Pumpkins & Cookies

So last weekend (see, I caught up)...

Saturday morning we went to the pumpkin patch by our house.  She had such a fun time.  She didn't really get that we were there to get some pumpkins, but after some urging I finally convinced her to pick out some small ones to take home.

"We going punkin' patch!"

It was a beautiful day!  We got there early before it got too warm (or crowded).  She played on the playground a bit, and we went home with our little pumpkins!

Saturday night Avery went to spend the night with Gigi and Pepaw while Rob and I went to dinner for our anniversary.

Sunday it was time to make some cookies with Avery.  My coworker's wife (Facebook page here) made a cute apron for her, and we needed to test it out.

She had so much fun making the cookies.  I think she's going to be a great little baker.  By the time the cookies were ready to be decorated, she had lost interest and was doing something else, so I hurriedly decorated them by myself.

Yes.  I decorated these all by myself, despite their distinct appearance of being decorated by a toddler.  It's ok.  I wasn't trying to win any prizes, and they tasted good.

OUvsTx & Brisket

I'm going to catch up very soon-bear with me!  I'm sure all three of you who follow this blog are on the edge of your seat...

We had contemplated going to Dallas for OU/TX weekend but time off work, money, and life in general just conflicted this year.  Instead, we headed to Lynn and Drew's to watch the game (and OU victory)!

"I drivin'"

Trying and failing to get a picture.

"Hey...I got a big, big stick!"

As you see, we weren't very diligent about taking pictures that day! But we had a good time, and went by Gigi & Pepaw's for dinner after the game.

The next day we had our annual brisket lunch.  It started a few years ago when Rob got my mom's brisket recipe.  Every year since we've had a big lunch of brisket, mashed potatoes, a huge vat of green beans, rolls, etc. etc. Basically, we make ourselves sick with delicious food!  I didn't have time to take many pictures-either of the food or the actual guests!  Fortunately the weather permitted us to eat outside on the deck, as the dining table we ordered arrived the previous Friday, damaged.

Pumpkin cooler

Hummus & ranch dip with veggies

AMAZING cheesecake Stephen made for Drew's birthday

Even though we definitely missed celebrating OU's victory in Dallas with friends, we had a good time at home (with friends)!

Zoo & Fair

I'm sorry.  It's Friday.  I'm tired and can't come up with any cute or witty titles.


Catching up again.  Two weekends ago.  We've had some fabulous weather the past couple of weeks, just perfect for the zoo!  Much-MUCH-better than the 110 degree temps back when we went in August.  We took Avery on the train for the first time, but other than that it was a pretty routine visit.

Sunday we headed out to the Tulsa State Fair with Lynn, Drew, Stephen, and Tim.  Another beautiful, warm day.  This was actually Avery's first trip to the fair.  She enjoyed it ok, but didn't care too much for being confined to the stroller for such a long time (we were there for about five hours)!  She took turns riding on shoulders.  Despite the fact that I am both ashamed and appalled at how much money we spent, it was a great day!

She loved the carousel

Had enough sweet potato fries

First fair corn dog

Sharing roasted corn with Stephen

Meat on a stick

View from the top

Getting sleepy

Cheese

Halloween Craft

Another quick, easy craft idea I saw on Pinterest.  This was really easy and really inexpensive.

What I got:

Unfinished wood letters-I got them on sale (50% off) for $1 each at Hobby Lobby

Scrapbook paper-on sale (50% off) for about .25 cents per sheet at Hobby Lobby

Ribbon-scrap ribbon I already had

Mod Podge-already had, but I have seen recipes for making your own if you don't have any

Box cutter or sharp razor blade thingy-already had

Embellishments-not necessary, but I got two small packages on sale at Michaels for .75 each

Spread a layer of Mod Podge on a letter and put a sheet of scrapbook paper on top of the letter.  Press but don't try to smooth out bubbles or anything.  

Let that dry, then take your razor and trace around the letters, cutting off the excess paper.  Add another layer of Mod Podge on top.  I then let it dry overnight. 

Add embellishments if you wish.  It's hard to tell in these cell phone picture, but I got some crystal-y spiders and web, skull and crossbones, and bats.  Here, she added cute ghosts.

Tie together, hang, and you're done!

Avery is too young to really help with this, so I did it when she was in bed.  Kids just a little bit older than her could probably get in on the actions though!
So easy and costs about $5 if you can get everything on sale.

Crazy Week

Not literally. Crazy Week at Avery's school.

Monday-Crazy Sock Day

The craziest socks she had: pink with white skulls.

Tuesday-Crazy Hat Day/Picture Day

Didn't get a picture of the crazy hat, just the picture outfit

Wednesday-Crazy Hair Day

Courtesy of Rob

Thursday-Team Spirit Day

Friday-Pajama Day

So happy in her Dora pajamas

Fall Craft

I ran across this tutorial for a fall wreath on Pinterest.  If fit my criteria for a craft being that it was a) easy and b) inexpensive.  Here's what it takes:

A large piece of foam 

Fake leaves (5 packages, although I didn't use them all)

Glue gun

The original tutorial indicates she got the leaves from the Dollar Tree so I headed over there and they did have packages of leaves as well as foam board (although thinner than the piece she got from  Hobby Lobby but whatev).  The leaves I got look a little different than hers (smaller) but I figured they would work.

So here's what I did.

Hint to your husband that he should cut the foam to desired shape.  Because you don't have cable, and he has nothing better to do, he does it. 

Start gluing leaves on board.

Stick your finger directly into hot glue.

Glue more leaves.

Burn finger with hot glue 19 more times. 

Continue until foam is completely covered with leaves.   

Go back and add more.  I didn't use all the leaves, but looking at her again I think I'll go back and add more.  Mine is much flatter than hers.

It's pretty cute for a $6 wreath!  Yeah, up close you can tell it's cheap but from the street it looks very nice and festive, and I like that it's square!

Day at the Lake

Catching up again.  Weekend before last we went to the lake on Saturday.  We had been only a couple of times this summer due to the damage done to the marina during the winter blizzard and the extreme heat this summer.  So we took advantage of a beautiful day and spent it at the lake with Gigi and Pepaw.  Avery had a great time.  She helped Pepaw drive the boat and fed fish around the dock.  We had a shrimp boil and watched the OU game.  Aside from one escape attempt in the middle of the night, Avery slept great on the boat.

Until next year, lake!