The Ghosts from Halloween Past

Ahhh, the sweet memories of my favorite time of year! I absolutely LOVE Halloween. I like carving pumpkins, dressing up, getting the jeans and sweatshirts out, sipping cider with friends (and occasionally adding some "spice" to it), parades... Oh, I could probably go on and on, but lets take a little stroll down the last 5 years instead.

Here we are in 2005. Brickhouse/Bricklayer. This is also the last time I ever purchased a costume in a bag.
 
 I have learned that making our own is much MUCH more fun and they turn out so much better.

2006. The only picture I could find of us. Funny how I was the one excited, yet Tim is the one that looks it.

 Oh, the irony

2007 I went easy peasy lemon squeezy and made some fun shirts. I was able to snag some matching ski caps at Target or Walmart and was calling it a holiday.

But Nooo.....

 .....the bar at the end of our street was bought out by some new owners and they were going to have a costume contest! The potato heads, while very comfy, had no chance at a prize...so I brainstormed. And Wah-la...Peter and Pumpkin were created! A little risqué, perhaps, but I wanted to WIN!

 Yep, we had fun with this costume that night. And waaaait for it.....we came in SECOND! What?! We lost to a pregnant nun. That was purchased in a bag. So disappointed. Then again, it was the nuns birthday. I'm not a sore loser.

 After a costume like that, is there a shock to see this little pumpkin the next year :)

Halloween's will never be the same again. Nevermind the couples costumes. I get to do a whole dang family theme now!! (ok...busted...I got these THING 1 and THING 2 costumes on Ebay. That no doubt were

 originally in a bag.)

Yes, Gavin, be afraid....very, very afraid.

Ok, so the family theme idea last one year. One time. That's it. I'm sure that it has nothing to do with the fact that I turned the family picture above into our Christmas cards that year. Admit it, you love it. Tim does too. On the inside.

 2009. Chicken Little

  It may not be homemade, but it didn't come in a bag either.

2010 coming soon :)

Wordless Wednesday-feeding and dressing

Which did you notice first?Feeding his bear? Or his awesome self-picked outfit?

Monday Miscellany

1) Gavin has learned much better how things work around here, including the diaper pail. You put the diaper in, flip the handle and the diaper is gone. Wah-la! It's magic! It's also been learned you can put in your bears pants, flip the handle, and Wah-La--the pants are gone! I NEVER would have found them had I not noticed him playing with it, while a very important bear was laying extremely close to him without pants on.

2) Bathtime is different everyday. We get one in almost everyday, except for the nights we don't get home until after 8. Once, maybe twice a week. I'm ok with this. This particular night, he wasn't interested so much in the bath, he usually is, and after a quick
"wash" he jumped out and took off into the living room. We shall call this my way of air-drying my son. It's easier than a fight to dry off. Anyway, I thought it would be easier to grab a diaper and his jammies and dress him in the living room. But somehow in the minute to two minutes it took me to grab his stuff and get to the living room he was already back towards the kitchen to greet me. He grabbed my hand and led me to a spot near the couch and pointed and said, "I pee pee." Yes, G, you sure did.  *sigh* Fortunately, I had some Resolve Pet Stain cleaner in the house. Let's try the potty next time.

Wordless Wednesday-turkey

 

Not your everyday petting zoo.

Feeding the furballs

On the contrary to my thoughts, buying dog food is not as easy as I thought. Can you believe that my dogs are over 3 years old, yet I have never bought the dog food?! (Well, maybe I did when they were teeny tiny puppies) I don't recall. I knew I wanted to go get it without Gavin in tow, because I knew it was 50lbs, and no way did I want to lug this bag while trying to hang on to a rambunctious toddler simultaneously. So I went after work, before picking him up from daycare. I quickly learned that although Gavin and Old Yeller are VERY similar in weight, the are no way CLOSE to the same to carry. Dog food needs to have a notch in the side of the bag so I can properly place it on my hip.

 

These are Gavin's role models for sharing....nice, huh

 

Oh, Sammy, you have your eyes shut!

 

Much better!

 

The best of friends! 

They drive me bonkers, but they are super dogs! I wish I could give them all the attention

they deserve.

Monday Miscellany

New Obsession? His bear that he made at Build-A-Bear Workshop with daddy. He takes it everywhere. Grandma and Grandpa's, the zoo, the park. He cried when I wouldn't let him take it into daycare. I made him leave it in the car. How am I ever going to get this thing away from him to wash it?! And trust me, it NEEDS washed. The tag says that it needs to be surface washed, but I know it needs a better cleaning then that. I'll put it in a pillow case or something.

Newest bad habit? He has this tendency to put his hand down the back of his pants. I don't know why. It makes sense when he tells me he went poop and we have been reading lots of potty books. But sometimes he randomly shoves his hand in there while playing in the living room. I must add that one morning when I got him up....his hand was not clean. Sick. Luckily he doesn't take the diaper off as I don't want to be writing a Poop Post. While they are funny, I am quite happy being on the reader end of those blogs.

Newest good habit? He picks up all his toys at night now. He even knows where they go. Yes, they all have a place. He might occasionally be coaxed with stickers, but not always. In other words, I found the lid to my blender.

Do anything unusual this week? Does petting a turkey count? Down the street this past weekend there was a food drive/pumpkin patch. Of course we went. We traded a can of Italian Wedding Soup for a pumpkin. That's my kind of deal. The Perrysburg Fire Department and Police Department were there letting the kids get in their vehicles. Inside there was fingerprinting, face-painting, balloon animals, and cookie decorating. All this was free! Along with the vehicles outside, there were animals to pet, including a goat, bunny, ferret...and a TURKEY! They are very soft. Who knew.

Rediscovered toy? His face cards. We haven't seen these in quite some time. Not that they were put away or hidden, they merely hadn't been pulled out of the toy box in a while. These cards have animals on them with the face-part cut-out so you can hold them up to your own face. Gavin now looks at the card, puts it up to his face and makes the correct animal noise! Buuuut, these cards are two-sided, so he is actually holding the animal he is acting, against his face. So now, dogs say "mooo" and cows say "woof woof." I think maybe if I get a mirror for him to look in, we can find a way to correct this. :) I'm so glad he found these again!

A llama in pajamas??

.....only down by the bay!

We got a new felt board story this week! Yay! The felt board has become part of our nightly routine, and this rhyme has quickly soared to the favorites. While he can't quite sing the tune yet, he puts the pieces up as I sing. Sometimes he even sings back, kinda like we are singing in a round. Can't understand him, but he has the right intonations.

♫ Everybody Sing ♫

♪ Down by the bay...

 

♪ Where the watermelons grow...

 

♪ back to my home....I dare not go....

♪ For if I do...My mother will say...

♪ "Did you ever see a fly, wearing a tie?" Down by the bay.

 

(repeat the chorus over and over again with mother saying a different line each time.)

♪ Down by the bay...where the watermelons grow...back to my home...I dare not go...

♪ For if I do....my mother will say..

♪ "Did you ever see a bear, combing his hair?" Down by the bay.

♪ "Did you ever see a moose, kissing a goose?" Down by the bay.

♪ "Did you ever see a whale, with a polka dot tail?" Down by the bay.

♪ "Did you ever see a llama wearing (eating) pajamas?" Down by the bay.

♪ "Did you ever see an octopus, dancing with a platypus?" Down by the bay.

Now wasn't that fun!

Teasing Mr. Alligator

Another one of my fabulous ideas. Why not make a shirt depicting one of Gavin's favorite stories. We have this for the felt board too. He loves it!

Not to mention it is an added bonus that he will wear it. Remember I mentioned that he has become quite particular about what he wears? If he doesn't like it, then there is no way he is going to wear it. Zilch. An even bigger bonus is that I was able to make this for only a few bucks. Much cheaper than buying a shirt that he will most likely refuse to wear.

 

He likes it!

I realize that the characters don't exactly match. But Gavin doesn't. So it's cool.

Five Little Monkey's Swinging in the Tree

Five little monkey's swinging in the tree,

teasing Mr. Alligator can't catch me...can't catch me

along came Mr. Alligator quiet as can be

and snapped that monkey right out of that tree!

(Then 4, 3, 2, 1....No more monkeys)

**we make silly faces when we tease Mr. Alligator,  the "shush" sign (finger to lips) when Mr. Alligator is sneaking up, and then extend our arms like an alligator mouth to snap monkeys out of the tree**

An Autumn Affair

We made a change of plans for today and I'm so glad that we did! Originally, we had thought about heading to Grand Rapids Annual Apple Butter Fest. Don't get me wrong, that is a great festival, but not as kid friendly as the Autumn Affair at Hoen's Greenhouse turned out to be, and I'm sure not nearly as crowded. There were several inflatables, pony rides, petting area (goats, bunnies and even a donkey), a hay maze, hay rides, pumpkin painting, face painting, games galore, several areas that were perfect for pictures, and treats. Again, we didn't purchase any pumpkins. I can't bring myself to pay that much for one right now, especially when Gavin isn't into the carving yet and I can pick up some at Kroger for a few bucks. In a few years, I'm sure I'll feel different. In a few years, it will be exciting to go to the pumpkin patch and pick out your very own pumpkin!

First things first, I wanted to get a picture of Gavin with a pumpkin. See how well it turned out? Posing for pictures has officially ended for the day. Today was going to be a shoot and click and hope I get something kinda day.

 

We started off by running through the hay maze. This one was much higher than the one yesterday, so when his little legs started sprinting through....we lost him! But only for a minute, he hit a dead-end and had to turn

around. Whew!

 

New idea. Gavin chases daddy.

  

Out back were the animals. 

If you were over the age of 18 you could pick up the bunnies for a closer look.  

Hmmm, I'm not so sure about this one either, G.  After being a little cautious, he braved it up and pet him, or her, I don't know. He also decided that the eye was a good place to touch. The el burro did not agree so

much. Moving on.....

 

It wouldn't a festival without a slide, now would it? The rest of the inflatables appeared to be more for the 4+ age bracket. Gavin just seemed too little to be tossed in one of the bounce houses, and this big caterpillar inflatable had me nervous he wouldn't come out the other side. So the slide we stayed. 

Next we went back inside to pick out a pumpkin to paint.

  

This one is perfect.

 

The set-up was great. There were long tables with chairs on both sides. When an empty seat was available you could go sit and one of the workers would give you a paper plate with "blobs" of paint on it. Every kid

received fresh paint. Awesome.

 

Check out this focus! He is really enjoying it, which is super because his usual attention span is less than two 

minutes.

 

After you were done painting there was a table for you to leave it to dry. Oh, and the ladies working wrote each child's name on the bottom prior to painting.

Ok, while we are waiting, should we try one more "posed" picture? No, OK then. That's as good as it gets

today, folks.

   

Not in my wildest dreams did I think Gavin was going to go for this, but good golly he did!! I even told the clown before we sat that I wasn't sure and maybe a quick cheek would be the best we would get. I was very wrong. We did a semi-full face "quick" tiger, as she called it. 

It was semi, because we didn't opt for the full orange face paint..or the sparkles. 

Here he is looking in the mirror she is holding. Definitely not sure what to think at first. 

He came to LOVE it. In fact, he cried when we had to wipe it off before nap time later. I felt so sad for him,

but I did not want that paint all over his sheets and blankets.

 

It's nearing that time to head home, so we strolled through the games on the way out.  

We dug for treasure....

 

.....flipped bugs,

 

...and cheated in bean bags.

 

I'd say it was a good day indeed!

Wordless Wednesday-A pumpkin seat

Fleitz Pumpkin Farm

Saturday was another unusually beautiful day and we took full advantage of it. We got up and headed to check out all the hype about Fleitz Pumpkin Farm. While I can't say I was completely impressed, it was a lot of fun. I think all the hype had my expectations soaring. Not sure what I expected really...this place had more than enough to do. There was hay and corn mazes, a hayride, a barn full  of activities for the wee ones, goats and chickens to feed, a cool photo-op set-up, pumpkins, squash and corn galore...and food! I really should have been more impressed. Maybe it was just me, and the idea that I knew I had to go to work later. We had picked up Nessa and Pressly and went together this morning.

Gavin and Pressly couldn't get enough of touching all the pumpkins and other decorations, as well as, riding the many toys set up in the barn. Gavin just loved running around...everywhere!

I think they are checking you out too, Gavin.

 

The "under 6" hay maze. Gavin wouldn't go under the covered areas. But he sprinted through it over and

over.

 

You bet he found the slide!

 

This was a favorite to jump on. Again, both kids were learning taking turns and patience this morning. 

We ventured through the free corn maze. There was also a one-acre maze

and a five-acre maze to attempt.

  

The hayride took us out through the cornfields where they had spiders to watch out for and a pumpkin grave

yard. 

 

This is the best I could get from Gavin to stand by the measuring stick. I know he is 35 1/2 inches. Looks like

3 feet if he would have stood up straight.

 

"Look mom!" I found some hay!

 

These sure are some big pumpkins. And for seventy bucks, they can stay there and keep looking lovely. What does one do with a very large, very expensive pumpkin?? 

I guess this is my answer :)

 

A lunch of hotdogs and cider was a nice end to our morning.  

I can definitely see us returning next year.