Playing Catch Up! ~ Autumn Update ~

Hi there, does anyone remember me?  I am the author of this blog.   I've been on a little hiatus for the month of October.  But, I'm back.  I dusted off the keyboard and spruced up the "walls" with a cozy autumn look and I have a lot of pictures to share with you.  I mean, A LOT.  Since last I've written we fed some very hungry "quack quacks", visited a local pumpkin patch to celebrate our 1 year olds birthday and later in the day had a big party for our little Miss "Quack Quack", then we celebrated Kevin's 32nd birthday, carved jack o' lanterns, and took our adorable little duck out for her first Trick or Treat!  Normally, I would write entry after entry giving each event it's own special post, but since I am more than a month behind I will include it ALL in one super long catch up post :)

All summer we had been trying to get over to feed the ducks with our little munchkin who at 10 mos. became very obsessed with ducks and finally on Sept. 16th we made it over to visit them and share our bread.  Elizabeth really loved it!  See?

September 17th Kevin started school up at ITT Tech in Murray ( technically the 18th was his first class though cause he goes Tues and Thurs nights), only part time, leaving me to fly solo 2 nights a week. I thought I would be so miserable without my best buddy to keep me company two nights a week, but instead I was able to be so productive.  I used the time to work on little projects that I could never work on during the day with curious little hands in the mix.  First on the list, prepping for  Elizabeth's FIRST birthday! ( A duckie themed shindig )  With the help of pinterest / Gramma Judy I gathered ideas and materials for decor and devoted the evenings to making a birthday banner and more.  And Kevin really enjoyed his classes. In fact, he is still really enjoying both classes and is near to reaching the end of his first quarter of school.  We were blessed with a car to get him to and fro that he fixed something simple on and we didn't pay anything up front for ( other than the taxes , liscence, etc...).  He drives about 200 miles / week for school so we have no idea how long this little car will keep going, but hopefully he can make it until we have money to buy another, Lord willing.

Happy Birthday Elizabeth! - 10/5/12

  Kevin took the day off to help me get things ready for the party that evening but we were also able to spend some family time together with Grandma Linda, Aunt Cathy, and Cousin Emmett at Pumpkinland earlier in the day :)  The best part about our time visiting Pumpkinland was the amount of things to see and do, not only was there a pumpkin patch, but a corn maze, play land ( preschooler sized ), but also animals to see and a light alley and playground!  We had planned to visit the zoo, but couldn't justify spending $12.75 a person ( for the adults) plus gas to travel there and keep their attention long enough to make it worth it.  I am so glad we didn't go to the zoo, because Pumpkinland was just exciting enough for them and a whole lot cheaper too!!!  No complaints here, we had a great time!

Cousins:  Emmett ( almost 10 mos.) & Elizabeth ( 1 year )

 It was a beautiful day!

 I love sunflowers!

 Grandma, Aunt Cathy and Emmett

 Elizabeth met a goat.  She liked him until he nibbled on her shoe and made her cry

 Almost free? Just after I took this pic he squirmed back into his pen.

The "Quack Quacks" playing in the mud

 Saying "cheese" in front of the peacock enclosure

 The light alley . . . a spooky halloween carriage

More light alley decorations

I took more pictures, but I am a big time vertical picture taker, and for some reason blogger doesn't like pictures to be vertical and converts them back to landscape format.  All in all, we had a very nice visit.  It was a very great start to a lovely birthday with our sweet girl :)

Little Miss "Quack Quacks" Party

For Elizabeth's first party, I really made the effort to go all out and make everything very cutesy and matchy, thankfully Grandma Judy and I had lots of success as we gathered resources to make a cute birthday banner, a high chair cover, a ribbon banner for her high chair, and a photo timeline.  We got duckie things wherever we went and found some cute ideas on Pinterest to make the party extra spec"quack"ular!  As often times happens when you try to fit too much into one day though we were running a bit behind when our first guests arrived.  Thankfully they were happy to help us pull it together at the last minute and the evening was a big success.  Here are the highlights ( I have pictures of the cake being delivered etc... and so many more family shots, but they are ALL vertical - and since I didn't want to make anyone have to crane their neck, I left them out ) Birthday party guests included : Aunt Kim, Uncle John, Kourtney, Katelyn, Josh, Aunt Cathy, Uncle David, Emmett, Aunt Vickie, Thomas, Steven, Grandma Linda, Uncle Andy, Grandma Judy and Grandpa Van. 

 Auntie Kim, Kourtney, and the Birthday Girl

 See the banner?

 The Food: Rubber Duckie Bath Punch, Sloppy Joes, Devilled Egss, Veggie Sticks, and Chips

Ignore all the cords and our messy shelf.  I tried to take pictures of it all, but everyone was hungry!

 Photo Timeline

 Cousin Steven

 Elizabeth's Highchair, all decorated up!

 The Cake: a bath tub complete with water and duckies

 Didn't Grandma Arlinda do a nice job???

 Opening gifts, there were not a lot of decent pics ( the video is better)

See the #1 duckie shirt?  Grandma Judy made that for her!

 The Party Crowd

 Digging in to her piece of cake

 Hi Emmett!

 Mmmm. . .  cake

 Sharing with Grandma Judy

 Frosting Face

 (Grandma J and E ) See grandma's frosting face?

 Partied Out! 

 Her Birthday Gifts

Close Up of the Duckie Centerpieces I made

Floral beads and dolled up "Lucky Ducks"

I love how these turned out!

Elizabeth's FIRST Haircut - 10/8/12

Just after we celebrated with our one year old, we decided it was time for a trim, and since Grandma Arlinda just happens to cut hair she gave Elizabeth her first haircut.

 BEFORE

She started out on Grandma's lap, but then switched over to mommy's when she had a mini spazz out, unfortunately that was when grandma was trimming around her ear, but it's grown out enough now to not even notice it.

THE DAY AFTER:





Carving Pumpkins with Our Lil' Pumpkin  October 29, 2012

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I didn't actually get any pictures taken of Kevin and I's pumpkins.  I planned to, but before we got a chance they molded :(  Mine was super cute too, I made a Frankenstein pumpkin, and Kevin's was an angry scary faced sharp toothed fella.  I loved that Elizabeth chose a "'reow" to make with our pumpkin push ins though and that her little kitten reminds me an awful lot of her.  Absolutely "PURR"fect!



Happy Halloween 2012

 Emmett & Elizabeth

 The Monster & The Quack

 Be nice!

I love my grandma!

This year Elizabeth was old enough and big enough to get dressed up and go out for some fun, so we headed over to a church Trunk or Treat , and then stopped by to visit family: Grandma Judy and Grandpa Van, Auntie Kim, and Grandma Linda ( we met up with Emmett and Aunt Cathy and Uncle David too - see above).  Elizabeth's first reaction to seeing herself as a little yellow duck - pure delight and excitement, but after a few minutes she was tugging at her hood and zipper and wanted it OFF.  The tights were just a little small for her, but we pulled them up as high as we could and made it work anyway.  All in all, she had fun, but something I've learned.  Don't try to fill up your night with too many events, also if a child isn't old enough to say Trick or Treat or please or thank you It's kind of silly to take them trick or treating ( this is especially true for an only child).  It's impossible to go out trick or treating and still be home to hand out candy, so from now on we will choose one or the other.