snack friend

yesterday was a marathon day which included trying to pick up the supplies needed for maddux' 'd' week snack - "dinosaur dig." the problem ended up being the dinosaurs! i wasn't looking to spend a fortune on them. we had promised the kids that they could go to our local fire house open house so matt took them and i ran out to hunt for dinosaurs before racing back to pick up madelyn for swimming lessons. matt asked if i really needed to do this and i said that i was in too deep and didn't have time to think of something else - i was seeing it through! (i am so luck he loves me.)

you layer crushed oreos and graham crackers with chocolate and vanilla puddings to make dirt/rock layers to hide the dinosaurs under dyed coconut 'grass'.

and then maddux woke up with a low fever. sigh. he wasn't terribly sick, symptom-wise, but had that whiney, pitiful sort of face. the one where his chin quivers every time i make eye-contact with him. so he would miss out of enjoying his selected snack with his class. oh well, at least the other kids enjoyed it and there were enough left over for each of our kids to have one at home. love.

farm tour

madelyn brought home a flier from school about a free agricultural farm tour and i thought we should check it out since one of the four farms was a pumpkin patch i have heard about several times. we were longer at the safety center than i had expected so we decided to start with the pumpkin patch. we weren't sure what to expect and were pleasantly surprised! (and found the lighting to be fantastic for pictures!)

the kids loved the hay bale maze. 

a woman (dressed as a pumpkin and with a pumpkin painted on her face) saw that we were taking pictures and offered to take one of the whole family. yes, please! then she arranged the gourds and pumpkins to frame our family, lifted the boys up to sit on pumpkins and took both of these shots.

there were lots of little activities for us to enjoy.

we watched this air gun (paid) option where you could launch small squash, pumpkins and ears of corn at various targets in the field. 

unfortunately, we had too much fun and weren't able to make it to any of the other three farms - maybe next year. it was getting a little cold too. we love that free family fun! love.

safety center open house

at home depot yesterday, we received an invitation to an open house at a safety center (fire, police, jail) so we decided to check it out. totally worth the trip. 

madelyn doing a mock 911 call to practice dialing and giving all of her information 

all four kids were given a free eye exam by the lyon's club. they just sat in a chair while a volunteer held up a 'camera' that made bird sounds (to make the kids looks) for a few seconds. we were then given a print out of their results. it tests for astigmatism, myopia, hyeropia and gaze development and we were given a print out for each child. i know our pediatrician is a fan of this exam, but she found that no insurance company would cover it. by the way, all four kids were "in range" (aka normal).

we were given cookies, popcorn, hotdogs, drinks and later found out that they were giving fire department t-shirts to all of the kids (we had thought that they were selling them and weren't able to go back to where the table was set up).

mason thought that the police swat gear was pretty impressive - and heavy!

these two were too cute chatting over hotdogs

maddux pushing his nose on the window

madelyn was the only one willing to even approach the fire department dog mascot although mason was willing to give it a high-five - quickly.

we didn't make it over to the jail because we had other stops planned for the day and needed to get going. love.

home depot workshop

i had totally forgotten about putting it on the calendar, but when the reminder popped up on my phone on our way to soccer, we grabbed the kids' aprons. we have found that the first saturday in october is a great home depot workshop - fire trucks, snacks, giveaways, etc. and the trend continued!

when we got there, the fire and emt trucks were parked out front - score. we had not missed it this year! then we walked in and were offered free hot dogs, cookies and bottles of water. there were tables with local safety agencies (police, fire, etc.) with bags, pencils, keychains - oh, and candy! we built our emt trucks (it was manning's very first time building, doesn't he look excited?) and everyone did a really good job hammering themselves - even manning!

very happy with the finished product.

madelyn and daddy cozied up while waiting for everyone to finish applying their stickers on their trucks.

 next stop was face painting! although all of the kids opted to have their hand painted.

while they were getting painted, i was offered a free pot of mums and a bundle of balloons. matt and i could hardly carry everything on our way out! such a treat! love.

freezing soccer

okay, so maybe it wasn't actually freezing, but it was pretty close. the game before mason's was cancelled due to sleet. thankfully, the rain held off for mason's game. (it poured as we were getting into the car to leave.) it was 37, windy and damp. we were cold. we even got out the winter coats! unfortunately, i didn't think to get gloves. i had forgotten how much of a difference warm hands make. here are a few pictures of the kids bundled up to play. 

mason still smiling - with a hot chocolate spill on his shirt.

mason scored a goal too! but he was much more excited about a throw-in assist to his teammate. we were all very happy to get back into the car - and out of the wind - just as it started raining again. love.

orange friday

madelyn was asked to wear her class color to school today - orange. she had already worn both of her orange shirts to school this week so she had to throw in a little pink too. at school, she found a note in her lunch box telling her that we were going to the high school football game with her friend ella. they had invited us when they had a few extra season tickets due to traveling grandparents (yes, there are season tickets to the high school games and they are kept for years and years and years, generations even).

it was a steady rain kind of day. not ideal for football, but the home side is covered so we were still on. after a quick shirt change to her "hoover" shirt, we met them for dinner before the game and rode together. it was a "girls' night - plus griffin" (ella's little brother). the girls could not have been more excited!

i don't think that they watched any of the game but they loved the bands! it helped that the visiting band did a pixar sampling (with character formations) and closed with "let it go." and, there were snacks. that makes anything fun for madelyn. so thankful for thoughtful friends! love.

happy first of october

madelyn is REALLY excited about the first day of october! she woke up wishing everyone a "happy first day of october!" and then dressed herself as an "upside-down pumpkin." the girl loves a theme. love.