The Pumpkin Festival

Every October in Cedar City, there is an annual Pumpkin Festival.  I love taking Emmy to it!  There are lots of fun activities for the kids to do like Donut on a Rope, painting pumpkins, pumpkin bowling, bean bag toss, face painting and cookie decorating.

Here are the highlights:

Attempt at a family picture.  This is getting harder and harder to do!  Emmy doesn't like to look at the camera anymore.  And Kate likes to eat the front of the Baby Bjorn. 

Emmy's pumpkin that she so beautifully painted

She was really into spreading that frosting onto her cookie!

She got a pumpkin painted onto her face

Vampire Emmy!

Staheli Farm

Like I've mentioned before, I love this time of year. I've come to the conclusion that most people do. We have been doing lots of festive things (most of them involving pumpkins) to celebrate this wonderful fall season!

Last week we went to Staheli Farm in St. George. We had fun going to the pumpkin patch. Emmy got to pick her very own pumpkin!

Oh, and I lost Emmy.

Now, you have to take a wagon out to the pumpkin patch, it's out a little ways. There's nothing out there but a pumpkin patch, a pond and cows. So how, you ask, did I lose Emmy?

Well, there were a bunch of kids with us and we were trying to get pics of them all together when I realize Emmy isn't there. I'm looking around, calling for her. I walk over to the pond, hoping she hadn't fallen in. I walk around an old tractor. She's not there. I ask some people if they've seen a little girl wandering around. They haven't. That's when I see it. The Port-a-Potty. At this point, I'm really hoping she's not in there. I'm a total germ-a-phobe. But, of course she IS in there. I was happy to know that she didn't wander off into the cow area, but I was not happy to know that she had poo and pee germs all over her now! I immediately whipped out the diaper wipes and hand sanitizer. Yuck!

But we're glad Lindsey invited us because, despite the Port-a-Potty incident, we had a blast!

Here are the highlights in pictures:

Emmy and Ella dressed up as witches

Wandering around the pumpkin patch

Emmy with her little pumpkin

 

The whole group with their pumpkins

Motherhood

I've had a hard couple of days. I've just been struggling a little. And THIS POST is really what I needed today. Thanks for writing it, Anne-Marie. Why did I need to read it? Because being a mom is hard.

It's easy to look back and see all the things you used to do.

I used to work. Sometimes I think it would be really nice to have a full-time job again, one where I actually get paid. With money.

I used to travel. I LOVE to travel. Discovering a new place and seeing how other people live, it's just magical to me.

I used to do whatever I wanted. I didn't have to worry about kids or babysitters. I decided what I wanted to do and I did it. It was great :)

Sometimes it seems great to be involved in lots of things, to get a "break", but you know what? It's not worth it if my family suffers for it.

I love being a mom.

It's fulfilling.

Maybe not in the same way as working or traveling, but it is so wonderful when your hard work is paid off with a gummy smile or an excited "Mommy I went pee pee in the potty!"

It's hard to stay focused on the positive things when your day is filled with wiping little bums and changing dirty diapers. But you know what? It's worth it.

It's worth it because of this:

And this:

And this:

And this:

That's why I love being a mom. And if there is something taking too much focus away from my family and preventing me from being the best mom I can be, then things need to change. Priorities need to change. These {precious} years at home with my kids are few and I don't want to look back and have any regrets.

I know my posts usually consist of few words and lots of pictures, but writing this post was really therapeutic for me. There just may be more posts like this in the future :)

The mountains

A few weeks ago, my parents decided to go camping. They invited us to come, but I wasn't ready to pack up the family for an overnight camping trip just yet with a new baby (hey, she's still new to me!). So we did the next best thing . . . we went up and had dinner with them, drove home and slept in our own beds :)

Don't get me wrong, I love the outdoors and I love to camp, but September at night in the mountains with a 3 month old baby is a little too cold.

So we ate some delicious dutch oven, hung out for a little while, then went home and slept like babies in our own beds. It's a good thing, too, because my parents said it got pretty cold. I knew I was smart not to stay overnight!

Emmy thought it was important to sweep the dirt :)

Kate really enjoyed herself in the great outdoors :)

Emmy had so much fun playing in the tent. Her hair had a lot of fun getting really static-y. She's got a great frizz halo going on.

I love Quaking Aspens. They are my favorite tree.