Happy Birthday Maddie

Being a preschool teacher has allowed me to become part of many lives. Many families have touched my life, few have touched mine like the Dewsnap's. I met them only a few years ago, but the impact they have had on me is amazing. Their daughter, Maddie, has grown up before my eyes, and the momma, Bethany, has been my rock when it comes to my son's education. (she is a counselor at my son's school).

This week Maddie turned six. She's practically a teenager, haha. I was overjoyed to spend some of my Saturday celebrating her birthday. Bethany went all out. The house looked fantastic and had some great little touches!

She had lots of spooky goodies. I love fall birthdays. You can have so much fun with decorations.

This cute sign welcomed Maddie's guests to her pumpkin patch. It was so sweet to see all the little girls dressed up in their halloween costumes and it gave me a glimpse of what Cazlin's future birthdays will sound like.

Even some of the Adults got in on the dressup action. The lovely Boikov family came in 80's attire. Sassy as always.

We had to leave early. Caz was extremely grumpy. I thought it was because we have been breaking her from her  bottle,  but she woke up later that night with 102 degree temperature.However, we didn't leave before getting a good picture of the birthday princess herself.

Happy Birthday Sweet Maddie. The McGinnis Family loves you with all our hearts!

crafty pants.

So while facebooking (I guess that is a verb, isn't it?) I saw some pictures on the wall of a sweet friend. Her name is Rachel and when I think of what a supermom is she always comes to mind. She and her kids decided to homemade decorations for Halloween this year. Her pictures were so inspiring that I did a few projects of my own (with a little help from Aidan.) The finished products are as followed.

The last one is a teacher gift for Aidan's teacher. I enjoyed making these so much that I plan on doing a few more things for Thanksgiving and Christmas. Its so nice to slow down and do some family stuff around the kitchen table.

Fall Fun

Oh I have been bad blogger. However, I have had inspiration in some fabulous places and now feel focused and creative. I have to tell you that fall is my favorite time of the year. So colorful and cool. We have been enjoying the outdoors here in Lexington. The outlying towns have some great farms that open there grounds to the  public this time of year. We chose Evans Orchard in Georgetown, KY.

We checked out a couple of the others, but for the price you can't beat Evan's Orchard. It was $5.00 for Aidan and we got in free. The petting zoo and hay rides are extra but Aidan just wants to pick a pumpkin and play in the play area.

They have a cool fort made out of hay, Aidan could have played in that for hours alone. He is obsessed with military history. He was saluting in almost every picture. He cracks me up. One of the cool things they have at Evan's Orchard is kind of like a barrel race. Wes and Aidan decided to give it a try.

They are both so competitive its funny.

Wes won and Aidan gave up. We had a great time and the kids picked their pumpkins. Aidan and Wes went out to the pumpkin patch to get one and Cazlin picked one from the pie pumpkin bin.

They have a pumpkin patch and an orchard. The press their own cider and it is delicious!!!!!!!

All in all a wonderful trip to the orchard. It was beautiful and affordable, which is a great combination!