Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Halloween Parties Continued...

Our friend Brandy and Lola hosted the Mother's Club Halloween Party. It was the best time with over 20 kids and lots of mommas. She had everything you could think of to do with Halloween. Lots of good food, Halloween music, spooky decorations, crafts for the kids, games, and prizes.
 
 
The mommas were asked to dress like their children's costumes so a Hunter Girl was super easy because I already had the camo. The boys loved it too!
 
 
Here is Brandi the host at the cupcake decorating table. It was so nice and the kids loved it but I am pretty sure Karson was sneaking too many worms and sprinkles throughout the party and not enough actual food for lunch :)
 
 
Ready for the Pinata....loads of candy. The moms were laughing that Halloween has seemed to go on forever and forever. It has seriously been like Halloween for the past week and it is still going on because Trick or Treat has been changed because of the big storm Sandy.
 
 
 
I didn't get many pictures of Kipton. He was off playing with his friends and not interested in taking pictures! Brandi did such a great job hosting the Halloween Party. It was all so fun!
 
 
Karson says this is his best friend Luke! He LOVED his costume :)

Monday, October 29, 2012

Preschool Halloween Party

Last Friday was Karson's 1st ever "school" party! They had from 9:00 - 10:45 of their regular day and then the parents were invited back to dress their child into their costume and enjoy a Halloween Party complete with a little program from the kids.
 
 
Our Big 3 year old boy wanted to be a Deer Hunter just like daddy is. So that's what he was :)
I was a little bummed that he didn't want a cute little costume but those days are over for our "big boy" I have to say he's a pretty cute hunter complete with his bow, arrows, deer call, and binoculars all ready for his party.
 
 
Here are a few pictures from his morning at school. Showing off his costume for friend Cooper the Captain Hook
 
 
Marching into the program
 
 
Marching to the music in with his friends. Such a proud moment as his momma :)
 
 
I was very nervous and excited for the program. When we had Karson at VBS over the summer the end of the week program didn't go so great. It is hard to sit still as a 3 year old BUT.....he did perfect! I was SO proud and he so proud to show me just how much he'd learned so far at preschool and all of his friends. They sang about 5 songs and came up one by one to the teacher in the middle and said their name and what their costume was.
 
To say that I was proud of a great program and of my big boy would be an understatement. I couldn't stop smiling at him and giving him thumbs up! (yes...insert crazy mom here)
 
 
Here is Karson and his great friend Jonas as Spiderman
 
 
Jonas's mom and I were laughing at how neither of them really wanted to smile. I guess that's not cool to smile in their COOL BOY costumes :)
 
 
Karson and teacher Miss Rachel. He adores her and talks about her often!
 
 
Karson with his "Molly" girl that we have been hearing about all school year. She was a flamingo and her costume was gorgeous. He was super excited to let me meet Molly. I hope he is always happy to introduce me to his girl "friends". Praying hard already for a gentle, godly, character now and through those teenage years.
 
 
After the program and party at preschool Karson asked if we could visit the park nearby and so we did. We had a great time just the two of us. Kipton stayed home with daddy because he wasn't feeling well and we decided it would be good for Karson to have just mommy's attention for his special morning. After the park we picked up some lunch and visited the Pumpkin House in Kenova, WV.
 
We had a great morning together and really enjoyed his first "school" party.
 
Here's to MANY MANY more!

Sunday, October 28, 2012

Kipton - 28 months

It has been a while since I did updates on what the boys are up to at their ages. I want to share about Kipton today so that I will remember him at 28 months.
 
*You are a ball of energy and a total "BOY"
 
* You love anything outdoors and country. Chainsaws and Bulldozers/Tractors are your favorite things right now. You can stay in the bulldozer isle at Walmart for nearly an hour and never say a word. You LOVE Pappaw Brad and his bulldozers and daddy with his chainsaws cutting trees. You are a very hard worker already. You show the same signs of hard worker like Karson did at your age. You like to be helping mommy but especially daddy outside. You love the log splitter and cutting/splitting the wood. You have been helping daddy load and sell some wood here lately and come back so excited to tell me all about it.
 
* You love playing in the same box and swinging at our house. You also love visiting parks and exploring around. Anything outdoors is your thing!
 
 
*You just started watching TV well. Before you wouldn't sit still longer than 5 minutes. I couldn't ever find a show that really captured your attention. You now like Yo Gabba Gabba, Mikey Mouse, and Special Agent Oso. You will sit through the entire episode and it is just amazing how fast that happened. You will ask me for "A TV" when you want to watch something.
 
*You are currently sick with a croupy cough and this has been your first cold/sickness of this year besides just teething symptoms. You are not happy but taking it well.
 
*You still take your Paci. I go back and forth on this, because Karson had his taken away by his 2nd birthday and you are still happy with yours. I think the main reason I haven't pushed it is because I know you are my last baby. You are still wearing diapers in size 5. You are so ready for potty training, but honestly there has been no time. We are going to do that this coming month.
 
*You also have a blanket that you like to sleep with.
 
* You LOVE books and being read too. You do have your favorites like your tractor book and anything with farm animals. You also love the story "No, David!"
 
 
*You aren't great with eating your vegetables. Mainly you like meat and fruit. I buy those squeezy baby foods for you to just supplement the vegetables and you really like them. You do like dairy and you really love junk food but I keep it away from you mostly.
 
*You are at the independent stage of toddler hood. You want to get into your car seat by yourself and into the stroller by yourself. This is mainly just patience on my part to understand that he feels he can do everything "BY MYSELF" as he says.
 
 
*Of course 2 year olds are a hard age, but Kipton seems to be leaning towards the 3 year old stage. Understanding the reasoning behind things and really listening to mommy.
 
*Kipton you are a JOY with a gentle heart and very loving!
 
I love you so much!
 
 
 

Friday, October 26, 2012

Show us your Life: Halloween Costumes

I thought I would take a trip down memory lane on how the boys have dressed for Halloween over the years. I can't believe this will be Karson's 4th Halloween!
Linking up with Kelly's Korner
 
Karson the Monster - 2009 7 months
*1st Halloween*
 
Kipton's 1st Halloween as a Football
Karson's 2nd Halloween as Mickey Mouse
2010
 
 
Mickey and Mommy passing out candy :)
 

 
2011 Halloween
Karson - Giraffe - 2
Kipton - Leopard - 1
 
 
This year 2012
 
Sneak Peak :)
 
 
Get ready..the deer and hunter are on the prowl
So excited for a fun Halloween this year!
 

Wednesday, October 24, 2012

Pumpkin Carving Playgroup

It's been scheduled for a few months that I would host the Pumpkin Carving playgroup for our Mother's Club. So I got 15 pumpkins ready for our little friends to come over and carve them out in the garage. I know the pictures are no fun because they are of a yucky garage....BUT all of that mess with toddlers is easier outside.
 
 
I thought the boys would REALLY enjoy this...but I was a bit surprised when they suddenly left me to do all of the work. Neither of them wanted to get the "goop" out. I was so shocked because MESSY is their thing. They wanted to play with their friends who also left their momma's to do all of the work, but we had a great time carving and talking while the kids played.
 
 
 
 
I managed to take a few pictures amongst the chaos of trying to watch my 2 boys and carve a pumpkin, take pictures, and talk to my mommy friends.
 
 
The hit of the playgroup was this corn table. I got the idea from a local pumpkin patch and we had our water table that we put up for the winter but I dug it back out and loaded it with Kevin's deer corn. The kids LOVED it. If you are OCD about messes this is not for you. That is why it's NOT for me and I tried to stay away from that side of the garage. My Type A personality kicks in and I want to constantly clean the little corn kernels off of the floor but I wanted them to have fun and not worry about the mess.
 
 
Kipton had a blast with his friends!
 
 
The kids were happy and hipped up on cupcakes and yummy Halloween snacks.
 
 
I'm so thankful for the Mother's Club. Another fun festive playgroup for both the kiddos and the mommy's. Next week is our Halloween costume party! Can't wait :)
 
 
Karson says = SUCCESS!

Sunday, October 21, 2012

Corn Maze 2012

 
Last Monday we joined a few of our friends from The Mother's Club and went to our local corn maze. It is really meant for "adults" I feel because how is going through a corn maze with 5 toddlers that takes an hour to get through really that fun?
 
HAHA! But in all honesty those 5 kids were amazingly great!!
 
First things first....let's have a tractor ride! Of course my boys were in heaven :)
 
 
Beginning our way through the maze. It took almost 20 minutes to find #4
 
 
Kipton and his friend Luke holding hands. Super sweet!
 
 
 
The sunshine came out and the boys were trying to help us through to the end!
 
 
We made it to #10!! The last number. All 5 kids still happy and thankful it's over! :)
 
 
A great sense of accomplishment when you come out of that maze after an hour. Esepcially when you have 5 kids in tow.
 
 
I promised the boys a cow train ride if they helped us through. I think that was at the forefront of Karson's mind the entire time. He could not WAIT to get on this thing. Another idea for my wonderful husband for next fall :)
 
 
 
Why didn't I think of this?? Putting corn in extra sand and water tables. They played in these for 45 minutes straight. Needless to say....we have bought corn for home :)
 
 
 
We ended our morning with another trip back to the car on the tractor and said our goodbyes to our friends. We had a great time and can't wait to try our way through next year!

Friday, October 19, 2012

Fall Friday

I guess nothing says FALL more than hunting season....right?
 
 
Kevin has been off work and had his first bow kill. He is so happy to have our property to hunt on and be able to go early and not drive anywhere. The boys were so happy to get outside around noon to find this. I know....it's a little weird that I am totally ok with a dead deer, but when you live with 3 boys it's kinda just "normal". It really doesn't bother me. (I know some of you may un-follow me, but it's just a hobby and I know there are LOTS of men who do it and it's pretty good meat too :)
 
 
We have been in full "FALL CRAFT" mode. Thinking of daily crafts to do with the boys is pretty fun for me. Yesterday we painted pie pumpkins. They LOVED it!
 
 
Look at that smile and those eyes that are squinty! Karson has really shown here lately some different traits that he may have in his personality. A little shy, loving, very kind and giving, thankful for gifts and family, and a little ok VERY attached to momma.
 
 
 
After the painting of pumpkins got a little old, it was on to the hands for hand prints.
 
 
Of course I gave the boys baths BEFORE this......that was a little dumb but hey I try to stick with the routine and we had a little time to kill before bedtime so painting pumpkins it was.
 
Hope everyone is enjoying fall activities and crafts!
 
We got flu shots today...what fun with a 3 and 2 year old but we lived :)