trip to the pumpkin farm

 Each year we make a trip to Bengtson's Pumpkin Fest, and usually it's opening weekend so the field is full of pumpkins.  

 

{The tractor pulled hay rack ride down to the field of pumpkins}

We headed to the field right when it opened so no one else was in line yet.  The nice guy didn't make up wait for a large group, he just took us down right away.  Our own private ride!

Picking the perfect pumpkin for painting

A Moment in Mommyhood

Remember how much fun big empty boxes were when we were kids?

Yep, they're still fun.

"Handle with care"

A Moment in Mommyhood

I hope they are always so sweet to each other

A Moment in Mommyhood

Silly little guy...

he thinks he's hiding from me. 

This Family Nest

This spring I am loving nests, birds, and butterflies.  
So it's no surprise I adore THIS family nest by sjEngraving on Etsy.  
It's on my wish list.  Hey hubs  - hint, hint :)

Until it's crossed off my wish list I've made my own version.   
I used some rocks I had left from THIS project and a white paint pen to write our initials on each rock. 

I like the idea of using rocks instead of eggs, because it doesn't seem like just Easter decor.  It's a nest you can keep out all year.  This could easily be varied to fit your liking!  You could write out full first names or use different color rocks for boys/girls or parents/children.   

By the way,

if you've been reading my blog you know I really want to learn to sew.

It's a goal I intend to reach by the end of the year.  Well, after much research and saving my "pennies for play" I finally purchased a machine of my own!!!

And look what arrived on my doorstep yesterday...

                 {Woo-hoo!} 

{I'm hoping what it says in the corner of the box is true!}

A Delightful Christmas

What a week!  

Sorry for the lack of posts this last week, but we have been enjoying Christmas activities galore!  Here are a few of the things we've been up to lately...

We've had many long talks with Santa...

we've been wrapping a lot of presents in the spirit of giving....

we even discovered santa's footprints in our entryway on Christmas morning....

we've waited very patiently to open presents....

we got extra fancy/handsome for Christmas dinner...

we even shared lots of Christmas treats with one of our favorite doggies...

I hope all of my wonderful readers are enjoying the season as well!!!

Come back in the morning for the Craft Catwalk!

Our Own Family Tree

I can't post the two family trees I'm working on as Christmas gifts, just in case they come and check out my blog.  One of them will have 31 people on it.  It's a bit of a challenge!  

But I figured it was about time I did one for our little family of four.  

 

Many, many years from now our tree will branch out, but for now it's small and perfect.

{Thanks to all who have linked up to the catwalk so far this week!  I will be featuring some of that awesomeness tomorrow!}

Family tree {again}

Wow have I gotten a lot of love for my family tree project!  Thank you!  If you've made one, or if you are going to send me a picture.  I'd love to see it.  I'm working on few more for Christmas, and I'll share when I finish them.

It was the Great Pumpkin

And they made out like bandits!  The little guy was more content picking up sticks than trick or treating.  Whatever makes him happy!  But Ladybug had a blast.  With some inspiration from Fireflies and Family, Charlie Brown, and a little bit from Batman, here's what we did about her pesky peanut allergy...

Did you know that the Great Pumpkin comes to our house to swap unsafe candy for peanut free treats and toys?  Yep, he sure does.  We put all the candy she couldn't have into one of the trick-or-treating pumpkins.   We have one of those little flashing lights for kids to wear when trick-or-treating at night...and we turned it on and put it on the outside of the pumpkin.   How else would the Great Pumpkin know where to find us?  We put that candy filled pumpkin under a tree in the backyard.  It is almost unbelievable how fast he is!  He came and went within a half hour.  He swapped the candy for stickers, bracelets,  candy not processed on the same equipment as peanuts, and even an Olivia Christmas movie.  What a guy...er, pumpkin.

She was so much more excited about this than going trick-or-treating.   

I think we just might love the Great Pumpkin!

 

Happy Halloween, Partner!

Our Silhouette Family

I have seen soooo many beautiful silhouette projects in blogland lately.  Last year I made silhouette ornaments of my munchkins, and when we get out our Christmas boxes I'll do a post on those too.  Recently I've been inspired by all the gorgeous ones I've seen over on This Blessed Nest.  

Last night I made my own Silhouette Family arrangement.  

  

(sorry for the funny angled pictures, but I was TRYING to avoid glare on the glass. Oh well.)

I used the same process that I used to make my ornaments last Christmas.  

I know there are easier ways out there, but I don't have any of that fancy photo editing software.  

1.  I took profile pictures of everyone.  This was not an easy task with my 1 1/2 year old.  

Nevertheless, we got through it!  Hubs helped take mine.

2.  I took some super small, fine point scissors to cut out the profiles.

3.  I used a black marker to completely cover the head.

4.  Then I used some Mod Podge to attach the heads to the page.  I used old dictionary pages as my background.  I picked the page that each person's name was on in the dictionary.  

It's a small detail, but I just wanted to do it that way.

5.  Then I  put each picture in the frame (that I got for 50% off at Michaels! Yay for coupons!) 

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Get your Craft on with Todays Creative Blog

Dreams of Disney

In just a little over a year we plan to take our first "big" family vacation to Disney.
(Yay!  I've never been!)
By the time we go the kids will be at good age for their first trip there.   

 In preparation for our future trip, we made a Disney savings jar.  Of course it will take several of these jars to fund the trip, but it's just a fun way to start teaching about savings.  It's also a nice visual reminder!  

My little guy is too young, but my ladybug can start learning the concept of saving money and goal setting.

We added some Mickey expressions to mark our progress on filling the jar

I raided my scrapbook stash for sticker letters, trims, and papers.

I thought it was fitting to make the Mickey ears out of pennies.


{Don't forget to enter my easy entry giveaway!} 

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