Anatomy of a Pumpkin

Taft brought a small pumpkin home this weekend.  He said that it was on his teachers desk and she as getting rid of it.  He asked if he would have it and she said yes.

So of course, he wanted to cut it open and see if it looks like the same as a big pumpkin.  

Pumpkin Patch

On Saturday, we went to the Pumpkin Patch with our friends Aunt Casey and Stran.  We were hoping to get some really good pictures of the boys.  But Taft is at the age where it is a total fight to get him to smile and "real" smile and give you time to click the photo.  And he was a pretty good distraction for Stran.  But we did manage to get a few, like this one, that I love.  And the boys enjoyed each other the most of all.
Here are a few others:

Fall Books

Taft has really enjoyed learning about fall at school.  They have made so many projects with leaves and apples.  So - Taft and I picked up a few Fall books at the library.  These are a few of our favorites.

Our Apple Tree by Gorel Kristina Naslund

Apples and Pumpkins by Anne Rockwell

Wow! Said the Owl by Tim Hopgood

Pumpkin Town by Katie McKy

It's Pumpkin Time! by Zoe Hall

The Apple Pie Tree by Zoe Hall

Why Do Leaves Change Color? by Betsy Maestro

Link Up and Spook On Halloween Link Up

I am so happy to be co-hosting this GREAT Halloween Link Up!  Halloween has to be one of my favorite holidays.  I can't get enough of orange, black, gray, and a little purple thrown in for good meausure.  I get excited as soon as I see the first pumpkins and candy corn at the craft store.   I mean, don't you?
First things first - this lady behind this link up is Jessica at The Thriftiness Miss.  The other lovely co-hosts are Amy from Amy's Cooking Adventures, and Ms. Morgan from Ms. Morgan's Reality Check

This is a month long event and here is a little itinery to get you started with the themes:

• Week One - Decor
• Week Two - Crafts
• Week Three - Food
• Week Four - Parties and Costumes

This is a link party devoted to all things Halloween! Link up your posts old and new, your Etsy creations, your own Halloween link parties, anything Halloween that you have,  we want to see it. Seriously, anything and everything goes!

The linky will run for the entire month of October. Each week the host and co-hosts will be choosing our favorites for the week and showcasing them on our blogs and other social media outlets.

Guidelines for the party...Not required but definitely appreciated... There's only four...

• Follow your hosts. Leave a comment to let us know and we'll return the favor.
• Link up anything Halloween.
• Visit as many other links as you can and leave a comment.
• Grab a party button for somewhere on your blog.

So lets get started!!

Pumpkins Are Carved!

We were going to carve pumpkins last night but we got behind schedule and Taft was ready to go to sleep. I thought that maybe he would be in a good mood after his nap today and want to sit in his highchair and play with the pumpkin parts, but he was only happy walking around and checking in on the progress that Mommy was making.

Daddy and Taft with a pumpkin top.Taft with his lid and in another cute Halloween shirt.
Mommy drawing on the face before she carves.
Bunny Pumpkin, Trevor, and Taft Pumpkin
Taft and Bunny

If you know Taft, you know that he takes his bunny everywhere. Bunny has started to wear holiday clothing to fit in to the seasons as they change. So - it seemed only right that Taft and Bunny get a pumpkin.

Verdego Pumpkin Patch

First things first, the definition of a pumpkin patch in a coastal town is a little different than other places. We have a bunch of hay on the ground, hay bales and fake scarecrows, and pumpkins. Also - in some of the photos you can see that it is surrounded by palm trees. Something about palm trees and fall just don't seem to go together. Kinda like no matter how many Christmas lights you put on a palm tree they still look stupid. Plus - it is still hot. Almost 90 degrees. Taft was hot after leaving and sucked down three cup fulls of juice to cool off. No flannel shirts here.
The Verdego Plant Nursery is about 2 miles from our house. They have a great selection of plants but it was our first time to visit the pumpkins. All the proceeds go to the school system so that is nice. Large pumpkins $9, Small pumpkins $7. We only bought one. If we need more (last year we each had one) we will travel to Wal*Mart to pick some up.
We thought that Taft would enjoy being able to run around. There is one way in and one way out. It is a very small area and since we went during the day on a weekday, almost no other patch visitors. Very safe for him. He is the type child that does not like sand or grass to touch his skin. He was very unsure about the hay. I, of course, am allergic to hay so I didn't want a lot to do with it either. He stood there without moving for about 10 minutes and then figured out that he could just go. Then he was off. We should have tried family photos before he realized this because he then did not want to be held down at all.

Standing in one place.

The Verdego Advertising Pumpkin

This was his favorite pumpkin. He kept hitting it and went back to it over and over. We did not buy it. It was in pretty bad shape and we needed to get our money's worth. I'm not paying $9 for an non-carving pumpkin.

Another little boy took this pumpkin off the hay bale. Taft saw him and tried his best to put it back.

Not wanting to touch hay.

One of Taft's favorite things to do now is to hide on one side of a chair and play peek-a-boo as we run around the chair trying to catch him. He found that this large hay bale worked great also.

Pumpkin Carving

Taft and I got up early this morning (as usual) and got started on the pumpkin carving. We all went to the store last night to "pick" our pumpkins and tried to get them to look like our family. Shane said that Taft's pumpkin and his head are about the same size. Mommy did all the carving and getting the pumpkins ready. Taft's pumpkin was carved for him but he was able to play with the guts and watch as we popped out the eyes, nose, and mouth. He looked at it like it was a person and really smiled when we were able to light the candle. Can't wait until he seems them tonight in the dark.

Taft with his finished pumpkin

Our Family (Daddy, Taft, Mommy)