Christmas Tree!

We went and got our Christmas tree tonight. We always go to the BiMart parking lot to get it. The one year we went and actually cut our own tree down it fell down 3 times. So we stick with what works now. This year we got a 6 foot Noble. Here are some pictures of decorating and my little elves.

Thankful

Dylan put together a Box of Thanks at Grandparents Day at school. I wanted to share what he is thankful for.

I am thankful for my family
I am thankful for Roscoe and Wilson
I am thankful for a fan
I am thankful for paper
I am thankful for my bed
I am thankful for a star
I am thankful for Grandma
I am thankful for my house
I am thankful for cousins
I am thankful for Jesus

What a great reminder to be thankful for all the little things. But especially to be thankful for Jesus and all he has done for us and provided for us. I am trying to remember to be thankful in all situations.

The milestones are hitting me all at once!

This week has been a week of milestones for me. The first one was on Tuesday when I went to pick up the kids from school. I realized Dylan was finally big enough to be using the booster he has without the back! Tuesday night we took the training wheels off his bike. He can now ride his bike with no training wheels. Then Wednesday I came back from an appointment to find that Dylan had lost a tooth! I feel like this week has been a HUGE turning point for us. We have gone from little boy to big boy. It is so heartbreaking and exciting all rolled into one.

Muffin's for Mom's!

Today I got the privilege to be in Dylan's class for a special day to study the letter "Mm." It was called "Muffin's for Moms," and it was so much fun. We started out the day getting to color together

and then we got to see a little glimpse into their morning routine. Finally it was time for muffin's! After our snack we got to spend time reading books that had an "Mm" theme to them. It was so much fun, The perfect way to spend the morning!

Pumpkin Patch and some Carving Fun!

Today we headed out to Davis Family Farms for our annual trek to find the perfect pumpkin.

Since it was the weekend before Halloween it was very busy we had to wait quite a while for the tractor to take us out to the field but Poppa entertained the kids pulling them around in the wagon and making them laugh.

FINALLY the tractor arrived and we squeezed on all nice and cozy

and made our way out, noting along the way the various farm animals. We made it all the way out the the very farthest field, unloaded ourselves and the search began!

The rule that my parents had always growing up was that you had to be able to carry it out if you wanted it...I managed to haul a 43 pound pumpkin out of that patch all by myself! We got back to the barn, got our pumpkins weighed, and let the kids pick out gourds while the grandmas were busy buying doughnuts and cider. We got all of our loot loaded up in the car and then let the kids run and play on the hay stack for awhile to burn some energy.

Finally it was time to say goodbye to the pumpkin patch and head home to a yummy lunch of warm potato soup made by Grandma Janice and a pumpkin cake made by Poppa and Grandma Jo.

After getting all the lunch dishes cleaned up we settled in on the floor to carve some pumpkins! This is the first year the kids have really gotten their hand in on the pumpkin cleaning out process, but they really enjoyed it this year!

After getting all the gunk out Poppa, the master carver, helped the kids carve theirs with whatever they wanted and then managed to whip out and AWESOME cat design on his!

My monster pumpkin had a scared screaming face

and Grace's had a happy face.

It was such a fun time to hang out with family, relax, and get our hands a little dirty with some good "clean" fun!