Field Trips Galore

October was the month of field trips! All 3 school age kids had a fun outing, so Mommy tagged along.

First up, Kolter and his preschool class visited a local pumpkin patch. Kolter LOVED all of the farm animals and even petted a cow, horse, goat and bunny. And if you know my children you realize what a huge accomplishment that is!

Figuring out the corn maze. Then we came upon a huge slide and he convinced me to join him for a ride or 2. This kid makes every situation more fun!

His favorite part was the pony rides.

Next up Nora and her kindergarten class went to the zoo!

The little brothers tagged along and lead the way. Bless them and their "map reading"

Nora was super excited to pet the sting rays.

The little guys climbing the bamboo ;)

The carousel is always a hit and apparently the big cats are a favorite around our house.

Sawyer's 1st grade trip to the pumpkin patch rounded out our field trip extravaganza

He got to take a hay ride, pick out a pumpkin from the "patch" (i.e. a few pumpkins they dumped from a box into a field...not the real patches like we had in OH), play on the playground, jump on the air pillows and ride a train.

Evy tagged along too!

We also had Sawyer's friend come along with us and he was too sweet. Evy loved him and he was always concerned about Sawyer's safety ;)

Painting Pumpkins

Per the annual norm life gets super crazy in October was we tackle football, a traveling mom, school and sporting activities, but now I'm back to update you on the happenings.

Our pumpkin painting/carving tradition continued this year. Daddy had a rare fall Saturday at home so we purchased pumpkins at the patch (i.e. Aldi). Then the kids got busy!

Kolter creating his abstract masterpiece.

I love that little clenched fist as he focuses ;)

Sawyer was insistent that he wanted to carve the pumpkin, so he drew the design, cut it open, took out the guts and started carving. Mommy helped with the intricate parts, but he did a good job working on it himself.

Nora painstakingly planned out her pumpkin outfitting it with pink and purple polka dots and hearts.

The finished product!

Holiday Crafts

Below are a couple of crafts I've made over the past few months…some were gifts, others were Christmas presents, and I even made something for our holiday decor.

For a recent bridal shower the bride had registered for linen dish towels. Well instead of paying $30 for 2 dish towels I decided to make my own. I also had some fun polka dot trim remnants that I used to make a hanging loop. Sweet and practical…my favorite!

For my nieces birthday I created a coordinating skirt and baby doll dress

 Nora's been asking for a mermaid blanket for a long time, so she helped me pick out the fabric in the summer. Then I made it and hid it until Christmas. I can't wait to see her face when she opens her very own mermaid tail blanket!

During the fall months Sawyer's teachers commissioned me to create autumn inspired buntings. Here are 2 of the 5 I made.

And I made this string art (which is now part of our Christmas decor) at a girls craft night

Over Thanksgiving break the kids got in on the craft action.

I cut out a bunch of holiday fabric scrap strips

 Then the kids painted the canvas and arranged the fabric in a tree shape

This is the finished product after I hot glued the fabric on

I've also been obsessed with making no-crease hair ties…lots of my friends have received a set this holiday season!

I cut all my elastic

Then tied the ends and voila…finished product

For teacher gifts I used more of my scrap fabric to create a different take on the bunting.

Truth be told I only made 2 out of the 5 I intended to make :( But these 2 are pretty cute ;)

Pumpkin Painting

After finding the perfect pumpkins we had our annual pumpkin painting night. This year Kolter got in on the action for the first time!

He did a great job painting his pumpkin…and his stomach and mouth ;)

Sawyer working on his Ninjago pumpkin

The finished product with all the ninjas accounted for

No surprise, Nora was all over this project in her paint shirt and pearls

After her painting was finished she felt it wasn't complete…she announced it needed some glitter! So, the pumpkin masterpiece was finished with white crystal glitter and we had a happy, sparkly girl!

Mema and cousin Cadence joined us for the festivities

Pumpkin Patch

I'm going to be playing catch up the next few weeks. While the blog may have been pretty quiet over the past month that doesn't mean our life has been quiet…in fact quite the opposite. In the past month I've traveled for work on several occasions, had a great visit from Mema, went to the pumpkin patch, had school daily, traveled to NYC for a weekend vacation, traveled with the kids to CO to visit grandparents, celebrated Halloween and much more!

So the 1st catch up post is about our trip to the pumpkin patch with Mema in tow! In mid-October we visited the Kingsway Pumpkin Patch. This has become an annual event we love! While we enjoy picking out a pumpkin there are also lots of kid friendly activities to enjoy!

Kolter desperately wanted to sit on this antique tractor…future farmer?

my little piggies

We loved bringing Mema to her 1st pumpkin patch

the big kids enjoyed a train ride

Then we jumped on the hay ride out to the pumpkin patch

these 2 peas in a pod…most of the time…on a search for the perfect pumpkin

Kolter was mesmerized by all the "balls"

still looking

Look Mom! I found the perfect one!

Walking back to the hay ride

The kids also loved the corn pit, petting zoo and the firetruck slide!

Next up…what we did to those perfect pumpkins!