Sass Family Farm

Shortly before Halloween, the kids and I went went to the Sass Family Farm with our friends, Ashley, Pierce and Cal.  A trip to the farm has become a yearly tradition.  There's a straw maze, corn bin, tractors and play equipment to enjoy.  We also took a stroll by the animals and picked out a pumpkin to carve.  Sylvia has walked through the haunted barn before but didn't want to this year after she took a couple of steps in.  That was fine with me since they aren't my favorite anyway.  These pictures show my kids personalities more than some do.  They are each so unique.

Orange Day

We started off Halloween with Orange Day at preschool.  Sylvia's class decorated pumpkin cookies and carved a jack-o-lantern.  This is Sylvia's orange picture for her class' color book.

Clapping

 

Kristina's Baby Shower

I had the privilege of spending more time with my cousin Kristina this fall.  Her daughter was born at 28 weeks and spent a couple of months in the NICU at UIHC.  I visited frequently and watched as that little girl (and her mama) grew in many ways each week.  Shorty before they headed home as a family, we had a baby shower for Kristina.  My sister-in-law was gracious enough to let us use her house which is beautifully decorated and much cleaner than my house has ever been.  I enjoyed preparing most of the food, a few decorations and the games.

 

the spread

Becky serving up the polka dot cake

one of the many cute baby items for Sofia

the girl cousins

Kristina with her shower hosts

 

For those of you who are interested in party planning details...

invitation and shower activity

baby shower scattegories

identify the children's book character game

I saw a polka dot cake on pinterest and wanted to give it a try.  So, I borrowed a cake ball maker from a friend, did a successful test run of the cake and managed to pull it off again for the shower.  I also saw this frosting idea online.  You'll be seeing this again from me since it was such an easy way to pull off a fancy cake.

 

I also tried my hand at cake balls and some tissue paper flowers.  Sylvia and I worked on the flowers together.  I thought they'd be a little tricky for her but she mastered the petal making very quickly.  She ended up making the majority of the flower petals and I just had to put them together.

I Love Fall

A trip to the park to enjoy the beautiful weather and fall colors.

It's easier to get a good picture when funny faces are your goal.

Emily and I made pumpkin faces out of felt for the kids to play with.

I made a letter matching game for Sylvia to work on her lower case letters.  She matches up the lowercase letters on the "pumpkins" and "apples" with the uppercase letters on the trees and vines.

 

Eric and Sylvia made pumpkin shaped cookies together.  We decorated them together one night after dinner.

We've also been doing some counting with candy corn.

Sylvia helped me make a "haunted" house with pictures of our family.  She decorated it with roses, hearts and moons.

The Baby in the Mirror

My Drakers has a new favorite person to play with.

Move It! Dig It! Do It!

I took the kids to Move It! Dig It! Do It! at the Children's Museum last month.  They enjoyed checking out all the big machines. 

 

getting ready to scoop up her brother

driving the cement truck

driving a race car

 

I had trouble getting this guy out of the race car

they ran the lengh of this semi at least ten times

this machine was a hit because the horn on it worked

a little hands on sand table action before heading inside