Pre Halloween

We had a lot of fun this year celebrating during the weeks leading up to Halloween. We visited the pumpkin patch, went on two other family hay rides, decorated sugar cookies at my mom's, painted baby pumpkins, carved big pumpkins, went to our church's Trunk or Treat, and then finally celebrated the main event with some neighborhood trick-or-treating.

My mom invited all of the in-town grand kids to come decorate sugar cookies. It got a little messy, but the kids had a lot of fun.

This is Hudson's plate of cookies. Notice how he took a small bite out of each one!

Another messy but fun project was painting baby pumpkins.

We were joined by some friends to carve our big pumpkins.

John is not a huge fan of carving pumpkins, but he loved the 'polk-a-dot' pumpkin idea I found on pinterest because the only tool he needed was his drill.

Vala's Pumpkin Patch

The first week of October, Makenna's preschool class took a field trip to Vala's Pumpkin Patch. For those not from Omaha, Vala's is basically a pumpkin patch on steroids. There is SO much to do and see there (44 attractions to be exact - according to their website). John even took the day off to experience Vala's for the first time. I remember going as a child, so it was so fun to bring my kids back to enjoy all of the fun things they have, and to see everything that has been added over the years.

We enjoyed going with the preschool, as it meant discounted tickets, free train rides, and a free pumpkin for Makenna. All of the preschool families drove and arrived at the pumpkin patch on their own, and also explored the pumpkin patch separately. The only activity where we even saw Makenna's preschool teachers and other students was lunch, as they had reserved and designated a spot for all of the preschool families to meet for lunch. Makenna enjoyed seeing everyone for lunch, and we enjoyed having family time during the rest of our visit.

The first attraction that we saw was the Haunted Farmhouse. It was a favorite of mine as a kid. I was worried that the kids would be really scared, and there were a few parts that Makenna didn't like, but overall they did great! Makenna even went back to part of it for a second time!

Here are a few of the other activities we enjoyed:

The train ride
Playing in the sand with tractors

Jumping on the giant 'pillows'

Finding the perfect pumpkin

Old-fashioned hayrack ride

Feeding the goats

Hudson laughed when the goats ate out of his hands

Sitting in Cinderella's pumpkin carriage at Storybook Barn




It was a beautiful fall day, and I was so glad that John took the day off to enjoy the pumpkin patch with us. We will definitely be making Vala's a part of our fall traditions here in Omaha.

Summer Swimming

Well this post is about 2 months late, but I just have to document what we did during the hot summer days. When we moved to Omaha, we started looking for a gym to join. After comparing several different gyms, we ultimately decided to join Lifetime Fitness. One big reason was the amazing outdoor pool that they have. The kids and I LOVED going to the pool this summer. We usually went swimming a couple of times a week, and it was a great way to spend our mornings.

Makenna's swimming skills improved drastically over the summer. She can now swim underwater by herself short distances, and can float on her front and back. She can also hold her breath for a pretty long time, which she also practices in the bathtub.

Swimming underwater

Floating on her tummy
Hudson also loved the time we spent at the pool. Although he still doesn't like to put his head under water, he does enjoy playing in the shallow water.

Pretending to be a shark.

Canning Peaches

A few weeks ago, my mom, a friend and I got together to can peaches. My dad had brought some boxes home from a trip to Colorado, and they were delicious! I remember watching my parents can food growing up, and I think on occasion I helped a little too, but I hadn't done it in so long, and it was great to have a chance to learn how to do it again. After taking home a dozen jars of peaches, and eating several of them within the first couple of days (my kids LOVE home-canned peaches) I decided that we needed more.


My cute, very pregnant friend!

Round 2:

My friend found a great deal on another box of Colorado peaches sold thru a local church, and I bought a box, and headed out to my mom's house, this time with the kids in tow.

We started with some stretching (i.e. Hudson's yoga moves) in the living room

Then headed to the basement to get started. The kids were very excited to be able to help dump sugar in the jars, (I love my mom's face!)
and then help stir in the hot water to dissolve the sugar.
After about an hour of work, we had filled another dozen jars, which my mom processed for me and brought over the next day. Our pantry is now full of yummy home-canned peaches, and I am hoping they last more than a month! Thanks mom for all of your help!

Grandma and Grandpa's Garden

A few weeks ago, while John was out of town on a business trip, the kids and I went over to my parent's house and helped them dip up potatoes in their garden. We also picked tomatoes, peppers, carrots, and some corn. My parents have an empty lot next to their house, and have taken over about 1/3 of it and planted a huge garden. (They got permission from the developer...I think...) We have been eating off if it a lot this summer which has been wonderful, and the kids love helping to pick the food.

We started with tomatoes and peppers. Hudson helped pick some cherry tomatoes, which he then played with for the next half hour.
Then we moved on to the potatoes. By the time we were done with the potatoes, the kids were covered in dirt, but having a blast.

Finally we picked some corn and carrots.

After about an hour of work, we had a pretty big pile of food. And the best part was that we got to take home a bag of fresh garden veggies!

First day of Preschool

Makenna had her first day of Preschool on Thursday. She was SO excited to go, and seemed to love every minute of it. She is going two days a week to a great program at a local church that was highly recommended to us by lots of friends. I like that they will be including Bible scriptures and stories in their learning. Makenna is also lucky enough to have a cousin in her class, which she is very happy about. Having her go to preschool makes her seem so big! I'm glad that she is only going two mornings a week. I'm not quite ready to have her out of the home too much yet!

Getting ready

Posing with her new teachers Miss Susan and Miss Barb

Our First Visitors

A few weekends ago, we were lucky enough to have some of our favorite friends from Business School, the Stansels, stop by and spend the night at our home. Although their visit was brief, it was SO great to see them.

They arrived on a Saturday evening, and after eating dinner, we headed outside to let the kids decorate some sugar cookies.

Makenna was in HEAVEN being able to play with Lucas again. These two played together a lot in Bloomington, and it was so fun to have them together again.

Makenna also got to have her very first sleepover in her room, which she loved.

Sunday morning, we went to church before having to say our good-byes, and send the Stansels on the road again. Thankfully, they don't live too far away, so I think next time we'll drive up to see them. Thanks again Stansels for stopping by to see us, you guys are welcome anytime!