halloween 2012

In brainstorming what Carson should be for Halloween, I asked myself what is he into? I was thinking a tub of playdoh, a chef, or an artist, when it hit me, a MAILMAN! 

Carson loves to check the mail. It's been a highlight of his day for as long as I can remember. When we lived in Tennessee, the mailman drove an old white car, so anytime we saw a white car that looked similar to his, Carson would excitedly proclaim, "mailman!" When we visit Pops and Granny in the country, he gets to walk down a long dirt road to check the mail, and when we visit Bobel and Reenie in the city, he gets to check the mail in a little box with a key at the front of the apartment complex. When we moved to Georgia, he was excited to see our mail carrier drives a real mail truck and comes in the morning!

With a quick google search, I found this adorable mailman uniform with the real USPS logo, mailbag, and hat, the decision was made and Carson was thrilled. He's been excitedly telling everyone all month that he's going to be a mailman and say trick-or-treat on Halloween, and that's just what he did! 

Here are some more pictures of the cutest, sweetest mailman you'll ever see;)

 ringing the doorbell because we have a package!

Mailmen must hold on to their hats on windy days:) 

On the way to our friends' house for pizza and trick-or-treating, Carson spotted all the mail trucks lined up at the post office, so of course we had to stop for a photo op! Perfect!

We had so much fun trick-or-treating with sweet friends! 

CANDY!!

And for a little trip down memory lane. Here are links to see my sweet baby lamb in 2010 and my adorable Jack-o-Lantern in 2011. We missed having Granny make his costume this year, but we all agreed the mailman costume was too perfect to pass up:) Besides, Granny is busy making Aunt Misty's WEDDING DRESS this year!! We are happy for Misty and Matt and impressed with Granny's skills! 

pumpkin fun

We've celebrated the season and had fun with pumpkins the last few days! 

My little "pumpkin" and I had lots of fun at our neighborhood party on Saturday. Unfortunately  Daddy was sick and didn't get to join us, but we loved getting a chance to get to know our new neighbors, share a meal with them, enjoy a campfire with Carson's first roasted marshmallow, and listen to live music! 

Carson had fun painting pumpkins! 

Proud of his masterpieces:) 

When it came time to carve the big "Daddy" pumpkin, he was not a fan of touching the pumpkin goo! Like father like son! I say, dig in, the messier, the better;) 

For the first time, I decided to roast the seeds this year! It was fun, easy, and quite tasty. Carson thought they tasted like peanuts, and they reminded me of popcorn. Definitely a new tradition around here!

Posing with our Jack-O-Lantern. Carson decided he had a twinkle in his eye like the one in his very favorite Halloween book, The Runaway Pumpkin. I'm just thankful he wasn't quite as big as the one in the book;)

Fall is such a fun time of year, and I'm thankful to be able to spend my days enjoying life and making memories with the sweetest boy I know! 

pumpkin patch 2012

We enjoyed a fun day at the pumpkin patch with some sweet friends from church on Saturday. Carson has grown a lot since last year's pumpkin patch visit:)

hay ride!

love this!

he was brave this time:)

baby chicks!

sweet friends

driving the tractor

family shot

been farming long?!

over 3 feet tall!

sweet boy

shopping:)

heavy!

i sure do love these guys! 

chick fil a ice cream cone afterwards

back home with our pumpkin family:) 

carson has loved "showing" the baby his/her pumpkin

Thank you for your congratulations on our news. We are excited and prayerful as we await another baby Clark! Carson is super excited about being a big brother:)

the best pumpkin bread recipe in the whole wide world

1 cup vegetable oil

3 cups sugar

1 tsp. vanilla

3 eggs

3 cups flour, sifted

1 tsp. cinnamon

¼ tsp. allspice

½ tsp. cloves

1 tsp. nutmeg

1 tsp. baking powder

½ tsp. salt

¾ tsp. baking soda

2 cups (15 ounce can) pumpkin

1 cup chopped nuts (optional)

Preheat oven to 350. Beat together oil, sugar, vanilla, and eggs. Combine and add dry ingredients. Add pumpkins and nuts. Grease and flour two loaf pans. Bake one hour.

Enjoy!

PS: It freezes really well.

PPS: It's also really good as banana bread. Just substitute 2 cups mashed banana for the pumpkin.

pumpkins

I read somewhere the other day that pumpkins are canvases from God. Decorating pumpkins is a fall favorite for me. I carved pumpkins as a child and continued the tradition with college roommates and with my students when I taught first grade. When I found out my friend Kaye had never carved a pumpkin, I got even more excited to dig in with her, though she wasn't a huge fan of pumpkin inards:), and to my disappointment, neither was Carson. He wanted nothing to do with the slimy pulp and seeds. Silly boy wouldn't even give it a try. Maybe next year:)

This year, pinterest inspired me to try out a couple new techniques.

Instead of carving a face, I used a drill and made a polkadot-o-lantern.

I painted thumb tacks black to embellished this pumpkin.

I was able to do this in early October and it wasn't shrivled by Halloween.

I also LOVE baking, smelling, and eating anything with pumpkin, but I normally let Libby do the hard part for me. Maybe this year I'll attempt making pumpkin bread with an actual pumpkin. We'll see...

what a difference a year makes...

I'm on a blogging roll, which is fun, but very unlike me:) I just can't get enough of my adorable little pumpkin boy. Look how much he's changed in only one year!! Time flies when you're having fun. What will he look like this time next year?!

2010

2011

Thanks for two fabulous costumes, Granny!! I'm totally gonna steal this idea from Annalee. I need to find a book about a little lamb and another about a jack-o-lantern. Then, I'll glue a photo of the corresponding costume in the front of each book, and take them out to read each October. How fun!

pumpkin patch

We had the very best time at the pumpkin patch!

family pic with the pumpkins

Carson's favorite part was playing in the big tub of corn!

He also got to decorate his very own pumpkin with stickers,

climb all over lots and lots of pumpkins,

take the mini pumpkins in and out of the basket,

and have a costume dress rehearsal!

He was the very cutest pumpkin in the patch!

He got to play in the corn one more time before we headed home.

We saw so many gorgeous trees along the way. Fall in middle Tennessee is so beautiful it takes your breath away. I love love love seeing so many rich and vivid colors.

What a fun fall family day!

Happy Halloween!!

We had lots fun trunk-or-treating with our church family and the absolute most darling little jack-o-lantern I've ever seen! Thanks so much for the fabulous costume, Granny! We're looking forward to lots of trick-or-treaters tomorrow night.