Pumpkins into Jack-O-Lanterns

Last weekend, Sadie asked Gabe if we could, "turn a pumpkin into a Jack-o-lantern?" Of course he couldn't resist and said, "Sure!" After naps, Gabe decided to make it happen. He followed all of the steps that Sadie said we needed to do including cooking the pumpkin seeds so she could eat them. (They were quite tasty too!) Ms. Georgia at her school had carved a pumpkin for them earlier in the week and she loved it. The girls were really cute trying to help Daddy. I just stood in the background and took a few pictures.

Sitting at the table drawing the face on the pumpkin while drinking hot chocolate.

Helping Daddy.

Claire "helped" too by adding in super sound effects.

Gabe and Sadie finishing up the pumpkin and putting the candle inside.

Our finished pumpkin.

Sadie and Claire with the finished pumpkin. (I love that Claire has put on Gabe's shoes to take the pumpkin outside.)

A trip to the Corn Maze

Picking up a pumpkin is hard work! The girls had a great time last weekend when we went to the corn maze for Emerson's birthday party. It was a party filled day since we had Sadie's party that morning. The corn maze is such a fun place for the girls to run around and see so many things. They have animals that Claire just loved and a train that Sadie would have stayed on the whole time. We also went on a hayride to the pumpkin patch. We're making some great memories and loving every day!

Sadie and Claire on the hayride.

Hanging out.

The girls are so sweet with each other. They loved riding the train together.

Emerson had a farm theme birthday party with some great hats. Claire has a great, "Quack, Quack."

Here is Claire looking at the cow. We went to see the animals and had all walked away. I turned around to see Claire not wanting to leave the cow. She was just standing there starring with an occasional "Moo." She LOVED seeing the animals.

...And Claire looking at the water. She is really an outdoor girl. She loves being outside.

An Abundance of Apples

Well, I'm teaching 4th grade this year and with that comes a lot of writing. One of our sentences when we were recently learning about context clues had to do with an abundance of apples and all of the things that were made out of apples. I was remembering that lesson last weekend when we were picking an "abundance" of apples and wondering how we were going to use them all.

It was a great Saturday to be at the Apple Festival. We had a great time with the girls. The older they get, the more fun it is to watch them learn things and enjoy new things. Claire really had a great time seeing the trees and "running" (or as close to running as she gets) through the orchard. We tasted lots of apples and even some honey. Snow White even made an apperance and Sadie was in awe. This was her first time to see a "princess" in person. The girls pretty much ate apples all day. And for dessert...apple turnovers! Yummy!

Checking out the loot.

Tasting, tasting, tasting

...And more tasting

Showing her apple to the camera.

Clarie excited about her apple. (After tasting it of course.)

Sadie and Snow White

Sadie in the jumper.

Talking to Johnny Appleseed

Happy Thanksgiving Weekend!

Claire has definitely had a memorable first Thanksgiving so I wanted to be sure it was a part of the blog. She woke up during the night Wednesday with a high fever. Gabe rocked her for a couple hours during the night and after the medicine kicked in her fever went down some and she went back to sleep. Not quite sure if it was a stomach bug or infection, but she threw up a couple times and didn't do much but sleep on Thanksgiving.

(Claire, your first Thanksgiving meal was a few teaspoons of Gatorade by syringe. Sorry you missed out on all the good food, we were especially excited for you because you are such a good eater and LOVE meat. You're really going to love it next year! )

I took her to the doctor on Friday morning and she was treated for an infection since she had been running the fever off and on for over a week. She got a shot and some medicine and has been doing so much better! Just to see her want to eat and drink again is such a relief. We haven't had one of the girls that sick before and it was pretty scary. The doctor was very encouraging though. He asked if she was in daycare and I told him yes. He said that it is common for babies to get sick when they are in daycare and also told me all about a research study he had just read about strengths of children that have been in daycare. He said that they are usually very social and have an increased vocabulary. Those are the two I remember because they reminded me of Sadie. He also said that they usually do not miss very much school because they have already been exposed and have been sick when they were younger. Anyway, he said it would get better after the first two winters which proved to be true with Sadie and to hang in there. It was just so nice to be encouraged and just what I needed after the couple of weeks we had just had of ear infections and sickness. I was praying on the way to the doctor that I was going to need help to hold it together. He gave me the right doctor with just the right words and I am so thankful she is better.

Anyway, I didn't mean to get so far off of Thanksgiving... Here are some pictures from our weekend and the fun we have had.

I was determined to get some pictures of Claire's first Thanksgiving. She looks pretty miserable huh? This would be the hour she was awake. Poor baby. Sadie was a trooper and would pose for me to get some pictures.

Our plans for Thanksgiving were to go to the Lamm's and eat, but we had to cancel. They were so sweet and brought us some dinner. We are so grateful for their friendship.

Gabe and Sadie went on a movie date late morning since we had to change our plans around. They went and saw Tangled.

Claire's First Thanksgiving Photo. Pitiful huh?

Gabe decided to make pizza tonight so Sadie was all about helping. They turned out great. At dinner she said, "Mamma, I made it for you." She is so sweet.

So proud of her creation.

Claire is feeling better! Hooray!!!!!!!

Fall is Coming...

It is still blazing hot here in West Texas, but we were able to go to the Apple Butter Festival today to get a taste of some fall activity. Sadie had a great time picking apples, looking at the animals, and seeing her friend, Charleton.

Claire just looks like she is so ready to be up and going with the big kids, doesn't she? Or maybe she is just dreaming of apple pie and apple cobbler. I don't know, but I just love this picture. Definitely my favorite from the day.

Charleton and Sadie, hanging out by the rocks.

Getting a boost from Daddy.

Making her selection.

They also had a petting zoo. Sadie's favorite animal was this little baby pig. I think she would have sat here all. day. She just loved him. We don't have any pets at home so she really doesn't usually do too well with animals, but she LOVED this pig. Don't get any ideas, though. We will not be getting a pet pig any time soon.

Moving into a new room

We have moved Sadie into her new room and so far it is going great! She really likes her new bed and has stayed in it for a week now. Having grandparents here the week of her birthday really helped us get it done. Without them there is not way we would have finished. I'm so thankful the transition has been smooth and she loves it so much. She is growing up so fast. Now I just have to get the nursery ready for Claire. Moving in baby clothes, getting the baby stuff out of the attic, etc. At this point, I have just closed the door and I'm procrastinating. I do have 7 weeks to get it done. (Hopefully!)

The Pumpkin Patch

We made it to the Pumpkin Patch today or at least as Pumpkin Patch as it gets for West Texas. It was windy and dusty, but what isn't out here! Sadie had fun running through the pumpkins and we got a few pictures so I would call it successful. She even ended up with a pumpkin.

Holding on to the pumpkin so she doesn't blow away!

Looking them all over.

She picked a pumpkin, now we just have to get back to the car.

She did it! (with a little help from Daddy)

Fall Fun-A day full of firsts!

A couple of weeks ago we went to the Apple Orchard for the Annual Apple Butter Festival. It was a nice cool Saturday, really the first cool weekend we've had so it was nice to be outside. It did start raining while we were there, but we were about to leave so we just got a little wet heading back to the car. There was a lot to do and Sadie is getting to where she can do most of the stuff and loves to do whatever the other kids are doing and does not want to miss out.

We had our first try at face painting. She actually was still was the girl painted it (which is a miracle), but she wiped it with her hand as soon as she was done. She just had a pink smear on her face. I figure for her first time, that's not too bad. She didn't know it was a flower anyway.

She also had her first round in a bounce house. This was a little scary for me watching from the outside. She did ok, but held up the line to go down the slide and got caught up in a couple kids so we took her out early. She was not happy with that, but quickly got over it with the apple and cantalope samples!

Here she is displaying her mini-pumpkin. She loved it and held it all the way home. It is no longer of interest to her 2 weeks later so it is decorating the window sill.

Walking with Daddy towards the apple trees. I didn't really get any good pictures of the orchard. They had a freeze last spring and there weren't really apples to pick so we mostly stayed at the kids' area.

And of course, Sadie's favorite part was the petting zoo. Whenever the sheep would, "Baaaa!" Sadie would shake her head and "Baaaa!" back at them. The zoo owners seemed to enjoy watching her as much as we did!