Pumpkin Carving

Since my kids are not old enough yet to carve their own, we carve one pumpkin as a family. I envision one day that we will each have our own pumpkin and have a carving contest or something fun like that but in the meantime we pick a design together and get to work. Hudson really had his heart set on a spider design and we picked one similar to last year.

Although most of the work was done by Jason the boys still liked watching and are very proud of their jack-o-lantern. Meanwhile, I was taking the guts and turning them into some darn good roasted pumpkin seeds. Here's the simple recipe:

2 cups fresh pumpkin seeds

3 tablespoons melted butter

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

Hollow out your pumpkin; rinse and remove all stringy parts of the pumpkin until you have clean seeds. Line a baking pan with foil and grease the foil. In a small bowl, combine all ingredients; spread into the prepared pan. Bake at 250 for 45-50 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Increase heat to 325. Bake 5 minutes longer or until seeds are dry and lightly browned. Serve warm, or cool before storing in an air-tight container.

Enjoy!

Pumpkin Patch, The Lodge, and Trunk of Treats

Wow, we've had another busy few days around here. We've had a blast and have made some great memories! Friday morning we headed out to the pumpkin patch. We go here each year because the boys love the train ride.

I did not get a single good picture of the boys together. You'd think after the 200+ pictures I took that I'd at least get one. (sigh) Maybe next year?

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On Friday afternoon, we headed over to the The Great Wolf Lodge. We had never been before and decided to try it out. We had so much fun!

We stayed in the Wolf Den suite. The boys really liked the bunk beds and the "cave" area that was their room.

So excited!Waiting for story time. Each night at 8:00 they have an animated show and then story time. The kids wear their pajamas and sit in front of the large clock tower. It was a pretty cheesy show but the boys liked it.

The trees reminded me of the ones from The Wizard of Oz.

Enjoying some popcorn in the room

One of the coolest features were the wristbands- you could pay for your meals with these (they would just charge your room) and they also served as your room key. You didn't have to carry around room keys so you just waved your band across the scanner on your door and it would unlock. Very cool. Hudson was quite upset though when he discovered that his wristband did not have this feature.

I really meant to take my camera into the water park area but I never made it. I didn't want to keep up with it or chance it getting wet. We had a lot of fun swimming and splashing around in the water. There is a TON to do there and I'd recommend it to any family that is looking for weekend getaway. We'll do it again someday!

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Tonight we had our Trunk-of-Treats up at church. The boys got to wear their Halloween costumes and visit some booths in order to get candy. (just what we need!)

Before we left I tried to get some pictures of the boys in their costumes. You may remember my dilemma with Hudson and Halloween costumes. He does not like things on his head or over his face. So, that weeds out about 95% of the costumes on the market. I was so excited when I found this Bullseye costume at the latest Just Between Friends sale because I knew that it would pass his criteria. You can see that he's less than pleased with the whole idea. Such a party pooper sometimes!After finding Hudson's costume I just knew that Cooper had to be Woody. Cheesy, I know but how much longer will I be able to theme their costumes? This is quite possibly the last year. You can see how Cooper felt about his hat.

Getting tattoos

On the bounce house obstacle course.

What a fun weekend......I just hope my kids don't come to expect this kind of treatment all the time! Although we had fun dear friends, I. AM. POOPED!!

Lots Happening (long post!)

A couple of weeks ago Jason and I went to the movies. Beforehand, we bought some candy and smuggled it inside (shhh, don't tell!) and Jason ate all but a box of Junior Mints. I had it in my purse for a few days and didn't think much about it. I had actually kind of forgotten about them. One day last week, I was doing laundry and was out of Cooper's sight for approximately 2 minutes. I came back into the living room to find it quiet and still....and we all know that's not a good sign! I found Cooper between our couches and he was holding an empty box of Junior Mints. His chocolate smeared face gave him away and I couldn't help but laugh. This boy!

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The boys and I enjoyed making some pumpkin cookies the other day.

Pouring on the sprinkles

Why use hands when you can just dive right in?

What a mess! Have you ever seen a kid use his whole face to chew?

Love this kid!

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Friday night, right as we were about to put the boys to bed, Hudson tripped and hit his face on our tile floor. He immediately started to scream, we saw blood, and Jason grabbed him and ran into the kitchen. I instantly noticed that his front tooth was GONE....and it wasn't loose before this. I'm not really sure who was traumatized more- Hudson or me- but I'm happy to report that it was a clean break, his fat lip is healing nicely, and the tooth fairly left him 4 shiny quarters in his pillow.

The next morning. Do you see the hole where his top tooth used to be?Big, puffy lip!

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On Saturday Hudson had his school carnival. It was a lot of fun!

The boys doing at the Book Walk Booth.

Hudson at the Face Painting Booth.

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Yesterday, Hudson lost another tooth, except this one had been loose for some time.

So now I have my very own pumpkin......just in time for Halloween!