Owens Farm-Pumpkin Patch

I LOVE family outings! I think I'm wierd but I love exposing my children to new experiences and expanding their point of view. This coupled with my love for creating family traditions and memories makes me quite the sucker for an annual excursion to the Pumpkin Patch.

Convieniently Kaitlyn's preschool class was planning an outing and so we tagged along. (We were going to go last week as a family but Linz and Sambo were sick with fevers and the weather wasn't great). I was also so glad that Stephen, who has accrued so much extra PTO, was able to take the morning off to spend with us.

First we were a little overwhelmed when we arrived at the farm. Kaitlyn's school class is all of 12 kids and 2 teachers. Throw 3 more parents into the mix (minus our family) that was our group. Imagine our reaction when arriving at the farm there were like 8 LARGE school buses full of elementary school kids. There were HUNDREDS of parents and kids at the farm. We thought this whole outing would be a disaster for the crowds but it really wasn't a big deal. We all stayed together, there were lots of different things to do (feeding the animals, looking at horses, pigs, donkeys, cows, etc.)

The first thing we did was go on a hay ride. Sam couldn't get up onto the trailer fast enough, he was so excited!! He has a silly face in this photo--he's such a funny kid!! Kaitlyn, who normally would have been totally overwhelmed by this whole thing was for the most part uninhibited I think because we've gone here a handful of times already so she really could enjoy herself. Here she is with one of her best friends from school, Molly.

We've gone to a pumpkin patch EVERY year as a family, this year is Lindsey's first pumpkin patch experience because her birthday is the day after Halloween. Here she is with Dad. She has a pacifier in her mouth in nearly every photo because this whole activity was during her normal nap time and while she wasn't fussy and did perfectly fine, the pacifier helped I think!

Sam really wanted to see a horse. It was his only request all morning as we got ready to go, we saw a few miniature horses feeding along with some geese and ducks while on the hay ride. Sam was all over the fact a REALLY BIG TRACTOR was pulling the trailer. As soon as we got off the hay ride, he wanted to climb onto the other trailer and go again!

Then Kaitlyn's class sat down for a snack. Kaitlyn and Molly are silly snackers!! They got to the farm before us so they'd already seen all the animals in the pens but Sam hadn't so Dad took him around to see all the horses eating and pigs sleeping.

When snack time was over and we'd let the kids run around and we'd taken a photo op with the kids and thier teachers:

It was time to search for our pumpkins. Lindsey didn't get to choose one but she took good care of Sammy's cute pumpkin. Don't you think?

We had such a fun time! The weather was crisp and cool, the sun shone brightly, everyone was happy and had a good time. I love successful family outings! Tomorrow night we'll carve the pumpkins (Dad has mutual and bishopric tonight). I can't wait until next year, Happy Pumpkining Everybody!!

Here are some other great shots:

And finally a family shot. I had hoped for one worthy of our Christmas card but no dice, ah well there's always next time!!!

It's SUPER Kaitlyn

I have this really creative friend named Julie. Her son Braden had a birthday party recently and it was a super hero themed party. We were delighted when we arrived and she'd made all the kids their very own capes to keep. I was even more tickled when appropriately, Kaitlyns cape was this sparkly pink material! She LOVES this cape and wears it all over the house and on walks. It's especially humorous when all of a sudden she turns on her running feet and bursts out "Super Girl to the Rescue!!!" Gee, I feel so much safer now! =)

What we did Friday

Friday turned out to be a wonderful day! Kaitlyn had school (it's all about routine and keeping things normal), we made welcome home cards for Dad, and my mom came over to watch the kids while I ran an errand.

When I got home, Sam and KP wanted to go on a walk, with Grandma, so we got them ready to go. It was really bright and sunny that day and Grandma got out her sunglasses, well that started it! Sam wanted to wear HIS sunglasses (see the picture, they've known better days) and Kaitlyn's have long since been busted so she wore a pair of Dad's. It was cute! They had a great walk and came home with......Bubbles! A special treat from our fabulous neighbor friend Carol! We then blew bubbles and got all soapy!

Then after Lindsey's nap the kids went over to our friends the Hamblins while I ran another errand (this kid free errand thing is totally the way to go!!) and took a quick power nap.

Thanks to all this help I was a refreshed, relaxed, happy mom and wife to a husband who has been gone oh so much lately! Thanks for all the help, every mom with young kids deserves a break and deserves friends like mine!!

Just Surviving

Stephen is traveling....a lot. He was gone Monday the 6th through Wednesday the 8th. Was home Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Then he left this past Sunday the 12th and is gone until Friday night. He'll be home Saturday and Sunday then leaves again Monday (the 20th) and is gone until Wednesday (the 22nd) night again. Whew! I figure that in this 17 day period, he'll be home 5 days. What do you do when you're playing the single mom? I've done my best to keep me and my kiddos busy. Here's what we've done:

Monday: Went up to my parents for dinner and FHE. We had a traditional FHE like the one I grew up with where my mom taught the lesson while dad drew pictures. It was great!

Tuesday: Dentist visits for the kids--they love these! Then to the park with a "new" friend--to them, old to me.

Sunday: Church, went on a walk

Monday: Preschool, baked chocolate chip cookies, and played soccer in the backyard for FHE

Tuesday: Went to the "rock" park, went to McDonalds for lunch and played on their playgroud too!! In the afternoon we watched a movie and popped popcorn.

Wednesday: Grandparents Lewis showed up for dinner and played with us. Sam got some much needed male wrestling time in--I just don't cut it.

Thursday: I was rescued by some good friends and had a 2 hour break to run errands. Then I took a powernap while Super Why occupied my kids--I NEVER do that so I figured I'd earned it.

Friday: Hmmmmmm, any ideas?

We've played outside a lot, went on nightly walks and pestered neighbors. Dinners have been ultra simple. Sam's in a dumping stage so we've cleaned his room and his dumpings more times than I'd like to count. He also drew on the wall tonight so that was fun to talk about with him. I am tired and appreciate my husband 100 times more for all he does for me and our family. I'm so glad I have him as my partner. I really miss him a lot! I also have a new respect for single moms which deepens every time I tackle this by myself!

Eat it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without!

Okay people, I am probably going to get busted for this and this post will be removed later, but hubby is out of town and so he may not see this for a few days.

Something that I give Stephen a hard time about is how long he insists on wearing his clothing. He takes "wear it out" to a whole new level in my opinion. When we got married he still had lots of soccer shorts that he used to wear in high school and the elastic in them cracked when I tried to stretch them, he had about 18 t-shirts that were the free give away type shirts. I've slowly insisted that even in a month of Saturdays he wouldn't need so many so now were down for about 8 I think. You get the picture.

He has had THESE SHORTS since his freshman year....in HIGH SCHOOL! They've been his Saturday grubbies for a while since they've long ago been banished from being worn in public. But just this last weekend he mentioned that they probably are about done. He was proud of the fact that they've lasted him so long (17 years!). Sure we'll run on out and get you a replacement pair sweetie, I'm sure PCH brand cotton shorts are still available.

Now as much as I poke fun at this, I do truly appreciate this about my husband because I know that we are financially secure largely due to his frugal nature and his inattention to the latest fashion trend. His attachment to his clothing is just one of those quirky things to love and adore about him. Don't you think?

How long do you think is too long to keep an item of clothing?

Have you ever seen this?

Kaitlyn has had a shoe fettish since she was very young but not this young!! She loved wearing shoes......ON HER FEET. A funny memory is going shoe shopping with her Grandma Lewis and upon entering a store, she became overwhelmed and gasped and couldn't take her shoes off fast enough. She spent the next 30 minutes finding every brightly colored shoe regardless of size and trying it on. That I understand....

But what if your daughter prefers to wear the shoes on her hands?!?!

Lindsey's shoe fettish has begun much earlier in life, she LOVES them, she chews on them (I know ewww right?), but she loves to wear them on her hands and then crawl all over the house. It's hilarious! What's really funny are Kaitlyn's flip flops because she fits the toe part between her pointer finger and her thumb and off she goes! Someday we'll show her where shoes really go, but for now she'll just have stinky hands!!

General Conference: Family Traditions

Something really important to me is having family traditions. My family had quirky ones like going to the SAME CHRISTMAS TREE FARM every year dispite it's exorbitant cost and dealing with the mean "watch geese" and eating the "free" popcorn.

So one of the family traditions that we've begun is how we watch general conference. When I was little, I remember each of the children in my family laying out our sleeping bags on the floor of the family room. That was our space to sit and watch and listen. Mom always created a wonderful spread of snacking foods for us to eat the whole time. It was great!!

The new generation of conference traditions varies a little. We take our guidance from the Book of Mormon where the prophet who was also King, Benjamin is about to die but has a final sermon to preach. He asks his people to gather to listen: Mosiah 2:6,"And they pitched their tents round about the temple, every man having his a tent with the door thereof towards the temple, that thereby they might remain in their tents and hear the words which king Benjamin should speak unto them;" So we thought it would be fun to make tents out of sheets and blankets for us to be like the people of Zarahelma. I am amateur at best at making blanket tents, but I married an engineer and he is a master at them. He pulled out his clamps from the garage and made a tent that encompassed our whole living room. It was big enough for our whole family to enjoy!!

How many of your family traditions are centered on food? We make Grandma McKneely's famous Cinnamon Rolls during Conference weekend too! These are always enjoyed with slices of cheddar cheese, bananas and orange juice. YUMMY! And because they are such a favorite I always have lots of willing helpers. I LOVE cooking with my children, yes it takes 3 times as long but I love all the interaction and learning that takes place. And I've learned that as they're involved in food preparation, they're more likely to eat it!!

What General Conference family traditions does your family enjoy?