest Parties

We've had a few days full of pumpkin patches, corn mazes and harvest parties. I'm excited to share all the details with you. Now if I can just get a few minutes to sit write out a few posts. Here's a sneak peak at what's to come...

Harvest blessings.