pumpking patch

We decided since we had so much fun last year at the pumpkin patch we would come back again!  It was really fun because both Mason and Lily being a little bit older they could enjoy all the fun things!

I do exist!!!

We went down to see the goats, usually you could feed them but the feeder was out of order

It was a little bit muddy but the kids both had a really fun time picking out some pumpkins.  Lily wanted everyone she could see (which was a lot) Mason was a bit more picky looking for the perfect one, not too small or too big, or too orange or dirty (the dirty part was the trickiest...they are all dirty!)

Mason helped Lily pick out a really cute little one that she carried around with her the rest of the time, even while checking out the other larger pumpkins.

After picking our perfect pumpkins we went to check out all the fun places to play.  There were a whole bunch of old tractors the kids could sit on...

And a little petting zoo with baby goats, sheep and a baby cow.  Plus some chickens and maybe a turkey, I can't remember

Mason trying to feed to goat a rock

Lily is not too fond of the goat :)

What are these things called???  Anyway there was a whole bunch of them around the entire pumpkin patch that the kids could put there heads through

Getting bigger!

Not surprisingly the bridge was again one of the favorite activities!

Some cute pictures of Lily in the fall time :)

Some random things:

* Mason had only been potty training for a week and I wasn't sure what I was going to do since we had been home that entire week and he only used the little potty.  I decided to bring an extra set of cloths and see what happened.  I thought it would be better to try and use the port o potties instead of just putting him in pull ups (though I did bring some just in case he peed through a second pair of clothes) because I didn't want him to think every time we left somewhere he could just go in his pull ups.  Well it worked out great!  It took a little coaxing and a bribe for a toy from the gift shop, but he did it and as a result his fear of public "big potties" was vanished!

* The fresh apple cider donuts were sooooo yummy!

Preschool, friends, frames, fall

It was a little interesting have 5 kids painting + a little toddler but we made due.  It was funny because all 3 boys were pretty messy but Clara and Kaylie hardly had any paint on their hands after.

This is the new picture of friends to put in there frame (need to get it printed still)

this is the closest attempt at getting them all in the same picture outside, haha

After we painted the frames we went for a walk to the "forest in the fall"  I gave the kids a bag to pick up leaves to bring home and then we played around on the swing set.

 David

Michel

 Clara

Kaylie

Preschool

A few of my friends and I decided to do a little co-op preschool.  There are 4 moms that rotate weeks teaching the children in their homes.  We are doing a mix of Joy school (a curriculum) and focusing lessons on a specific letter for the week.  This is was my first week teaching and we were doing the letter F.

Clara holding a frog and fish.  We ended up tracing the frog feet, even though I tried to trace the kids feet :)

I printed this picture out to give to the kids, even though 2 were missing.  The next day in preschool they painted frames (see post above)  get it "friends in frames" for the letter F

Mason and Clara running around on the foam pads... they are a little crazy :)

Potty training Mason

The first weekend in October we decided that we should try potty training Mason since he will be 3 on Oct 19.  I read a few things online and got some tips to help things go smoother.  The best option for us was to put Mason in big boy underwear, bring a little potty to the play area and Danny and I made sure one of us was watching him constantly, so we could help him to the potty when he need to go.  We also had a lot of potty training books that my mom gave him and books and movies that we got at the library.  I think both the books and movies helped a lot in him understanding what was being asked of him!

Luckily he was open to the idea this time, especially since we went and bought some new underwear for him.  Up until this point he would sit on the potty sometimes, we even tried having a go in the summer but he kept telling me he liked to poo and pee in his underwear (ok we are done!)

The first day he was about 50% success 50% accidents which isn't too bad I suppose.  We gave him lots of praise, he got a treat every time he went in the potty and he got to put a sticker on a chart.  When the chart was full, he got a matchbox car that was taped next to the chart. 

The next day he only had 1 accident, it was amazing.  He did such a great job and really got the knack of it fast.  The first week he only had a couple of accidents.  We are so proud of him!  I can see why some moms say to wait until they are close to 3 (especially for boys who are the oldest) because they have a better grasp of what is being asked.

One funny, well I guess it wasn't that funny I feel kind of bad, is that we gave Mason lots of apple juice to help him go pee more.  See he was old enough by the time we started this that he could hold it for a long time, and then when he went pee it was a lot.  Our theory was that if he went and had an accident it would be a while until we could get him to pee again, so thus came the apple juice.  Well not only did it get him to pee alot, it also gave him the runs.  Poor kid, I don't think he was uncomfortable and overall I think it helped because he had to be on the pot alot.  I do feel bad though, so if you are reading this and thinking of trying it only do it if your kid is used to getting juice!

Mason proudly wearing his big boy underwear!

*update* at night and nap times we still put him in a diaper, but after about 2 weeks he kept waking us up in the night or in the morning because he needed to go potty.  So we thought what the heck, you can wear big boy pants and night too and it turned out fine.  Every once in a while he has an accident but even that has gotten better since we took him out of the crib :)