That’s okay, I’ll pretend Josh and I had fun the whole time!

Of course, it would have helped if at the pumpkin patch

Mama hadn’t brought home the biggest pumpkin she could carry!

My girl is so girlie

She hates to get her hands dirty (except with actual dirt)

But Daddy was able to get her to stick her hand in the pumpkin once for a picture

Eliza just tried to eat the pumpkin

It was all worth it though for the final result.

First, a reminder of last year’s family pumpkin(s)

Presenting, our 2011 Family Pumpkin

You don’t really need a lot of words when the pictures are as cute as these!

Except to explain all the pictures of Marion picking up pumpkins.

We watched an episode of Dinosaur Train before we went to the patch (Marion calls it the “mooky” one because she has trouble saying her “s” sounds. Anyway.) The dinos go to a pumpkin patch and have a contest to see who could find the biggest pumpkin. Of course, the mom finds the biggest pumpkin and everyone is all happy.

So when I told Mar we were going to the pumpkin patch, she very loudly, very adamantly told me she was going to bring home the biggest pumpkin she could find, just like Mrs P did.

In a moment of brilliant mom insight (and trust me, those are very few and far between) I told her, sure you can bring home the biggest pumpkin Marion. The biggest pumpkin you can carry.

Deal was done.

I’m pretty certain she picked up every pumpkin bigger than she was in the patch

And I do mean

Every one

Wait!

What’s this?

Is it a keeper?

It is!

Even Eliza got in on it

She could bring home any pumpkin she could pick up

Who knew my baby girl was so strong?

Also, who knew

My baby girl

Hated walking in grass barefoot so much!

Ah, sisterly love

Oh wait, I mean sisterly strong-armed love

Little pumpkins

From this

to this in a few short steps!

Of course, it’s a lot easier to do if you have a helper this cute

Supplies:
Glue gun and/or stick
Decorative paper or fabric
Ribbon
Cardboard (or a cardboard cake circle)
Scissors
Mason jar
Marker/Pen

Take a circular object (we used a dinner plate) and trace around it onto the paper or fabric

Using the same circle (duh!) trace onto the cardboard. If you are going to put something heavy on top, you might want to cut two pieces of cardboard or use one thick piece.

Let your toddler go to town with the glue stick, covering the wrong side of the decorative paper

Adhere to the cardboard circle

While you get ready to use the glue gun, let the toddler go bonkers with the ribbon. This is why I buy double. One to play with, one to use.

Apply a thin line of glue around the edge of the cardboard

More bonkers with the ribbon in the meantime

Press the ribbon down around

Mark as close to the center of the circle as you can

Center the ring of the mason jar and trace around it

Glue around the edge of the line

And let the toddler hold it down until dry. About three seconds, or the length of the three year old’s attention span

Screw the jar into the band and you’re done!

Now, if you’re going to put something heavy or unsteady on top of it (like cupcakes with greedy hands grabbing them off) you’ll want to put a weight of some sort in the jar just to help keep it anchored down. We might have learned this the hard way at the party!

This year, mama had more sense and stayed out of it with the girls while Josh ran the 5K. And run it he did! He came in second place in his age group! Yay Josh!

The girls also wore their matching bumblebee pants, which I realized actually look more like jailbreak outfits. Oh well.

My little dancing bumblebee

Here comes Josh!

(He passed the guy in front of him at the finish line)

Doing her run daddy run celebration dance

His winner’s reward – a handful of acorns she’d been collecting all morning

Her patient and cooperative toddler reward – a banana from the food tents

Proof Eliza was there too

Bumblebees with their bee keeper

Baby bee

2008

2010

We went the Friday before Halloween, so it was pretty picked clean. However, they still had a great collection of all these unusual pumpkins, warty, colored and odd shaped.

Marion had more fun with the unusual ones than she did the normal ones

She was also mesmerized by the magnolia seed cones (that’s my Mississippi in her coming out.)

Mr Brown Dog came along as well

She wasn’t allowed to sit on the pumpkins, but there were no such rules prohibiting Mr Brown Dogs

Like I said, “no sitting on pumpkins” doesn’t apply to small brown dogs

Her daddy’s new favorite picture

No matter how much she asked, I wouldn’t let her bring this guy home

Baby sister woke up from her nap long enough to get in a few pictures too

Look mama, I found her bow! Yes Marion, it was attached to her head.

Their sweaters are the fantastic Milo pattern

So my helpful little baker elf brought home a sugar pumpkin for me!

Between football games one Saturday, we scooped

And picked

And watched

And scooped some more

(And got a little side tracked if the truth be told)

And made a little mess

Until our pumpkin became

A muffin!

Using her new found pumpkin cleaning skills, Marion helped Josh make our halloween pumpkins too.

That’s her “model” pose

The finished produt

Pretty cool I think!

Thank goodness for a cowboy hat and a pair of overalls though!

Unfortunately she had way outgrown her cowboy boots, so this is just rural Marion instead of straight up cowgirl Marion.

Still super cute Marion though

One pumpkin

Two pumpkins

Eleventy billion pumpkins!

And they’re all hers!

Trying to cajole a hot, tired two year old into a smile

An acceptable imitation of a smile

Watching the lions with daddy

And the monkey

So Marion was talking to Granny Chris after this zoo visit and told her about seeing the monkey. Granny Chris asked what the monkey was doing and Marion replied with “Monkey eat peanut butter!” Monkey eat what?

Oh yes

Monkey

Eat

Peanut butter

Artiste at work

Getting warmed up for some dancing

She inherited my super sweet dancing skills. Please notice how Leo is singularly unimpressed with her moves. (We did run into a few of our friends after all.)

We followed up with a fun lunch at Little Bigs, always a family favorite

Except for the onions, she always picks those off

Eliza Jane had her lunch too

Little baby feet for dessert

Post lunch snuggles. And yes, Eliza’s outfit was intentional.

It was what Marion wore for her first trip to the zoo too!

(There is video embedded in this post)

Lots of fall goodness coming this week!

Sometimes mama gives up the camera