small group halloween party.

Matthew and I hosted our small group for a Halloween pumpkin carving party.  We had a great time carving pumpkins and loving on new baby Sawyer!

pumpkin patch 2012.

We made our annual trip the pumpkin patch!  It seemed like it took us forever to find just the right pumpkins but maybe it's always that way.  We bought 4 this year...one for each of us, the baby, and Hudson!

happy halloween.

 Happy Halloween from the Thomases!  (Hudson really dislikes his costume...at least, we think so.)

 Lucy came by to trick-or-treat!  She was a cute little frog!

 Then, Blakely came by to trick-or-treat!

Lucy and Blakely weren't quite sure what to think of each other.  But they high-fived and off they each went to trick or treat some more.  Thanks for stopping by, families!

to the pumpkin patch.

Several weekends ago Matthew and I made our annual trip to the pumpkin patch.  It was a beautiful day!

 Matthew was our navigator through the corn maze, although it wasn't too difficult.

 We took a hayride out to the fields to find our pumpkins.

Then, we finished our day with a cider slush and a cider donut.  It was pretty wonderful!

gathering nuts.

So we have a little issue with chipmunks and squirrels digging in our flower beds around our house. Matthew has tried to be strategic in blocking their holes in the ground with bricks, dirt, etc.

Well, it appears he really blocked this ones storage of acorns for the winter. Matthew thinks he blocked the entrance well enough that the chipmunk had to dig in where he had been storing his acorns and dig them out to get back in. Matthew actually felt really bad about it!

But that's a huge pile of acorns!!!

carving our pumpkins.

Happy Halloween!

We carved pumpkins yesterday afternoon. It's been raining all day today, so I'm not sure if we'll put candles in them tonight and soon they'll be moldy. But they look great now!

Scooping out all of the goop!

Matthew went simple this year. He wanted to do a "T" (with no prompting from me!). He needed me to draw it on though. I really wanted Matthew to do this:
Except with Hudson's face on there!!! maybe next year....
Hudson is so intrigued by the pumpkins, goop, carving...

"Momma" (<----that's me) is carving a bone into his pumpkin.

Matthew's finished product! Looks great!

Our family!

treats for my kiddos.

upcoming.

(picture flashback October 2008)

We're are very excited for the next few weeks! We've got a lot going on which will be another great change of pace for us, as it's been pretty quiet around these parts lately.

We'll be heading to Nebraska in two weeks for a wedding! Matthew is a groomsmen and it should be a great time to see Ali & Adam get married. We'll also spend a short time in Kansas City to see our families and throw a baby shower for Matthew's sister-in-law, Amber.

And then shortly after getting back from there, we'll be driving north to Ann Arbor, MI for a Michigan hockey game (vs. Miami Ohio) and football game (vs. Purdue). Matthew is way excited and I'm really looking forward to it too. Ann Arbor is a very neat college town and I love seeing where he spent all his time during college, and not just at Good Time Charley's bar! (let's also just hope it's not negative degrees and snowing.)

Some other things we're hoping to do this fall:
*Hit up some fall festivals.
*Make a quick weekend trip up to Niagara Falls.
*Go to a Pitt football game at Heinz Field.
*Spend lots of time at the park with Hudson.
*And if we happened to be in Kansas City on November 22nd, it'd be great to go to the Steelers vs. Chiefs game and cheer for the Steelers! (ha!)

simmons farm. the pumpkin patch.

Hayride, Pumpkins, Apple picking, Apple cider, 5-acre corn maze, Indian corn.

While it was a little chilly and cloudy, we enjoyed a lovely Sunday afternoon at the Simmons Farm and the pumpkin patch.