Harvest carnival

As most of you know, we don't do the Halloween thing.  Instead we go to a church harvest carnival that helps kiddos have a Christ-centered fun time on October 31st every year.  There are bounce houses, carnival games, balloon animals, puppet shows, and a cool petting zoo.  There are churros, popcorn, hotdogs, and candy which are all bonuses for me.  I was willing to share though.  This year Cash wanted to be a fireman so I got a Dalmatian costume for Millie. It was probably the last time I'll be able to pick out her costume without her input so I figured, why not force her to be brother's fire station dog?

How many pumpkin patches are there in Oregon?

This month we went to three corn mazes.  That's right, three.  I love the whole experience, the pumpkin patches, the hay mazes, the slides, the hay rides, and the petting zoos.  I love watching Cash experience it every year.  The first time we went was opening weekend at Lone Pine Farms with the Smith family.  Audrey and Cash are good buddies.  Audrey and Garth's mama, Lorraine, even gave the kids a wheelbarrow ride!

Take two...On the spur of the moment I decided to get the kiddos out of the house on what was probably our last sunny day of the year.  This time we went to Airlie Hills Farm close to Monmouth.

Last one...We live, literally, around the corner from Muddy Creek Corn Maze.  It's pretty basic, with just the maze, pumpkin patch, and a cow train ride.  It's plenty to keep Cash entertained though and so we met one of his little preschool buddies there for a play date.

She's One!

Millie turned one on the 25th!  This year has gone by so fast!  Millie has taken a few steps on her own but still prefers to walk while holding onto things.  We had a party for her on Sunday.  We had some family and friends over and I attempted to make the cake.  As usual it didn't turn out as planned, I ran out of time and my original plan had to be simplified.  I did manage to make the ladybug cake topper though so it wasn't a total disappointment.  At least I didn't have to resort to making cupcakes like I did at Cash's 1st birthday party.  Millie was a little shy at first eating her cake, only sticking one finger in the frosting but then she decided to go for it.  Here are the pictures we managed to get during the party.

Fall photos

This month we had Chris Becerra come take our family pictures.  I try to have them done every fall for Christmas cards.  They turned out great, although Cash was being his usual "larger than life" self.  It made for some funny shots, we can totally see his personality in them.  Josh and I were laughing that we hadn't held hands in so long because we usually had a little person between us.  The photos of just the two of us walking were some my favorites.

Also, here are the photos I took of Millie at 11 months.  I couldn't resist the pink tutu. :)

Off to school we will go...

 Cash started preschool September 5th at Noah's Ark, which is at our church.  It's a Christian based program and it's a class of 14 kids (11 of which are girls).  They have 3 teachers and I step in to help with class field trips and when they need extra hands.  Cash loves being around all of the kiddos his age and had zero anxiety about leaving Mommy for the first time.  Actually when we dropped him off the first day I said, "I'm leaving Buddy.  Do you want to come give me a hug and kiss goodbye?"  He just said, "No, I'm okay".  How do you like that for my four and a half years of devotion?  Here are some pictures of Cash's first day

Cash first class field trip, a nature hike.

With Cash in preschool, I've been able to have some one on one time with Millie, like I did with Cash when he was a baby.  I've been taking Mommy and Me swim classes with her.  She loves the water and has no fear.

Summer is still sticking around so we took Cash miniature golfing.  He hits anyone's ball, he's not particular and he'll move the ball back to the beginning if he likes the obstacle on that hole.  We were not sticklers about the rules of the game and just let him have fun.  My favorite thing was his little celebratory fist pump he did when the ball went in the hole.