Pumpkin Patch!

Today was a fieldtrip for the preschool. We went to the Argyle Pumpkin Express. There are a few different pumpkin patches in our area... this, however, is my favorite! It seems to be a well kept secret and is hardly ever crowded! When we pulled up this morning there were 4 big school buses being unloaded. All of the teachers were thinking, "GREAT! It's going to be a mad house!" but it really wasn't! There is enough space and things to do for all of the kids!

The first thing you do is board a super cool train! The man that owns the property has about 4-5 different miniature trains. Here is Haylee and Ella on the train...


Here is Haylee with her teacher, Miss Yanel She just loves her teacher!

And here is Haylee's class (there are a few kids missing)

We also had lunch there... hotdogs, chips and drinks. YUM!

Here is Haylee with her buddy, Jakey! It's so cute, she always talks about this little man! And can ya blame her! =} He's such a little sweetie! Although his face says "Get her away from me, mom!", his mom told me that he says "Mom, when I look at Haylee, I get hearts in my eyes!" Is that the funniest thing, or what???

It was a very fun day, even though it was quite cold! And the Halloween fun continues...

Mother's Cookies...

I think we need a moment of silence during all of this Halloween fun...can you believe that these little beauties are about to disappear? If you haven't heard, Mother's Cookies is shutting down! Who doesn't remember eating these as a child? I'm so sad...

Halloween Party

Halloween is quickly becoming one of my favorite holidays! I love the fall when the weather turns cooler (we SO look forward to that here in Texas!) and the leaves turn. And I love seeing my little ones dressed up in their costumes! AND it's always a good excuse for a party!

Saturday night we went to a party at the Mason's house. This party was put together by Hattie, Tristen and Tara. They are quite the party planners!

The food was even spooky...notice the "eye balls" on the platter! VERY YUMMY! The pretzel rod fingers! The witches hat cake ...Tristen (aka Martha Stewart) made this... the super cute and tasty sugar cookies and my personal favorite, the skull shaped cheese ball!

The party was definitely kid friendly, there were lots of games for the kids to play. But the favorite thing for them to do was to get on the trampoline with Tara's husband, Chris! He would take turns bouncing the kids so high, they LOVED it! He would have them sit indian style and hold their feet. Then he would bounce them until they couldn't hold onto their feet anymore. Hannah had a ball!

After that, it was "pin the nose on the pumpkin"!

Then "pass the orange"

And then on to the ghost pinata. They had it hanging from this pole but one good swing from an older boy knocked it down but didn't break it. They then had to shove the pole through the ghosts head!**If you're wondering why Haylee isn't in many pictures it's because she'd much rather be a spectator than a participator in these activities**

Last, but not least, was a viewing of the "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown" in the backyard. All the kids got cozy on blankets and you didn't hear a peep out of them!

It was a fun evening! Thanks so much for the invite!

The past 3 days... (lots of pics!)

Here is a peek at the past few days!

Thursday was Police & Fire day at preschool. The Argyle Police and Fire departments came to visit and teach the kids about safety. Here is the whole preschool posing in front of the fire truck.
Haylee listening intently to the fireman.
Fireman Dave put his bunker gear on, piece by piece. Each time he put something on (pants, jacket, etc), he would pause and make sure the kids knew it was still him, Dave. By the time he put on his helmet and breathing aparatus, a few of the kids were freaked out! Here he is trying to talk to Haylee and she would have none of it!
My favorite picture of the day... Haylee was standing on the truck waiting for the group photo and saw her reflection on the truck. So sweet!

Friday night was Wolf Fest at Hannah's school. This is a HUGE fundraiser for the school and a lot of fun!

Here is Haylee and Kyle in the train at Wolf Fest.
Haylee, Hannah and Kyle waiting patiently for their turn on the pony ride.
Hannah getting her cheek painted.
Hannah and Haylee showing their new hair color... purple with pink polka dots!
Hannah and her best bud, Hana...she misses having her in the same class!

Saturday was our big Fall Festival for the neighborhood. It was so much fun and we had a great turn out!

We had the police there grilling the hot dogs for us in this HUGE barrel BBQ. The officer went to open the side to peek in and cut his forehead. Fortunately the medics were there to take care of him! HA HA HA!
We had a fabulous train for the kids to ride.
We had a great showing by the local police and fire departments. The Care Flight helicopter even made an appearance! Tristen and Kaiya were checking it out.
We had a costume contest for the kids...
The lady who did the face painting was a real artist! Ryan made a great lion!
Last but not least, we had a great magician to entertain the kids. Here he is with Hannah, doing a really cool card trick!

Whew! I'm so glad it's all over but it really was a lot of fun... and work!

Our busy days and something fun!

Starting tomorrow, it's going to be a crazy few days!

It is Community Helper month at preschool and we'll be having the Argyle Police and Fire departments coming to visit! The kids love this! They get to climb up in the firetruck, sit in the police car, turn the siren on, etc. It will be a fun and hectic day!

Friday is Wolf Fest at Hannah's school. This is a HUGE fundraising event for them... I think last year they raised somewhere in the neighborhood of $22,000.00 for the school! It's so great because having an event this big means our kiddies don't have to go door to door selling things!

Saturday is our Country Lakes Neighborhood Fall Festival! There will be 2 bounce houses, a traveling magician, a balloon guy, face painting, crafts, free food, a trackless train and.... drum roll please.... a candy corn guess! =} That is one of the things I am in charge of and here it is:

So, here's the deal! The jar is 6.5 inches tall and the diameter of the jar is approx. 4 inches. It is CRAMMED with candy corn... my favorite! I love this stuff!

Anywho... CAN YOU TELL ME HOW MANY CANDY CORNS ARE IN THIS JAR?

Leave your guess in the comments section. I will reveal the correct guess (closest without going over, thank you Bob Barker!) on Sunday and the winner will receive some Halloween treats, whether you live here in TX or not!

A Little Fun...

I saw this on another blog and it looked like fun!

Look up all the answers on Google under the Images category and put up the first image that appears!

First Name: Jennifer


Middle Name: Marie


Last Name: Churchwell


Age: 39


Place I'd like to visit someday: Nauvoo


Favorite Vacation Spot: New York City


Past Celebrity Crush: Steve Carrell (does it have to be past??)


College Major: Elementary Education



Place I grew up: Renton, Washington


First Job: Dairy Queen


Favorite Dessert: rootbeer float (sounds good right now!)


Favorite Food: homemade tacos


Favorite Color: Green


Somewhere you've gone today: backyard to feed the ducks


What's for Dinner: Lasagna


Want to join in on the fun? Please do! I'd love to see what pictures you come up with!

Green Girls!

Here in North Texas, if you say something about "green" it could be in relation to our local University, UNT! "GO MEAN GREEN!"


However, Hannah and Haylee have gone GREEN in another way. One of their new favorite things to do is ride around the "loop" (the street behind us that goes around our "lake") and collect bottles and cans. Here you can see them with the "booty" they collected tonight:


Hannah's school had a contest last year to collect soda pop tops (the thing you flip up to open a can of soda) and they collected 61 gallons filled with those things to donate to the Ronald McDonald House. I'm not sure what they do with them, but I'm sure it's good! So, this year I've spread the word as far as WA state to help Hannah collect these things and she's collecting them like crazy! One of our friends even brought home a gallon ziploc half full of them from work! Hannah was SO excited! (thanks Larry!). So, whenever we go anywhere, she's keeping an eagle eye out for them. Sometimes when we go to birthday parties, she's trying to take the pop tops off of everyone's cans! It's pretty funny!

The ones we found tonight were at a home site behind us (BTW, for those of you out of state... this house is 3776 sq ft of fun for less than $250K...y'all need to move down here!) and the workers just throw their cans and bottles on the ground. So, the girls get on their bikes and I carry a grocery bag and we go a-collectin'! Here's Hannah on her bike:

(she's almost outgrown that thing!)

Her little sis is doing pretty good on her bike too:


It's been perfect weather here for bike rides in the evening! Hanna thinks she's found another litter-filled lot so we'll be back out there tomorrow night!