Adventures in Pumpkin Decorating

Pumpkin carving always sounds like so much fun... the truth is with a 5 & 1 year old, it has it's fun moments, but there are lots of stressful ones too! Jaxon was put in charge of doing the gutting, he likes to get messy! Max was in charge of helping, he spent more time putting the guts back in the pumpkin than anything else! Daddy was in charge of helping w/ Max... he was too busy watching TV!!! I was in charge of the carving... most of it got done w/ one hand kinda like everything else around here so what should have taken a few hours got drug out two days!!!

And since I hadn't driven myself crazy enough I decided to let the boys paint their lil' punkins our neighbor gave to them. I thought this would keep Max busy while I finished carving his... it did for awhile and then he began tasting the finger paint! Needless to say the pumpkin painting got cut short, Max's pumpkin got carved w/ one hand and after Max's bath Mommy discovered that Jaxon's painted pumpkin had rolled across the dining floor leaving behind a colorful trail! 

Why do I do things like this to myself, you ask?! Because I love my kids and one day they won't want anything to do w/ painted pumpkins and crazy carving designs!!!

1st dig into his pumpkin!

Oooooyy, gooooyyy!!!

We are saving the seeds to throw over the fence again, apparently that's the only way Mama has any lucky planting pumpkins! (That's where the ones that the neighbor gave the boys came from!)

Max's turn!

Putting the guts back in his pumpkin!

Here's Jaxon's pumpkin all carved and ready to go! He chose a wolf howling at the moon!

He was happy with it!!!

Here are some shots from the pumpkin painting adventure! 

Max was giving his pumpkin some love!!!

Here's Max's pumpkin... it looks better all lit up!

Here are the painted pumpkins... I plan to paint their names on them, we'll see if I get to it!!!

Pumpkin Patch

One of my favorite yearly things to do with the kids is to go to a Pumpkin Patch! We missed our family Pumpkin Patch outing last year because Mommy was on bed rest part of the time and after Max was born it got too cold. Jaxon got to go with his PreSchool class and was really excited about going this year w/ Daddy & Max. He filled them both in on what to expect and was happy to tour us all around Browndale Farm when we arrived!

Here's a quick peek into our trip to the Pumpkin Patch!

We all agreed that this is a must have at our house! A trailer full of corn to dig in! And Max only ate a few pieces or at least tried too!

Here he is sampling a few pieces!

Daddy & Jaxon decided to dig to the bottom!

Mama's lil' punkin! 

Here we are getting ready to go on the hayrack ride! It was a little windy!

I thought this was a cute idea for a picture to take every year to see how much they've grown... maybe next year they'll look at the camera!

Here Max petting the baby donkey... Mama & the boys have decided we need one of these!

Jaxon's favorite part.... riding the zipline!

I want to figure out a way to rig one of these up at home!

Both Mommy & Daddy had Grandparents that had a bike like this. Wish we had one now!

Posing with the pumpkins! They have some great setups for pictures!

Max the scarecrow!

Jax the scarecrow!

Daddy & his lil' punkins!

Mama & her lil' punkins!

Jaxon going through the maze!

We all made it through!

Isn't he precious?!

This was something different! It's a giant "hedgeball slingshot"! Daddy wants one of these!

We had a great time as you can see! The boys each picked out a pumpkin and in my next post you'll see Mama's carving skills put to test! What a great fun-filled, Fall, family adventure!

Having His & Eating It Too

Max had a great 1st Birthday! Here are some shots of him enjoying his cake! He's not nearly as messy as my other child was w/ his 1st cake!

Max's fave part... the marshmallows!

The colors turned out very vibrant!

We loaded up some cake to share with the PreSchool friends today... gotta get these sweets outta my house!

Somewhere Over the Rainbow

"Mad Max" is 1 today!!! I found a fun "rainbow cake recipe" on none other than Pinterest and decided to give it a shot. Here are some "step by steps" for all you adventurous types!  

Step 1: Dig a white cake mix out of your pantry! You could make one from scratch too if you're really adventurous!

Step 2: Whip up your cake mix! 

Step 3: (This is where it gets tricky!) Divide your mix into 6 bowls. An easy tip is to pour 1 cup into each bowl and divide what's left from there. It worked for me... I'm sure it'll work for you too!

Step 4: Have your PreSchooler remind you what the colors of the rainbow are! Here's a cheat sheet... red, orange, yellow, green, blue & violet! And in case you're new to this type of stuff... red & yellow make orange, and red & blue make violet! You'll have to make these colors if you are using a basic set of food colors. Have your kiddos help... this is a great lesson in Color Exploration!

Step 5: If you haven't already, prepare your pans for baking. I used 2 rounds.

Step 6: In order to create a "rainbow look", place your red, orange and yellow batters into 1 pan. Then place your green, blue and violet batters into pan # 2. 

Step 7: Bake according to the instructions on the box.

Step 8: After your cakes have cooled, remove from the pans. Decorate and ENJOY!!!

Check back later for pictures of the inside of the rainbow cake!

Dear Max - 1 Year

Happy Birthday Baby Max!

Dear Max,

Today's your BIG day! According to you BIG Brother, it's his BIG day too (he's going to go ride in the chopper w/ Grandpa!) It's Mommy's BIG day too... she doesn't have a baby in the house anymore... only BIG BOYS now!!! I'm kinda sad that you are growing up so fast... slow down, OK?! 


Daddy & are so proud of you... you have been a wonderful addition to our little family! Jaxon is very lucky to have you for a brother, you guys are becoming great friends and playmates! 


You are a very daring lil' guy! You are constantly climbing everything! You haven't started walking all on your own yet but that'll be any day now. You love marshmallows, going down the slide, balls and playing outside! You are saying "NO!", "BUBBA", "CAT", "MOOOOO", "MAMA", "DADA" and lots of other gibber gabbers!!! 


You still don't like to go in the car but we're working on it! You have been having a hard time sharing your chair w/ Bubba... he's having a hard time w/ that too! You don't like to wear your coat, I'm afraid you are going to have to just get used to that! And you are having a very hard time saying "bye, bye" to the "boo-boo's"... in other words, Mommy's trying to wean you! 


You have completed our family and we are so blessed to have you! We love you so much and look forward to watching you grow throughout the next year! 


Until next time!
Love, Mommy

6 Whole Years

6 whole years ago I married this handsome lad on October 15th! It was an amazing day, one I wish I could go back to and do all over again! We have been so very blessed in our life together and continue to enjoy every day, (OK, almost every day), making memories!

Our wedding day!

Honeymoon to Cozumel, Mexico!

Spending 4 days in a hurricane shelter waiting out Hurricane Wilma... that's a Honeymoon to remember! 

Dating years!