We Pumpkin Patched

Fall in the Pacific Northwest is seriously beautiful.  Stunning really.  And with so many awesome activities, it makes for great family fun.

One of our favorite things to do is visit the pumpkin patch.  There's lots of them around here but we have a favorite, Bob's Corn and Pumpkin Farm.  Its our favorite because it's smaller than the other pumpkin patches, has lots of great things to do including corn mazes, apple picking, farm animals to pet, corn and apple cannons and even a playground.  There's fresh corn on the cob straight from the field and homemade apple and pumpkin donuts.  Seriously- THE BEST!

Fresh roasted corn straight from the field!

But what I love the most about it is that it's run by a local family.  Bob and Sarah and their adorable five daughters.  But wait!  It gets even better....Bob's farm has been in his family for over 100 years.  So when we walk around their country store that was once a calf barn or ride the tractor to the pumpkin patch or purchase some of their local honey- we are supporting this great local family.  Sure, I pay WAY more here for a pumpkin then I ever would in a grocery store.  But it's not just about the pumpkins people.  It's about this family and supporting their way of life and my community.  Now that's an awesome thing to teach your kids.

We've been coming to Bob's for several years now.  The kiddo's very first trip to a pumpkin patch was when he was just 18 months old.  The husband and I set his little feet down in the dirt and away he went.  And today, almost 8 years later, he's still running around the patch like a pro.

With Grammie & Grampie

When we make our 10 minute trek to the pumpkin patch, we always try to include the important people in our life.  Most years- extended family will join us at the patch.  It varies year to year, cousins, aunts, uncles, grandparents etc but we do our best to make it a true family outing.  This is just one of the many traditions that the husband and I have started for the kiddo and I'm so very glad we did.

Building holiday traditions is easier then you think.  What starts out as a fun activity soon turns into a yearly "must do" and for us, our trip to the pumpkin patch signifies the start to our holiday season.  Fall is officially here, let the celebrations begin!

Thankful Tree

I posted a photo of our Thankful Tree over on the Homeschooled Housewife Facebook page.  I had several folks ask me how to make one.  So here it is- step by step instructions to make your very own Thankful Tree!

Step 1:

Cut out your tree "trunk" using brown paper grocery bags.  Remember back in the "olden days" when we would use these brown paper sacks to cover our school books?  Make the cuts in the bag just like you would for a book cover, simply cut off the bottom of the bag and unfold the sides to make one long strip.

Cut along the side.  Then completely cut the bottom of the bag off.

Next, you can trace a tree trunk design or do it free form, I prefer free form.  Just cut wavy lines and a wider base at the bottom.  I use 2 bags to make a nice long tree trunk.

Step 2:

Tape your pieces together and attach to your wall.  Make sure you are using tape that won't ruin your wall paint!  Holy Moly would the husband be pissed if I damaged the walls!

Use 2 bags for the trunk.  Create the tree
branches using the leftover scraps.

Step 3:

Use the scraps from your tree trunk to cut out tree branches.  Again, you can create a design and then cut or just wing it.  Can you tell I'm a fan of winging it?

Make sure that you have different size branches.  Make some longer, some shorter, some fatter, etc.  I also like to tape two branches of different sizes together to create a "V" shaped branch.  This will make your tree look more natural.

Step 4:

Outline your tree in black sharpie, especially if you have brown, beige or tan colored walls like I do!  This will make your tree stand out against your wall color.

Step 5:

Cut out leaves in Fall colors.  I prefer the Maple leaf because it provides more room to write your thankful message.  Here's the template I use that you can download.  For the leaf paper, I just use some of my son's construction paper and spend an afternoon cutting out leaves and watching Christmas movies on the Hallmark Channel.  Good times!

Make sure that you cut out enough leaves for everyone in your family for the month of November.  Don't forget to cut out extras for guests and visitors!

Step 6:

Each day have everyone in your family write their Thankful message.  Ours look like this:  I'm Thankful for___________.  William 11/15/2013.  Don't forget to sign and date them!  I also give any visitors to our home the option of writing their own Thankful leaf.  They can either take the leaf home with them as a reminder of what they are thankful for or put it on our Thankful Tree.

One Week into November & our
Thankful Tree is looking great!

TIP- Each year I keep the old leaves and make a garland out of them.  It's awesome to watch my son's handwriting change through the years and see what everyone is thankful for- now that is a truly beautiful thing!

Halloween in Pictures

I love Halloween.

There- I said it.  Halloween, Fall, Thanksgiving, Christmas....ah, it's my favorite time of the year.

When I met my husband over 13 years ago, he didn't much care for Halloween.  We went to a few party's and did the obligatory "couple's costumes" but that got old real quick.  After the birth of our son, the way we celebrate holidays changed.  No longer was it about kegs, loud music and sexy nurse costumes.

So today, I want to share with you something that we have done just about every Halloween and I'm so very glad we did!

Seems simple really and I'm irritated that the thought didn't occur to me until my son was 2 1/2 years old.  But here it is- each year we take a professional photo of my son in his Halloween costume.  Seriously, when you spend $50-100 on a costume that is only worn once, seems fitting to make it a bit more memorable.  I only wish I had thought of it sooner!

William's very first Halloween photo was when he was 2 1/2 in his Nemo costume.  That year he became obsessed with Nemo.  He watched the movie just about every day, was running around quoting lines from the movie and so when it was time to pick out his costume- it was a no brainer- Nemo!

William "Batman" age 5 and Lucky Dog "Robin

In the years that have followed, William has taken pictures as Pluto clutching his Mickey Mouse stuffed animal, Lightening McQueen, Batman with his trusty sidekick Robin, Sorcerer Mickey to commemorate the year we went to Disneyland for Mickey's Halloween Party and a Lego.  This year we've turned a corner in the costume department and he's dressing up as something scarier- a Zombie.

Every year I frame William's picture and bring it out of storage as part of my seasonal holiday decor.  William loves seeing his costumes from year's past and I have to say, that it's pretty awesome to see them as the years go by.  All too soon, he'll be grown and dressing up won't be cool anymore...What a great way to remember a fun time in our life!