Pumpkin Carving

We finally got around to carving our pumpkins last night. This was the first year that Hudson wasn't scared to stick his hand in the pumpkin to get the seeds out. He has turned into such a boy. Each time he stuck his hand in, he made me say, "Ewww yucky!" We had a good time. Poor Harrison didn't make it to the pumpkin carving this year...he was down for the count by 6:30!

Hudson had a battle with the concrete yesterday at school. The concrete won. He has scrapes from his forehead to his lip. Good thing we have family pictures coming up! :) He's fine though and was such a big boy about the whole thing. It was not a good start to a Monday morning at school though.

The finished products...



 We were all supposed to make a face like our pumpkins (I can't stop laughing at Joel)...

 Then it was time to make a happy face (Hudson decided to make his mean pumpkin face this time!)...

 Yay, one where we are all smiling!

We had a good time with the camera if you can't tell! LOVE making memories with my sweet family (minus one very important family member--we'll get one with you next year Harrison!)!!!

Boo at the Zoo

We headed to Boo at the Zoo on Sunday night. We were a little worried about how Harrison would do because he is just fussy at night (and it was cold), but we had a great night out! Joel and I were both so glad we went!

 

My little puppy dog and Spidey...

 

 I could just eat him up!

 Of course Spidey had to do the backwards carousel...

Hudson loved everything about it. He especially loved the trick or treating! He definitely has the hang of it this year! Wednesday night will be fun trying to get him to go home! :)

 

Harrison sat in the stroller the whole time and never made a peep. I think he was half asleep. He never stays still for that long! I guess he had a lot to look at too!

 

 We did get him out to ride the train. Hudson loved the train too and didn't get scared one bit!

 Daddy was there too!

We will definitely go back next year!



Ryan Lochte and His "One Night Stand"

We had our Sunday school Halloween party on Friday night. It was so fun! I think this was the first time in our 9 years plus of dating/being married that we have ever dressed up for Halloween. We decided to go as Ryan Lochte and his one night stand. We ended up having to explain it to a lot of people who didn't really watch the Olympics, but we did win the prize for Most Original! Yay!

 

I bought a cheap mouth grill off Ebay for Joel to wear. Ryan Lochte made himself famous by trying to wear his red, white, and blue mouth grill on the podium after one of his gold medal winning swims. I think the Olympic committee told him he couldn't wear it on the podium, so he wore it as soon as he got off it. And, by the way, his grill cost $12,000. Joel's grill cost $3 (it was diamond and blue striped).  Joel's medals were my old medals from growing up. Good thing I had a whole box full in the attic--I just knew they would come in handy one day! Ha!

 

Ryan's mom came out and said that Ryan only has time for one night stands (what a great mom!), so that is the reason why I dressed up as that. I could have gone the route of being an actual one night stand, but I dressed up as a real night stand! It was pretty funny, and the whole costume cost around $3 for the spray paint and that is all! Woo hoo!

 

 

The whole group...let's just say everyone went ALL out! I could not believe we actually won one of the categories because the other costumes were so good!

 And, this was my personal favorite!

The Bridges dressed up as an old couple and those masks were absolutely hilarious, especially when they got out on the dance floor! I think I was crying I was laughing so hard.

I also have to give props to the Walden's who dressed up as Psy, the Korean rapper and one of the backup dancers, and had a dance routine prepared to Gangnam Style. It was great!

Some other faves were a set of boobs (easiest costume ever and got the most attention for sure!), and Bobby Petrino (complete with a neck brace and messed up face!) and Jessica Dorrell. Old Bobby even switched his hat to an Auburn hat mid evening--maybe the rumors will be true about him coming to Auburn! We also had a Hooters girl and a gangster! Yes, this was a Sunday school party--that's why I love them all so much! We can let loose for sure! We even had Cinderella and Prince Charming! Everyone was so creative.

We had a great night out spending time with friends! Thanks to the Reed's for keeping our little monsters!

Hudson's First Trophy

Sunday soccer ended this past Sunday and Hudson got his first trophy! He is very proud of it and has loved showing it off!

 

I'm not sure that soccer was really Hudson's thing (he never really wanted to get involved with the swarm of boys going after the ball), but he definitely had fun during practice time and of course snack time, and I'm sure he will want to play again next year. I think we may try t-ball in the spring to change it up a bit. I still think he's a little young for all of it, but I know he has fun and they sure are cute to watch!

His team had to wear white on Sunday since we were playing the other green team!

And, just to throw one in of little brother...

He LOVES Elmo!

Fall Decor!

I just love mums and pumpkins. They just scream fall! I thought it would be cute to take some pictures of the boys out in front of the house on Saturday, but you can see how well it went...

 

Harrison was definitely still not feeling great. This virus/infection has been a doozy for sure.

Our neighborhood really gets into holidays. I've never been that great about decorating for Halloween and last year with a newborn, it really didn't happen! We were lucky to get a pumpkin out! So this year, I thought it would be fun to let Hudson pick out an inflatable that he really liked, which he thought was so fun! We looked and looked and this is what he chose! He is VERY proud of his scary cat!

 I'm not a huge fan of inflatables in front yards, but it actually looks pretty cute. It lights up too, and the head moves! We do not go all out like a lot of people on our street, but at least we have something!

 

I also added this cute door hanger this year. I bought it off of Etsy and I just love it!

 

Now, if Halloween would just hurry up and get here, that would be great! Hudson asks every day if he can put on his Spiderman costume (and he pretty much does anyway!).

Woofstock and Me time

It's time to dump some of the pictures on my Iphone. I have found that I love Instagram. The pictures turn out way better to me than with my big camera (and obviously, it's easier to carry around!).

 

I took the kids to Veteran's Park last weekend and they had so much fun. The ground there is much better for my new walker and it was nice visiting somewhere we haven't gone to in a while. 

 



 

 

Of course, they were having an event there on Saturday. It was called Woofstock and was some sort of dog event. There were dogs everywhere, which of course the kids loved! Hudson got his face painted and jumped in the bouncies they had, so he was super excited about that. It was an all around beautiful day and I'm glad we got to spend it outside. 

 This is what I get every time I turn around and look at Harrison in the car. Isn't that the best?!?!!?

I was supposed to get some "me" time this week. I just got through the October 15th deadline at work (I have been working a lot lately!), and I had planned all along to take Wednesday and Thursday off (and of course Friday too since that is my off day). The kids were going to daycare, and I had a lot of things on my to-do list. Unfortunately, this little guy had other plans...

So, my time has been spent holding this sweet baby the past two days, which hasn't been all bad! He has slept a lot, so my to-do's at home, for the most part, have gotten done. And, Joel came home early and kept him this afternoon so I could at least go get my hair done (it's only been like 6 months!). It appears that it is an ear infection, but thankfully tonight, he seems to be on the mend! He has been so pitiful.

Pushing big brother around the house tonight!

At least I got some "me" time with my baby. He never gets time with just me. We have spent a lot of time just cuddling on the couch, so it was sweet time. I am glad to see him feeling better though!

Pumpkin Patch Time!

Friday afternoon after naps, we loaded up and headed down to Old Baker Farm for our annual trip to the pumpkin patch. I love going to the pumpkin patch...maybe moreso than the kids! :) Out of the pumpkin patches we've been to, we definitely like Old Baker Farm the best because it's not so commercial. It's just an old farm out in the country! Now, going on Friday afternoon was eye opening because they were preparing for the big weekend and I hated to see them just dropping pumpkins from a big box out in the field. I liked thinking that all the pumpkins were grown in that one patch! :) Anyway, there was barely anyone there on Friday afternoon, so for the most part it was great!

 

Both kids loved petting the goats, pig, and cow and seeing all the other animals they had there on the farm.

 

The obligatory photo sesh. We couldn't get both kids looking at the same time for anything!

 We would finally get Harrison to smile and then my usual poser (Hudson) wouldn't smile.

 I love this one!

I'm sure if we went on a Saturday that Hudson would not have been the only one climbing the hay bales!

So, the downside of going when we did was that we couldn't find the tractor to drive us out to the patch for anything. We waited forever and it just never showed up, so we ended up having to walk out there (which it is only like 20 yards, but Hudson was really looking forward to that little tractor ride!). We took some more obligatory photos while we waited!

 

We finally made it out to the patch and it got hot! The build up of going to find that perfect pumpkin is so much more fun than actually trying to find that perfect pumpkin! Once we were out there, we just tried to pick fast!

This was Hudson's first year to really get into it. He really wanted his own pumpkin that he could carry!

 We ended up with 3 pumpkins so it was a great trip!

After we picked out our pumpkins, I had the bright idea to do the corn maize. I thought it would be fun. What was I thinking with a 3 year old and a 1 year old at the witching hour?!?! I thought we were never going to get out of that thing! I just kept thinking of that woman a few years ago that had a baby in a stroller and got lost in the corn maize and called 911 to get out. I kept looking for ways we could get the stroller out through the corn. And, then of course when we are right in the middle of the whole thing, I hear the dreaded words, "Mommy, I have to poop." You'll be happy to know that we did not drop pants in the middle of the corn maize, although had it come down to it, we would have done it. Another perk of being the only ones there!

 We made it out!

It was actually fun looking back on it. Hudson had a great time being the "line leader" and leading us the wrong way every.single.time.

It was a fun afternoon in Harpersville!

Fun at Fallderall

Last night was our church's fall festival. We had a blast!

 

We had to meet up with our best buddy Haines! Both boys got swords and belts from the balloon clowns. Hudson's belt popped within 2 minutes and meltdown #1 ensued. Thankfully, a trip to the slides helped get him over it! 

 

 

It is amazing what a difference a year makes. Hudson would not even attempt these slides this time last year. He was fearless this year!

 

They even had a pony ride and this was probably Hudson's most favorite thing (I'm glad because we waited FOREVER to ride it!). They were so cute riding it together though!

Hudson begged me the entire time to go to the face painting station. I really didn't want him to do it because I didn't want to have to scrub it off at home, but he was very insistent, and we saw some really cool stuff on other kids' faces! We finally made our way over there and they cut it off right in front of us. Meltdown #2 ensued. I was a little sad for Hudson, but what can you do? The sweet old lady that cut it off in front of him bent down and asked if he wanted a sticker instead, and he gave her the meanest "NO" you have ever seen. I was very embarassed by my poorly behaved and overly sleepy child. Another balloon (a lion this time), popcorn, and Charlie Brown saved the day and all was right in the world again. Oh the ups and downs of having a 3 year old!

Harrison went to his first Fallderall too, but only stayed for a little while before Joel took him home. Going to bed at 6:30 makes night time activities difficult at this stage in life. Can't wait to see how he does next year!

It was a fun night out with our friends! I'm loving fall already!