Pumpkin Carving 2009

Our finished products.

Want me to draw you a face??

Goopy, gloppy mess.

Matthew and his pumpkin-early stage of pumpkin carving-the cleaning out process.

Let me help you, brother! All Reagan wanted to do was eat the insides of the pumpkin off her spoon-she figured that is what we all must be doing with spoons in our hand, so who knows how much pumpkin gunk she ended up eating.

First off, I keep driving myself NUTS with these out-of-sequence posts I keep posting. I would like for them to be in proper sequence from start to finish. Blah!! Just take what you can get.

Alyssa's Pumpkin Patch Fieldtrip

Alyssa and her teacher, Miss Lesley. This is our third year having Miss Lesley teach our kids (August the first two years, now Alyssa).

It was chilly out, but fun none-the-less! We went on a hay ride, found candy in the hay candy jump, had hot chocolate, popcorn and lingered while the kids played. She had a great first fieldtrip!

Halloween festivities-The Pumpkin Patch

The Pumpkin Patch.

The hay maze up in the top of an old barn. This is always a favorite of the kids at Jubilee Farm.

Riding the horse-drawn wagon back from the Pumpkin patch-I think Reagan was soothed by the clip-clop, and felt like going to sleep here!

We were on the horse-drawn wagon, but I forgot to snap a photo of the beautiful horses. Trust me, they were Beautiful:-)

Waiting for the tractor to pick us up and take us out to pick pumpkins.

Like my flower?

I found mine!

Pumpkin patches can be tricky to navigate through when you are a new walker, but Mom and Dad helped me out.

Hmmm, the possibilities are endless!

Light Sky Blue Alpaca Women's Hat

I made this one for me:-)

Our outdoor pets

I'd like to get mad at them for pooping in my yard (which they do). I'd like to get angry that they ate my apple tree and broke the branches down to nothing (which I did). I'd like to shoo them off when they catch me by suprise when I exit my house and darn near give me a heart attack(my heart eventually calmed down). I'd like to say that I see our deer so often that I simply go about my business as though they aren't even there.....

No.

The poop, it's no biggie (literally, the size of large peas, and not stinky). I forgive them for eating my tree because the Mother deer and her babies need to eat, and with Winter coming, they probably need the tree more than I do. I even allow it. My heart leaping to my throat as often as it does when we come face to face-I'm getting much better about it, and they don't mind me either:-) And, I grab my camera more often than not when they come and visit me in the backyard; I can't help it, they are so graceful and beautiful.

Two days ago when I was walking to the bus stop I couldn't help but giggle, for they became convinced that I was walking after them , so the Mother and her twin babies bound down the hill just ahead of me, right down the middle of the road, perfectly synchronized and in a calm, not skittish, manner. We walked all the way down the hill like that, until they eventually veered of into another neighbors yard.

We love our deer.

My Sister's Tutu

Shhhhh! Don't tell my sister.

I made this tutu for Alyssa, and she likes it a lot, but Reagan was the only one around when I was ready to take a picture of it. Reagan was more than happy to wear it, and got very excited when I put it on her. She is just a baby, but already knows when she has something of her sister's!

I used red and white tulle and pink satin ribbon throughout to make this tutu. I had holiday colors in mind, and it turned out very nice, with the white tulle softening the red so that it seems to have three colors of tulle (red, white, and pink) thoughout, giving it greater depth.

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Baby Rea's Hat

Reagan wears this hat all the time. I need to get a picture of her in it! This is the same yarn as used in some of the other hats. I love the versatility of it, and use it often.

Alpaca blend womens hat

This hat ultimately ended up with a grey double layered flower to match sewn onto the side, but here it is prior to that. I sent it off to the new owner of it before realizing I forgot to photograph the completed hat.

Alyssa's Hat

This picture is awesome. I took it in my front yard and it was one of those amazing captures, if you ask me!

....Same with this one.

I felt in the mood to play with my pictures tonight, and thankfully I have such a wonderful program to accomadate my creativity. This hat is hot pink with black trim crocheted in such a way to display the pink yarn through the black spaces. The flower is black with a silver rhinestone.

This hat was designed with Alyssa in mind. She has always looked pretty in pink, and so came my vision for a pink hat with pow! A couple hours later and my creation was completed with love for my daughter. I LOVE this hat. I think I'm allowed to love my own stuff, right:-)

Boy Hat

I came up with this one from a request for a black hat for a boy. I know it isn't all black, and hopefully the person will not mind, but if she prefers all black, this will look great on August! It is for a fellow Kindergartener, so the size is perfect:-)

Some items I've been busy creating.

This hat I just finished today by special request for a 9 year old girl. She requested cream with a flower, and this was what I came up with. I love this hat! I crocheted with the same stitch and switched it to a smaller stitch for the bottom portion. The flower is a two-layer flower which is securely hand-sewn on.

Second photo of same hat. When I make an item for a customer, I avoid taking photos of the hat on my own children, so sorry to those who would like to see it on.

I made two versions of this hat. One version for an adult and one for the same 9 year old girl as mentioned above. I used a less bulky yarn for this hat, and added a flower. This hat goes down over the ears and is very warm!

I came up with this ribbon headband for a 5 month old girl from a request for something using pink and brown colors. What is the opinion on this one? I think it turned out quite cute:-) I wish I could see it on the baby, but not likely since she is no one I know!

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I forgot to take pictures of some of the hats before I sent them off. Darn!

Also, I added two photos of a variation on the Simply Sweet Taffy Hat in the original post if you'd like to view a variation on that hat.

Skull Hat by C.A.B

The back of the hat is shown above-crossbones seemed fitting.

Rock on, Teddy, even though you can't see a thing! This is the front of the hat. I had a special request for a skull hat with longer sides and this is what emerged. I placed the boys first and middle initial (one on each side) of the ear flaps, which I think made a nice addition. I only ended up placing one skull in the front to the side of the hat, but in this case, I think less is more, don't you think?

I sometimes shorten Candy Apple Boutique to CAB, and this hat definately works better under the abbreviated version.

Little Imitators Is What They Are

Reagan was watching the dog take a drink of water from her water dish. She seemed to ponder this for a minute, and the next thing I know, she plunged her own face right in! Little imitators is what they are:-)

For the Princess...

Alyssa and two girls from her preschool class.

Each girl sat with Alyssa in the chair while she opened the gift that child brought. It was the perfect time to snap a photo.

Make a wish, Princess! I made this cake the night before without any idea if it would work out or not, but it turned out to be the perfect cake to have around as a decoration. The girls decorated cupcakes, and they ate those for their cake, which is why this cake was able to be so small.

The girls liked this activity!

Pin the Crown on the Princess game-Alyssa's turn!

Decorating cupcakes-the girls favorite activity!

The Princess Walk: Walk in a circle to music and whoever is on the castle when the music stops wins a prize. Everyone wins by the end, of course! The hardest part was trying to get the girls to walk in the same direction and to keep moving. Some of the girls wanted to linger on the castle and just wait for the music to stop, so then we'd get a big back-up, which sure was cute to watch! Don't you just love all the little princesses!?

Waiting for party guests to arrive. I know these pictures aren't in order:-) I got to borrow this cute punch bowl with matching cups, which we served along with the cake. What a special touch this made!

The aftermath-I snapped this photo just prior to taking the setting down. I loved, LOVED this backdrop, as it made it seem so magical and made for an excellent photo backdrop.





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Alyssa's 4th Birthday Princess Party was perfect! She woke up today (party day-October 3rd) and said "today is my party!" All the girls were invited to arrive in princess attire to join Alyssa, who was going to wear one of her princess dress-up dresses. As the guests arrived, they picked a princess tattoo that I put on their cheek-they were good quality and looked more like a face painted design on their cheek rather than a tattoo. Once all guests arrived, we made our way to the dining room table where they decorated their own crowns with stickers and jewels. Next we played a game in the front room with music and images of Disney Princesses. The girls walked in a circle from image to image while the music played. When the music stopped, whoever was standing on the image of the castle won a prize. By the end of the game, everyone won a prize, which the girls loved!

Next, it was back to the dining room where each girl decorated her own cupcake which was then put aside until it was time for cake. This was a great activity-I'd say their favorite one-and a good alternative to me simple serving up a pre-made cake.

Then it was back to the front room for pin the crown on the princess. August participated in the entire party and I could type a whole section on the cuteness that is August, but anyway, he looked so cute in the blindfold that read "princess" across it! We had Matthew put it on for fun, and snapped a photo, which he insisted I erase (no Way!!).

Our final activities involved singing happy Birthday, eating the cupcakes and ice cream, and last was presents. The girls had a great time, and with 100% attendance, we had the perfect amount of party guests!

I'll admit, I think I enjoyed this as much or more than the little girls, as many of you know HOW LONG I have waited to throw this type of party. And to answer your question: So SO fun and so worth all the time I spent planning it!!!

Fun at the Fair

Matthew sat with Alyssa for her first rollercoaster ride. August was in a car two behind them, and he sat by himself, but did great!

Alyssa loved her horse, and is such a natural rider! No fear here:-)

Matthew and August were the best drivers on this go-cart course!

Alyssa and I went in a fun house. She loved it:-)

Every year we stop by the paintball shooting booth. This year Matthew, August and Alyssa all took turns.

So much going on! She was in awe, but this was near the end of our day-she was awake one minute, and the next thing I knew....

The giant Pumpkins and various squash were fun to see. When we arrived at the fair we came upon an area where Giant Pumpkins were being carved into sculptures. A man had a chainsaw and was carving one up, with pumpkin pieces flying through the air, the kids thought it was cool!

Matthew sitting in front of a Giant Pumpkin while waiting for Dad to buy tickets to go on the rides!

Fair food. Need I say more?!!!!

Alyssa loved all the animals. Here she is with the dairy cows.

We headed down to the Puyallup Fair a couple Sunday's ago on what we quickly deemed to be the best day we could have possibly chosen to go to the fair. The sky was sunny and a piercing blue, with the perfect light breeze to swirl around the mild Fall air. It was PERFECT, and we weren't the only ones who thought so-the place was crowded, but we arrived early enough to get in all we wanted to do before the crowds got too bad.