Fall Fun

This girl loves crafts.

Every day when Noni naps she asks to make a craft so I am constantly thinking of fun, quick and inexpensive things that we can make.

Fall has been a great season for crafts!

We started out with a book that taught Ruby (and us) all of the chemicals that make the leaves change color.

Chlorophyll is green

Xanthophyll is yellow

Annin is brown

Anthocyanin is purple/red

Carotene is orange.

(in case you were all wondering)

She was so interested in the colors and the chemicals that we thought we needed to go out and collect all the colors and shapes of leaves that we could find.

So we headed out for FHE one day and collected TONS of leaves.  

 So what to do with them?

Well I brought out the wax paper first and thought that we could iron the leaves in between them and then hang them.  Well that was an epic fail- it didn't work and just looked terrible.  So I pulled out the trusty mod podge and we went to work.

Ruby mod podged some onto a duotang....

 And with the rest we just modpodged them separately and hung them to dry.  I had gotten to packages of clothes pins from a lady at church and was glad to find a use for them!

We decided that we would hang them in our window as garland and decoration.  Ruby liked to hit them with a ruler- she thought it was fun- and of course Myers wanted to join in on the fun too!

 That did not satisfy Ruby's craving however, so we moved onto the next craft the next FHE.  Painting glass pumpkins.  It was really fun.  Look at how serious Ruby's face is- isn't that just precious?  I love her.

 Myers even got to paint his own- 

 Until he decided to eat it.  He was so fast there was no way to even stop him!

 They turned out great and we put a candle in each of them and lit them up for halloween...

The far left is Noni's- we gave him a second chance with the paint- that also did not last very long.  Then there is Justin's- he calls him chompers.  Then our carved pumpkin (it has a mustache and a round mouth...  I know it doesn't look quite right, Justin did it for me...).  Then there is mine- I like to call him evil chompers (I have a small obsession with mustache crafts.  I think they are cool but they never turn out quite right... If I am going to be honest then I must tell you that I painted another face on the back of my jar and on the back of Justin's, all with mustaches, ALL UGLY.  I thought maybe I would be lucky enough to inherit some of my mom's painting skills- turns out I didn't...)  and then Ruby's- she was doing great but then got carried away with the black- painting is just too much fun!  I still think it is great and it looks a little bit like a spider...

And now for our last fall craft of the season- for it will now be thanksgiving and Christmas oriented crafts- an acorn covered hanging ball.

As well as the mustache obsession I have a decorative ball obsession.  I think they look cool.  So when we were out walking one day and we came across a gold mine of acorns I just knew I could find a use for them!  Ruby, Myers and I gathered up as many as we could and filled our pockets and then headed home.  A couple days later I got a Styrofoam ball and my trusty glue gun and the acorn ball was born.  Ruby even got in on the fun.  I still haven't decided if I am going to spray paint it or not- but a part of me really loves it.  Another part of me- not so much.  I'm still torn.

Fall has been good to us.  I love the falls out here they just seem more real....slower.  You can really take the time to enjoy the weather and the leaves and the smells.  I fear winter is coming too soon....

An Actual Corn Maze

We finally attended an actual corn maze.
We have been to other corn mazes but they were a little less like a corn maze and a little more like a small garden of dead corn that you could see through and the only path was the one that was trodden down by other disappointed 'corn mazers'...

Who knew real corn mazes could be so much fun!
We ventured through the corn maze, took some classic pictures, jumped in the bouncy house and picked our annual Halloween pumpkins.

It was a lot of fun had by all.
We finished the night with dinner at Wendy's.
MMMMM fries and a frosty...
And a $1.50 movie in American Fork.
What day can be better than that?
No really, I dare you to try and find a day....

A Breath of Fresh Air

I have been a frequent customer at Joann Fabrics lately.
I thought you all should know.
It has been crazy- I have gone a little crazy.
My sewing hands cannot possibly keep up with my sewing brain.
I have a lot of projects I would like to do and not enough time to do them.
You would think that I would have all the time in the world- you know- since technically I only have 2 friends down here- but no- somehow the time still seems to fly by each day.
It must have something to do with the two children I have to play with, feed, love, and take care of.
Not to mention fitting in cleaning and eating into that equation.
And lets not forget crazy eyes McGee.  He would be sad if he was forgotten about.
Anyway, I still need to be prepared if ever the opportunity strikes to get some of my favorite projects done.
Hence the frequenting Joann fabrics.
I have also found some favorite local shops that see my face from time to time....
Today I decided that the kids and I needed to get out.  And I needed to pick up some last minute things for Noni's costume.  So we got all ready and headed out the door to go to JoAnn's.
We were out the door and half way down the steps when I realised the van was gone.
Justin had taken it to work.
To his credit we did have the first snowfall of the season last night.  And it was a bit chilly this morning. 
But by the time we were ready to go most of the snow had melted and it was a crisp 5 degrees outside.
So I wasn't about to let the lack of a vehicle stop us from venturing out to our favorite venue.
We decided to walk and retrieve the van.
I strapped Noni into the ergo on my back.  (note to self- next time put his toque on BEFORE he goes in the ergo on your back...  it is not a pleasant thing to try and explain to a 3 year old how to put a toque on a baby...)
Put Ruby in the stroller (because the 2 seater was in the van- so we only had the old single stroller)
And we embarked on our 25 minute walk to Justin's clinic.
It was wonderful!
We collected leaves of every color- though the fuscia ones were Ruby's favorite- we looked at the little bits of snow left of the ground.  We talked about each chapel that we passed (we passed 3), and we managed to only lose one toque (which we later went back and found) in the process.
It was fun.
And we made it to JoAnn's and got the needed fabric (and some extra- you know just in case).
It made me realise that maybe I don't hate winter so much.  Atleast the mild winter.
Ok, I don't hate fall.  The jury is still out about the whole -40 winter thing.
In fact I am quite in love with the crisp fresh air...