Fall Fun at Faulkner Ranch

    So we put off going to the pumpkin patch until this past weekend.  The weather has been so nice that it just didn't seem like it was actually the right time of the year to look for a pumpkin.  I also knew that we would have my niece for the weekend and that it would be something fun for all of us to do.  I looked around a bit at some of the local patches and finally settled on Faulkner Ranch. We weren't able to go out to the patch and pick our own pumpkin, but with all the activities that they had the kids did not seem to mind choosing from the pre-picked ones.  They have a petting zoo, pony rides (which cost extra), "train" ride, bounce houses, hayrides, and lots more.  All the activities were so close to each other and there was almost never a line.  Plus they had this show that was put on by "Sheriff Terry."  It was very entertaining.  At the end of the day the kids were worn out.  We didn't even make it to the highway (which was a half mile down the road) before all three were asleep.  This is a definite must go to place for us next year.

Proud Parent

     Last week we had Mikayla's first parent-teacher conference.  I was a little bit nervous of what the teacher would have to say.  I know that Mikayla is smart, but I was not quite sure how she measured up to the Kindergarten standards.  The teacher had us fill out this questionnaire prior to going to the conference which was supposed to help guide us through the conference.  So I filled it out not quite sure what all I should be putting on there.  Mind you we did this two weeks prior to her conferences.  It just so happened that in those two weeks Mikayla did a lot of growing.  Not sure how that happened, but it did.  Nonetheless, I went to her conference and had a great talk with her teacher.  There are a few areas that can use some improvement, but overall she is doing great.  The one thing she absolutely loves is to read and she is doing great at it.  After her conference I stopped by the book fair and picked up a few books for the kids.  I forgot her wish list and was hoping I got at least a few of them.  Turns out I got one.  She was still very happy with the selection that I brought home for her.  Her favorite from the stack (other than the Taylor Swift book) is Tangled.  She has read the book once with my help, but last night she read it all by herself only needing help with a few words.  I am so excited for her, but also a little sad as I know the day will come where she will not want me to read with her anymore.  Guess I will have to enjoy it while it lasts.  Oh, her being able to read this book also made me come to the revelation that I need to start buying her the next level of books to keep her challenged and learning new words.  And just so you know, I am not writing this to boast or brag about Mikayla being a great student, but it is more so that I can look back at this and remember some of her big accomplishments.  And as the title says, I am a proud parent.  At the end of the year I hope to find the time to turn the blog into a book so I have a memories to share with the kids.

A Spooky Little Craft

     Oh how I love finding new blogs to read and follow.  Lately they have been all things crafty.  One that I regularly read, Today's Creative Blog, featured the Two Crafty Sisters.  Check them both out.  I promise you can spend at least a good half day just oohing and aahing over just their most recent posts.  As soon as I saw the Halloween Village blog from the Crafty Sisters I knew that was something I wanted to make myself (on a much smaller scale--like one).  So here's a brief step-by-step of how I made the halloween haunted house.

1.  I gathered the supplies.  I wanted a slightly larger house so I found a barn (that came with a stuffed pig) to use as the house for $5 at Michaels.  I also bought the K&C pop-up Halloween Photo Frame ($3) to use as decoration.  For the paint I bought just a simple black ($1.20). I used a foam paint brush for painting.  To glue the pieces on I used rubber cement.

2.  I painted the house.  I ended up doing a little touch-up after the first coat, but for the most part one coat worked just fine.

3.  Then I removed decorations from the photo frame, trying to keep the foam intact.  I thought it would give it more of a 3-D look once applied.

4.  Some of the stickiness came off of the decorations in the process of removing them, so I just applied a little rubber cement prior to applying them to the house.

So there you have it.  A cute, fun, easy craft for under $10.  Love it!

Fashion Show

   So this past weekend was not all together too exciting, but on Saturday we did participate in a fashion show.  First a little bit of history of how we became a part of the show.  It all started back in June when I was bound and determined to get a cute little homemade tutu for my niece's first birthday.  I had checked out this shop that I found in one of the local parenting magazines and thought it would be the perfect place to get one.  They were adorable and affordable.  Anyway the name of the shop is Shop Baby Kisses (click to visit their site) and they have all the cute little onesies, bows, headbands, tutus, etc. that you could ever want for your little one (side note--it's too bad I found this after my two were beyond the baby stage, I so would have bought out the store).  Moving to more current times...  So I found them on facebook and started following them getting constant updates of all the cute things they have just gotten in stock.  One day the owner posted a help wanted ad for models for a fashion show.  My first thought was Mikayla would have so much fun getting all dressed up in a tutu and walking down the runway.  What I did not realize when I signed her up was that I would also be walking the runway.  I found this out at the fitting where it was also decided that Noah would participate in the fashion show sporting some baby legs and a much desired pillow pet (shhh!  it's a secret, but I'm pretty sure Santa will be bringing one of these for both the kids).   The day of the show was spent waiting for our turn to walk down the runway.  I wasn't sure how long the kids would hold out for so we packed the bag with activities for them to occupy their time.  We were very lucky in that we were the first group for the fashion show.  We made it down the runway and just about halfway back before Noah started throwing a fit (he thought we were going to see the big giant aka the ape outside of Zonkers).  Luckily enough I was able to get him off stage and back to a happy place by reminding him of the much earned M&M cookie.  The pics are from back stage so they are not the greatest.  And you can definitely tell by the video that we are amateurs at this.  It was still fun and cute to see all the little kids in the outfits.

Trip to the Fire Station

     Last Sunday the city hosted an Open House at the fire station.  We loaded up the kids and went to check it out.  They had a lot of fire trucks and the kids were allowed to climb up in them.  We also got to tour the fire station and get a feeling for the kind of environment the firemen live in while on shift.  There was also a helicopter there that we got to see take off.  It was really cool to be so close to it while it was taking off.

Rock Chalk, Jayhawk, Go KU!

     This past Saturday the KU Alumni Association hosted a pep rally just down the street from us.  It seemed like it would be a fun time for the kids and we would get the opportunity to hear from the football and basketball coaches.  Before heading to the rally we stopped at a homemade store that just opened up.  I really love those kind of stores because they remind me of something I would find in a small town, so cute and quaint.  Back to the rally...  They had lots of free goodies such as pom poms, coasters, and stickers.  We also bought Mikayla some Krazy Bands in the shape of a Jayhawk and KU.  The kids had fun running through the obstacle course bounce house.  We got some dinner at a nearby restaurant and then caught the end of the football coach's speech.  After the speech was done the coaches were nice enough to take pictures and sign autographs.  Aaaamazing!

A Frightfully Fun Weekend

     All summer we promised Mikayla that we would take her to Worlds of Fun.  But for one reason or another we did not make it.  After summer ended we said we would go once the weather cooled down a bit.  Well this past weekend some of our friends invited us and off we went for a fun filled day at Worlds of Fun.  Worlds of Fun is an amusement park with roller coaster rides and a special area devoted just for the young.  I love going there this time of year because they deck it all out in Halloween.  During the day it is not so scary, but the night is full of frightful things.  Before you go thinking that I am a bad mom exposing my kids to all the scary things, we actually did not do anything more than watch the parade of all the creatures.  Oh and by the way, my kids loved seeing all the creatures and were not scared at all.  They each went up to them and were giving them hugs and high fives.  I think it might be that I have taught them that there are real people acting in the costumes and having them see us get all ghouled out may have helped as well.  Back to the main fare, we had a ton of fun taking the kids to the Camp Spooky (aka Camp Snoopy).  They wanted to ride everything even the big roller coasters.  However, we saved those just for mom and dad.  Actually I only got to ride two rides and Mike rode one, but I think we both had just as much fun seeing the expressions on the kids' faces as they were on the rides.  It just seemed to have a different effect going there as parents.  We took lots of pictures...