Autumn Fun

Grandpa Doug is always doing chores when he comes over. I came home from a baby shower on Saturday morning and found him raking my leaves. He swore up and down that he was just making a pile for the kids to play in, which they did, but I know the truth-- he just goes about doing good.

The kids loved the leaves. Noah liked them more initially but soon found that it was hard to maneuver his one year old body in that big pile. Luke, with his big three year old body, didn't have that problem and in fact maneuvered quite well, as evidenced below.

On your first birthday...

You get to eat watermelon for breakfast,

tour the local fire station,

watch the car get washed (this is the source of much cold weather entertainment, let me tell you),

your mom makes you a Noah's ark cake,

and cupcakes for your friends.

Then the big people let you eat all the cupcake you can fit in,

as fast as you can.

Finally, your mom tries to hold you on her lap while your brother opens all your presents. The best part of your whole day is when they turn on the music and let you dance.

Hope it was a good one little Noah!

On the eve of his birthday...

In a moment of nostalgia for the little baby pictured above, I just snuck into the boys' room and leaned over Noah's crib. A big long toddler in red footie pajamas was stretched across the crib, his face hidden in a blue blankie. I inhaled deeply and loved the combination of lavender lotion, Vaseline, and his fresh diaper. Not because it is particularly aromatic, but because it is him. And, I adore him.

One year ago...

I was on my pregnancy death bed. I believe that Noah still owes Emily an apology for not coming while she was here. It was also apparently much colder last year at this time. What a magical thing it is to wait for a baby...

more from the Halloween party

I got an email today with these additional and very cute pictures from Saturday's Halloween party.

Couldn't you just eat this little giraffe?

This is the sad state of our life this week. We have to keep posting pictures about the same event because we haven't done anything fun. Unless you call moving all of Luke's toys to the garage fun (they're in time out). Really, we're playing catch up. Things are finally starting to look better around here. Just in time for a little someone we know to turn one.

early Halloween fun

My friend Shelley and I put together a Halloween party. Here are some images.

The smiley giraffe

I stamped a canvas bag for each one of the kids to take trick-or-treating

Shelley spent the month of September sewing pillow covers for her couches
and cutting out pumpkins, cats, and rats to adorn her windows and walls

all the kids got to make a Halloween piñata (they had to take it home to break it open-- less chance of injuring another child that way)

the kids participated in a doughnut eating contest, no hands were allowed

Butternut squash bowling, the ball was a small pumpkin

mummy dogs were eaten by all... except Luke's little girlfriend Emily repeatedly informed me that she hates mummy dogs

The treat table

cupcake details; skulls, spiders and mummies

Happy early Halloween!

farms

The boys and I have been on a tour of the area farms. There is something about fall that makes you want to visit the farm, pick apples and pet the cows. Here are some recent images.

We have picked apples twice lately. It has kept us busy making applesauce, apple butter, and our latest adventure was dehydrating apples (that'll be a separate post, don't worry). Apple picking is so gratifying because it goes so quickly. You can pick 25 pounds of apples before you know it.



Today Noah and I joined Mt. Olive Christian preschool on their trip to another apple farm. We had a great time. I love seeing Luke at preschool, he has a school persona that is fun to watch come out; obedient, solicitous of the teacher's attention and, dare I say, a know-it-all.


We also visited a petting farm recently. The last time I went here was when Luke was a small toddler. It was fun to see Noah pulling the same tricks his brother did a few years ago.


Hope you're all getting your fall farm in!

shame on me

It's been a week since I last blogged. Things are still very busy around here. We had a great trip to N.L. this weekend. It's always nice to see the Fredins.

Nat is crazy busy trying to find a job and I am busy trying to raise these little ones (he's doing his fair share of the raising as well). All the busyness is happy and fun busy. Things that we enjoy-- maybe just too many of these enjoyable things.

The boys are busy keeping us busy. Can you believe Noah is almost a year old?

I've got a backup of cute pictures that I'll have to post when things slow down. Don't hold your breath, it might be May before that happens.

Swimmin'

Our dear friends the Larsens were visiting this week. We have had a great time playing with them again. The highlight for me was running again with Jenny in the early morning hours on Tuesday. It was just like she'd never left.

On Monday after naps we went over and swam in their hotel pool. It was wonderful. Luke was more brave than I have ever seen him. He took a little while to warm up but was soon making his way all over the pool. It's making me think I'd better look into lessons again.

Puddle exploration

We had the strangest weather today. It was really warm, my kids were in shorts and tank tops. Then we had a few cloudbursts throughout the day. Luke was dying to go out and check on how deep out puddles were getting. So, we headed out.
I love being a mother to small children-- another chance to see the wonder of nature through their eyes. Who needs television when you can go out and jump in puddles?