It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year

Ok, so I guess Christmas really is the most wonderful time of the year, but I look forward to this time cause there are so many fun things to do, not to mention it's the only time of year I consistently take pics of the kids (I know it's bad, but you can't even count on a good birthday one!) So, without further ado, here's to pumpkin patches, sugar cookies and pumpkin carving!

Twisted Creek Ranch: Brayden was lucky and happened to NOT have school on the day that Audri's class was going to the pumpkin patch, so we made it a morning event. The Ranch was fun, and had some cute animals and lots of stuff to play on. We found out that bunnies are VERY soft and pigs don't actually 'oink' but make a very awful squealing noise when their feet are not on the ground! Audri was really nervous of the sweet dog they had roaming around so, she didn't ever quite get totally comfortable, but really it was fun, and we couldn't have asked for more gorgeous weather.

Audri found this woolly Caterpillar and loved it! She didn't want to leave it. I was surprised she was so anxious to hold it, I sure hope the poor thing survived after being manhandled by all the kids!

Sugar Cookies: I think I really only make sugar cookies twice a year, even though they are one of my great weaknesses. I LOVE a soft frosted sugar cookie-one of the only times I'll drink a glass of milk too! I made a bazillion cookies for the Achievement Day girls and we decorated them and delivered them, and luckily (for the kids, since they hate it when all of the goodies I make are gone after my 'meeting') we had some left so we decorated them Sunday afternoon. I love the look of sheer concentration on their faces as they work on their masterpieces!




Liepold's: The staple pumpkin patch around here seems to be Liepold's farm...so we made our yearly trek. We really had good intentions to check out a new place, but when it came right down to it we were too lazy. The kids both had their own pumpkin patch field trips and we already had a million (ok, like 4) small pumpkins already so we were in search of one big carveable one. Of course while we were there, the kids had fun running through the hay maze and digging in the corn. We managed to find a good pumpkin and find an ok to take our actual sitting on a pumpkin pics. I love going back and comparing my kids next to pumpkins. So, for nostalgia's sake here's the link to 2007 and before. (and just in case any of you read my 2007 post and my rant on pumpkin patches...just know I totally would have gone back to Olson's but we were too lazy. And yes, we spent the $2 per kid to play in the corn and run in the hay maze. Which wasn't too bad. I'm just glad they didn't have the pony out and the kids weren't interested in the corn maze cause that would've been more!)

Pumpkins on Pumpkins Need I say more?

The Fruits of Jeremy's Carving Labor:

From L-R Audri's, Brayden's (his is actually a cyclops, one big eye, but it kinda looks like two crossed triangle eyes...it's a weird little magic eye pumpkin!), and Jeremy's