Carter's first Tie, Jemma's (overdue) haircut, and Carving Pumpkins

~Carter's First Tie~

I have been looking for a little clip-on tie (that wasn't $20 bucks!) for Carter to wear to church for a while now and I found this little shirt and tie set at Old Navy. On Sunday, I pulled it out for Carter to wear, and I figured he would yank it right off, but he LOVED it! He kept pointing to it and saying "Daddy!" - he knew he looked like his Daddy and he thought that was AWESOME! Too cute!

~The Overdue Haircut~

We have always kept Jemma's hair short - it's just easier to manage and when you have thin straight hair, the shorter, the better. But for the last 5 or 6 WEEKS I have been asking her if I could cut her hair..."No, I want it long", she would tell me...BLAST! She was forming her own opinion and had decided that she liked her hair long...

So, today when it was time to get ready for dance, I was trying to get her hair into pigtails - it has to be out of her face - and she kept saying that it was hurting and giving her "owies" and she wanted to take it out. I simply told her if she wanted long hair, then this is how it goes on dance days, but if she would let me cut it, then she wouldn't have to wear it up!...still a no go. So after dance, we were eating lunch and Jemma said, in true Jemma fashion, "I have an idea! Let's watch a movie!" To which I responded, "I have an idea. Let's cut your hair and then watch a movie." Jemma:"No, we can't watch a movie." To smart for that one. So, I decided, as long as I'm bribing her, "Jemma, if you let me cut your hair I will let you choose 2 BIG treats out of the treat bowl!" Jemma: "Okay! You can cut my hair!" HA! So, here are some pics from the affair on hair!

Before

During

First cut.

After

She told me when we were all done, "I look so beautiful!" I agree. :)

~Carving Pumpkins~

On Monday, we decided to carve our pumpkins for Family Home Evening. Last year, we skipped out on the whole thing cuz the kids and I didn't get back from California in time. But this year, we went for it. It's always messy business, but the kids loved it and it ended up being pretty fun!

Carter with one of the little pumpkins we grew in our garden. (We got 9 little pumpkins this year...our big ones didn't get pollinated in time and died when the cold weather set in.)

Jemma scoopin' out the seeds.

Almost done!

Ta-Da! I know the pic isn't that good, but there they are! Jemma wanted a girl pumpkin, so Brandon attempted to do some eyelashes...not bad! (Jemma has deemed that one the "girl pirate pumpkin!" If only we had an eye patch!)

Lakeview Farms

I have REALLY been wanting to take Jemma and Carter to a pumpkin patch and there are so many around here in Oregon, but I had to find THE BEST...I think I may have lucked out! Last year, Jemma went to a couple of fun pumpkin patches with both my parents and Brandon's parents while we were out visiting, and at both, she got to go on a pony ride, so, that was a priority on my list of MUSTS! Come to find out, there are not many around here that offer that, but we found one...Lakeview farms...that had pony rides on the weekends. SO, Lakeview farms it was. We were probably only there an hour or two, but the kids had so much fun!

Jemma and Brandon...Brandon is quite talented...Jemma couldn't reach on her own, so he's holding her up and looking out for the pic! Impressive!

Carter!

Brandon and the kids, checking out how tall they are.

To get over to the pumpkin patch, you ride on a little ferry boat...they had a shark and a dragon that popped out of the water (I only got a pic of the dragon) that Jemma has talked endlessly about ever since.Carter on his pony, Fancy. He LoVeD it! I wasn't sure if he would stay on, but he did great! (Brandon walked along side him though, just in case.)

Jemma, however, needed no supervision! She is quite a natural on horseback. Her pony was named Bemany. (Kinda sounded like Emily...) Jemma gave her lots of pats on the neck and encouragement..."good girl Bemany", "What a cute little horse you are Bemany!" Etc. Jemma was convinced that these were baby horses...she hasn't quite grasped the concept that ponies are just small...even when they are all grown up! :)

Another shot of Brandon and Carter

Jemma again, having a BLAST!!!

Checkin' out the pumpkins...needless to say, we did NOT purchase our pumpkins there...not when we can get them for 8 cents a lb. at the grocery store! But they were sure fun to look at!

Brandon and the kids. I don't know that you can see it that well in the background, but this little spot had such beautiful landscape! Across the lake were all these trees changing color and the weather just happened to be PeRfEcT! Blue skies and sunny! (Those days are few and far between this time of year.)

To get back over to the parking lot, you took a little train back. Jemma and Carter loved this too. It took you through a little tunnel with all these scarecrows set up doing things like laundry, eating dinner, etc. (The scarecrow heads were, of course, pumpkins.) Very Cute!

Me and the kids on the train.

Brandon and the kids in front of the train after our ride.

We had such a good time and the kids and I were so glad to have Brandon along! It now officially feels like fall, and this little Saturday get-away has got me all psyched up to carve pumpkins!

6 months DOWN!!

My brother Reed has already finished 1/4 of his mission! I seriously cannot believe that. (Most of the time anyway.) I've been pestering him to send some pics to Sharee to post on her blog (My scanner doesn't work anymore) and here of a few of the ones he sent. To see more, visit Sharee's blog.

"We saw this car all over town so we stopped here and took a picture."

"PT's Bike
(our Branch President)"

"My trainer, Elder Rusk"

We love you Reed!!!

Fall Fun

It's official...Fall is here. Living in Oregon, that means lots of rain, but it also means baking, sweaters, crisp mornings, cozy nights, hot cocoa, autumn leaves and ... prep for Christmas (dare I say what I have not yet begun...) Here's a little of this that and the other...what we've been up to lately.

Carter escaped out into the rain this morning...I didn't have shoes on either so I was trying to coax him back into the house without having to go out myself... it took a little while. :) (The rain is too much fun! Especially in bare feet!)

Jemma and I attempted to make wheat bread the other day...it's quite a tedious process since I only have a manual wheat grinder. (Someday, I will have to invest in an attatchment for my kitchen aid that will do it for me!!!) Anyway, after a fabulous arm workout, we had enough wheat flour and turned out FOUR loaves of bread...

It doesn't get much better than fresh bread with a little butter and homemade strawberry jam! :)

A couple other moms and I have been doing crafts once a week with our kids...it fills in an afternoon and keeps their imaginations spry. :) One week we did these "Leaf Crowns" and another week we made swords and shields and turned the apartment play-structure into a castle...I don't know why I didn't take a picture of the castle...probably cuz it wasn't all that impressive...anyway, Jemma insisted on having princesses on her shield...how appropriate.

Here's Jemma and her friends Miles (left) and Trennon (right) in the "dungeon".

Cute kids! (Don't know if I've mentioned this, but Jemma is one of the only girls in the apartment complex in her age range...she seems to do fine playing "cops and robbers", "star wars" and other boy games...it keeps things interesting. :)

I spy Carter

Sometimes we all need a little "space". Somewhere we can just be alone...

Aprons

So, it turns out, while I was busy sewing aprons, my Mom was on a little apron kick too! She made matching aprons for all her daughters and their children for all the fall baking we'll be doing. :) (Carter actually doesn't have his yet, but he HAD to have an apron on too, so he's wearing the apron Jemma's Nina and Papa gave her for Christmas a couple years ago.)

My mom also knew that I was busy sewing for a craft bizzare (sp?) I'll be a vendor in on October 10th, and thought that making matching Mom & Daughter Aprons would be a good idea...for baking season. She even sent me enough fabric for THREE sets! What a mom!!! Here is Jemma modeling the small ones. The adult sizes look the same, just bigger.

Jemma was in an ornery mood, so I had to bribe her with jelly-bellies to model these little aprons. They were really fun to make...which one is your favorite?