Pumpkin Decorating: Lady's Choice

When we were kids, pumpkin decorating was pretty straightforward.  You grabbed the nearest knife, hoped it was sharp, and hacked away at your pumpkin hoping to create something that resembled the face of a jack-o-lantern.  Now there are patterns, kits, characters - the possibilities are endless.  With 3 pumpkins to work with we had some choices to make, and once I hit the Halloween isle choice #1 became pretty obvious: jewels!

I spent 10 minutes following Ava around the front yard, bejeweled pumpkin in hand, while she decided where to put it.  After repeatedly explaining why the middle of the driveway was a bad idea, it eventually came to rest at the base of one of our trees.  We admire it every time we leave the house.

Lila supervised.

And Ava appreciated her input.

Choice #2 didn't require a trip to the store at all.  Paints, brushes, and glitter from the art bucket, and this creation was born:

The paint eventually became nothing more than a place to stick more glitter, which I think was a brilliant choice; everything is better with glitter.

Incidentally, our entire house is now covered in a fine layer of pink glitter that, unless we happen to eventually sell to a Las Vegas show act, is unlikely to increase the resale value.

Stay tuned for Choice #3. 

Fall is in the air...

It seems to happen overnight.  All of a sudden everything tastes better with a cup of hot chocolate, and the need to immediately bake anything that will make your house smell like warm apples and cinnamon is almost overwhelming.  You walk outside and the leaves have started to turn from green to gold, and blanket the ground practically daring you not to run outside and do this:

And the fashions?  I defy you to resist any time of year that necessitates a child looking like this...

How badly do you want to kiss those cheeks right now?

I'm sure you know by now that we will seize any excuse for an outing, and the yearly local pumpkin festival has quickly become one of our faves.  No matter how many hay bales you put in a parking lot, it just doesn't make a convincing "pumpkin patch". So I love that just a few miles from our house we can actually wander through a field and pull our pumpkins right off their vines.  It's muddy, and uneven, and almost impossible to pull our little wagon through - exactly what a pumpkin patch should be.  Throw in a few cheesy carnival games, a pony ride, and some tents selling cozy handmade hats and sweaters, and you have the perfect way to spend a chilly fall morning.

Ava was pretty sure the perfect pumpkin was that way.

We have a winner.  Just gotta kick a little of this dirt off.

And this is what happens when the "perfect" day turns colder than expected, and mom didn't bring along coats for anyone.  Look up "sad face" in Wikipedia; the picture should look something like this:

Somehow Lila slept through the whole thing.

Let the pumpkin carving begin! 

Saturday Night Fever

Saturday was Lucas' 1st birthday party.  Ollie, Brady and Ava decided to show him how to shake it up, preschool style.

I love that halfway through Ava seems to remember that she left something under the ottoman.

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Ava was born to be a big sister.  She's a natural leader, and doles out all the love needed to make Baby Sister her loyal subject.  One of her favorite games right now is to have me set Lila up in the perfect spot to watch her while she paints.  So every few days, Ava paints...

And Lila watches.

Fabulous.

And since I know I've been remiss the last few posts about sharing Lila pics, here's a bonus one just for fun.  Enjoy.