Trimming the Tree - Partridge Style

We have been so busy lately! Usually, Mike and I like to take the kids to a tree farm to get our Christmas tree but this year we ended up buying one in town. We went to the Rum River Tree lot and it was just as exciting for the kids. They wandered through a maze of fantastic pine trees.

Daddy stumbled upon our perfect tree. It was Balsum Fir and it had short needles. (Great for me because I hate vacuuming up the long ones, they clog my vacuum!) It was short but full, perfect for our family room. We were happy that the kids agreed it was the one!

Logan and Lily were all aglow when we got home. Immediately, it was time to set up and decorate the tree. Mommy and Daddy did all the prep work of getting the tree bag and tree stand in position. Finally we got the tree upright. Then we turned on the Christmas tunes and started decorating.

The kids helped Mommy string the lights, put on the (fake) cranberry strands and pine cone bundles. Then we diligently hung our many Christmas ornaments. ( I laughed at the cluster of ornaments on the bottom of the tree and sneakily moved them to areas that needed decoration.) Logan had a great time putting on the ornaments he's made at preschool over the years.


Finally, the tree was finished and our Angel needed to go on top. Logan did it last year so it was Lily's turn this year. Daddy held her up high and she placed it on the top of the tree in our little grand finale.

I'm really glad the kids enjoy doing this with me so much and I hope it never stops. We rock out to all the great Christmas music and make our tree look beautiful. What could be better than a little family time?

Here Comes Santa Claus!

So, every year I try to find a good Santa Claus that is reasonably priced and I don't have to drive really, really far. Usually, we go to Ridgedale or Cabela's (which has an awesome Santa & backdrop, for FREE.) However, this year, we went to the St. Michael Fire Station.

I have to say that I am very pleased with the results. Not only did we not have to wait forever, instead of paying for our photo we were able to give a donation of food or toys. We brought a bag of food which teaches the kids about giving and generosity and for their kindness they were rewarded with a visit with Santa. It was so fun this year because both of my kiddos (6 and 3 1/2) were EAGER to climb on Santa's lap.

Logan had the cutest conversation, telling him about how he wanted the Darth Vader Transformer and that he was doing well in Kindergarten. Lily (for once!) was a little shy but she did finally admit that she wanted Smokey the talking fire engine. It was fitting that they were meeting Santa at the Fire Station!

I am very happy with the photo that we got of them this year. Now I just need to get my butt in gear and print it and put it in our special Santa frame. :)

We also got a couple shots of them on one of the new fire trucks and the old fashioned fire truck that was parked behind Santa! :)

My Homespun Christmas Photo Shoot

Well, I know I said that I was going to remember to sign the kids up for a Christmas photo shoot at JC Penney's or Walmart...but it didn't get done. Again. For the second year in a row. Oh well, at least I made up for it by having a semi-decent homespun photo shoot.

I am actually very pleased by how these photos turned out. I simply set a red and green plaid blanket over one of our storage containers, hung the pine-cone wreath just above their head, and added a few rustic Christmas decorations. I thought it would be a good idea to use our wooden wall as a backdrop because our entire family room looks like a north woods cabin with real pine on the walls.

Both Logan and Lily were much more cooperative this year. They actually gave me several good smiles, actually at the same time annnnddd looking at the camera. Hallelujah!

So, I got a really cute shot to put on our Christmas cards this year. My dear friends and family should be getting them shortly!

Halloween!

Halloween in our neighborhood is straight out of a Norman Rockwell painting. There are tons of cute kids in costumes and almost every house has their porch light on waiting for Trick or Treaters.

This year, Logan went as his favorite Transformer, Optimus Prime. Lily chose to be a purple fairy because she loves the color purple and fairies are better then princesses, just so you know.

The kids could not wait for the sun to go down! They were just itching to get out the door and go Trick or Treating. I made them eat dinner though they didn't consume much because of their excitement. We started to head out a little after 6pm as the sun was going down fast.

We walked around our block but I also took the wagon so when it was time to go home they could just sit and eat their candy. At each house they said Trick or Treat and were thrilled with their spoils. We saw a few of our neighbors and it was so fun to watch the kids admire each others costumes.

By the time we made it around the block Logan was ready to go home. He actually sat in the wagon while Lily finished the last couple of houses before home. He said, "Mom, I'm just done with this, let's go eat our candy."

Of course, we got home dumped out all the candy on the floor and the organizing/trading and inspecting kept them occupied until bed. It was a great Halloween!

Logan's Spooky Lab - Halloween Birthday Party

I love Halloween! It has always been my favorite holiday and now that I have a kiddo that was almost born on Halloween, I love it even more! Logan came into the world at 5:56am on 11.1.05. I can't believe that was 6 years ago?!

Anyway, to celebrate his birthday this year Logan actually wanted a Halloween theme. (It varies from year to year which is fine with me.) I really didn't know what theme to go with. Should we do something cute or something scary? Logan wanted it to be spooky. I started watching American Horror Story on FX. Well, the intro to the show gave me inspiration and I decided a "spooky lab" would be perfect.

I looked on Google images for some inspiration and found all kinds of simple specimen jar projects. Martha Stewart had a simple tutorial using a large glass vase, a cauliflower and food coloring to make a "brain in a jar." I also hunted for rubber eyeballs, plastic insects and other fake body parts to put into jars. I found a plastic heart at the Dollar Store! I also created really gory looking guts using food coloring, water and pumpkin guts from the Jack O Lanterns we cut the night before. I couldn't believe how real and disgusting it looked!

In addition to the body parts, I used dead plants from around the yard to make swampy looking specimens and put fake insects in with them. My mom found this cool "spirit ball" at Walgreens and it was the perfect addition. I set everything up on Mike's old work bench and it really turned out to look like a mad scientist's spooky laboratory!



Of course, because this was a spooky Halloween birthday, the food had to be gory too. My husband made "witches fingers" out from his artisan bread recipe. They looked like knarled fingers but tasted amazing! I made "brains" from Kraft Homestyle Mac n Cheese and we also served meat balls that looked like they were coated in blood (ketchup). Mike made some of his famous "Green vomit" (guacamole & chips) and my Mother in Law brought some awesome chili-cheese dip and chips.

For the drinks we served "witches brew" punch, "Beetle Juice" (Diet Pepsi) and "Blood - Type O Negative" (Cranberry Sierra Mist.) I created his "Grim Reaper" cake and it was just a simple spice cake with cream cheese frosting (food colored orange) and drizzled in a chocolate glaze with a cute cake topper. I also had a back drop on the buffet table of a white picket fence with ghosts and pumpkins!

Logan wanted to have a bonfire for his birthday so we hosted it in the garage. I had Mike hang black plastic everywhere to hide all of our clutter and create a spooky space. Then we strung Halloween lights everywhere. It really looked great when we got everything set up.
We played Halloween party music and people could go back and forth from the bonfire to the garage. Of course, the kiddos ended up playing night games. There is something just so fun about playing tag in the dark!

Of course, it was a costume party! It was so cute to see all the kids dressed up in their costumes. Logan was Optimus Prime because he is obsessed with the Transformers right now.

Lily was a purple fairy because she loves all things princess, and fairy right now. Jake and Gavin were cute dinosaurs and Maya was a ballerina! Mike was a train conductor and I was Pippi Longstocking. :) My brother and his girlfriend were Spy vs Spy, one white and one black (they were so cute!)

We are so blessed to have such wonderful friends and family to help us celebrate Logan's Halloween birthday in style. I know that he loved it because he told me, "Mommy, this was the best birthday ever!" It was hard work but well worth it! :)

Preschool Party - Mommy Volunteer

I am so honored to have the opportunity to volunteer in my daughter's preschool class! They hosted a Halloween party for the preschoolers and it was so fun to participate. I was the "Pin the nose on the Pumpkin" game helper.

Lily went as a purple fairy, of course. Purple is her favorite color and fairies are better than Princesses, so there you go! I made her purple tutu and she looked absolutely adorable in it! The rest of the accessories I got at the dollar store. Who can pass up purple fairy wings, a crown, and a necklace for only $3.00? I dressed her in a purple shirt and purple pants, curled her hair and put on make-up. She lllooooveed her costume and couldn't quit admiring herself in the mirror! LOL.

Anywya, the preschoolers went "Trick or Treating" around the building, which meant they got to show off their costumes to different classes, the Kids Play Daycare and the Knights Academy School. Three different levels of our community center have different schools for our children! :)

Afterward, we played a variety of fun games where each child earned a prize. Then we had our fun Halloween snack, read spooky stories and sang spooky songs. Too soon, it was time to go home. I had a great time helping my child's teachers and being a part of her wonderful preschool experience. :)

Hanover Harvest Festival - Carving Pumpkins

Every year, the small town just to the south of St. Michael does a Hanover Harvest Festival! This year, we went to their pumpkin decoration and carving contest. My children were each given a tiny pumpkin, some craft supplies and the creativity to do whatever they wanted! Since mom was on her own for this trip (Dad was at Kung Fu) we decided to just decorate the pumpkins instead of carving them.

It was still a lot of fun! They broke the contest up into catagories, preschool, 6 years old + and 12 years old +. Although we didn't win a prize for our pumpkins it was still a lot of fun participating. In addition to the decorating, we enjoyed cookies and juice and dancing to fun Halloween songs.

There was also a variety of fun fall activities. My kids got to do gunny sac races, play "needle in the haystack" which Logan won, and sit next to the silly scarecrow for pictures!


There is also a wonderful park in Hanover, where the Harvest festival was. :) They spent at least an hour running around with all the other kids playing. It was a good day!

Partridge Family Pumpkin Carving

Every year, I enjoy carving Jack O Lanterns! It has been our tradition since we moved into our house 9 years ago. (I forced Mike to do it even when we didn't have kiddos.) Now that we've been blessed with our Logan and Lily, it has been one of the greatest joys I've gotten to experience as a mom. There is just something so fun about pulling out gushy, mushy pumpkin guts and cutting out silly faces.

This year, Logan really relished it. He pulled out those pumpkin guts with vigor and both of them picked out their own pattern. Logan wanted a skeleton and Lily wanted a spider. Of course, Mike and I did all the actual cutting but it was so much fun to have them participate in cleaning out the pumpkins.

I was brave enough to separate the seeds out from the guts this year and made some yummy baked pumpkin seeds. Just a dash of salt and pepper and they were delicious! :) Of course, this year we got a little extra mileage out of our pumpkins because I used the guts in Logan's spooky lab!

Anyway, we really enjoyed watching the kids get all messy and make a huge mess for that matter. ;D As we all know, you know who (me) got stuck cleaning everything up afterward. Oh well, it was worth it when I saw my two kiddos just thrilled about their creations. They were so excited after seeing their glowing Jack O' Lanterns it was hard to get them to bed.

Partridge Family Field Trip - Buffalo Pumpkin Patch

My, oh my, have we been busy! We went to the Buffalo Pumpkin Patch off of Highway 55 just a few days ago. The weather was beautiful, so I decided that it was the perfect Sunday to go Pumpkin pickin'. We started out looking at the wagons full of goods but soon found ourselves wandering into the fields. Logan was sitting on Daddy's shoulders and Lily was holding my hand.

Needless to say, it was a joyous adventure. Logan found his pumpkin first. We went into the fields and he found a little pumpkin with a perfect stem. He proudly declared, "This one is mine!" and held it over his head. Of course, I got a picture. ;D.


Lily picked a few up from the pumpkin patch but none suited her pleasure. I found mine out there, but Mike and Lily were still busy looking. The kids took turns climbing around in the wagon filled full of pumpkins. Lily was very brave and climbed into the tractor seat. It was so fantastic to get a shot of her sitting in this antique tractor! I don't know if they were allowing kids to do this or not so I took a shot of her very quickly and got her down right away.
Eventually, after looking in many pumpkin carts, Mike found his and Lily found hers. Both Logan and Lily climbed in the carts to find the perfect pumpkin. (Even though Logan found his first in the patch, we let him pick one from the cart too. :)

We will definitely go to the Buffalo Pumpkin Patch again!
We actually met our budget and ended up spending less that $20! There were so many wonderful things, I could have ended up spending much more.
They had apples, raspberries, gourdes, tomatoes, squash and novelty pumpkins. Of course, the experience was worth a million dollars! Seeing the smiles on my kids faces as we scoured the pumpkin patch was phenomenal.

It was an absolutely brilliant day. I am so blessed that I got to spend it with my family and we all left extremely happy! :)

101 Market with Grandma & Grandpa

As some of you may know, we are remodeling our downstairs bathroom. This little project has turned into a huge project because we decided to gut the old bathroom and start from scratch. This has kept Mike pretty busy during the whole summer and now into the fall.

It was a lovely Saturday afternoon and my parents came out to visit.
I needed to get the kids out of their dad's hair so that he could work on the bathroom in peace. We made an impromptu decision to go to the 101 Market. Every year they have a variety of fun fall activities.



Logan and Lily loved it! They played in the corn pit, rode the animal train and bounced in the Pumpkin Jumper. I also got several precious pictures of them posing in the harvest props. They were so excited to explore all the different things to do.

Logan's favorite was the pedal carts. He raced other little boys around the track and came in second place! Lily's favorite thing was the pumpkin jumper. I think she jumped in there for fifteen minutes non-stop. They both liked the animal train ride and Logan told me that it was "bumpy and fun!"


There is also going to be a haunted house there this year. I hope they keep it up because although our kids are too young, it would be fun to have as they get older. 101 Market also has an awesome corn maze. I think we will do it with the kiddos next year.

Grandma and Grandpa Skowronek enjoyed watching the kids play.
I got to go and look at all the cute decorating ideas at the gift shop. It was a beautiful fall day and I'm glad that we got to go together. I'm sure next time Daddy will get to join us!