Pumpkins!!

Going to Hilger's

It was sunless and spitty last Sunday when we went to get pumpkins for the house. We were supposed to go on Saturday, but Momma got her drink on Friday night and Just. Couldn't. Do. Anything. on Saturday.  Saturday was beautiful and sunny and lovely...but it wasn't happening.  So Sunday morning, we sent a text to Janine and Daelynn and Big Sarah and let them know we were heading out.

We went to Hilger's because we'd heard there was tons of fun there...and there was. The first big hit of the visit was the tire swings. Xander was a bit to small, so Daelynn pulled him in with her and I gave her some pushes.  Ainsley, however, was the perfect size for the tire horse swing. She rode that one for about 10 minutes.  Luckily, since it was cold and rainy, we were practically the only people there.

I overheard the Hilger's lady say that the day before was "a zoo." So, see kids...you got to play with stuff longer and to yourself because Mommy drinks! Aren't you lucky?!

This was some sort of
pumpkin education center that the kids
didn't really pay attention to...

Behind the barn was a fun area for the kids to run around and play with Big Sarah while Daelynn shopped for her pie hole and Janine and I chat. Janine informed me that they'd covered the hay bales with tarp so the hay wouldn't disintegrate in the dampness. One of my favorite things about hanging with Janine is I get to learn interesting little tidbits like that.

There was this plywood maze thing they made for the kids, and Big Sarah, Ainsley, and Xander had a BALL playing in it.

Daelynn returned with popcorn and then, for Ainsley, it *was on*.  Ainsley will cut you for some popcorn. So, of course, I got her a little bag. She had great fun after that eating and protecting her popcorn.

Because it was raining, the hay rides were canceled, had Ainsley been old enough to know what that meant, she'd have been disappointed...remember she has that weird obsession with hay bales.  Traveling out to the pumpkin patch was also canceled, so we picked our pumpkins from the ones they had gathered in front of the barn.  It's not like we're big into pumpkin patches, per se...so we were cool with that.

Because of her big ole hippie status, Big Sarah was showing the kids how to love and respect all the animals, gourds, etc. As this was DAY TWO of my hangover, I let her. Heh.

Ultimately because it was so wet and rainy, we couldn't stay very long...we picked our pumpkins and left. You can really see how wet the kids got in the picture to the left. No, Xander didn't pee himself, he was just playing in the pumpkins!

All the cool kids drive home
pantless with popcorn.

PAINTING Pumpkins

Ainsley: Brush
Xander: Finger

By far, what's much cooler than getting pumpkins is painting pumpkins. This year, I bought a few of those minipumpkin looking gourds for the kids to paint.  This has proven to be one of the wisest Momma moves I've made!

Day One Pumpkins

So far, we've had two pumpkin painting days...mostly I'm just letting her repaint over the same pumpkins because 1) I'm cheap and 2) she's 3 and doesn't care to complain yet. I'm sure next year each pumpkin will be a Work of Art like each piece of paper is right now.

Ainsley painted one pumpkin as her "princess' pumpkin. It's the one with pink, white, and green.  I find this hilarious!

Often when painting, Xander ends up getting bored and painting on the table, his face, the pumpkin, the high chair, and then just plain trying to eat paint. Thank goodness it's washable and non-toxic.  He's still a bit young for painting, so normally he'll paint a bit and then move to the bathtub.

As she is with everything, Ainsley is a very serious artist. She'll move from color to color, and when painting with the brush is very particular about not mixing the colors together. This makes me happy because I think it'd drive the OCD in me INSANE if her colors were all mixed up. I have a hard enough time when she mixes PlayDough colors together.

When we paint, I'll do some painting, but mostly I'm there to manage the mess.  As you can see from these pictures, this time (Day Two of painting), I'm being instructed by Ainsley when, where, and how to paint, and I'm trying to get Xander to actually paint instead of eating the pumpkin. Look closely at that picture (or click on it to enlarge it)...his mouth is covered with paint because he picked it up to chew on it as I was setting the timer on the camera.

While I Was Blogging (or Ainsley Loves the Vacuum)

So, while I was working on the previous post, Xander was napping and Ainsley, who previously feared the vacuum with the tenacity of Satchel from Get Fuzzy, decided that she now loves the vacuum. She's been pushing it all over the house painting it with her paint brush, giving it hugs, dancing with it.  

"My vacuum!" she says.  "Want my vacuum in upstairs." 

[I pretend I don't hear her.] "Mommy, want my vacuum in upstairs." 

"No, you aren't going upstairs by yourself with the vacuum."
"I say please!"

So, she decides that she's going to go into Xander's room.  I find her in there throwing stuffed animals into bed with Xander, who she's woken from his nap.  You know that scene in Labyrinth when Sarah has eaten the poisoned apple thing and she goes into "her room" with that weird trash hoarding puppet & the puppet tries to turn Sarah into a trash hoarder like her? That's what I think Ainsley was doing to Xander.  "You don't have nearly enough babies, Xander."

Anyway, I ended up having to get him up...and this is what I find in the living room after refilling my coffee.

She was adamant that Xander
have all the pieces.