Halloween Fun

A few weekends ago Lainey spent the night with us. We went to Craft Warehouse for some Halloween craft supplies and the girls got choked by a witch:

Kennedy and I made a quilted table runner for the top of the piano.  Last year we made one for Christmas and she was a little leery to run the sewing machine herself.  She took off this time and quilted the entire top.  We stitched on the binding and it turned out cute.

Last Christmas when we were at Bob and Vicky's she inspired me to decorate for Halloween with pictures of the girls in their costumes from years back.  Vicky had a bunch of Christmas-themed pictures of her girls as they were growing up as her Christmas decorations and I thought it was so great.    

Shane made some decorations for Halloween out of scrap hardwoods he had in the garage.  I love the owl, he's so cute!

Aunt Nicole came to visit us this weekend.  She helped decorate the haunted house and played a round of Apples to Apples:

We drove to Grandview to check out a new pumpkin patch.  And naturally, Isabella decided to wear her Easter hat to it:

 The whole way there Kennedy taught Aunt Nicole her latest rhyme, something to do with Ice Ice Cream Cream...they practiced the whole way there:

Debbie and Don also drove out that day and brought Mason and Brady.  When we arrived the big kids went to slingshot apples at targets and Isabella climbed the hay bail pyramid:

We then went in search of a perfect pumpkin.  I didn't get any good pictures of Debbie that I think she would appreciate showing up on this blog :)  But, I thought this was a cute one of Isabella and her Papa:

After finding the perfect pumpkins, we took a tractor ride through the apple orchards.

 When we got through the orchard, Debbie and Don bought us all hot dogs and soda.  We sat at picnic tables enjoying the sunshine, blue skies, and fresh air.  I thought this display was beautiful:

The boys had to leave early so after they left we went to the animal part of the farm.

Isabella, Nicole, and I went to the petting zoo.   Isabella loved the alpacas with their big brown eyes.  She also loved the piggies but could really only pet Clarence the Cow.  After she was a little bored with the petting zoo, she said "Get me out of this farm."

  Shane took Kennedy for a pony ride:

After the zoo we decided to go through the corn maze and SERIOUSLY about 2.5 hours later we found our way out.  Farmer Bill had been kidnapped and the corn maze held all the clues to find out who did it, with what weapon, and where. 

Kennedy was ready to keep going and but Isabella needed to go to the bathroom so we had to find the exit.  We had found all but one clue and after 2.5 hours of walking in a maze I had never been happier Isabella needed to go to the bathroom I was a little sad we were so close to solving the mystery and weren't going to be able to. 

When we got home we carved the pumpkins we picked:

Apparently Isabella has learned how to carve pumpkins Bruce-style.

 While Shane was trying arrange the pumpkins, Isabella was practicing poses on the stairs:

In Case You Were Wondering...

In case you were wondering if Isabella wears the nappy hair extension she keeps in her Rapunzel purse....yup....she does:

It's her "Tangled feather".  You can say that again...that thing is ratty!  Shane's friend, Ryan, jokes that if you saw it laying around you'd want to beat it to death.  She wanted to wear it to school one morning so she attached it to one of her pigtails. Phew Unfortunately, she didn't actually wear it to school. We had to suggest she leave it at home so it wouldn't get lost at school.

Walla Walla

Our hobbies lead us to Walla Walla on Saturday.  Shane found a fantastic hardwood store there called Jensen Hardwoods. They had a ton of selection and great prices.  I think we'll back for more when we (I say "we" but I really mean when "he") gets ready to build our next project. 

I also found the cutesiest, most inspiring quilt store on Main Street.  It's called Stash and had the most beautiful quilts on display - very inspiring.  I found my next project there which is a lot cheaper than making a quilt and looks fun.  I'm going to attempt to sew a purse - sorta like the Vera Bradley ones I love so much.

They had the best fabric selection there - I could have spent hours in there - yes, Nicole - HOURS!  I loved this fabric below but couldn't think of a project it would work for me in.  It's by Valori Wells and she has a whole line of "birdie looking fabric" - super cute!

I have been working on a few projects to give as Christmas gifts from a new collection of fabrics.  One of the fabrics in the collection has a bunch of small towns printed on it to look like newspaper print.  I thought it was pretty awesome Walla Walla made it on here:

We ate at a Vietnamese place on our way out of town and had Pho and spring rolls.  I love the name of this place - it cracks me up:

Pumpkin - Oh How I Love Thee

Fall is my favorite time of the year.  I always think that until it's been winter for awhile and then come March it's spring and everything is turning green, flowers are budding and the sun is out.  Then I say spring is my favorite time of year.  I love living in a place that has 4 seasons so that just as I'm getting ready for a change of scenery, a new season comes along.

So...things I fall for in the fall: soup, warm sweater weather, and pumpkin abundance!  I think I do my very best to tire myself of pumpkin just in time to put them aside and start making Christmas goodies.

Let's start off with my very favorite fall drink - Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Latte.  Never mind that the nutrition facts I found online at Starbucks say my version of the drink (grande, nonfat, no whip) has 260 calories, 50 g carbs and 48 g sugars. Ouch...that just almost takes the fun out drinking it - but not quite.

Since my wallet and my hips can't afford Starbucks everyday, I get the Keurig Pumpkin spice cups for most mornings:

with a lil dash of this:

And for occasions that call for a lil more there's one of my favorite seasonal beers (Blue Moon Harvest Pumpkin Ale):

I have pumpkin candles and Debbie bought me Pumpkin Handsoap from Bath & Body Works - yummy!

I've been making pumpkin this-or-that for the past few weekends.  I'm going to make Shane sick of pumpkin if I'm not careful!  I've been turning these:

into pumpkin loaf, pumpkin bread, pumpkin cookies, pumpkin tart and his favorite:

I am loving fall!

Christmas Quilts

I made Kennedy and Isabella quilts for Christmas this year.  Debbie and I ventured to the quilt store in Hermiston to check it out a few weekends ago and she helped me pick out the cutest fabrics for the girls.  I used a super easy pattern and stitched them right up.  I thought I was going to have to wait a few months to get them quilted but one of the quilt stores in Richland finished them in about 3 days!  Ah-maze-ing!  So Friday and Saturday I plopped myself on the couch and finished the binding.

Tara would be so proud - two quilts start-to-finished in about one month!  Quite a change from the first one she helped me do that seriously took me over 2 years to complete.  :) 

They turned out cute I think and hopefully the girls will like snuggling up with them this winter.

Here's the top of Kennedy's:

  The back of Kennedy's is a two tone flannel:

 Here's Isabella's:

 She'll like this fabric I think - it has little princess crowns in it!  Debbie and I couldn't resist when we saw it.

 Here's the back of hers - a pink flowery flannel.

Next project - a Thanksgiving tablecloth. 

Nightstand Evolution

Shane is making us nightstands and he finished mine last week.  Here is the evolution of my nightstand:

 1)

2)

3)

Isn't it beautiful?!  He is finishing one for his side this fall.  He is really talented and I can't believe he can make stuff like this just out in the garage.  I love it!

RDMS in da house!

Shane passed his physics and Abdominal boards last weekend and is now RDMS (Registered Diagnostic Medical Sonographer) !!

He's super official - check out all these letters behind his name: Shane Bruce, BS, RVT, RDCS, RDMS

Oh-la-la!  He passed the physics test in about 30 minutes - good grief man!  That's so quick.  He's a smartie pants!