Fall Festival 2012

Can you tell that I am working really hard to catch up on my blog posts?  I think I am officially "caught up".  We will see how long it lasts!  Last night was the annual Fall Festival at our church.  This is a really fun event complete with games, a giant slide, trunk or treat and some of our favorite friends!  Anyone who knows us, knows that last year's Halloween costume was a total fail.  So in about June, I started talking about how excited I was that she was going to finally get to wear her Buddy costume for Halloween this year.  I would get it out of the closet and we would look at it together...and then she would say something to the effect of   "I am not going to be Buddy, Momma".  Finally in about September, I resigned to the fact that she will in fact never wear the Buddy costume.  (I am holding out for Baby Link to love it and win Halloween favorite)  I asked her what she wanted to be instead of Buddy and she said "Jovie!"  Jovie is our beloved elf on the shelf.  I was so excited!  Last week I got to work on her costume and she couldn't have been more excited!  When she tried it on for the first time, she kept running around the house "perching" like the elf.  It was hysterical!  So here is our little Jovie, The Elf on The Shelf!

 Honey came down to join in on the festivities and we are so glad she did!

 She only wanted to sit in the rocking chair for a picture with Mommy and Daddy.  I love how her little hands are in perfect "elf" form!

 First up at the festival was Trunk or Treat.  She was really excited that people gave her candy.  She didn't necessarily want to eat it, she was just thrilled they would give it to her!

 Thanks Ms. Christie!

 This was definitely our favorite trunk!  In the Christmas spirit!

 The first game she spotted was jump rope.  I don't know what it is with this girl and jump ropes, but she wants to figure them out so bad.  I think her little body still needs a few years before it is coordinated enough to accomplish this!

 When we got to the big slide, she spotted her sweet friends Emma and Evan and couldn't have been more excited!

 The fearless threesome headed to the top!

 Whee!

 This picture cracks me up!  They are both completely air born!

 Next we headed in to play games and do a craft.  They worked so hard on their picture frames. 

 Showing off her golf skills

 And her basketball skills!

 She was so excited to get to choose 5 prizes at the end of the night.  2 of the prizes she chose were flashlights and she was thrilled!

 We had a wonderful time!  Thank you Alameda for such a great family night of fun! 

Pumpkin Carving

Friday night we decided it was time to carve our pumpkins!  Olive was so excited about this.  I made the mistake of letting her pick out a template for carving online and she picked "Mickey Mouse"...do you know how hard it is to carve teeny tiny little lines on Mickey's face on a pumpkin?! Seriously.

 Daddy got right to work cutting into the thickest pumpkin on the face of the planet.

 She was totally uninterested in helping scoop the goop.  Mommy always ends up with that job. 

 She was super excited to put tape on the back of the template and stick it to the pumpkin.

 Daddy got wise before cutting the next one and busted out the electric carving knife.  Good thinking Daddy!

 Suddenly, I look up from the intense carving of the Mickey Mouse face and I was the only one in the dining room working.  How did I get abandoned? Ha!

 She was back to see the finished product and she was pumped!

 Daddy worked really hard on pumpkin #3 using the drill and I love how it turned out!  Thanks Pinterest! Overall, they all turned out pretty cute and our porch looks really festive!

Happy Halloween!

A Little Trip to Pumpkin Patch Past

Let's take a little trip down Pumpkin Patch Memory Lane...

Olive's first visit to the pumpkin patch 2009

2010

 2011

 2012

I can not believe how much she has changed!  It's even harder to believe that next year there will be another little pumpkin in the pictures with her!

Pumpkin Patchin'

One of the life groups from church was having a family night at the Pumpkin Patch a few weeks ago and our friend Carma invited us to tag along!  Olive was super pumped to get to go to the pumpkin patch with Emma and Evan!  As soon as we walked up, she spotted this giant pumpkin.  "This is a good one for me, Mom" 

 We headed out to visit the animals first and she was so happy to see the sheeeeeeep!

 Our little farmer checking out the baby cows!

 And the goats...I love how her face is sticking through the fence!

 The "silly piggies"

 and the horsie!

 

After saying hi to all of the animals, she spotted the giant slide and went climbing to the top of the haystack!  

 

It looked like so much fun even Daddy wanted in on the action!  

 Next we loaded up for a hayride.  Someone thought it was great fun to throw the hay in the air over and over and over...

 Evan and Olive checking out the crops.

 The whole crew!

 We headed into the corn maze and these girls were lightening fast!

 I love this pic where you can see Carma chasing them!

 After the maze FINALLY ended, they spotted the giant sand pile and they spent the next little bit completely covering themselves and each other with sand.  COVERING.

 It was time to head out to pick our pumpkin.  This was very a serious decision and took a lot of picking up, checking out and continuing to look!

 Olive and Emma wanted to help push the wagon of pumpkins to the cars.

 Then Emma joined in on the fun!

 PUSH!

 

 The cutest pumpkin in the patch jumped in the wagon and Daddy pulled her to the car. 

We had a great time with fun friends!  Thanks Rogers family for the invite!