Pumpkin Carving!

I still think whoever invented this tradition of carving pumpkins must have not had any kids. It is alot of work! My kids were very excited this year to get to carving. Here is what our canvases looked like before cutting.... Chase really got into it this year and had fun pulling out all of his seeds.

Kelsey eating her seeds straight from the pumpkin (still grosses me out). She was really little(maybe 3) when we were at my Mom's house carving pumpkins, she asked if she could eat the seeds. I told her they needed to be cleaned and roasted. Grandma said "oh I don't think they'll hurt her, let her try them!" (I'm sure she thought they wouldn't taste good). 10 plus years later she still will eat them straight from the pumpkin!

Sadi wasn't sure if she wanted any part of this. Step 1: eye the pumpkin and get the nerve to touch it...

Step 2: Carefully reach hand in and touch the guts.

Step 3: "I did it!" Pulling seeds from the inside.

Final Step: Scream like a girl "It's to icky...it's too orangey...ewwww!"

She was happy to tell Mommy what to do to make it a happy pumpkin. He had to have teeth!

Chase designed his own pumpkin and was very proud! He has been learning about shapes at school so that explains the square eyes.

Kelsey's pumpkins get better and better every year. This year it was an angry looking pig!

Can't wait to light these babies up! Happy Trick-or-Treating!!

Sick Day

Why is this boy so sad? Is it because he broke his favorite toy...NO. Is it because his sister was biting him....NO. It's because I told him he could not go to school today! He had a bad cough yesterday which continued into this morning. It is one of those deep coughs (you know the ones that make you move a bit when someone near you is coughing). No fever, no runny nose, he acts fine but I figured it wasn't a good idea for him to be at school. I wouldn't want someone coughing on my kid, so I should expect no less from someone else right? He begged and pleaded with me ALL day to go to school. I told him he wasn't allowed.....here is where it gets interesting. I let him listen in as I called the school to excuse him from class. I told the secretary he had a bad cough. Her reply: okay does he have a fever? No. Diarrhea? No. Well he's fine to come to school. What?!!! Am I missing something? Isn't that how germs spread? Now I know why all the kids are always hacking at school!!! Sooo that backfired!! Now he was really mad at me!! He will definitely be back to school tomorrow (thank goodness his cough is much better). Note to self: NEVER let the kids listen in to a call to school!

Fun on the Farm

This weekend I took the kids to Corley Ranch out in Gardnerville. There were so many things to do there that we spent all day and actually didn't do everything there was to do. The kids had a blast! How about this for a bull ride... This was actually for roping' but Chase wanted to ride it so the ranch hand said go ahead ride that bull! They had a little hay maze for the little kids that Chase and Sadi loved. It was nice to let them explore on their own...can't really get stuck if you can climb out!

They had a really fun petting area where you could go groom or feed the animals. Pretty sure they all already had goaties...he he he(farm humor).

Sadi LOVED this area, she was giggling her little butt off! She was sooo unafraid it made me nervous. She groomed, petted, and shoveled food into anyone who was near, and thought it was funny when they butted heads to get in to her hand. Most of my pictures of her you cannot even see her in the heard of goats. I did manage to get one good shot. Look at that grin on her face! Chase was not loving the chaos and goat fighting (lets just say we know who was screaming like a little girl) and quickly retreated to the pig pen. He was getting a good look of the pigs so he could pick a winner for the pig race.

The pig races were my favorite. They announce the names and stats as they run them down the lane and load them in their stalls. We all made bets on who would win.

There was a black and white pig named "Oreo", in the blue loading bay was Charlotte, in the red was Bacon, and in the orange was Pumpkin. Oreo was favored to win. On your mark, get set, go!.....

They are really fast! I was rooting for the under pig Bacon, he had only won 1 race all year. He lost the first race, but won the second. It is pretty fun to watch. They actually race for Oreo cookies!

After the pig races we went through the corn maze. They have trivia questions throughout the maze and if you find all the clues and answer them correctly you win a prize.

Some other things we did were: Learning to rope,

and ride,

and fun places to just "hang" around.

Of course you cannot leave the farm without picking a pumpkin. Not just any pumpkin, the best pumpkin! Anyone who has taken their kids to the farm know how long or short this can be. They had all kinds of different pumpkins and different pumpkin patches to visit. One of the many we visited was Cinderellas patch.

Kelsey scoured for her perfect pick and settled on this one:

Chase thought every pumpkin was the best, he loved this green one (who else you know would pick a green pumpkin?)

But, he changed his mind after he found the perfect pumpkin. Know why? He said it looked just like a pear!

Sadi wasted no time and found her pumpkin, little and perfect!

Stay tuned to see what these perfect picks turn into!

Are you tough enough...

For Powder Puff? As part of the Homecoming week festivities Kelsey joined the Freshman Powder Puff football team. They played last night against the Sophomores and the Seniors. Their first game they whooped the Sophomores and went straight to the championship game against the Seniors. Those girls were big and scary! Kelsey didn't even want the ball the second game. I think there were only 12 girls on her team, many of whom left injured and crying. Kelsey did manage to get some ball time getting the kickoff return and running it before being tackled. I'm not sure why they even bothered with the flags, it was full on contact for these girls! It was fun watching, and they came in second place. Not bad for Freshman!

How dapper is your crapper?

This weekend I took the kids to Virginia City for the world famous outhouse races. We have never been before but I knew Chase would love this. This tradition dates back to the 1990's when Storey County wanted to ban outhouses. People put their outhouses on wheels and marched them down main street to the county offices in protest. That is how it all began. We had a little time before the races, so we wandered around and checked out all the old stuff.Before the races they parade all the outhouses down the street. There are actual rules to this race. They pit teams of 2 against each other as they race. They must have 3 people to their team, 2 pushers (get it?), and one person sitting on the toilet. One of the stipulations is that it has to be an actual working toilet. Here are some of the contestants: The runaway brideThis was Chase's favorite: I think they were the Potty PoopersThe Urinator(you can see a picture of Arnold Schwarzenegger on the side, he is saying "I'll pee back"The Flapper CrapperThis was my favorite, Trailer Trash, it's hard to see but the the roof was actually smoking.The local radio stations entry, Alice in PottylandOur news channel with Breaking Wind. Theirs was pretty funny, you can see their satellite dish on the roof and spotlight in the front. The one on the actual potty had her computer and microphone to deliver the latest "breaking" news.It was fun watching them race down the street. Chase was excited that his favorite won in the first heat. Come on where else can you see toilets racing down main street? We definitely have original things to see here in Nevada. Anyway it was a fun day!