October

It's no secret that October is my favorite month - all things pumpkin, cooler weather, gorgeous colors, not to mention my birthday :) When we found out that our new little one was due at the beginning of November, I crossed my fingers that it might share my birthday month, but no such luck. After being on bed rest for several weeks and praying that the baby would wait to be born, I decided to make the most of this month and have some pumpkin fun with my soon-to-be "big kids"...

Before I was "in the clear", R took the kids to his parents' farm for the day. R and his dad decided to plant pumpkins this year, so they got to visit PaPa's Pumpkin Patch and pick their very own pumpkins! I think a new tradition was officially born :)

Fun at home - Owl S'mores

Felt Jack-O-Lanterns

 Potato Head Pumpkins

 Carving pumpkins with Daddy

 A trip to Hall's Pumpkin Farm in Grapevine
(I was so sad that the kids chose kettle corn as their treat - my favorite!)

After a CRAZY Halloween (I had one of those days when things just can't seem to go right), we were invited for dinner and Trick or Treating with sweet friends in Fort Worth. It was a great end to our day, and the kids enjoyed seeing all of the other kids in costume (except for the creepy ones, which they are still talking about). Can someone initiate a "fun costumes only" block somewhere?

Apple Orchard

One of my favorite fall activities is a trip to Henrietta Creek Apple Orchard! I was introduced to them while teaching kindergarten, and it's one of my favorite places. Mr Ray and Miss Sue are two of the sweetest people you'll meet, and they love hosting children during apple season to teach about their orchard. Last fall, their orchard was struggling due to the summer drought, and it made my heart happy to see things going so much better for them this year. The kids had a great time exploring the orchard, and of course, picking and eating their own apples!

 Miss Sue, teaching about Johnny Appleseed

 Smelling herbs in the pizza garden

 Monarchs in the butterfly garden

 It's finally time to pick an apple!

 The children were asked to pick only one apple and to hold it until it had been washed... Not only did Jackson's apple did not make it that far, he ate the ENTIRE thing, core and all! He ate it so quickly that by the time I realized what was going on, he handed me a stem and a few seeds.

Tink doesn't typically like apple peel, but these apples are so sweet from ripening on the tree, that she dug right in!

A rare occurance - a picture with me in it! We joined some friends for our trip, and one of them brilliantly suggested that we take pictures of each other (no idea why we don't do it more often). Thanks, Melissa!