A Day at the Pumpkin Patch

Last Friday we took Cailey and Colin to a local pumpkin patch. We had SUCH a blast! There was so much to see and do! Even though it was freezing that day we still had a really great time.

The first thing we did was hit the corn maze. We let Colin lead us through it. He loved it. It was a HUGE maze cut into the shapes of different animals. He lead us all through the frog shape and then decided we were done. Too much other stuff to see and do!

They absolutely loved the petting zoo. Even though we have had bunnies and goats in the past, they still loving interacting with them. I think this was their first experience with a sheep!

We took a lot of silly pictures. This is one of my favorites. LOL

We got to take a hayride. Since we were some of the few there that were not with a school group, we got the hayride and big pumpkin patch all to ourselves! FUN FUN FUN!!! Colin jumped off and grabbed the first pumpkin he saw! I didn’t even get to snap a picture! Thankfully Cailey took a bit more time and I got the exact moment when she found hers.

This was one of their favorite parts of the whole day!!! I caught Cailey in mid-flip! LOL

 

 

 

Their pumpkin choices! 😀

 

 

We did ALL kinds of stuff! Corn maze, hayride, pumpkin patch, corn tub, bouncy pillow, petting zoo, fudge, hot fudge cake, ginormous slides, and a bunch of stuff I know I’m forgetting. We are definitely making this a yearly tradition, but maybe we should go a little earlier in the season next year. We froze our tushies off!! LOL

 

 

 

 

Costume Preview

So here is a little preview of Cailey and Colin’s Halloween costumes. I didn’t do them up like we will on Halloween but I did want to show how they look so far. We will go full make-up and hair on Thursday. I can’t wait!!! 😀

 

BUT we are hitting cold season here at the house. My oldest, Jacob has a really terrible cold and now 2 of the other kids are getting sore throats! NOOOOO!!! Cailey and Colin missed Halloween last year because they were both sick!! We don’t want a repeat!

 

In case you are wondering exactly what Cailey is this year, here is a picture of a Jinafire Long doll.

 

 

 

I used a pattern for the main dress but put quite a bit of my own twists on it. I matched the fabric up as best as I could. All in all, I am very proud of it.

Underneath the dress is a 2 piece gold lame outfit, made to look like Jinafire’s scales. Hopefully it will also help to keep Cailey warm.

 

Colin’s was a bit easier. I drafted a pattern for the pirate shirt and used eyelets for the first time. MUCH easier than I thought it would be.

 

 

 

HAVE FUN TRICK OR TREATING!!!

 

 

Halloween FUN – Printables, Crafts, Activities and More

 

 

 

Here are some resources that would be great for a Halloween unit or just a fun Halloween themed break from the norm. 😉

 

 

HALLOWEEN

Halloween Lapbook  and Notebooking Pages – Homeschool Helper Online

Halloween Printables and Activities – Spoonful

Halloween Printables, Crafts and Activities – Activity Village

Halloween Coloring Pages, Crafts and Lesson Plans – Crayola

Halloween Worksheets – Education.com

Halloween Printables and Crafts – DLTK-Kids

Halloween Coloring Pages – Coloring.ws

Jack-o-lantern Theme Pack  and Halloween Theme Pack – Gift of Curiosity

Candy Corn Math Pack – Royal Baloo

Halloween Worksheets – School Sparks

Frankenweenie Activity Sheets – Saving Dollars and Sense

Halloween Counting Printables – Over the Big Moon

Halloween Worksheets – abc Teach

Halloween Printable Pack – 2 Teaching Mommies

Halloween Printable Tot Pack – The Intentional Momma

Halloween Activity Pack – Nick Jr.

Halloween Printables and Paper Crafts – Squidoo

 

 

 

 

 

Halloween Activities – Education.com

40 Quick Halloween Crafts – The Country Chic Cottage

Halloween Chapter Books – What Do We Do All Day

100 + Halloween Ideas for Kids – My Small Potatoes

Halloween Books for Boys – Boy, Oh Boy, Oh Boy!

Halloween Activities – Apples 4 the Teacher

50 + Halloween Activities for Kids – Growing a Jeweled Rose

Halloween Poems – Squidoo

Halloween Crafts for Kids – Parents.com

20 + Halloween Crafts – iVillage

Halloween Info for Kids – Smart Stat

Halloween History – History.com

40 Halloween Facts – Random History

The History of Halloween – Social Studies for Kids

 

 

HALLOWEEN SCIENCE LINKS

Halloween Science Projects – Chemistry About.com

Halloween Chemistry – ACS

Halloween Science Experiments – Kitchen Pantry Scientist

Halloween Science Experiments and Ideas – Science Bob

10 Experiments for Halloween – Babble

Candy Experiments

Halloween Science Experiments – YouTube

 

 

 

 

HAVE FUN CELEBRATING HALLOWEEN!!!!

 

 

Halloween Projects and FUN

I thought I would show y’all some of the fun Halloween things we did over the weekend.  We plan on doing many more in the days leading up to Halloween.

SKULL CAKE!!!! This was a lot of fun to make with the Wilton skull cake pan. My icing was a bit of a mess with this one. LOL

 

 

 

 

 

We did leaf rubbings. Cailey had much more fun with it than Colin did.

 

 

 

 

 

We made paper bag pumpkins!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And we made fun decorations from a kit we got at World Market.

 

SUCH a FUN weekend!!!!

 

 

 

Bat Unit Study Resources

In the days leading up to Halloween I will be posting different resources for a bunch of different studies that you could do. I’m starting with bats and will also try to get spiders, Salem Witch Trials, Romania and Halloween in general up in time.

As always, most of the resources I list are free unless marked with $$$. I try to cover a variety of ages. All the books can be found at your local library, on Amazon or Paperback Swap.

The pictures are clickable links.

There is a whole series of these. Bats at the Beach, Bats at the Ballgame, etc.

Nocturnal Animals Lapbook – Homeschool Share

Stellaluna Lapbook – Homeschool Share

Bat Coloring Pages – Coloring.ws

Printable Bat Templates – First Palette

Life Cycle and other printables – Kidzone

Bat Printables and activities – Activity Village

Bat Coloring Page and activities – Classroom Jr.

Bat Printables – Education.com

Bat Mini Helper – Currclick (free, even though it’s on Currclick)

Bat Printables and Activities – A to Z Teacher Stuff

Printable and Info  and Bat Info and Activities  – Scholastic

Printable Crafts and Activities – DLTK-Kids

Coloring Pages and Art Ideas – Crayola

Printable Bat Craft  and Other Bat Craft   – Learn Create Love

Bat Coloring Pages – AnimalPlace.net

Worksheets, Lesson Plans and More – Teacher Planet

Bat Activity Sheets  – School Express

Printable Bat Diagram – Vintage Printable

Printables and Info – A to Z Kids Stuff

$$$ – all things below this line are NOT FREE

Bat Nomenclature – Pinay Homeschooler

HOAC Bat Lapbook – Currclick (check the price on HOAC first)

Bats and Spiders Unit Study – Currclick (check the price on Amazon first)

Bat Notebooking Pages, Lapbook and more – Christian Homeschool Hub ($25 a year for unlimited downloads)

Games, activities, crafts, etc.

Bat Unit – About.com

Bat Lesson Plans – Bats Live

Bat Crafts – Squidoo

Bat Facts – Squidoo

Wild Kratts – Going Batty and Building a Bat Home

Bat Crafts – Family Crafts About.com

Bat Catcher Game – PBS.org Zoom

Bat Lesson Ideas – Education World

Bat Info and Activities – Bat Conservation International

Bats! Why Should We Care?

Bat Educational Resources – BatConservation.org

Bat Info, Games and Quiz – Bats 4 Kids

Bat Video – Nat Geo

Bats Facts and Videos – Kids Nat Geo

How Bats Work – How Stuff Works

Bats – Animal Planet

Bat Facts – Bat Rescue

Listen to Bats – Bats.org.uk

Bat vidoes, activites, x-ray and more – Incrediblebats.com

What Do Bats Do in the Winter – YouTube (look over on the right for more great bat videos)

Bat Crafts – Spoonful

Bat Crafts – Artists Helping Children

Montessori Bat Unit – Just Montessori

 

 

SHEW!!! There you go! 😀

 

HAVE FUN HOMESCHOOLING!!!

 

 

Fly on the Wall – October

Welcome to a Fly on the Wall group post. Today 14 bloggers are inviting you to catch a glimpse of what you’d see if you were a fly on the wall in our homes. Come on in and buzz around my house.

 

Buzz around, see what you think, then click on these links for a peek into some other homes:

http://BakingInATornado.com                                     Baking In A Tornado

http://www.justalittlenutty.com/                                Just a Little Nutty

http://followmehome.shellybean.com                          Follow me home . . .

https://stacysewsandschools.wordpress.com/                Stacy Sews and Schools

http://thesadderbutwisergirl.com                              The Sadder But Wiser Girl

http://www.menopausalmom.com/                                 Menopausal Mother

http://mooreorganizedmayhem.blogspot.com/                Moore Organized Mayhem

http://www.theinsomniacsdream.com/                     The Insomniac’s Dream

http://spatulasonparade.blogspot.com/                      Spatulas on Parade

http://www.therowdybaker.com                              The Rowdy Baker

http://www.trashyblog.com/                                       Trashy Blog

http://dates2diapers2.blogspot.com                            Dates 2 Diapers

http://sorrykidblog.com/                       Sorry kid, Your Mom Doesn’t Play Well With Others

Sooooo, this month has been rather dull. NOT one single person has done ANYTHING remotely silly or funny. WHAT THE HECK IS GOING ON AROUND HERE????? Maybe they are just getting better at hiding it from me??? Maybe we have the 6 weeks of school burn out???? Not sure but something HAS to change!!!

Don’t worry, I do have something to post, although it’s not our normal craziness…. Instead I have CUPCAKES!!! Hmmm, that might be even better than our normal craziness.

 

 

 

 

 

 

First we made zombie cupcakes from a kit we got at World Market.  A word to the wise, make sure you have powered sugar…. The green stuff that comes with it is NOT powdered sugar and the icing will taste like dog doo…. Yep. Definitely BLECK!!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next we made Jack Skellington cupcakes! These were so much fun!!! And since the icing was store bough, they were very good! LOL

I used a regular chocolate cake mix and cream cheese icing. Then I used black Wilton Sparkle Gel to draw on the features.

 

 

 

 

Last we make Jack O’Lantern cupcakes! I used food coloring to make the cream cheese icing orange and the same black Wilton Sparkle Gel for the features.

 

 

 

Last Saturday I took Cailey and Colin to the Lowe’s Build and Grow.  They have been having SO MUCH FUN at these little workshops!!!! On Sunday, Joann’s will have a Monster’s University make and take. I think we HAVE to go to that one, too.

 

 

If you want to see what else we’ve been up to in this month check out What We Did Last Week  and Busy Homeschooling Days.

 

 

Right now I am eyeball deep in Halloween costumes!!! Colin’s is completely finished but I only have the pieces cut for Caileys. YILES!! I need to get moving!!!

 

Coming soon to a blog near you –

My Grandma’s no bake cookie recipe

Halloween themed study unit resources

Cailey’s Jinafire Long costume and Colin’s pirate costume

 

 

Now, don’t forget to check out all the amazing bloggers taking part in this month’s Fly on the Wall!!!!

 

 

Happy Halloween Peasant Dress

 

 

I am in love with this dress!!!! It was so simple and easy to make. I used one of my favorite patterns, Pretty Peasant from SquigglyTwigs Designs. If you scroll down on the page you will see Cailey modeling the peasant top I made with this same pattern.

We are going to try the dress with her orange and black tights, too! LOL Such a FUN dress for the season!

The main dress part came from a remnant I picked up last year at Hancock’s. The sleeves are the left overs from the Reverse Applique Leggings and Bandanna Bib I made for my little cousin Liam. I got that print from Joann’s.  A word of warning, when working closely with it, you will go cross-eyed a time or two. LOL

So, what fun things are you making for Halloween??? Right now I have the pattern made for Colin’s pirate shirt. Fingers crossed that it comes out alright! LOL After that will be the rest of his costume. THEN I will be starting on Cailey’s. She wants to be Jinafire Long, a Monster High Doll. No pressure to get THAT one right….. LOL Wish me luck, I’m going to need it! 😉

 

 

HAVE FUN SEWING!!!!!

 

Secret Subject Swap Round 2

Welcome to the second Secret Subject Swap. Twenty brave bloggers picked a secret subject for someone else and were assigned a secret subject to interpret in their own style. Today we are all simultaneously divulging our topics and submitting our posts.

 

Here are links to all the sites featuring Secret Subject Swap posts.  Sit back, grab a cup, and check them all out. See you there:

 

http://BakingInATornado.blogspot.com                     http://followmehome.shellybean.com

http://happy-little-feet.blogspot.ca/                          https://stacysewsandschools.wordpress.com/

http://sorrykid.blogspot.com/                                  http://www.peanutlayne.com/

http://dinoheromommy.com/                                   http://mybrainonkids.net/

http://momofbigalittlea.blogspot.com/                      http://www.momaical.com

http://www.thatsuburbanmomma.com/                     http://itsadomelife.com/

http://DeBieHive.blogspot.com                                 http://smn0409.blogspot.com/

http://thishappymom.com/houston-mom-blogger       http://macdonaldsplayland.blogspot.com

http://www.justalittlenutty.com/                              http://www.cassandrazcorner.blogspot.com/

http://hypnoticbard.blogspot.com/                            http://www.simplychicforyou.com

 

My subject is  “What is your favorite Halloween memory?  ”.  It was submitted by http://www.thatsuburbanmomma.com/  .  

Here goes: 

 

YILES!!!! My favorite Halloween memory?? Oh, boy… I have been thinking and thinking and thinking about this one since I found out that it was going to be my subject. I have come up with exactly NOTHING! LOL It’s not that I haven’t had good Halloweens, it’s that I just can’t think of a reallllly, realllllly stand out memory except for the first Halloweens of each of my children. LOL I really liked the 3 Halloweens that I went as Princess Leia (once from each movie). Then there were the 2 awesome homemade costumes, one was a pumpkin when I was about 3 made by my Grandma Painter and the other was a pretty fairy costume made by my Grandma Blevins.

 

Now, if it’s CRAPPY Halloween memories, I have a few of THOSE that stand out!! LOL

One Halloween when I was about 10 I decided to go as a devil. Now, this was before they had the cute girly devil costumes. Oh, no! They had the regular old kind. AND I had a short hair cut a la Mary Lou Retton.

Can you see where I’m going with this??

Anyway, I went to a Halloween party and no one recognized me. They all thought I was a BOY!!!!!!!! I was sooooo upset!! I cried and cried. I called my mom to come get me early. After that I made sure to always go as something girly! LOL And I let my hair grow back out. LOL

 

There were a couple of Halloweens much worse than that but I don’t want to depress you so we’ll just skip those, K???? LOL

 

Anyway, to keep you all from being completely bored by my lame post I will post some awesome pictures and cartoons! 😉

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

OOH!!! I almost forgot!!! I took some pictures of Deanna and myself in Halloween makeup!

 

Me….. LOL

I LOOOOOVE those fake eyelashes!!!

 

Deanna. Too bad you can’t see her fangs that well!!!

I still can’t believe she let me take a picture of her!

 

 

So, why don’t you all go check out the other blogs, they are bound to have something MUCH better than my post… 😉

http://BakingInATornado.blogspot.com                     http://followmehome.shellybean.com

http://happy-little-feet.blogspot.ca/                          https://stacysewsandschools.wordpress.com/

http://sorrykid.blogspot.com/                                  http://www.peanutlayne.com/

http://dinoheromommy.com/                                   http://mybrainonkids.net/

http://momofbigalittlea.blogspot.com/                      http://www.momaical.com

http://www.thatsuburbanmomma.com/                     http://itsadomelife.com/

http://DeBieHive.blogspot.com                                 http://smn0409.blogspot.com/

http://thishappymom.com/houston-mom-blogger       http://macdonaldsplayland.blogspot.com

http://www.justalittlenutty.com/                              http://www.cassandrazcorner.blogspot.com/

http://hypnoticbard.blogspot.com/                            http://www.simplychicforyou.com

 

 

~~*~~HAPPY HALLOWEEN~~*~~

 

Halloween is one of my favorite holidays!!! I LOOOOOVE IT!! I love the weather! The leaves falling from the trees! The hot chocolate! The costumes! And the candy… LOL 😉

BUT my two little ones are sick!!!! WAH!!! Cailey and Colin both have nasty colds. 😦 First no Halloween party at church because of the Frankenstorm and now no trick or treating!! They are so disappointed! But we are going to try to make it up to them a little. They are wearing their costumes all day and vegging out in front of the TV with Halloween cartoons. After The Hubby gets home from work we are going to go out and buy them some candy. At least this way they will be sure to get their favorites!

I can’t believe, with having 5 kids, that this will be the first time this has happened. The older 3 always got sick right after Halloween.

Here are some pics of Cailey and Colin in their mommy made costumes!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here are the Halloween Rice Krispies Treats and Cailey and Colin made last night.

I think there are only 3 left! LOL

 

AND I am the very proud nominee of the The Sisterhood of the World Bloggers Award!!!! WOOOO HOOOO!!! Given to me by Shelly Bean at Follow Me Home. You should check out her blog, it is AWWWWWWESOME!!!!!!

 

THANK YOU SOOOOO MUCH, Shelly!!!

AND since I have so much going on around here I have been given a reprieve from jumping through the usual award hoops! LOL

Here is my to-do list for today –

Sorting through Jacob’s room. (He moved out the other day and left me HUGE mess!!!)

Running donations to the thrift store.

Taking care of 2 sick little ones.

Packers arrive between 8 and 9 in the morning.

Laundry, laundry and more laundry.

And all the other crap that I do everyday….

 

Heaven help me!!! LOL I’m already tired and I haven’t even started on any of this yet! I need a nap just thinking about it all!!!!

 

Fairy, Frankenstorm and Farewells

Yes, yes… I know… Today’s title is very much like yesterday’s! LOL BUT the post is very different.

I finished Cailey’s costume yesterday! YAY!!!!! She LOVES it!!!!! BUT because of the Frankenstorm the Halloween party was rescheduled. Now, ordinarily that would not be such a big deal BUT since we are moving at the end of the week, we won’t be able to go. Cailey was SO upset. SO, Momma Hope (she sort of adopted our family and I LOVE HER SOOOOO MUCH!!!!) is going to take Cailey and Colin trick or treating to all the church members’ houses so she can show off her costume. LOL That made it better. 😉

I was lucky enough to be invited to lunch Friday with Momma Hope, Grandmomma Verna and Marie. These are 3 very special ladies. I already mentioned that Momma Hope sort of adopted my family into her heart and Grandmomma Verna is her mother. You will never meet anyone as kind and generous and loving as those 2 special ladies. Marie is taking over Bags of Hope and Love for me here. She is SUCH a blessing!! I am so thankful for her!! We had a very nice lunch with lots of chatting. LOL I am so thankful that I got to go before we moved.

Today at church I said my final farewells to a very special group of people. God blessed me so much when He had Momma Hope stop at my door and invite me to her church. My life will be forever changed just from knowing those special people.

Pastor David passed around a church directory and had everyone sign it. SUCH a special going away gift. I will always be able to look at it and remember each and every one of them.

I cried and cried and cried. I know God has a purpose for us. I know that we are moving to Georgia for a reason. I may not know that reason for a while but I know there is one. Like a friend said today, it may only be to support our family better but that is a reason!

I have pictures of Cailey’s fairy princess costume!!!! I am sooooo very very sorry that I forgot to take the pictures for a tutorial. I’m not sure that I would have done a very good job with the tutorial anyway….. I was flying by the seat of my pants on that costume!!! LOL

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

She LOVES her costume!!! YAY!!!!! 🙂

Deanna was disappointed about the Halloween party, too. I was going to make her a long black skirt today. Last night was did a trial run with the Dios de los Muertos make up. It looked REALLLY good. She wouldn’t let me take any pictures, though. I’m thinking she might want to dress up on Halloween. She will be helping Grandmomma Verna hand out candy while Momma Hope and I take the little ones trick or treating. 🙂

I was going to finish Colin’s dino costume today. All it needs are eyes, teeth and nostrils… But since the party was cancelled, we spent the day flood proofing the sunroom. Well, not really flood proofing…. more like cleaning and making sure all the books were above the flood level. SIGH… PLEASE PRAY that our bottom floor doesn’t flood again!!!!!

We had a little silliness going on last night. Check out these pics!!!

 

 

Clown Cailey!

 

 

Clown Colin!

 

 

 

Hubby the Clown!!! I still can’t believe Colin talked him into this!!! Sorry the pic is blurry but I only got one shot….. LOL

 

 

Joshua the Clown!!!

 

Deanna put the wig on for a split second but wouldn’t let me take a picture… LOL I was hoping Jacob would show up today so we could get one of him. Where is that boy???? He TOLD me he was coming today!!!! He better not make me call all his friends… 😉

 

They are saying that the worst of the Frankenstorm will be tomorrow night into Tuesday. Pray for us!!! The Hubby is still planning on going into work and that means I will be getting up at stupid:30 in the morning to drive him through the Frankenstorm. Yay…..

I will start going through closets tomorrow in preparation for the move. Fun…. LOL And toys boxes will need to be thinned out… Pray for me on that one. Colin will NOT be happy!!!!

 

HUGS and PRAYERS for all of those in the path of the freaky storm!!! Just remember that God is in control. We can depend upon HIS strength!!! He will take care of you!