Pumpkin Carving

Cole was SO excited to carve his pumpkin this year!  He's at the age where he can vividly remember each year's traditions, which helps him anticipate them.

He still was absolutely grossed out by the guts, however - but once I scraped the inside clean, he went to town with his characteristic determination and focus!

 Always the tongue out when he's concentrating!

 Chase also was completely unimpressed and disgusted with the guts!  He sat with me and we drew out the face together according to his specifications.  Two triangle eyes and a scared face mouth like an oval!

 This is what his pumpkin's face looks like:

 "It's my best one yet." Cole matter-of-factly and modestly declared.  "The mouth is a little wide, but that's ok."

The eyebrows are my favorite part! I love this time of year with my amazing and fun boys!

Pumpkin Patch

We've had a very wet October, which has made it difficult to make it out for my favorite fall tradition: pumpkin patches and harvest festivals!

However, we finally had a semi-dry morning this weekend to run out and pick out some pumpkins - even though Chris got called in to work almost as soon as we arrived, he managed to put it off until we finished!

 "MOM! MOM! TAKE MY PIC-TOOR MAMA!"

 Holding hands as they go through the blackout maze together!

 Chase is so different from Cole - there's no way Cole would ever have allowed a stranger to hold his hand and lead him to a pony!  Chase, however, went with absolutely no hesitation!

 Feeding the goats:

 Picking out our pumpkins! "IT'S HEABY MOM! SO HEABY!"

 Cole wanted a BIG pumpkin.  This big:

 Chase liked this one with "stripes":

 And Chase flat out refused to pose for any photos!  "I DON'T WANT TO TAKE A PIC-TOOR!"

Apple Picking

This year was our fourth annual apple picking adventure! We look forward to it every fall and it feels like the autumn season can't really begin until we've picked our apples and eaten our butterscotch pumpkin muffins with our friends!

 Chapstick break! this kid ADORES chapstick... but spends most of his time eating it!

 Group photo! Love how Nina and I are both nursing our babies!

 And our traditional pumpkin butterscotch muffins!  I adore this crew!