and now the fall festival of all fall festivals

how can you go wrong with a kindergarten fall festival? it's a win-win-win situation! gracie's was really fun. thank goodness she decided to be the same thing for halloween so we only had to do one costume for her.

she had to bring in a decorated pumpkin and of course she went with the princess theme. her official name was "penelope the pumpkin princess". and seriously the only thing i did on it was cut the yarn for the hair and pierce the ears. she is quite the creative girlie girl.

halloween in november?

yes, i am well aware that halloween has long since come and gone, but i know you all have been dying to see how the wild banshees dressed up this year. well, now the wait is over!

pumpkins, ghosts and goblins! oh my!

i am officially addicted to this site. (thanks to heidi.)

here is little red riding hood. bellatrix lestrange
le chef
here the girls are with some buddies the night before for the trunk or treat at church. this is when sarah decided against being a tree when someone called her "leaf girl" and "magical fruit girl."

never again will i make THAT many leaves for a child unless i get it in blood that they will wear the dang costume! and for the record, i tried to get her to do leaves all over her head and a few branches, but she wasn't going for it. whatever!

at least she was creative and came up with the chef thing in like 5 mintues. work it girlfriend.

sarah the sassy science nerd

i couldn't go without posting the pics from sarah's science project this year. we got an A on the display board. i did let her pick out the colors and do some gluing, so i wasn't a complete layout hog. the poor child has been cursed with an ocd scrapbooking mother. what can i say? i will say that she did the ENTIRE experiment on her own. and her dad did do the fancy graphs for her. see, i let go a little! and look at that sun would you! doesn't it rock? good thing i decided not to throw out that paper crimper.

and just for the record, i made her turn it in even though she was not feeling well and this was the first day of her being out for an ENTIRE week from school!!! what dedication.

the pumpkin patch

here are a few pics from our annual trip to the pumpkin patch. i know. i know. it's past thanksgiving. but hey! better late than never right? plus it's still november and pumpkins are still festive till dec 1st. and enjoy my fancy schmancy effects. (thanks to heidi for the tip about picnik.)savannah picked a white one this year. super cool! there were tons of fantastically shaped and multi-colored pumpkins this year. i couldn't resist snapping a few extra pics.

gracie's grand 6th celebration

our baby turned 6 this year! wow how time has flown! i brought a few fun treats into her classroom that week and she LOVED that. and then we celebrated at the house with a few family and friends. good times.

the diva in all her glory.gracie wanted cupcakes this year and i was happy to oblige. much faster and easier to make and decorate than a cake. okay so the martha is really coming out in me this year. i am soooooo tired of those store bought plastic goody bags that cost a FORTUNE and you only get like 2! so we happened to have some white lunch bags on hand that only cost like $2 for about 50 gazillion. (i am sure i purchased them back in the year 2000.) a few pretty markers and a butterfly stamp later and voila! cauuuute goody bags! and filled with what every kid loves and every parent hates: CANDY! okay i did throw in a bouncy ball, a pencil and an eraser. (they were cheap at target and i used them for sarah's as well. there were like 80 gazillion in the package. i think we might still have some left.)

so we have these great friends who happen to have horses. and gracie happens to LOVE horses! (the girls took a few riding lessons from her over the summer in exchange for mucking out stalls and cleaning up a bit.) so, my brilliant friend asked if it would be a good gift to have gracie ride from her house to ours. (about 2 miles maybe) and then have the pony there for the kids at the party to ride. gee...um......let me think about that one. HELLO! what a great idea! i thought it was THE BEST GIFT EVER! and so did gracie. she was beside herself when she found out that afternoon. (i didn't dare tell her any sooner because i knew she would bug me for days.) gracie and diva

this picture is fabulous because it has all of gracie's little girlfriends and savannah. savannah was THE BEST little helper at the party. she helped the girls with the craft and set up the toys for them to play with and was SUPER nice to all the little girls that are 2-3 yrs younger than her. and did i mention she did most of this without being asked. she is such a good big sister!

sarah's 11th bday party

well, now that sarah has been 11 for like 3 months now and the party was back in september i thought i'd post the pics. you know you are far behind when even your husband says "hey honey, when are you going to update the blog?"

no more excuses! i am cooking dinner and updating this thing at the same time. hope the kids like blackened turkey burgers. =)

anyhoo, i also couldn't pass up this opportunity to show off my martha skills as well, as this happens ever so infrequently. and seriously these cute things for her bday party were from a martha stewart kit i found for $3.98! can't beat that! so grab a beverage and have fun looking at the pics of our wild 11 yr old sleepover.

doncha just lurve these cups?
and here are the real monkeys doing homework! at a party! now that's dedication!

sarah and all her buddies and sisters. check out gracie the rock star!

pool time fun.

i LOVE this one. so cute and giggly.

sarah and her new found talent. please stay in school sarah. with one of our fave boys. he's soooo cute!

sarah was a bit nontraditional this year and wanted lemon squares for her bday instead of a cake. so we did the squares and cupcakes with candy bars inside. (note to self: butterfingers don't bake very well.) does anybody else notice the small child in the left hand corner? that would be, you guessed it, grace.