Zoo and Pumpkin Carving/Painting Party!

We went to the zoo today with our neighbor Sara and her kids Henry and Lucy. Lucy is Jackson's age and he loves to play with her. Jackson gets so excited to see Lucy outside playing or at church. It is really cute. He thought it was even more exciting that we rode in Lucy's car. All the way to the zoo, he sang and talked. This little boy makes me laugh everyday. Jackson loved running around with the kids. They were sad because the polar bear, Rizzo, was not out. It was a bummer, but we were able to still see a lot of the animals. Jackson said is favorite were the snakes. 

We had a pumpkin street party where you brought your pumpkins to carve or to paint. Since we had just tried the carving, I thought Jackson would enjoy the painting. He was excited to do it until he got a little paint on his fingers. I was able to wipe enough off that he thought he was okay to finish his pumpkin before washing his hands. He had fun doing it, which I was very glad for.

Just some of our awesome neighbors. I wanted to get pictures of our neighbors because one day if we move I want to be able to have pictures of the great friends we have made here. I didn't get nearly as many as I should have. Above is Kenny Tagge, Breanna Tagge and Carly Essig and Baby Addie. Below is Bobbi Phillips, Natalie Preston, Angalee Jackson. In the back: Tori Wilding, Linda, Stacy Halladay.

Jackson's finished pumpkin. He did a great job!

Here are some of the more advanced pumpkins that were carved. They looked awesome. I tried to get a picture of them with the flash off so you could see them all lit up, but it was blurry every time!

I am very grateful for the great neighbors and friends that we have made while living here. We were truly guided by the Lord when we were picking out where to build our house. I am grateful for the Spirit and how it can lead and guide us in everything we do in life.

Carving a Pumpkin!

CJ wanted to carve one of our pumpkins tonight for FHE. Jackson was excited at first, but then wanted nothing to do with it once CJ got started. He had absolutely no interest in it and wouldn't help pull the insides out and wouldn't even sit with CJ while he carved it. We thought he would think this was fun, but we were very wrong. This silly boy surprises us all the time with his personality. 

Bottle Fairy

My sweet little boy who will be three in February was still drinking milk from a bottle. We went to the store quite a while ago and had him pick out a cup that he would drink his milk from. That lasted about two days and then he wanted nothing to do with it. I hadn't hid the bottles so bad on my part, but I honestly didn't care so I let him drink from the bottles again. He isn't a great eater so I was just glad he was getting some calories and if the bottle was the only way to do it, then so be it.  After talking to neighbors though, I decided we needed to just do it and stick to it this time. 

My sister-in-law, July had the idea of having the bottle fairy come and leave a gift in place of the bottles. The bottles would be gone and would go to another child who needed bottles.  Jackson and I went to Walmart and were looking at cups and I started telling him about the bottle fairy and she gives bottles to other kids, but will leave you a fun present in their place. I told him that she might bring him a cool car and he was not liking any of it. "I just want my ba-ba!"  We walked over to the toys and of course he found some things he wanted. I told him the bottle fairy might bring that. Finally he settled on a Cars Race track and said he wanted that. I talked to him for a few minutes about the bottle fairy again to make sure he really understood what would happen and he said he was okay with it. He said he wanted his bottles back though. He makes me laugh. 

CJ went to Walmart and got the track and I wrapped it and put it on the counter. In the morning Jackson asked for a bottle and I carried him to the counter and he got so excited when he saw the present. He was very excited to open it and when he saw what it was he said,"I'm so happy!" That just made the ridiculously priced track totally worth it. 

Despite his face in the last picture, he was very excited. He likes to do sad faces when I take pictures. The whole day was great. We played with the track all day long. That night he did ask for a bottle and cried for a good ten minutes. It has now been three days and all is well.

Cornbelly's

The past couple years we have been going to Cornbelly's with CJ's family and the kids love it. It is at Thanksgiving Point and has a corn maze, rides, and all sorts of things for the kids to do and play. CJ wasn't able to get off work early so Jackson and I rode the frontrunner to Thanksgiving Point to meet everyone earlier. Jackson absolutely loved riding the train. It took us about an hour and Jackson did pretty good the whole time. It got a little crowded, but a nice gentlemen sat by us who didn't mind when Jackson got a little wiggly.

Jackson was very excited to see everyone when we got there. He absolutely loves his cousins. Below is Jackson doing duck races. You pump the water and it makes the duck go down the ramp. He thought that was pretty fun.

Jackson loved running in the little maze with Cooper.

We went into the big corn maze and you have a questionnaire that you are supposed to answer and depending on your answer it will tell you which direction to go. We were in there for quite a while and nobody really liked it! The kids thought it was great fun to run around in, but after a while we all just wanted to get out.

They have these giant wooden toys that the kids can play on with slides and stairs. There was a bus, a train, ark, tractor and more. Jackson loves these. This year was great because he could actually do a lot of the stuff by himself and he liked being able to do things on his own.

Jackson was a little nervous at first to go on the slide so CJ held him the first couple times and then Jackson would go down next to CJ. Then he wanted to go down with Cooper. It was so fun to watch him go by himself. He is getting so big!

CJ pulled Jackson on this horse thing and they were racing Cooper. Jackson fell off and started running. He preferred that to riding the horse.

The last thing we did was a hay ride. Jackson thought it was fun that we were being pulled by a tractor. It was pretty cold the whole day mostly because of the wind. The kids had fun though and it was a good day spent with family.