the hunt house

This weekend, we went to the hunt house for the youth hunt and our annual fall party.  Tripp, Lily, and Grace were super excited to go hunting!

This was Grace's very first time and she sure didn't know what to expect, but she was ready to go!!!

Poppa took her hunting and he said as soon as she got in the stand, she was ready to come back to the house.  Ha!  She stayed out there a while though!

While the "big kids" were hunting, Carter and Charlie got a lot of playing in!

It was sooo cold and we had to stay warm.  

The girls came back and they didn't shoot anything...

...but they had a fun time and Grace and Poppa saw three deer!

They took a few minutes to warm up inside and then they were back outside to look for treasures!

Kenny and Beth were getting ready to eat taco soup around the bonfire.

Brad and Steph were ready for lunch too!

After we ate, Carter and I took a ride!

Then it was pumpkin carving time!

Carter and Charlie played together a lot, but they also fought a lot!

John (and Grace) did such a great carving our Cookie Monster pumpkin!

Next, we made s'mores...

...and they were yummy!

Carter made sure that I got in on the s'mores action!

While I was trying to get a picture of all our pumpkins, this sweet boy jumped in front of my camera...cheese!

Cookie Monster, Jack o' Happy, and an angel

Mimi and Poppa were snuggling by the fire.

I caught Grace and Carter sharing a snack while admiring the pumpkins!

Poppa and his hunting buddy fell asleep on the couch...how sweet!

The next morning began bright and early with Carter YELLING at us to get him OUT!  We hung out, played, ate, and decorated cookies before we headed home!

Thanks, Aunt Steph!  The cookies were super yummy...especially before lunch!  Ha!

the pumpkin patch

We took our annual trip to the pumpkin patch the other day and we had a great time.  The kids went straight to the swings, of course.

Carter was so proud of himself...can you tell?  That face is killing me!

Next, it was time for a train ride.  Grace was so excited and Carter was just taking it all in.

Lots more playing...

Grace needs a tire swing...she had so much fun!

Carter wants to be just like his big sister.  Seriously, love him and those red curls!

We finally took a hayride out to the pumpkin patch.  (Dear Santa, John NEEDS some new sunglasses for Christmas, please!)

It didn't take Grace long to find her perfect pumpkin.

Carter thought the pumpkins were great!!!  He loved picking them up and chunking them across the field while I ran around trying to catch him and the pumpkins.

My favorite 2 punkins in the whole world!!!

Love this guy too!

This was in the backseat on the way home.  I think he had a great time...I know I did!

Oh, and by the way, that pumpkin has been very close to that little hand ever since it came home with us.  It even went on an errand to Target the other day.  Ha!

we made applesauce

Grace and Carter helped me make applesauce the other day.  First, we peeled and chopped up 6 apples, but I'm pretty sure only about 5 whole apples made it in the crock pot.  There were these little hands that kept reaching up and grabbing the apple pieces.  Grace helped chop the apples and she thought she was so big...using a knife.

I bet you can't guess whose hands were stealing those apples.

Can you tell how proud she was?

Next, we added about a half a cup of sugar, a half a stick of butter, and some cinnamon.

We turned the crock pot on low and we went to the pumpkin patch.

When we got home, our house smelled soooo good!  After dinner, we ate our super yummy applesauce.  Carter LOVED it.  Grace did not. I do not like applesauce, but I love this kind...a little chunky and buttery!  Mmm!

InstaWeek

Grace was so excited to be the Star of the Week at school!  She was so proud of her poster that told about her favorite things!

We made cookies after dinner one night and Grace said, "These are so good!  It like makes my breath happy!"

The next night after dinner, Grace called me outside to look at God's beautiful pink sky.

Grace went on her very first field trip and I got to come along.  She rode a bus to the pumpkin patch.  The kids had so much fun and were all so cute...they acted like a little family.

That night, Carter and I were waiting on Grace to get out of Awana and this guy was really building with these Legos.  We may need to ask Santa for some!

Then, we had tornado warnings for a few hours.  Ugh!  I really HATE tornados!

Thursday, I went on a second field trip this week.  This time, my kindergarten class went to the fire museum.  Let me just say two field trips in a row are too many!!!

Saturday, Grace played store at Aunt Steph's booth at Christmas in the Valley.  This was almost her dream come true...since she plays store or restaurant every chance she gets!

We drive by this inflatable pumpkin every day and we stopped by to check it out.  "It's the great pumpkin, Charlie Brown."