Perfect Pumpkin Picking

A couple weeks ago for FHE we headed down to the neighborhood pumpkin patch to get the halloween pumpkins. I know- a little late for posting, but it was cute after all!

We have this little family patch down the road with tons of pumpkins to choose from. The kids took FOREVER looking up and down rows of pumpkins to find the perfect one. Emitt settled on this one- he insisted he needed to "DO IT!!!!"- imagine this in a high pitched squeal and you will get the gist...

Tyse initially picked this one-

yup, bigger than his head and flat as the ground on one side. I think it was rotten. Luckily another caught his eye... and then another, and then another, and then another... you get the idea. He did finally settle on one. Ollie seemed happier riding in the wheelbarrow and trying to eat them...

We got a few and then headed over to the other festivities- a PERFECT sized corn maze for the little ones and then about 10 tractors of all different years for them to climb all over. Many of you know about my boys and tractors- they LOVE them, so I think we spent longer climbing on them than picking pumpkins!

Ollie isn't so into tractors yet- he preferred the corn.

Halloween 08

So I finally succombed to the pressure and am getting

something posted for a change! Sorry- we have computer woes and I don't get much time to be on the computer at all anymore, so my time is usually limited to doing my church calling and paying bills. How fun!

Speaking of fun, Halloween was! OUr costuming this year... left a little to be desired, but I guess we were successful in nabbing those much-needed extra calories and made it home safe.

In case you are wondering what we are....

Emitt is a bat. I love that costume and had made it for tyse, but it hadn't stored really well and I didn't really have a great chance to spruce it up all that well. Oh well. it worked and still looked kinda cute on him!

Ollie is a chick popping out of an egg. All went ok for him except the pattern called for a sheet of foam that was too small for my front pack and I couldn't find any bigger. Unfortunately, the egg just didn't fit quite right. The other woe was that the hat I ordered 3 weeks early never got here in time, so I just had to make do by turning last year's lion hat inside out, try to tape the mane and ears down inside, and then put the top of the egg shell on that. It didn't work as well as I hoped, but with a smile like he has, he was still really adorable! Here is a picture of just him and I- this was post trick or treating and the lion mane was hanging out, and we had lost one of his slippers I made, but this is it nonetheless.

Tyse's costume is quite the story. He was completely noncommittal on costuming. Unfortunately for fools like me that attempt to trick themselves into thinking that it will be cheaper if I make the costume, the decision the night before isn't really feasible! So the week before Halloween I took him down to the Hobby Lobby and sat him in front of a pattern book and told him that if he planned on trick-or-treating, he had to pick ANYTHING out of this book. It was starting to look as though he would not be trick or treating when he happened upon one that he got so excited about. I looked at it and all it was was a big black cape and hood that covered his face completely. At that point I didn't care and we just scooped it up and took it home with the fabric and things to do it with. We showed it to Kent that night and his first reaction was "you are going to let Tyse be the Angel of Death for Halloween?". To which Tyse replied, "Dad, it's not an angel. It is a black pioneer. You know, like those pioneers that pulled the carts in the snow? He just has on all black clothes." So that is the origin of the costume, The Black Pioneer. Can't you now just all look at the picture and see it?

The last comment I have about this Halloween was how BEAUTIFUL the weather was! I don't remember ever having a halloween when you could actually comfortably sit on your porch and hand out candy and chat with the neighborhood. It was so great! That is one of my favorite things about this neighborhood- all the porches and the people that use them.

Stuffies

Emitt LOVES his stuffies. Especially horses, dogs, and ducks. Tyse wasn't really into them, so this whole stuffed animal thing is new around here. When we go to the toy store Emitt can spend hours on end in the stuffed animal aisle hugging every one and climbing on them and using them for pillows, etc. So they are all over the house! The other day he woke up from his nap and came downstairs carrying the duck (on his right) and the monkey (on his left). He spent a long time making them sit just right on the floor next to him so they could watch Star Wars with him. I thought it was so cute I had to take a picture. Of course he heard the click, so he had to then give me a little personality...

That poor duck is only one eyed- thanks to the late RED who also had an affinity for stuffies

- just ask our niece, Ellie. She LOVED Red and his affinity for stuffies!

Will the real Ollie Madsen please...

Last year sometime Kent's dad brought over a few boxes

of his things from growing up and inside were these two little cabbage patch dolls that Kent had when he was little. The boys have adopted them as their own and love to change their diapers and clothes, as well as give them naps and sleep with them.

The funny thing about it is that both boys have named their dolls "Dolly Ollie". So Tyse thinks we have 3 ollie madsen's at our house- Ollie, Dolly Ollie, and Dolly Ollie. What good company Ollie has!

Future player....

I was really just cleaning the kitchen one day and finally started wondering where Emitt had wondered off to. Well- he was ready to get to practice.... unfortunately, it wasn't his practice coming up, but Tyse's- only 2 more years to go!

Paragliding

A couple weeks ago, the Troxel's took us along for a GREAT adventure... we went paragliding! At the Point of the Mountain there is a paragliding state park and apparently it is one of the best places to learn and train in the world (if not THE best). Thanks to Neil and all his hard work for our play!

It was so easy to see why people get addicted to this- it was really relaxing and you just sit

in the little "stadium" type seat and fly. OK- it is a little more than that- the trainer guy sits behind and does all the cord pulling and pushing and all that- but it was really relaxing and peaceful. I loved it! Next time we have an extra $8 grand laying around, maybe we will think about outfitting ourselves!

This is Kent in flight. He is the close chute- the red, black and green one.

Granted, I am not really afraid of heights, but I have STOOD on cliffs and the top of bungee towers and been way more nervous than I was when I was actually jumping off the mountain and flying around. It was such a great time! Thanks, N&K!

The First day of the rest of our lives....

The madness has begun! Yesterday was Tyse's first soccer game ever! It is a momentus occasion for all- my first day as a real soccer mom, and kent's dream come true! I can't even start to describe how proud Kent was of him and how into the game he really was. He was one fof the few on his team that actually chased the ball the whole time, actually played defense, and he scored 5 goals! He was in heaven! As soon as we got into the car to go home, he started whining, "MOM, I just can't wait until next saturday for my next game." The neighbor taught him how to slide tackle, which surprisingly he didn't use on anyone else, just on the ball when it was going out of bounds. It was so fun to watch and we are excited to continue the saga!