Pumpkin Patches x3

'Tis the season of Pumpkins!  I really do love this time of year.  There is so much colour everywhere and if the sun is shining, it isn't too hot.  The air is crisp and just feels refreshing.  It is also the time to check out the local pumpkin patches.  Both of the older kids had field trips with their classes so I figured I would take Jocelyn for her own little 'field trip'.  I also needed to buy some apples for my first attempt at making applesauce! (which actually turned out very well!)  Jocelyn wasn't as interested in the pumpkins as I thought she might be but I did manage a few pictures for the scrapbook!

At first she wanted nothing to do with those big orange things!

Eventually I did get her to sit on one!

After a little bit, they were kinda fun!

The red tractor was much more fun for her than the pumpkins!

 Owen had his Kindergarten field trip to Willowview Farms.  This was a great place!  It is free to go to and you can pick your own apples, which are delicious! 

Owen and his buddy posing in front of the wagon.

Listening very intently to the farmer explain everything they needed to know about apples!

They were each allowed to pick a mini-pumpkin.  Owen was not very impressed that they couldn't take a large pumpkin!

Sitting with his best Kindergarten friend!

 Finally, it was Kendra's turn to go on a field trip.  The Grade One trip is to Aldor Acres, close to Fort Langley.  It is also a wonderful place with lots of different things to see and do!  In Grade One, they are allowed to choose any pumpkin they want, as long as they can carry it!  Kendra was very concerned that it had to be a good one to carve her face into!

The perfect pumpkin!

Smile!

Posing with 2 of the friends in her group.

The best thing about this place, according to Kendra, was all the animals there!  There were cute little bunnies that the kids were allowed to hold, or at least that's what we thought.  We were informed later by one of the farmers that they were for the adults to hold and for the kids just to touch.  What is the fun in that? :)

A very calm and large horse that Kendra loved petting!

Overall, fun trips for all the kids!  Carving out the pumpkins we took home will be next!

Family photos

Here is a peak at the family photos we had done a few weeks ago.  Having these done had been on my wish list for a while.  A happened to come across a photo session done by Sharalee Prang for a wedding and LOVED the pictures that she took.  After checking out her website and other family sessions that she had done, I knew that those were the type of pictures that I wanted!  She somehow managed to capture my family and all of our personalities perfectly!  We are not very good at 'posing well' for pictures so it was great to be able to just let the kids play and explore and have her worry about taking the pictures! 

Paper Mache Pumpkins

My kids love to go to school and I am so thankful for this.  So, when last week came around and there were a few day without school due to the Teacher's Convention, I decided to find something to do with the kids to get them excited and give them something to do instead of asking me how many more days until they get to go back to school!  So, paper mache pumpkins was the chosen craft.  Kendra was beyond thrilled as she has been asking for probably the last year to paper mache a balloon and I have just always been able to come up with some sort of excuse why it "just wouldn't work today"!  Here is a quick rundown of what we did:

Start with a balloon and position it on a bowl.  Hide behind them while your mom is trying to take your picture!

Rip up lots of strips of newspaper and mix together the paper mache mix.  there are lots of different 'recipes' for this but I just used equal amounts of flour and water with a few squirts of Elmer's glue added.  Seemed to work pretty good!

Use half a toilet paper roll and tape it to the top of your balloon to make the pumpkin stem.

Dip your strips into the mix and apply them to your balloon.  Or, as Owen decided, have you mom do it for you because you don't like getting your hands dirty!

After sitting for a day and drying, apply a second coat of newspaper strips. 

For the final layer, use paper towels.  This gives it a rough texture and makes it easier to paint over later.

Paint.  "Pumpkin Orange" paint from the dollar store worked very well.

Decide on a face for your pumpkin.  Draw on with pencil and then paint black.

And voila, pumpkins that won't rot to display on your mantel, happy and proud children and a mom who doesn't have to hear "When can we paper mache a balloon?" again for a while!!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone!  We really are blessed to live where we do and to have as many blessings as we have.  We enjoyed a wonderful dinner (maybe I'm a little biased as I did the turkey!) with a few added family members this year.                                                        

Kendra decided that she wanted to add some decoration to the table this year.  So, she made the name cards for everyone.  And then she made the sign for the middle of the table "Thank-you God for everything".  On the back side she drew pictures of all the things that she was thankful for.  I am so thankful for times like this when I realize that my kids "get it" - all their blessings really do come from above!