Fall Festival

We love this place! It is a 100+ year old farm about an hour from our home. In the spring we have attended their Baby Animals Days but this was the first time we attended their Fall Festival. Ben had to work...but my sister, Jaime, made a quick weekend visit with 2 of her 3 children. We had lots of fun! Cotton candy was a must-have! This was Ashlynn's lunch. I know, I am a great mom. She refused to eat anything else once the cotton candy melted in her mouth.
We attempted to make candles too. Luke was very determined to make his own candle and didn't like it when I attempted to help him. He LOVES crafts, art...basically anything hands on! Here is my sis, Jaime making her candle too. Jaime is having a baby in about a month! She was such a trooper walking around that farm for hours and hours!
It's not everyday you get to make a corn husk doll! How fun to think children really used to play with these...and they were happy?! Ashlynn's doll was a 'primpris' (princess) of course and Luke made sure we knew his doll was 100% boy!
This machine removed the kernels from the corn.
Ashlynn was having a showdown with this rooster.
I have never seen a rooster look like this. I think he is beautiful.

Luke was loving a ride on this horse.
He even got to use an outhouse. He was scared when the door slammed behind him.
Luke and cousin Ryan had lots of fun on this ride. Luke loves scary rides and laughed hysterically the entire time. Ryan was a brave little soul and seemed to enjoy the ride too!
Little Avery is fearless! She acted like she had done this a million times before! Look at her little hand holding the saddle. So cute!
A perfect ending to a perfect day!

Support Local Farmers

Today I went to an ORGANIC Farmer's Market down the road from our home. It was sooooo much cheaper than the grocery store and that's why I am taking the time to blog about it! The other day I bought an organic green pepper from Target for $2.50 because the non-organic ones were all gone! Well, today I bought 2 green peppers for $1.00!!! I also bought a one pound sack of green beans, 2 small pumpkins, 1 acorn squash, a pint of FRESH raspberries (not moldy, nasty ones), 4 zucchinis, a head of garlic, a huge cucumber and...oh yeah, a whole watermelon for a grand total of $14.00!!!!!!!! I know I would have paid $28 or more for the same thing at the grocery store. So the moral of the story: If you buy local produce, it will be healthier for you, it will taste a whole lot better, it will be fresh, you will save a lot more money and you will support your local farmers and the local economy. It couldn't get better than that:)

Stay Calm Mommy!

Yesterday Luke was trying to play a computer game and exploded when he hit the wrong key causing the game to shut down. He was so angry and looked around the room for everything and anything he could throw, smash or break. Well, our camera happened to be right in his path. He threw it across the room and smashed the LCD screen and some other things. Needless to say, I may not be able to post pics for a little while.

Can I just say how much self control it took to not injure this child? I broke down and cried instead. Luke immediately stopped his tirade and ran over to give me a hug. He said, "It's okay Mommy cuz Daddy is at work making money so we can buy a new one! You don't need to be sad!" These were my thoughts..."Stay calm...stay calm...say a prayer...stay calm...don't hurt him...stay calm...etc..." Since I already had these photos uploaded, I thought I would post them and remind myself how much I still love this little guy.

Luke LOVES pumpkins! That may be an understatement! He wants a pumpkin birthday party some day, a bed shaped like a pumpkin, he wants pumpkin decorations in his room, etc...pretty much anything pumpkin. He can't wait until Halloween. Everyday he asks if it is Halloween yet. The other day he decided to make pumpkins for Daddy and all of his friends at work. He couldn't imagine drawing pumpkins without actually being dressed like a pumpkin too.

Here is documentation of Luke's first written word without ANY help from me. He drew the Easter Bunny carrying a basket of eggs and candy. He then drew a big Easter egg for his 'DAd' and I think he attempted to write 'Mom' too. How fun to see your child spell a word with no help!!!
Just practicing their broom skills for Halloween. Doesn't every child do this?
Oh...and practicing his scarecrow skills too. He has got all his bases covered for Halloween.

BTW, his Aunties Beth and Kay (from Tennessee) gave Luke this orange shirt. He loves it to say the least.

Kid to Kid

Last Saturday Kid to Kid ( a used children's clothing store) launched their Halloween Costume Sale. My kids already have their Halloween costumes, but I wanted to buy more dress-up clothes for them to play with at home. I thought the store opened at 9 am, but I showed up at 10 am to discover that they had just opened their doors 5 minutes before I walked in. Hooray for me!!! I could not believe the selection and I could not believe how cheap everything was! Two out of the 4 princess dresses and the princess shoes were Disney brand. They looked brand new or almost brand new.
All of these costumes ranged in price from $1.00 to $5.99!!! I paid less for 10 items this year than I paid last year for Luke's Buzz Lightyear costume! Way to go Mommy!!! Can I just tell you how my children's mouths fell open when they saw their new costumes??? They screamed and jumped up and down and immediately tried them on. They have since changed outfits 5 times each day since we bought them.

As soon as little Ashlynn puts on each dress, she stands up and throws her arms in the air and twirls as fast as she can. It is so adorable!!! She saw Dora do it once when Dora turned into a princess. Ashlynn thinks she has to do it everytime to become a princess too.
So excited!!!
This one still has the price tag on it.
Yah, I think they are pretty dang happy right now:)

Grandma Fern turns 90!!!!!

Grandma Fern is an amazing woman and she turns 90 this December! All of her family members decided to throw her a party early because we all know how crazy the month of December can be with the Christmas rush and crazy weather. Gma Fern still takes line dancing classes and does all her own gardening and canning.
Aunt Kris-Kris (that's what the kids call her) giving cart rides around the yard and garden.
Ben's family.
His sisters Kay and Beth and his mother, Carolyn flew out from Tennessee to attend the party. It was so fun to visit with them. Kristen lives with Gma Fern so we get to visit with her frequently and Ben's brother, Ron, was the only one not able to attend.
Another photo of the Purcells.
'Primpris Ashlynn' (that's how she says it) waiting for her carriage ride.
Ben had so much fun visiting with his sisters, mother and grandma. We all had a great weekend and the weather was unbelievable. What a fun weekend!!! We are sad it is over. Happy (early) Birthday to a wonderful woman and grandmother!!!!

Family Roadtrip

Last weekend we traveled 5 hours to visit my family and to attend the 90th birthday of Ben's Grandma Fern. Here is my sister, Jaime and her family. They are getting ready to welcome Baby #4! My kids and I stayed at Jaime's house and Ben stayed at his Grandma Fern's house so he would have more time to visit his family. It was a short and fast weekend.
Here are my parents and their dog, Minne at a park near my sister's home. It was a beautiful park with streams, ponds and glass windows to watch the trout and salmon swimming around in their natural habitant. We had a great time.
A rare family photo.
Here are one of the windows to watch the fish. Ashlynn only wanted to look over the top of the window. After watching all of these fish, I realized how much I missed fishing! I haven't been fishing in years!!! Luke and Ashlynn checking out the trout pond. This is only a 'look' and 'don't touch' pond. No fishing here!

We were able to attend one of cousin Josh's soccer games. Wow! He is really good. If I remember correctly, I think he scored almost every point for his team.
Way to go Josh! Such a handsome boy!

Luke enjoying some needed 'cousin time'. I later asked Luke what his favorite part of our trip was and he said..."I really liked riding my bike with my cousins and getting it stuck in the mud when we were suppose to be leaving to Grandma Fern's house."
UMMMM...for some reason I don't have the same 'fun' memory. I only remember being upset because he was dirty, the bike was dirty and now we were late.
Cousin Ryan enjoying time with Grandma Marge (my Mom).
Pool time with the cousins. Notice that Ashlynn is no where to be seen? She saw the pool and made sure to stay locked inside the house.

The Princesses: Ashlynn & Avery
Little girls really are sugar and spice and everything nice.
The Cousins. I am not sure why my children decided to 'POSE' for the photo. I guess they put their hands on their cousins shoulders to add extra 'closeness' and 'love'?! They did it for every photo. It was hilarious. Ashlynn started it and then Luke followed her lead. I think Avery was getting annoyed.