the pumpkin patch!

so, we did that good family thing that you’re supposed to do in the fall in order to get your halloween pumpkins instead of buying them at the grocery store.

we went to the pumpkin patch! it was actually a lot of fun, aside from some rain, mud, wind, and nearly freezing to death.

shane was SO not into this… but there were 3 holes. he didn’t have a choice! haha.

there were a few animals to look at.

we did the corn maze. had to take pics to show how tall it was. seriously. corn doesn’t look that tall until you get someone up next to it. I’m thinking it was pushing 9 feet.  

we did the kids’ maze. dave and shane are planning to go back and do the big one at night some time next weekend. this one had 5 stations with 5 different colored crayons that you used to color one of your fingertips. when you had found them all, had a very colorful hand, and had made it out of the maze, you had to find your color combination (the order of the colors on your fingers) and find the number that matched them. then the that number corresponded with a particular action that you had to perform. layla had to roar like a lion, dave had to blow raspberries, and I had to pull a rope like a mime. micah and shane didn’t want to do it.

then we got on the hay ride to go over to the pumpkin patch.

and we wandered around, looking for just the right pumpkins.

which we found. micah really wanted a green one. layla and shane both wanted HUGE pumpkins, I loved my little whitish/salmon colored one, and then there was a big pear shaped one that I loved too, so dave stuck that in the wheelbarrow as well.

shane, of course, was our designated wheelbarrower. the mud was crazy. layla actually got her boot stuck once on the way back to the hay ride.

on board, with pumpkins and very muddy feet. 

after purchasing our pumpkins, there was this huge tire swing that layla wanted to try. micah drove the squash truck while we waited in line.

then we got some food, and finally hit the corn cannons before we left. we were SO cold at this point.

our fireplace and hot chocolate was calling, so we called it a day and headed home with our pumpkins.

instafriday

the dog bounding across the backyard after fetching the tennis ball for the 400 millionth time.

he was watching chicken nuggets bake. because, you know, a lot of exciting stuff happens to them in the oven while they go from frozen to hot… or not, but he wanted to watch. and he was doing math while he was at it. practicing his grouping skills. 3 nuggets + 3 nuggets = 6 nuggets.

creepy. apparently “human hair is supposed to be a selling point… it just kind a creeps me out. not sure.

this one commandeered my phone and took a selfie.

waiting for the doctor.

poor kid got dragged along on my trip to urgent care. so he entertained himself with instagram. good thing it wasn’t a gyno appointment!

superman prayer.

just kind of a cute signature, don’cha think?

having fun while shopping at target.

I SO want these! I can’t believe giant silverware is making a comeback!!! add this to my christmas list!

I know it’s keats, but all I can think of is mary poppins.

my smartypants daughter’s math test.

my smartypants daughter’s spelling test.

sleeping FIVE year old!

this tree couldn’t make up it’s mind. LOVE it!

birthday boy at school.

angry birds in real life.

checking out his new retro fisher-price record player.

and yes, I have strep. awesome.

they keep calling them discs. they’re RECORDS!!!!

washing dishes…

my latest idea to cut down the morning stress, yelling, tears, lolligagging, and general tardiness…

working on getting all caught up.

yes, I have an entire shelf in my pantry devoted to fruit. yum. (yeah, I just went shopping.)

hello random assortment!

just some cool letters that happened to be in my face at the moment… can’t wait to see more letters of this variety in the near future!

linking up as usual, over at life rearranged.

strep throat

is so much fun.

NOT.

weirdest thing. I woke up totally fine on sunday. went to church, came home, ate lunch, played uno. fell asleep on the couch. for 2 hours. woke up with a terrible sore throat! what the? so I tried drinking some water, cough drops, weak tea with honey and lemon… nothing helped. in fact the cough drops made it worse because I just had to swallow more.

I went to bed and hoped I’d feel better in the morning.

when the alarm went off monday morning, I was wishing for death. OMG, it hurt so bad. I wanted to cry. I croaked around, waking up my kids, threw lunches together, etc., knowing that the second the kids were dropped off, I was heading straight for urgent care. do not pass go. do not collect $200. the only other time I’ve had a sore throat like this was in december of 04 when I had strep. oh yay.

you know how bad it was? I carried a cup around with me to spit into, just so I wouldn’t have to swallow.

the time in 04 is the only other time I’ve been compelled to do that.

at any rate, I got in, I croaked out the situation to the nurse, who swabbed my throat.

GAG.

and then the doctor came in, looked in my throat, and said, “WOW! Now I see why you came in today.” apparently my throat was quite inflamed.

so I was sent to the pharmacy, and instructed to eat soft foods.

I did.

I spent the rest of the day wanting to die.

dave was awesome and left work early to pick up the kids from school so I wouldn’t have to go anywhere.

thankfully, I felt a little (but SO significantly) better the next day.

and yes, it was strep. waiting to see if anyone else gets it now…

my baby is FIVE!!

I don’t have a clue how that happened. sniff sniff.

**public service announcement**

there are way too many pictures in this post.

celebrating at preschool with his special snack he chose to bring to share with the class.

singing “the elephant song” while waiting.

singing happy birthday (complete with the “God’s blessings to you” verse… ahhh, lutheran schools! they don’t change. love it!) 

after school we made a cake! a round confetti cake with blue frosting and sprinkles… per micah’s specifications.

and after a birthday dinner of waffles and bacon, it was time to attack the present stash.

layla read all the cards for him.

barrel of monkeys game from layla.

angry birds game from shane.

angry birds and snoopy shirt from gramma and papa, along with some ball pillows and a football night light (which he thinks is just the bomb!).

old school fisher-price record player from mom and dad (along with a “blue helicopter”… one of the few things he said he wanted for his birthday).

new football from auntie marge.

and of course, the bigger kids have to check out his toys first.

trying out the angry bird launcher.

trying out the record player.

the official 5 year old photo.

cake time.

we’ll be celebrating both micah’s and my mom’s birthday this weekend with them.

the end.