Pumpkin Carving with Uncle Tone

 This is the first year we have actually come home with pumpkins from the pumpkin patch.  I was debating about letting the girls take to them with paint or markers and not really even try to carve them.  I think the last time I got close to carving a pumpkin was in college, at a Halloween party and I'm pretty sure I was on clean up duty.  :)

But Uncle Tone came to the rescue when he volunteered to come carve the pumpkins for the girls.  He far exceeded their expectations of a pumpkin with triangle eyes, square nose and a rectangle mouth!  It was pretty entertaining evening.  The girls never cease to amaze me by their unpredictability.  I would have guessed Ava would have been all over helping with the pumpkins, but it was Carli who was Uncle Tone's helper.

At first the prospect of cleaning out the pumpkins was not very appealing to either girl, but Carli eventually came around to help out.

 

Ava, the other hand, decided that "Baby" needed to swing so she busied herself entertaining the doll.

 

Carli would go off and play and come back to check on Uncle Tone's progress.  If he needed anything, she would quickly volunteer to help out...

Helping Uncle Tone tape on the template.

Supervising Uncle Tone's carving technique... 

We had to stop mid-carving to grab some dinner.  But after dinner Uncle Tone finished up the first of the two pumpkins and Carli was so happy!

 

Carli's Cinderella Pumpkin

"Well Uncle Tone, her dress isn't blue, but she is still pretty!"

It was getting way past bedtime and so we left Uncle Tone to his specialty and got the girls ready for bed.  We even came into the dining room to do our Bible Reading and prayers with Uncle Tone.  Then we sent Ava to bed...she was melting down on us and Carli helped Uncle Tone finish up the second princess pumpkin.

She was amazed that it looked like Snow White! 

The finished pumpkins!  I think Uncle Tone did an AMAZING job and the girls, especially Carli, absolutely enjoyed having Uncle Tone over to their house!  Thanks Uncle Tone for helping create such awesome memories!

Pumpkin Patch

Last year we didn't go to the pumpkin patch.  We really missed it!  So this year, we went over to Moore's Farm to their pumpkin patch.  We were a little spoiled by going to Pappy's Pumpkin patch for a few years since it was free and we weren't obligated to buy a pumpkin.  But Pappy's closed, so we had to find another patch.  Moore's was really nice.  We had to pay $8 per person but you go out to the patch and pick your own pumpkin.  We came home with three pumpkins - so I guess a new tradition of carving pumpkins is about to begin! 

The girls had fun running all over the field to find the perfect pumpkins.  Carli declared them all too big but finally came to terms with one to call her own.

We took a hay ride out to the pumpkin patch.  I kept waiting for everyone to start a sneezing fit but no one was hit with allergies until later that night...so at least our pumpkin patch experience was enjoyable!

Carli LOVED the hay.  She climbed all over it and kept yelling

"TA-DA!"

 

Ava loved the corn kernals...

My little pumpkin heads. 

 

We had to pay an extra $2 so the girls could come home with some baby pumpkins.

 

Love their baby blue eyes in this picture!

 Sisterly Love on the the haystacks.

And Carli's favorite activity:  sliding off the hay bale!

We had a good afternoon at Moore's Family Farm!  We plan to go again next year.  Keith's allergies kicked in that night and hit him so hard he was not able to go to church Sunday morning!  But at least he enjoyed the family fun the day before! 

Our First Gymnastic Performance

The preschool classes from Tyler East Gym put on a little performance for the Alzheimer's Association last week.  I signed both Carli and Ava up thinking that the sisterly support would help in getting over any first time performance jitters.  Well, Carli started getting cold feet as soon as we walked into the the building.  She started crying before they even walked out.  She walked out bawling and her Daddy rescued her.  Ava just grinned at everyone and waved.  Ha!

Ava was quite the little performer.  She was the smallest in the bunch but she seemed to have the most fun!  She flipped, walked the balance beam and grinned.  At one point, she got on the balance beam, threw her little arms out, turned her head and grinned at everyone and then proceeded to walk the beam grinning the whole way.  It was awesome.  :)

Here is a picture of the group, Ava is the second in line...she is so tiny!

Carli got close enough to kind of pretend to be a part of the performance.  Her teacher came and held her toward the end.

Carli was so excited to get into the group picture!  Can you see her?  My children are two opposites...always an adventure!

 

 

Kayla came over to watch the girls performance as did Aunt Chelle.  I think they were thoroughly entertained by both girls.  Keith and Aunt Chelle have decided that the fear of performing is a King gene since both Carli and Logan seem to exhibit this trait.  I can't really argue with that.  But Ava's performance gene may be an anomaly as I am not sure there is anyone on either side of our families that would have put on the performance she did and enjoyed it so much!

 



Carli's 4 Year Stats

At four years old, Carli is average in height and weight.  This kind of surprises everyone b/c she seems tall for her age sometimes I guess.  I think it is b/c she is so long waisted ppl assume her little legs are as long as her torso.  :)  She is in 5T tops and dresses but 4T pants are still a little long sometimes.

Height:  40.25 inches

Weight:  35.8 lbs

The good thing about this well visit is that Carli will not have to have another round of shots (except a flu shot) until she is 11.  The bad thing about this visit is that she had to get three shots plus a flu mist.  She was not a happy camper at all.

No matter how big they get, they still look like the cutest little angels when they sleep.  Carli insist that she is all about princesses and is not interested in Minnie Mouse at all, b/c Minnie Mouse is for babies.  BUT, when she sleeps, she sleeps in Minnie Mouse PJ's on Minnie Mouse sheets with her big Minnie Mouse watching over her.  I am pretty sure her pink Minnie Mouse blanket is on the bed as well. 

To this Momma, four years old still qualifies her to be my baby....

Baby Goes to School

Ava has always been a little more attached to dolls than Carli ever was.  Most recently she has a favorite doll, which she has named "Baby."  I am pretty sure that "Baby" is the doll Grammy gave Carli when Ava was born.  So maybe that is why the two share such a special bond.  Yesterday morning, "Baby" helped Ava eat breakfast, get dressed, pick out her shoes and even had her teeth brushed before Ava convinced me to let her bring "Baby" to school. 

 

Ava did really well taking "Baby" into school and showing off her classroom.  She even insisted that Ms. Robin give "Baby" a hug.  Then it was okay for "Baby" to leave with me to run errands for the day.  I was an awesome Mom b/c I brought "Baby" back with me when it was time to get the girls from school.  You would have thought I gave Ava the best gift ever.  She hugged and kissed "Baby" and told her she missed her so much!  :) 

Last night after getting the girls to sleep, Ava started crying out and I thought she was crying "Momma, Momma" but when I got in there, she was crying "Baby, Baby."  "Baby" had gotten lost amongst one of the three blankets Ava has to sleep with - once I found her, Ava grabbed her, cuddled close and was fast asleep.  Too cute!

Sassy Came to Visit!

Sassy had to work on the day of Carli's party so she came by to visit for a bit on Monday.  The girls were so excited to get to see Sassy!  She barely made it past the front door...literally, I'm not sure she ever made it out of the entry way!

As soon as Sassy came through the door, Carli was showing off some of her artwork...

Sassy started watching Ava when she was only 6 months old.  Special bond with these two!

A group shot...see, in the entry way, literally!

Giving Sassy some lovin'

Ava talked Sassy's ear off the whole time she was here.  I think Sassy was in denial that Ava had grown so much!  ha!

 

The girls are always so happy to see Sassy.  After she left, Carli told me she was sad b/c she didn't take naps any more so Sassy couldn't tickle her arm.  Ha!  Sassy started tickling Carli's arm to get her to go to sleep during nap time over two years ago.  Carli decided that during her "rest" time, Sassy could still tickle her arm.  She thought Sassy would be okay with that.  :)  I'm sure she would be.