Once Upon a Time......

Saturday night we took the kids to Arcadia Lake to check out Storybook Forest.  It was super cute.  The kids loved walking through the forest path.  Em especially enjoyed reading the pages from each story and Tyson was all about the candy.

 

Rapunzel, Rapunzel......let down you hair

Hickory Dickory Dock

 

Hansel and Gretel 

The mean witch got what she deserved.....

 

Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall.......

The little wooden boy who didn't tell the truth

Fishing for treats

Spinning the wheel for prizes

 

This was the seen as we were leaving,  this line went for miles just to get into the park.  So glad we went early!  

BATTY for Halloween crafts

I love making crafts with the kids.  Paul has been out of town all week, so I've been the entire entertainment committee in the evenings.  When I saw these online I knew we HAD to make them.  Tyson and Em LOVE to paint.  I thought they would make cute little teacher gifts too.

BAT-O-LANTERNS!!!  Aren't they spOOky?!?

One quick trip to Hobby Lobby (Does anyone else make weekly trips to the Hob?  I seriously need help) to get a few materials.  Small pumpkins courtesy of the local pumpkin patch.  And a few staples from my craft closet.  Bring on the bats!

Let your little punkins paint their hearts out......black acrylic paint is kind of scary since it's so permanent.  I put several sheets of white paper down to protect to my kitchen table.

Now, I apologize for the lack of pictures on the next steps.  I was knee deep in craft foam and duct tape and I forgot to take pictures.

Next, let the pumpkins dry.  Then cut wings, ears, and eyes out of craft foam.  I used a whole punch to make eyeballs from the white craft foam.  I attached toothpicks with black duct tape to the wings and ears and stuck them in the pumpkins.  

 

Ta da!!!!!!!!!

 

Now my dining room table has a colony of bats living on it. 

Bring on Halloween!!!!

Perhaps my FAVORITE pumpkin pictures

My kids love pumpkins and they love posing for pictures with pumpkins especially when it includes two of their favorite people.........

 

I love these pumpkins!!!

What's the BEST thing about going to Grandma's?

Answer:  You get to wake up and shoot your bb gun in your jammies!

We told the kids we were planning to see Grandma and Grandpa about 3 weeks ago.  We had this trip planned for a few months since we found out the kids had a "fall break" in October. But we couldn't tell them too soon for obvious reasons.  Everyday went something like this, "is today the DAY we are going to Grandma's?"  No,  3 more weeks.  And that has been going on for the last 3 weeks.  We hadn't seen Mom and Dad since June and it felt like an eternity.  The kids ask about them almost daily.  But Emerson has been a whole different emotional story.  EVERY (and I am not exaggerating when I say EVERY) night she would cry at bed time and say how much she "missed Grandma and really wanted to see her and give her hugs."  Both kids really missed not having them at their birthday parties this year.  It was the very first time Mom and Dad had not been there.  

As soon as Emerson finished her Harvest Party on Wednesday we took Tyson out early and we were on our way for a 9 hour road trip.  The kids were great!  They were so excited to get there that no one really complained about the drive.  We got there around 9:30 on Wednesday night.  Just in time to watch the rest of the Ranger game.  At bed time both kids informed us they would be sleeping with Grandma and Grandpa.  Tyson has always loved to sleep with Grandpa and tell ghost stories but this was the first time Emmy wanted in on the fun.  She couldn't wait to cuddle with Grandma and share a bed.

The next three days were spent hanging out and just enjoying being together.  A wonderful and relaxing time was had by all. 

A wonderful trip!!!  I got pics of Mom too.  Even though she wasn't crazy about it, I thought she looked beautiful and  I wanted pictures!  She is about 2 months out from her last chemo and her hair is already starting to grow back.  As for now she rocks the silk scarves.

The power of PINK

I am going to take a quick time out from the blogging I do about my kids.  This post is about me!  Feel free to skip ahead to the next post about the grandkids!

A little over 10 weeks ago I decided I wanted to run in the Susan Komen Race for the Cure.  I had participated in the past, just never actually ran.  This year it was personal and I really wanted to do it.  So I got on line and found some different running apps.  Found one that looked good then I invited Sherri to train with me.  She has been my rock since Mom was diagnosed with breast cancer in January and I thought "who not include her in my running misery?"  I have always exercised, I've done classes, I've lifted weights and always gone for cardio walks.....but never have I ran.  Except for the time I was trying to impress Paul with my athleticism back in 1997.  Guess it worked like a charm cause 5 quick years later her married me.   Anyway.....back to my running.  Sherri and I would run three times a week, starting with 60 second intervals combined with 90 seconds of walking and eventually that lead to 28 minutes of running.  The plan to was to be able to complete a 5K at the end of the 9 week training program.

We did it!!!!

 

Couldn't have done it without my support group.  

That's a wrap

Mummy wrap contest!

 

Snack time with his friend Desi

 

Another "harvest" party, another afternoon of snacks and this time some halloween  I mean Harvest themed games.

"Harvest" is the new Halloween

Apparently schools no longer have Halloween parties, they just call it a "Harvest Party."  And in pre-K that translates to a performance by the class followed by snacks.  Fortunately Paul and I were both able to attend.  There is nothing cuter than watching 16 little four year old's sing a bunch of songs combined with dance motions. 

 

Hope everyone has a spOOky Harvest!