Carving Pumpkins

Our family enjoyed carving pumpkins last night. Maryn didn't really know what to think as this was truly her first experience with carving pumpkins (last year she screamed the entire time we were carving pumpkins and I have the video to prove it). As soon as Josh and Makenna started scooping out the insides, Maryn of course picked up a handful and put it in her mouth which immediately came right back out ;) She would stand there and watch, played with the seeds a little bit, loved clanking the spoons together and liked to stand by the pumpkins and try to make them roll. Makenna on the other hand, really got into digging out the pumpkins this year. We carved a face into one pumpkin and she insisted on coloring the other one.

Makenna scooping out the insides


Makenna and Daddy working on the pumpkins


Maryn checking out Daddy and the pumpkin


Covered in pumpkin seeds and pumpkin gook!


Coming back for some more pumpkin fun!


Maryn's favorite part of the night... playing with the spoons.

How Tall This Fall

The pumpkin patch that we visit every fall has a wooden painted structure that measures how tall kids have grown and says "How Tall This Fall." Just by chance, we happened to get Makenna's picture taken by it the first Halloween we went out there and every year since. Well after we were out there yesterday I got to thinking that it would be fun to look back at all those pictures to see how Makenna has grown over the years. Enjoy! These pictures make it more than obvious how fast this child grows :)

Fall 2005 (15 months)


Fall 2006 (2 years, 3 months)


Fall 2007 (3 years, 3 months)

Pumpkin Patch 2007

We recently made our annual trip to the pumpkin patch! We had so much fun! We always go to the same place... Kroul farm in Mount Vernon. It is a family run farm with lots of fun activities for the kids to enjoy, plus their pumpkins are still reasonably priced (which isn't the case at most pumpkin farms anymore). The girls had a good time and each got a pumpkin. Makenna's favorite part was the maze made out of hay bales... most likely because Daddy let her climb on top and run around :) Truth be told, Daddy wanted to climb on top of the hay bales and run around :)

Daddy and his girls on top of the hay bales


Mommy and her girls at the pumpkin patch


Maryn checking out the pumpkins. She prefers pumpkins with stems just like her mommy :)


Daddy showing Maryn the cows. She only liked the cows from a safe distance. Makenna usually loves all the livestock and animals they have at this farm, but was too focused on getting her pumpkin this year to enjoy the animals.


Which pumpkin should we get? Makenna actually hunted around to find just the right one.


Makenna with her pumpkin!


Attempting to get the girls to stand by the "How Tall This Fall" sign. More to come on this in a future blog.


The people that run this pumpkin farm are genius and have outdoor toys for the little kids to play on. Makenna enjoying one of the cars.


The girls playing bumper cars.


Maryn LOVING her car!


Maryn checking out the hay bales.


Sidenote: As you can see in some of the pictures above, I finally had to get glasses :( I was always so proud of my perfect vision, but knew something was up for the past few months when I would have excruciating headaches after driving and doing computer work. I'm still not sure what I think about the whole thing, but they helped my vision almost immediately. Thank goodness. Hopefully now all my bad headaches will go away.

Itchy MarBear

Poor little MarBear! In the middle of the morning on Saturday I noticed that Maryn had this funny red splotchy rash on her neck, head and side of her face. Upon further inspection she also had it on her entire torso and now it has spread to her forehead as well. I talked to the doctor's office immediately and they are convinced that it is just a result of a virus running it's course (even though she has no other symptoms). She has been extremely uncomfortable, itching a lot and fussing all the time. I feel so bad for her. If she is still uncomfortable and itchy tomorrow I'm taking her in for a second opinion.

Even though she was fussy most of the weekend, there were a few things we could do to make her happy and comfortable... her favorite being going outside. The cool dry air helped take away the itch. Check out Daddy and MarBear hanging out on the deck before bedtime on Saturday night...

Flu Shots

This morning we made our annual trip to the doctor's office for our flu shots. The reason this merits a post on my blog is because Makenna LOVES going to the doctor and getting shots. Yes, you read that right. She LOVES getting shots. When I told her last night that we were going to get our flu shots in the morning she was jumping all around the kitchen and told me "I'm going to be brave mommy! I won't cry! I'm a big girl!" And I had no doubt in my mind that this would be the case since last year she didn't even flinch, no tears, nothing. As a matter of fact, she was only upset that they gave me my flu shot first instead of her. Well today she lived up to my expectations... she marched right in there this morning all ready to be the model patient. She excitedly pulled her pants down (to give them her leg), hopped up on the table, and then declared "That didn't hurt at all. I'm so brave!" Yes, yes she is! Every nurse that has ever given her a shot is just amazed. By far, she is not a typical kid when it comes to this.

And poor little MarBear... she did cry and a LOT. To add insult to injury, she is also teething today and in a lot of pain from that already. I have a feeling we're in for a long day filled with lots of tears.

Playtime At Our House

I captured some priceless pictures of Makenna the other day as we were playing in the playroom. She hasn't been much into dress-up play until just recently and it is quite amusing. Cinderella is her favorite character. Maryn of course is always just along for the ride and smiley as usual. And yes, Makenna put on this entire get-up by herself.

Princess Chair

We have the ugliest, smelliest princess chair around and our girls absolutely LOVE this thing. This chair somehow took on a very weird industrial smell and I can't seem to get rid of it. On top of that the zipper on the bottom is broken and thus leaves a flap of material hanging there and exposing the gross inside of the chair. I bought it for Makenna when she was just about MarBear's age to help with the transition from our old house to the condo we lived in for a few months. Well this not-so-wise investment became a nuisance very fast, so when we moved into our new house I was able to hide it away in the basement and luckily she forgot about it. Much to my dismay, one of the many times we were hanging out in our basement due to a tornado warning this past summer, Makenna found the chair and of course had to have it up in the living room. Maryn has come to love the chair as well and now the two of them fight over who gets to sit in it. I'm plotting my next move to get rid of this eyesore from my living room (keep in mind that I'm typically not very picky given the fact that 85% of our house is covered in toys). Since another move is definitely not an option, I'm open to any and all ideas :)

Maryn enjoying the princess chair all by herself one morning before Makenna was out of bed!


How can something so ugly and smelly bring such joy to a child's face?!

Little Ballerinas

10 little ballerinas dancing in a row! Today parents were allowed to watch ballet class (and I now understand why we aren't allowed to watch all the other weeks). Josh and I are in agreement that it was one of the most hilarious things we've seen in awhile. Some of the parents that had their camcorders in there should send it in to Funniest Home Videos for some money. It was complete disorganized chaos with a constant high-pitched squeal. I felt so bad for the teacher because none of the little girls were paying attention or minding because they were showing off for their parents. Makenna did a great job (minus her shoe continuously coming untied and having to go to the bathroom in the middle of it all). I was shocked at how many ballet moves she actually learned in just a few weeks! Enjoy the pictures!

Stretching


She actually looks like a ballerina!!


Seriously, does this picture even need a caption?!


Look how well she is following her teacher! I'm so proud!


More of trying to follow the teacher...


This was towards the end of class and Makenna was more interested in her skirt than anything else :) Notice that everyone is doing their own thing in the background.


Learning to point our toes. The funny thing is that every week when she would get home from ballet class we would ask her what she learned and every week she would point her toe and say that's all she learned. Well come to find out she really learned at least a dozen different dance moves! Stinker had me fooled :)