Dewberry Farm

As I have said in the past, Fall is my favorite time of year.
The cool weather, changing colors and pumpkin dishes of every sort help to make it my number one season.
I have, however, quickly discovered that a Fall season in Houston is unlike any I have ever experienced.

For instance, today we made our annual pumpkin patch trip.
I had the girls dressed in leggings and rain boots to keep from getting muddy.
Joe and I wore jeans and tennis shoes.
Boy were we overdressed.
Apparently in Houston, your "pumpkin patch attire" is the same as your attire for the other seasons, shorts and flip flops.

Oh well.
The sweat and heat (88 degrees plus humidity) did not keep us from having a good time.

Not knowing the area, I asked friends to tell me the best pumpkin patch in town.
All fingers pointed to Dewberry Farms.
Everyone else in the city must have felt the same way because this place was packed!
Good thing for us is that there was so much to do, that the crowds of people didn't slow us down.

We arrived just as the gates opened, excited as can be...

 The pony rides were conveniently placed just as we walked in, so that was the first thing the girls did...

 Lily panicked for a brief moment, but was quickly consoled by her daddy...

 After the ponies, we took a gander at the geese...

 Along with all of the other animals...

After grabbing a quick bite to eat of your typical fair food (think fried everything), Lily and Sophia wanted to get their faces painted.
Now as far as face painting goes, we aren't just talking a stamp and ink, but some serious artistry.
I was amazed at the transformation...

Sophia chose the butterfly mask...

So fitting for my colorful girl...

Lily chose the "Sugar Skull"...

Definitely not your typical face paint...

Then we had to get what we came for, pumpkins...

Sophia muscled up and chose her pumpkin right off the get go...

It didn't take long for Lily to find her perfect pumpkin either...

The fresh picked pumpkins were then used as seats for one more pumpkin picture...

 The last item on our very long pumpkin patch to-do list was to ride the cow train...

After four hours of fun, we had two beautiful pumpkins and two extremely exhausted girls...

By far, the family tradition most near and dear to my heart.

Pure Randomness

As I went through my email, I ran across some pictures sent from my mom.
Some are quite old, but I always feel the need to showcase these pictures.
It also gives me an excuse to reminisce about the days when my girls were younger...

The Cat in the Hat

For a school project, Lily had the option of making a pumpkin to resemble the likeness of a literary character.
It had to be a character from a book because it was going to be displayed in the library.
The book she chose was I Can Read With My Eyes Shut
The character was Dr. Seuss.

After a fairly expensive trip to Michael's, the girls helped me turn an ordinary orange pumpkin into Dr. Seuss...

After two days of work, the pumpkin was transformed...

The best part of this project:
Watching Lily walk into school with the biggest smile of pride on her face.
I would do this everyday if I could replicate that sweet smile.

Picture Perfect

Today we took the girl's to take Fall pictures.
This was my favorite...

Man these girls are stinkin' precious!

Picture Day

Lily has school pictures today.
I asked her to give me a quick glimpse at her pose.
This is what I got...

School pictures or Glamour Shots?

Mud Room

I had a vision.
My vision was to have a house with a mud room.
In our laundry room, we have a little carved out niche that I thought would be the perfect place for it.
After looking into it further, I decided the garage would be better.
I didn't really care where it was, I just wanted to preserve our new carpet for as long as possible.

So, in the garage it went...

Now every dirty shoe and wet umbrella has it's place.