I never met a pumpkin I didn't like.

I wish I were laying by the pool... since that's not possible at this moment, I wish I were sleeping. Cloudy, warm Texas day- could I ask for better PJ weather? I don't think so. Feeling a little sad to go "home", but I have a lot to get done and it needs to be back to reality. I don't know that I'm ready to face the season change. How is it possible that it's "summer" here, and people at home are wearing jackets and turning on their heaters at night? I will be honest, I'm looking forward to slow cooker hot chocolate, jumping into piles of leaves and the pumpkin patch... Oh, and halloween with the kids. None of those things is as enjoyable without the person you love though. We at least get to keep our family tradition and go to Red Barn Farm all four of us! Possibly our last time for a few years. Not to dwell on any of that, because the end of this very long separation is almost over AND we get to keep our tradition. Just to recap:

2007

He was so mesmerized by all the colors. He kept wanting to drool all over the pumpkin stems. This is when I fell in love with fall for the first time. Keg's first trip to the pumpkin patch!

2008

Just a year later and we're a family of four. THIS time when we went it was blazing hot and I came home red as a lobster. Em's first trip to the pumpkin patch!

2009

This is one of my favorites of our family photos. We took the hayride out to the large pumpkin patch and the kids had their first pony rides.

2010

Another gorgeous day in October, perfect for a family photoshoot. This was the first year I think they understood what was going on... they road in wheelbarrows and got to pet animals and choose little pumpkins. This was the year I think THEY fell in love with the fall. I wish we'd gotten a better photo though... I HAD to shut my eyes!

So you can imagine how devastated I was thinking we might not get to do this. My amazing husband worked it out that we'll get to squeeze it in during our busy weekend. Even though none of us (especially K-man) want to go back to KS, we have something to look forward to. I fully intend to carry this tradition till the kiddos are grown, even though the pumpkin patch will inevitably change through the years.

Other great shots at the RBF:

Must find her outfit this week, but his is all picked out. These are the photos I wait for all year long. And some of the most irreplaceable memories!

Princess Bash- the food and the play.

The Food.

Belle IS cake, walmart bakery made her. Em wanted "a big, BIG cupcake, okay?!" for her birthday.

The chocolate fountain went better this time than it did last year, but I couldn't get it level somehow. Either way, it was delicious and everyone loved it! I served the chocolate with strawberries, marshmallows, pretzel rods and rice krispies treats! In hindsight, I wish I'd had something not sweet besides the vegetable pizza. Everything pretty much had fruit in it, but there was a TON of chocolate!

I served these, of course! Which were also a hit. A little time consuming if you have other things to be doing though. My oh-so-awesome husband helped for a bit. :)

What would a princess party be without chocolate covered strawberries? I also served fruit pizza over a brownie crust and vegetable pizza. Wish I'd done something like a cheese, meat and cracker tray and put more effort into coming up with a royal punch. Saving that (and my raspberry ice cube trays-yes you put the fruit in with water and freeze it!) for future parties.

I am happy to share any of my recipes, but will have to ask to share the "heavenly fruit dip" (with grapes, strawberries, cantaloupe and pineapple)- which also got excellent reviews.

The icing on the cake is the fabulous castle created by our friend.

Playtime.

My little knight with his Pssshhh. face.

The girls had dresses and shoes to choose from that they could wear/change throughout the party. Unfortunately my child didn't want to just throw them on over her clothes.

Mom's turn.

Shirts I made us.

All the kiddos got into the Knight play!

Our beautiful birthday girl!

After the party was over, she pulled out and played with every single one of her toys.

Princess Bash- The decor, the cake and the favors.

The princess party was a HUGE hit! I could not be more pleased with how it turned out and most importantly, my princess had a blast for her special day! Applied a lot of what worked and left out what hasn't from past parties and it went better than I imagined!

The whole "dining room" view. I think the palace background does wonders for the room!

First I did the prep work for the food, the husband set up the outside!

I used some of my personal favorite photos of her as well as the photos I took for her 3rd birthday.

Photo banner! I took ribbon and braided it. and I bought a package of clothes pins at walmart for .97 cents and used some pink paint I already had. I'll be honest, I saw it on pinterest and then again when a friend did it for her sons birthday party! I would do it again for every single one. My love of pictures and family members who don't use facebook to see their updated photos. This was one of my favorite parts of the decor.

I feel I could've displayed the flags better, but I love how they turned out. I found them at hobby lobby on summer clearance. It was intended to be part of a "Castle" theme. I used pins to hold them to the table cloth.

Stagecoach place card holders and I used place cards I found in a big Disney princess cut out book in the party section at target (clearance price $4.50 from $12!) that included placemats and stand up princess decorations, confetti, etc. I feel like the stagecoach holders are what made it. Hobby lobby wedding clearance for $2! It helps to know the party theme well in advance. Since this will be the last year my daughter will probably "let" me choose her theme, I went all out.

And... the beautiful cake done by a good friend at church!

Walmart had the Wilton princess castle cake (which can also be used as a boy castle, apparently) on clearance. I gave her a beat up box of plastic pillars and some pink sugar and she created this. Not only is it gorgeous to look at, but it tasted AMAZING.

Table with the favors! I had lots of time to plan- but I am also always keeping my eyes out for things I know I'm looking for. The tiara's came from JoAnn's crafts, they carry them every summer for $1/ea. Inside the gift bags were princess ducks and .30 cent wands, Princess Pez, notepads, markers and lip gloss. Boys had pez, m&m lightsabers and various candy. It WAS a girl party and they got to take home the awesome swords, shields (I'll get to those too) and helmets. The helmets I'd had my eye on for awhile, but let's face it... $7.99 per kid for JUST boys is ridiculous. So I was walking through the toy section and happened to come across them for a little over $1/ea.

Before. I took a shield I found in a costume drawer at a thrift store on post. I bought it for a quarter even though it was flimsy and had marker on it. I used that as a template to trace onto the cardboard.

After I cut them all out, I painted them black. They naturally kind of bent in a way that a real metal shield would've.

Once the black paint dried, I used the gold to make a design. The original tutorial recommended put the names "Sir ____" on them, but I wasn't certain of who would all be there, and it ended up that the girls had a blast with them too!

Her big gift. My uncle is a carpenter and can build just about anything so when I found this on pinterest, I immediately printed it out and took it to him. He did a great job, so I just had to pick the colors and the phrase for the side. Love it and our princess was SO happy.

Our little Knight!

Our little Princess also wanted to be a Knight. No distress for this damsel!

And we rented the bounce house again, princess style! Our house is perfect size for us, not so perfect when you try to stick 20+ people in it. We were expecting rain, so I'm grateful that didn't come until literally the moment she finished opening her gifts.

.... More to come! Next, the food. :)

the little things.

It feels like I spend a lot of time feeling overwhelmed. It's not a complaint, it's just a fact. I will be the first to admit that sometimes it's an "I'm drowning" sensation- there's laundry to be done, meals to be cooked, spills to be cleaned up, floors to vacuum, dogs to be cared for and all the while being followed around with "Mom, mom, mom" or "Mom, I want" or "Mom, can you?" I enjoy these things (most of the time) because it means so much that my husband gives me the opportunity to be with my kids every day. Other days, I have to excuse myself to my room to breathe, or cry. Equally overwhelming is how much love these tiny people give and create in a household.

I cannot believe my son will start school next year. Seriously? WHERE has the time gone? My husband came home a day sooner than the kids and I knew about and surprised us yesterday. We had lunch, took the kids to the park, went for a swim and just had fun. It was nice to sit down and eat as a family- things a lot of people take for granted, I know that before this last 14 months, I did. Afterwards my amazing husband helped me knock out some party prep stuff in the kitchen (i.e. he did my dishes. that's love) while I punched out almost 40 cutouts from a "Disney Princess" party decoration book. Then we decided to just... go to walmart. Something I never do after 5 p.m. because the thought of it being busy and taking the kids isn't my idea of a good time. So we went, returned and rented a movie at redbox, got some things I needed for the party and of course, daddy spoils the babies a bit. However, this was now 9 p.m. and my little princess is used to 7:30 p.m. bedtime. It was nearing 9:30 by the time we finally got back in the driveway and as soon as I lifted her from her carseat, she crashed on my shoulder. I couldn't even bring myself to put her in her bed. I will admit that I sat in the dark for a good half hour (like a sap) and might've shed a few tears. How is it possible that my -baby- will be 3 on Monday? Where does the time go? I am sure there were moments I took for granted, but I made it a point to enjoy things a little more with her because I wanted to give her the mother daughter relationship I've never had. I took the time to brush her hair and paint her nails. We bake together and we snuggle on the couch. We play outside (obviously besides the girly stuff, my son is included in all of this as well) and go shopping. She's my little mini me, and 98% of the time, she's my shadow. It doesn't matter where I am or what I'm doing, she's content to just be there [currently snuggled up against my side watching her "Dora" and telling me to "Mommm, SAYYYY 'backpack'!"] I guess what I'm saying- is that if I've gotten to spend every single day of their lives with them, making a point to enjoy these moments and it's STILL overwhelming to see them getting older and knowing that in 2 short years she will be off to school, how difficult must it be for those who never take the time to appreciate their kids until it's too late? My son is all about snuggling before bed these days, and thanks to my awesome best friend, he has a big enough bed for us to do that. There are nights when I won't lie, I'm exhausted and I just don't feel like it- but I know that a day will come sooner than later when he won't want that anymore. My husband and I are so blessed with these two amazing kids. I cannot get enough of this family time... they make me so happy. Seeing them playing at the park and getting to share our pool time is so fulfilling. Like I said, it's the little things you take for granted. It's the little things you miss.

Watched "Madea's big happy family" with the hubbs last night. It's a perfect combination of comedy and depth. I would definitely recommend to anyone who enjoys Tyler Perry movies, or who is looking for movies with little to no profanity. It's implied though, I will be honest. Tyler Perry is definitely one of the "cleanest" film-makers out there right now though.

My baby girl had her first haircut yesterday! It was more of a trim to clean up her ends, but she did SO great, I was so proud. She cried for about a minute and then she sat there like it was the most natural thing in the world. Our son flailed and kicked and screamed for his first year of haircuts and even made a girl cut herself because he was resisting so... intensely.

T-minus one day til party time!

Life is GOOD!