Carving out a lil' Kitty-

While I can't hold a candle to Erika and Andrew (although I suspect the use of stencils...CHEATING :)~ Here is the pumpkin I carved tonight with the boys. I tried taking a picture without the flash so that you could see it lit up, as it looks the best that way, but I couldn't figure out how to turn the flash off on my camera. Probably better that way, cuz then I'd never figure out how to turn it back on ;)

Chase liked watching me gut it, but then the carving was far too mundane and he was off playing with much more exciting things like sharp carving knives...true story. Cooper gutted his own lil' version, but alas was only allowed to use markers. It's a bit soon to give him free reign with a sharp utensil.

I asked Cooper if he wanted me to make him a cat and he said yes, so that's what we've got here. Our very own Halloween cat! Happy haunting everyone!

A visit to the 'soggy' pumpkin patch-2009 edition

Not that anyone could be surprised... but we were rained out! We still got in the good stuff, but it started to pour buckets after about 10 minutes of our visit to Joe's Farms to pick out pumpkins. We were able to make our selections and get them into the wheel barrow... but once we weighed them and went in to pay... the downpour ensued! Regardless, the hay ride was still on tap for the day, and there was no way we were getting outta there without a hay ride. Luckily they were covered wagons which made the ride perfectly enjoyable. We got fresh juicy apples from the orachard to crunch on while we took our ride around the corn fields. Cooper loved his apple and Chase really 'soaked' up the scenery ;) I do love the holidays, and this is just the beginning!

Hope this finds you doing well. Enjoy the pics-

-AMBER

Today was open house night... or 'open door' as Cooper kept calling it. We got to see a bit into what his day is like when he is at Preschool. Mrs. Laura went through a fast forward version of a day in the life... and Cooper was... animated to say the least. I'm pretty sure most of it was showing off for his Nana and Bapa who came to support us tonight.

We did get to see Cooper hold the american flag upright while they recited what they had learned so far of the pledge of allegiance. Although, Mrs. Laura had to keep tilting it up and away from the ground as Cooper threatened to use it as a weapon on the nearest innocent by stander. It's funny now, but at the time, pretty embarrassing.

Cooper's pictures came back... and I do have to say he just looks so mature... and HANDSOME! I mean really.... can one kid be any more good looking? Oh wait, I have a son Chase who is equally has Handsome ;) LUCKY ME! Anyhoo... I tried to take a snap of it so I could post it on here for all of you to see.

I recently had a nice surprise... for my 30th, my parents drove down from Belfair. If that wasn't enough, moments after I caught my breath from their arrival, my lil' sis Erika and my nephew Keegan come walking around the corner! NO SMALL FEAT! They live in Kentucky... so the fact that they were here for me was so emotional for me I can't even put it into words. I was sad to see them all go and miss them terribly. If that weren't enough, Ryan threw me a surprise b-day party on Saturday night. My friends showed up, and Rex drove down with his boys and Brandie came to join the party with Lauren and Marshall; so for me, my WHOLE family was here and that was truly the best gift anyone could ever ever get me. I LOVED IT and felt so loved. Thank you so much family, really... thank you!

Til' next time- Hope this finds you doing well.

-AMBER