Click Clack Moo, Cows That Type Pumpkin

This weekend Charli and I made her storybook character pumpkin for the school contest. As we all know, Charli Beth loves all things farm so it was no surprise when she picked the cow. Her first decision was a horse but this non-crafty Mommy had to ax that idea. 

The title of the book she picked is, "Click, Clack Moo, Cows that type."

Honestly, I had not read the book. When we go to the library I usually let her pick out what she would like and then make sure it is in the right level for her. But she says its, "super funny."

We made the backdrop first and thought it would be meat to try to make the title look like keys from a typewriter. I laid out the letters with tape, and of course a lot of directions from Char. 

The cow is made out of paints and she did most of the painting with me outlining the spots. The ears are made from black and pink felt. The horns were very last night and were made from painted cardboard. 

We had a lot of fun making this project together. It was a challenge at times to see her ideas and for her to work hard but I always feel like tasks like these, help us grow as Mother and Daughter.

Judging will take place on Thursday with winners announced on Friday. Thankfully they do categories of k-3 then 4-6. Hopefully she will win a gift card to Barnes & Noble to get more books to challenge her reading skills.

50's Night at Invasion Of The Scarecrows

 

When we returned from Glendale on Saturday afternoon, we attended the 50's night in our hometown. Each year they host this particular night during the Invasion Of The Scarecrows; Businesses and chrches decorate the square with scarecrows during the month of October. Have I ever mentioned that I love my hometown? If not, now I have said it out loud. It's just small and cute. Which is very much so my way of life. 

We have attended the 50's night in the past but this year Charli Beth decided to dress the part and participate in the contest. She looked adorable and dance her little soul out {behind the crowd.}

When it came time for the judging she stood next to the girls below. When the third place tying girls were called, then the second place and as Charli said, "I just knew in my heart I had won." Haha! Yes, babe I knew it then too. 

She was so excited about her medal and was even more excited to show it off. She took it to lunch on Sunday, the fall fellowship that night and then to school on Monday. 

As you can tell by the girls, it was freezing that night so we headed home right after the contest. The kids were so tired from their big Saturday that we had to wake them at 9 to eat breakfast before church. I am more than sure that they both would of slept the day away. 

 

{Photo By: SDT; Matt Pedigo} 

Glendale Crossing Festival

For the past several years we had attended the Glendale Crossing Festival. Glendale is the cutest little Kentucky town, that has a train track that runs through the middle of it. Next to this track is the famous whistle stop restaurant and boy is it {usually} my favorite. 

The crossing festival is held the third Saturday of each October. It brings in thousands of people from all over, and vendors as well. It really is small town festival fun. I just love attending with my family and browsing each vendor. 

This year the weather was nasty. Absolutely awful cold and rainy. It was not suppose to be as rainy so we headed up to Glendale anyways. Half way there, the rain came and fell hard. We decided to head on to the next town to shop. Thankfully, we did because I got an awesome deal thanks to my Mom.

When the rain quit and the radar looked clear, we headed back. But it was still very chilly. Bryar fell asleep within minutes of hitting the cold hair, so I bundled him even more and continued on. I am very sure I had the two most bundled kids there. Some people were walking around in shorts and tees - crazies. 

We usually stand in line for an hour or more to eat at The Whistle Stop. But believe it or not, the line was fairly short this year. But I would of much rather dropped by Cracker Barrel or a drive thru. I was utterly disappointed to say the least. Why you may ask? They did not have any of their famous pies! Whhhattt. Nonsense!

Charli handled the coldness and the day fairly well. She may be getting to a hard stage but I will always enjoy my days spent with her and my Mom. Bryar is just our little tag along buddy. He is alway an absolute joy (unless taken to a PTO meeting..)

After heading home, we stopped by and picked up my nephew Trace to head back to Nana and Pa's. 

More to come on the rest of our night together...

15 Seconds of Fame

In my last post I mentioned that Charli girl was on the front of the newspaper with such a sweet picture from the circus. The very same night, Bryar received his 15 seconds of fame by being on the news with Papaw. 

One of the local news stations came to the farm to interview my Father in law about how the government shut down was effecting farmers. Mimi had been keeping all three grandchildren for the day, and the reporter took several shots of the kids. 

Charli was really hoping to see her face on the news too and cracked me up by saying, "Ok, just show it to me now. Showwww it to me." Then when the clip went off, and her face was nowhere to be seen. She said, "Come on now!!" I think the attention got to her head a little ;)

I'm not able to share the video clip itself so I took a screen shot of it. 

There goes their little moments of being celebs... Until they grow up and become the president of course! 

How To Build A Cardboard Tractor

Today I wanted to share the truths behind making a cardboard tractor. I have read many Pinterest articles where parents have made these before and to be honest I found something's that worked better for me. But no big deal, we all do our own thing and the perfectionist in me may be flaring up with some OCD traits. 

The supplies you will need:

1 large rectangle box (as you can see I used a carseat box)

2 smaller boxes (1 for the hood & the other for cutting the tires from)

1 oatmeal canister 

5 cans spray paint (I purchased the cheapest)

2 clean soup cans

1 large sharpie 

1 yellow duct tape ($1 at Mighty Dollar) 

Box Cutter

Optional:

4 peices of yellow construction paper

2 peices of green " " 

4 peices of black " "

To begin with you want to match up your boxes. Lay them out and make sure they will turn into looking like the body and cab of a tractor. You will want enough space to cut a front window and two sides out. 

Next, go to town spray painting your boxes. As you can see I had one brown box and one white. Both were hard to cover up. I had purchased 2 cans of paint but ended up having to buy 3 more.  I wanted his tractor to be very green - John Deere green. I did make several runs in the paint but I just tried to over look it as much as possible. 

After drying trace your holes for the headlights and stacks. Then gently cut. If you make a mistake, it is okay! The cans need a little extra room.

I used soup cans covered in construction paper and duct tape for the headlights. 

For the stacks I covered an oatmeal canister and one old spray paint can. You must use two cans or else your tractor will look like a train!! 

I covered half of each with construction paper as well. If you cover the entire can, it will be to tight to fit into the hole that you have cut. It was much easier to me using construction paper then buying extra spray paint and killing my poor pointer finger even more so. 

Next, trace with a book or other large item for the windows on your cab. Be careful to not bend the box while cutting. 

Tape or hot glue the cab to the body of the tractor. I sadly forgot to take a photo of this step. But you get the point. You want your cab to be secure because little ones can be rough. 

 

It is completely optional to cover the back of the cab with spray paint or construction paper. I had purchased extra and like I said, I was tired of painting so I had Charli help me with glueing the paper. It is also optional to make a yellow line with duct tape. But it gives more of a John Deere feel including it. I am pretty sure that yellow tape is $3.97 at Walmart and I found it for $1 at Mighty Dollar. 

The last thing you will need to do is cut your third box into squares. Then find a large plate to trace the back tires and a smaller plate or bowl for the front. Trace these four our on the box, then cut. 

I personally decided to use a sharpie one day during lunch to color in the tires. It was easier to me at the time but black spray paint could work as well. 

Then make 4 smaller circles out of the yellow construction paper to place in the center. This will help give the wheels and tires a more "real" look. It helps give the pop of color as well. I used extra cardboard for the center circle and colored in with sharpie. The wheels/tires were probably the easiest thing for me to accomplish. 

I also got glued these bad boys on. Who could handle their wheels falling off while trucking along? 

Overall making this was really not that time consuming. I split my building process up in days and had a little extra help out of Charli Beth. 

I had originally planned to take photos of our smaller guests in the tractor to share with parents. But the rain took over that idea as we had to move into the barn and we were out of room. The best thing about making this is how much Bryar loves it. He loved seeing it and getting excited for his birthday party. I plan to keep it for a while and then pass along to someone else hosting a tractor party.  

GrooveBook

So, are you the overly busy unorganized person just like myself who has more than a thousand photos on your phone? Recently I heard about a new app that would be super cheap and easy to get 100 photos printed.

Each month Groovebook will send you a book of up to 100 photos for only $2.99! 

You downnload the app, add in you information, pick the photos then wait for it to come to you. It really is that simple! 

If you use this coupon code above, your first book will be free! 

Once your receive your books be sure to share your own code to let others in on this great deal too! 

Circus 2013

Tuesday night we enjoyed an afternoon out to the circus with some of our family. The bigger kids went last year but Bryar and I stayed behind. This year we were able to attend and I was excited to see how he would react to the events. 

The girls loved rising the elephant during the pre-show. Both years they have picked face paintings together. Which I think is so sweet. 

Bryar enjoyed a pony ride but most all he enjoyed trying out the funnel cake, popcorn, cotton candy and snow cone. Can you say sugar rush? 

Charli was back and forth to get a better view of the action. Bryar sat on Aunt Amanda's lap the majority of the show. His little eyes stayed in pure amazement the entire time. 

About half way through the show a man came up and asked for Charli's name saying that he had got a sweet photo of her laughing. He was actually with the local daily news and she was on the front of the paper today. 

 {Photo courtesy of BGDN}

The look on her face is the picture perfection of childhood happiness. That sweet look of innocence melts my heart every time I look at it. Even though she is growing up, I love that she still has so much childhood left in her. 

Charli's favorite party of the show was the "amazingly beautiful acrobats." I do admit they were pretty stunning. I am just going to guess that Bryar's favorite part was the puppies. They were so cute and I caught him giggling at them several times. 

After the show we ended with a trip to the chick-fil-a. Thankfully both kids ate extremely well, then rested the night away! 

Our Little Visitor

We have a little visitor named Butterfingers. During Fall break, Charli Beth's teacher is out of town enjoying the beach so we volunteered to keep her. 

I know. I am obviously going to get The World's Best Mommy award for this one. 

Sh is actually pretty cute. Her big eyes and little sounds crack me up. Of course Bryar Wayne thinks she is the funniest and best thing, ever. {Besides tractors!}

I knew that Charli would be responsible in feeding and watering her. But it has also been a perfect way to keep her room tidy. 

A few months back Charli made a video with my phone to Curtis and I about why she would want a Guinea Pig. I honestly do not see the fun though and I'm not really sure she does anymore. Besides getting to laugh and baby talk to it. 

Hopefully, this week will continue to go by smoothly and Gunner will stay far far away!! 

...But you know how our luck goes! 

Birthday Banner

As you may have noticed in yesterday's post we had an adorable birthday banner. I was recently contacted by Build aSign.com, when I received their email I was so excited. We always love to display the kids birthdays and of course this is a perfect way to point out a point of destination for the party itself. 

Charli has a birthday banner and it has lasted years along with some heavy rains!  This banner had to experience rain too, and it is still perfect! 

Their shipping super quick and their customer service is way better than anything I have experienced locally. Being able to pick your own colors, design and type of sign takes minutes and the outcome is super cute! 

If you are planning a themed birthday, yard sale or just want to recognize an event I highly recommend this company! 

www.BuildASign.com 

Celebrating John Deere Style

As you know, my little man is obsessed with tractors. Actually to be honest he is in love with anything that has an engine and moves. You name it trucks, trains and airplanes he loves them all. But his first love was tractors and since Papaw is a John Deere supporter on the farm, I decided that would be his theme for his second birthday. 

We were actually able to plan his party for the day of his birthday. This never seems to happen with my kids, Saturdays just never fall on their days. But his birthday does fall over fall break, and the weather is so unpredictable. 

We planned to host outside the barn, just like last year. But honest to goodness, as soon as it hit 2 o'clock the rain started. We rushed our little stressed out butts around pushing chairs, tables and decorations inside the barn. It was complete chaos for a few minutes which is not how I imagined but B could of cared less as long as he had Charli's gator to sit on. 

We had also picked to have a chili bar not realizing the high for the day was 80. Although, it was a great hit and everyone enjoyed it. 

Bryar was way to busy to enjoy the chili bar or hot dogs. Although, he was completely ready to play in his cupcake. 

His little green icing faced smile cracks me up. He really loves anything sweet and especially if it involves making a mess! I had to make him a little mad and take it away or else I knew we would all be covered in green. 

He opened gifts with our help since he wanted to stop and play with everything unwrapped. 

Bryar mainly wanted to spend his day playing, so after gifts were opened we let him play away with his friends. We had shelled corn in sandboxes and the water table along with tractors. That was probably the biggest hit of the day. 

We have party favors of tractor cookie/sandwich cutters. They had tags that I found online on Birthday Express' blog that could be customized and were free to print. We added the text of "Thank you for being a "Deere" friend. I love party favors that are useful and will not be thrown to the side. My kids love sandwiches that are in shapes. If you do this as a favor, I recommend buying in bulk from eBay. 

When the party wrapped up we enjoyed extra time with family. It always seems that cleaning up goes much raiser than setting up. 

I love these two photos. The first one is 3 generations; Papaw, Daddy and Bryar. 

The party was such fun for us all thanks to our friends and family. 

Bryar and Charli Beth took the easy ride home. Within a minute of everyone leaving our home, Bryar fell over asleep. He woke up in the best mood ever then went to bed very easy and slept until 10. Either he really enjoyed his tractor birthday or being two is very rough on the little guy!