Constipated Jack-o-Lantern

My brother in-law and his buddy challenged their women to a carve-off.  The men went to the garage and got out the power tools as the women took a more traditional approach.  Here are the results (the boys pumpkin is on the left).

 

Yup, that's an outhouse!  They built an outhouse for their pumpkin with extra wood they had laying around.  This outhouse is complete with a hole for the pumpkin feces, toilet paper roll, hand towel and moon carved on the door.  If you look closely the constipated pumpkin has beads of sweat from working so hard ;)

The girls pumpkin was adorable but clearly not in the same league as the boys :) 

And then there is our Jack-O-Lantern.....designed by Z and carved by S.  Simple, spooky and my favorite of them all!

Have a safe and spooky night!!!

Making Memories....

Photo taken by Sarah Moore Photography

 I simply love this time of year!  One of my favorite parts is the leaves.  I love the bright colors, I love catching them as they fall to the ground and I love raking a big pile to jump into.  Fall helps you to feel like a child again and you can't help but smile and giggle as you chase leaves or jump into them.  It is pure JOY!

Getting Real With the Pumpkin Fairy

I don't know if you have heard about the Pumpkin Fairy before but it is all new to me.  Now that Z finally gets Trick or Treating and has a real love for candy, I have been trying to come up with ideas on how to help him consume less of the sugar.  No I am not a crazy mother who won't let her child eat any of the loot, just want him to eat less.  I have a friend who's dentist actually pays his child patients by the piece if they bring in their candy the week after Halloween.  This idea got me thinking, what could I do??  Then I discovered the Pumpkin Fairy.

Now the idea is that you have your children pick a few pieces of candy and then put the rest of the stash at the end of their bed Halloween night.  When they wake up, the Pumpkin Fairy (or Sugar Plum Fairy as Kara over at Simple Kids calls her) takes the candy and leaves a special (non sugar) treat in its place.  Now I think this idea is very sweet but I just don't want to add to the many illusions that are already going on in my child's head.  I mean between Santa, the Easter Bunny, the tooth fairy and our two elves who come in December.....there is a bit of an overload. Usually once they figure one out, the whole thing is over and so I didn't want to add another less common known fairy who could be easily discovered.

So what to do???  Well I decided to be straight with Z and played a little "Let's Make a Deal".  I told him that on Halloween night there will be a present wrapped.  He can either take his candy stash or he can pick 5 pieces and take the present.  He has already decided that the present is the choice he is going to make.....I think I am going to get off easy this year ;)

If You Give Lil' C a Party...

Lil' C is now two and her birthday party Saturday was so much fun!  We created the party around her favorite books from Laura Numeroff (author of If you Give a Mouse a Cookie, If you Give a Pig a Pancake etc.) and she LOVED it.

I wanted to do a brunch and so we dined on all of the 5 main character's favorite foods.  There were moose's muffins, mouse's chocolate chip cookies, pig's pancakes, cat's cupcakes and dog's donuts.  We also mixed in some other foods (quiche, lasagna and veggies and dip) to curb the sweetness :)

 The Invitation went along with the style of the books and had pictures of Lil' C for each phrase.  This is how it read: 

If you give Lil' C a party,
she is going to want a cupcake to go with it.
When she sees all the cupcakes you make, she will want to text all of her family and friends.

With family and friends coming, she will want to decorate.
Once she gets out the balloons and decorations,
she will want to listen to music as she decorates.
hearing the music will remind her of dancing,
dancing will make her thirsty and she will want some milk.
the milk will remind her of cupcakes,
and she will probably ask you for one.and chances are if she asks for a cupcake, 

she will want a party to go with it!!

The party was mostly adults (only 6 kids including my own) and so I created activities for both adults and children.  The adults had a TV Trivia game, mimosas and I searched for funny pictures of the guests for a "Looking Fabulous Contest" (inspired by Pig taking fun pictures in If you Give a Pig a Pancake).  Winners of the games received scratch tickets :)

Here is one of the 6 winners from the "Looking Fabulous Contest".  S tied in the Male Category :) 

For the kids entertainment I had a Sweet Treat Scavenger Hunt where they searched for the character's missing treats.  I also set up stations with activities from each of the books.  We had Moose's Puppets, Cat's Dinosaurs, Dog and Pig's Dance Party and Mouse's Drawing.

It was such a fun party to plan and Lil C had a fabulous time.  She wasn't really into opening gifts but enjoyed the time with family and friends!  I was exhausted by the end (party started at 11am and our last guest left after midnight) but it was all worth it to celebrate two amazing years with my beautiful little girl :)

Her Birthday Breakfast with Z, Mom and Dad

Her Doll House from Neene and Chi Chi (her auntie's got her some people and some furniture ;))

Cake!!!

Her Bear Picture

After Party Fun with Grandpa J

Argh!!!

Listening to her Gift from Grandpa and Mimi (She has listened to it non-stop since she got it!)

My Baby is TWO today!!

We are very busy getting ready to celebrate Lil' C's 2nd birthday so I will be brief.  Next week I will share all the details of her party :)

I cannot believe that the little sassy light of my life is now two, it blows my mind.  I can't remember life without her yet it seems like just yesterday she was this small.  I love you baby girl, thanks for making me laugh, for giving me cuddles and for reminding me to appreciate life.  Your enthusiasm is contagious!  You truly light up every room you enter and your personality (and temper) make  you unforgettable.

I love you more than words and wish you the very happiest birthday!!!

Making Memories

We got all curled up in our jammies, and watched one of our favorite Halloween Flicks.  

We love Charlie Brown in this house and after the movie Lil' C kept saying, "I got a Rock!"  Halloween is in the air.

Costume Time

So what are Z and Lil' C dressing up as this year???  That has been all the talk around here lately :)  Z asked to be Raphael from the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles for Halloween.  It is his latest obsession and though I would rather he be Franklin (a much more loveable turtle), he insisted on Raphael.  After investigating my costume options, I decided on the most difficult route....make my own.  With a broken sewing machine, I was looking at making it all by hand.  I ordered green sweatpants and sweatshirt online, gathered up my collection of felt, bought some more green and went to work.  I did not have a pattern, Z and I did this as a team (did I mention S and I are going as Donatello and Michaelangelo to an adult party??  We are teaming up with another couple to go as the fiercest reptile fighting team!).

It is not perfect, please don't look closely at the stitching but he LOVES it and that is all that matters.  When he first put it on he asked me, "Mom do I really look like a turtle because I feel like one?!?!?"  That made all the effort worth it right there!  When I had him try the costume on for one last "fitting" I asked him if he was sure he didn't want to go as Franklin instead.  He laughed and said, "No mommy, Raphael is way cooler."  Oh I miss the days when Franklin was cool!!!

As for Lil' C....well she was suppose to use the bee costume that my niece used two years ago.  Unfortunately she screams whenever we put her into it.  Following her lead, I took out our dress up buckets and let her pick her own costume.  What is she going as???  Bob the Builder!  (Okay, maybe Wendy).  Z was Bob when he was Two and so it is only appropriate that she follow in her big brother's footsteps.  I don't have any pictures of her yet (only naked pictures with her in a hard hat) but I will post them when I get some good ones :)  Here is Z when he was two.

Getting Down With the Farm

This past weekend we went with my BF and her family to a Discovery Farm.  This place was all about getting up close with the farm animals and in most cases, they encourage you to get right in the pens!  There were many species of cows, sheep, chickens, goats (oh so many goats), ponies, mules, llamas, geese, ducks, reptiles, stinky pigs and so much more.  There were playgrounds, a bouncy house, hayrides, apple picking and so much more....you name it and this place had it.  We had a really good time and it was a beautiful day. As it turns out S was the "King of the Goats"(we had one in our wagon), Lil' C loved the chickens (I think we need to get some for the yard) and Z was petrified of every farm animal there was.  He appreciated the reptile house and the non animal spaces! Thanks La for a great day :)

Here are some photos of the day.

Making Memories.....

Here are some pictures from our week.  Have a great weekend!!