Want a gift card to Target?

I want to take a break from the cute Molly updates to talk about something that I think is pretty exciting.

There is a blog that I have been reading for the past year or so that has been really inspiring to me. Jody is a mom to 6 kids. She is someone who I admire a lot because of her strength, ability to overcome adversity with grace and humor and her passion for helping those in need worldwide. Often times I read her blog and feel kind of ashamed that I am not doing more to help those in need. I never know where to start and, if I'm being completely honest, I am selfish with my time and money.

BUT...that excuse isn't really a good one anymore because Jody and a friend of hers have started a new nonprofit organization called The Adventure Project. Their mission is to see worldwide poverty eradicated in their lifetime. Seems a tad ambitious, no? But they have a brilliant plan. I can't do it justice by trying to explain it here, so please go to the website and read about it. It is so cool to me that as a midwestern mom here in Iowa I can know that I am doing something that DIRECTLY benefits a mom in a developing country and allows her to safely feed and protect her babies.

So, here is how I am going to help. I am going to buy a $25 gift card to Target (I know it isn't much but who can't use $25 at Target?). If you leave me a comment on this post that you buy just one lump of coal (follow this link and you will know what that means). I have absolutely no idea how many people read this blog so it is likely that your odds of winning are quite good. If even one person who reads this blog buys one lump of coal then we have helped one family in a developing country tremendously.

Also, you can join the Tribe at the Adventure Project and learn ways that you can help with this awesome effort as well. Maybe you can put a link up on your blogs (that are probably read much more frequently than mine), or on your facebook or twitter or whatever to help even more people learn of this amazing project.

I went online tonight and bought my lump of coal and it is seriously so easy.

Okay, let's see what we can do...

New Tricks

Molly has learned to say "Cheese" so we got her picture during dinner the other night. She hasn't connected it to posing for pictures yet, she mostly says it when standing outside the fridge or eating, but it sure looks cute.



Thanks to Grandma Nancy and Aunt Melissa, she has recently discovered the fun of boxes. She thinks this is hilarious.

Trick-or-Treat

Tonight we took our little Bumblebee out Trick-or-Treating. She was so cute and of course charmed all of the neighbors. It took a few houses for her to catch on, but then she knew just what to do and would hold her pumpkin up for goodies. She didn't eat any candy but enjoyed chewing on the wrappers and shaking the pack of skittles like a rattle. Her favorite thing to do was stop in the middle of the street, sit down and take everything out of her bag and then put it back in. After going up and down our street we went over to Grandma Bev's where she got her favorite treat of the night: a banana!

Howell's Pumpkin Patch

This morning we went to Howell Family Farm and Pumpkin Patch in Cummings, IA. It had been recommended by some people I work with and it was definitely worth the trip. I had heard it was pretty expensive, but we were able to do everything there (including the pony ride) for $16 total. Plus, we got some great pictures out of it! There are a lot, beware...

Waiting for the tractor ride to take us out to the pumpkin patch and corn maze.

"Mom, I found one!"

There weren't too many pumpkins left in the patch because tomorrow is their last day of the season, but we managed to find enough for a picture.




On a hunt for more pumpkins.

They had these really cool pedal go-karts and we were able to take Molly on our lap. The track winds through part of the corm maze. It was really fun.

Wheeeee!

Waiting for the tractor to take us back to the farm. This was taken about 7 seconds before a catastrophic fall from this bench. Don't worry, it was nothing a few raisins couldn't fix.

We took this is a big trailer full of pumpkins with a sign on it that said "Please don't sit or climb in trailer." Oops.

Oops again.

No. Words. So. Sweet.

I would like you to know I worked up a sweat trying to get her to stand in front of this stupid height chart for a picture. This was the best we could get.

This was in the corn bin, which is like a giant sandbox filled with corn. It was really fun, I may or may not have climbed into it myself. Molly would have stayed there for days. She loved it.

I didn't get a good picture of the whole thing but it was huge and like 2 feet deep and they filled it with shovels and buckets and pans and dump trucks. Molly is requesting that Grandpa Mac build one of these at the farm for her.

Quick ride on a duck.

Biggest tire swing ever!

I love this picture, even if Molly isn't looking at the camera.

Peek!

Her legs weren't quite long enough to sit on this tractor the traditional way, but she improvised and was quite proud of herself.

Time for the pony ride. Molly picked this sweet little horse, Sandy, who let Molly pull her mane and pet her nose.The guy running the thing was pretty awesome too. He kept calling Molly Little Darlin'.

She was a natural!

"Daddy, this is so fun! Can I get one of these at home?"

Clearly I was more focused here on avoiding piles of horse poop than on keeping Molly upright.

Thanks Sandy!

A couple of attempts at a Family Picture.

She had had it with pictures by this point and was ready for lunch.

We had such a fun day and I would definitely recommend Howell's to anyone living in the Des Moines Area. They also have a really awesome gift shop that I didn't allow myself to linger in and they have a tree farm at Christmas. Also, the staff was really friendly. (It kind of seems like they should hire me for PR huh?)

Thanks Howell's!

Fall Fun Night at Daycare

Last Friday was Family Fun Night at Molly's daycare. The kids wear their costumes and then go from room to room playing games and trick-or-treating. Molly had a good time once she realized that we weren't going to leave her there at night. Here is a sneak peek of her Halloween costume. She really hates the hood!

Remember this game from your elementary school carnival? Fishing for treats.

Peek a BOO (get it? I crack myself up)

I think she looks so old in this picture.

Trick or treating with another little bumblebee from her class. That's Miss Ashley, Molly's favorite teacher.

Those girls look thrilled don't they?

Cousins

A few weeks ago we went to Mike's parents to meet up with the Mead's for Coe Homecoming. It was a fun weekend. I didn't do a very good job of taking pictures except for one night at dinner.

Happy Luke with Uncle Mike

The only way to get all these crazy kids together was to strap 2 of them into high chairs!

Sweet siblings

Molly couldn't be bothered to stop eating long enough for a picture.

I could have spent the whole weekend kissing those cheeks!

First Pigtails, Iowa Game and A Day at the Park

Last week at day care Molly's favorite teacher Ashley gave her pigtails. They looked so cute and I couldn't believe she kept them in all day, usually she pulls out ponytails. I've yet to recreate this look at home because I have a hard enough time getting her to sit still for one ponytail. We'll just leave the fancy stuff up to Miss Ashley.

We went to the Iowa/Penn St. game last weekend. It was really fun. A night game, perfect football weather and the Hawks came away with a win. They organized it so that odd numbered sections wore black and even numbered sections wore gold. Thankfully Nancy had a gold Hawkeye coat I could wear. It looked really cool in the stadium.

The weather today was really warm for October so we decided to head to Raccoon River Park. Molly had so much fun running around and climbing on the playground.