Janessa goes to the pumpkin patch too!

Heavenly Harvest Farms..... Again!

We had so much fun on Colin's class field trip that we decided Janessa needed to come with us. We also roped Grandma and Grandpa Dexter into the outing so Mommy had enough hands.

The newest king and queen of the hay bales! Don't they look strong!

Janessa tries out the hay maze.

Looking a little lost :)

She made it out and discovered rows of bush beans.

Hello Mr. Roosters

Deep in thought again.

Janessa's imitation of a rooster. Complete with sound effects.

Look closely at her mouth- she is cock-a-doodle-dooing

Janessa's favorite thing was playing in the corn kernels too.

Time to bury the kiddos!

We could have spent hours playing in those bins. She absolutely loved scooping, swimming, and being buried in those kernels. Even brought some souvenirs home in her diaper- YUCK!

Off for a hayride with Grandpa Dexter.

The girls are coming too!

Pumpkin carving

We decided that tonight was good for pumpkin carving or "gutting" as its more commonly know at our house. Hopefully they will last until Halloween but the choices were limited with Dusty leaving for a long elk hunting trip.

Both kids were apprehensive at first about getting slimy hands but it didn't take long before they dived in.

Colin like using all of the tools for cutting and scraping.

Janessa like pulling the seeds out so we could roast them later.

Mommy's carving skills are limited and a 2 yr old's patience is not the greatest, so we decided to cut out a simple face and she drew all over it with a permanent marker.

Colin chose a spider pattern out of the book which took Papa quite a bit of time to finish. In the end they were both happy with the results of their "spooky tarantula" pumpkin!

What a man!!

So here I am at 32 weeks- getting closer and closer to that due date of Dec 10th!!

Like my lopsided belly and racing stripes? Sexy- I know :)

Little did I know that I had company!!

I think he might have broke something trying to look like me.

The first leaves of fall

I am in the house making dinner tonight and what do I hear; "Mom, Mom, come outside and look at this."
He has made a "huge" pile of leaves from our maple tree and intends on jumping into them.

Jump #1- That was fun! I'm going to do that again. So he scoops them back into a pile.

Jump #2- more like sliding into home base. Serious wet grassy spots on the knees of his jeans.

Jump #3- Aunt Kelley can't resist and joins in the fun.

Their plan is to save this pile of leaves and add to it as more fall from the tree. Until it is a truely large pile. So stay tuned for more leaf jumping pictures!!

A visit to the cousin's house

We do not get to see the cousins nearly enough and with Colin having a day off of school we seized the moment for a quick trip over the mountain.

Here are the boys at the top of a very large mountain of dirt- playing king of the hill.

Hiding out inside the front loader that is on site to move all of that dirt.

Janessa and Austin in the sand pit. Playing with trucks, rocks, and lizards. I have learned not to even bother bringing nice clothes for our visits because both kids can not help but literally roll in the dirt/sand/rocks when we are there. Must be something in the air or water!

Janessa with one of the captured blue-belly lizards.

Watching it from a safe distance. She didn't freak out when it was in her presence but did not want to touch it either- Mommy did though. In a attempt to return it to its home I put it out of the sand boat and kept the kids from harassing it. I think it managed to escape eventually.

See what I mean?!!?!? The weather was beautiful and I guess the sand was warm because I could not convince her to sit up and play.

Playing with Auntie Shell.

The boys decided it was too hot for shirts and stripped. I couldn't resist these "manly" physiques but they did not follow instructions- I said push out your bellies, not suck them in and show me your ribs!!

Janessa playing at Auntie Shell's "park". Over course at this park shoes and socks are strictly prohibited- can't you read the sign Mom!

A cooperative effort to fill the little wagon with pea gravel. Alex was in charge and Janessa scooped the rocks for him to dump inside.

Out hunting in the wilderness with cousin Alex.

Aside from lack of sleep the night before, we had a great visit. Thanks to Auntie Shell for being a wonderful hostess! We love you all very much.

Pumpkin patch field trip

Today was our first field trip with Colin's preschool class to the pumpkin patch at Heavenly Harvest Farm. We were treated to cups of warm apple cider, gourds to touch, colorful indian corn to see, and purple cauliflower to taste while we waited our turn on the pumpkin wagon.

Colin posing as one of the three little pigs.

Running thru the hay maze. He spent quite a bit of time trying to find his way out.

Sucess finally!! I asked if he wanted to go back in and try it again but the answer was a firm NO!

King of the hay bales!

Pumping water to race his rubber duck down the shoot.

Probably his favorite thing of the morning- a huge box of corn kernels to dig, scoop, roll, and just be silly in!

He was trying to make a "corn angel".

His new friend the rooster.

And the pumpkin that we hiked thru lots of mud and yuck to find!

Colin's 5th Birthday

This year Colin chose a camoflauge theme for his birthday party. Considering that he has been telling me this since his last party, I have been stocking up all along. About a month ago, in the middle of the night, a light bulb went on and I decided to put on a "boot camp" obstacle course for the kid's party. The more I talked to others about my crazy idea the more it caught on- the list of tasks increased and was refined and Colin could not wait for the day. We had some nervous moments about getting rained out but in the end the weather was perfect for some outdoor fun! The kids climbed ladders and slid down the slide.

I found a camo net that they had to belly crawl under.

Grandpa Scott came and helped out at the shooting range. They shot an Airsoft gun and a cork rifle. BIG HIT!!!

They were required to do pull-ups, sit-ups, and jumping jacks.

We converted the picnic table into a camo tunnel that they crawled through.

Dustin and I filled a huge tub with water grenades which bounced off of our beautiful targets instead of breaking- arghhhh!!

They also wove thru a line of buckets and did some push-ups. All in all it was a huge sucess and everyone, young and older, seemed to enjoy the activity.

Colin chose a camo tank pinata and after many wacks from the group he was the one to finally break it. Much to his delight!! The kids were rained on by Tootsie rolls, camoflauge army figures, and Twizzlers. Sugar coma here we come....

I found some deals online and we passed out some really fun goodie bags with camo gear. The boys were sent home with hats and sunglasses, binoculars and tattoos. The girls had notbooks, pencils, stickers, and a little stuffed animal. Everyone was excited about their special bag. Colin was really excited and proud to share some souveniers with all of our guests.

He blew out his candle but was too full to actually eat his cupcake so we saved it for later. He also liked helping in the mixing and decorating of all of the cupcakes.

It is so hard to believe that 5 years have passed since I became a Mom. He has grown so much and we are so proud of our little man!!

Momsense Video Clip

Just in case you needed a "funny" today!!