PUMPKIN PATCH...one of my most favorite things!

When I was a single lady  I would always dream of the days when I was married and had children. I dreamt about fun things like 4th of July Fireworks, Pumpkin Patches, Birthday Parties, and Christmas Morning.  For some reason I associated these events with family and kiddos.  Now that God has given me my own little family I treasure times when I can live out my dreams.  The Annual Pumpkin Patch Day is one of my most, most favorite days.  This year it was spur of the moment because our weekends are booked solid with out of town trips, My cousins wedding, fishing trips, etc. So when I saw a small window of opportunity to hit the pumpkin patch early in the season my mom and I jumped on it.  

As you can tell in the seqenece of my photos we were on borrowed time because a storm was a brewing!  We had just about 1.75 hours before the storm took over our plans.  We crammed as much as the fall fest into our morning.  Will and Zach loved every minute and are still begging to go back. One perk to going to the Patch in September is we can go back in October...if we have a free moment! 

 Sometimes you just gotta take time to smell the Roses Mums!

 Poor Will tried to pick up ALL the big pumpkins!

Zach & Will's Pirate Party!

On Friday September 20th we celebrated both of the boys birthdays with our family.  We hosted it at our house and had the best time!  I usually ask the boys what theme they want for their birthday but this year I totally picked it myself! I wanted something that worked for both of the boys at age 2 & 7 AND I wanted to use items we already owned. I chose PIRATE party because we had almost everything I needed!  

Zachary's only request was ROOTBEER!  He loves root beer. I can't stand it.  We never buy it.  The only time I liked it was when I was pregnant with him. Go figure!  Zach insisted pirates love root beer and we couldn't have a party without it.  

Will's pirate cake

Zach's pirate cake (Strawberry)

Birthday Boy WILL!

These two cousins are best friends.  They were so excited to see each other!

I found a great deal for a bounce house rental on an online website.  I decided since I was combining the boys parties at our house that I could rent a bouncer for just them.  THEY LOVED IT!

It was also my brother-in-law's birthday so we wanted to celebrate him too! Happy Birthday Uncle Matt!

We had a pirate photo booth. It was the hit of the party for both the young and old!

Group Photo!  There's nothing like seeing your grandparents dress like pirates to celebrate your children.

We are so blessed to have our family close. We are also blessed that they love and adore Zach & Will.  After their party I could hardly go to sleep because I was overjoyed with emotions for each of these individuals who love us so much!

Zach is 7!

The entire month of September is one GIGANTIC birthday celebration for our boys.  It ended with a huge exlamation point on Saturday September 28th!  I love birthdays, celebrations, and parties but to be honest this momma was exhausted from making each event special for each boy. I was also a little tired of cake and sweets. Never thought you would hear me say that, right?  Let me just say that with all the social media sites out there I think moms feel pressure to make your child's birthday something out of this world.  Personally I do not feel that pressure. I WANT to make their day special. I WANT them to feel like they are the most important person in the world that day. I WANT them to remember that their momma & daddy went out of their normal day to celebrate them.  With that said, by the time Zachary's birthday rolled around we had already celebrated Will's 2nd birthday, a joint family birthday, AND a family night the night before Zach's birthday at a pizza buffet and football game.  So his actual birthday he asked for a "regular, relaxing" day.  WHOO HOO! Man I love this kid!  So we started the day with boxed blueberry muffins and presents. 

 We already gave him his gift of a new bike at the family party.  HE WAS SO EXCITED! But he needed something to open that day so I saved back the new bike helmet that we got him. No need to worry he was not without a bike helmet the past 2 weeks. He just wore his old one.

 Kevin totally shocked me to pieces. He said he had a gift for Zach.  Kevin is an excellent shopper but I usually am the person to buy the boys gifts.  He gives Zach this big bag.  Zach had to basically climb in the bag to find his gift.

 Basically Kevin was returning some hunting gear at a local store and found football gear 75% off so he bought a helmet and pads for Zach for next year so that we won't have to rent them.  Zach was thrilled. I was proud of Kevin for surprising Zach and saving money!

 He had to go back into the bag for the helmet!

 Later that morning we met Grams at a local farm for a Fall Festival. It was supposed to storm at noon so we did as much as we could before the rain came.  It was a blast. I will post more pictures from this in another post.  After the farm we came home for naps before our dinner out with friends.

 Zachary shares his birthday with one of his best buddies from Kindergarten, Spencer. Spencer's family recently moved and Spencer goes to another local school this year. The boys miss one another greatly so we decided to meet up for dinner on their birthdays to celebrate. We went to a local hibachi restaurant.  It was a hit!  Spencer's mom made both boys special BIRTHDAY shirts.  It was so sweet of her to bring Zach's by the day before so he could wear it the entire day.

 Spencer!

 The two Sept 28th Boys!

Birthday Dragon

 To finish off the birthday night I brought a SKYLANDER portal cake that made both boys smile!  They loved it!

We are so thankful for the past 7 years with Zachary. He surprises me everyday with his 10,000 questions. I am so thankful for goo.gle because I am often looking up answers to his questions.  He is so smart, bright, funny, and inquisitive.  He makes us so proud of him for his decisions that he makes and for being an excellent role model to his peers and little brother. Our prayer for Zach is that he will continue to seek and learn about God, he will serve others, and continue to be a life-long learner.  We love you Zachary!