TRICK-or-TREAT

We hope that everyone had a very happy halloween. The boys really enjoyed the day. Like last year, I undertook the job of costume designer. I think that by next year, Liam will have an opinion on his costume choice, so I wanted to take advantage of my (possible) last year to decide what they dressed up as. They were Crayola Crayons! 

Let me explain. My mom made crayon costumes for my older brother and I when we were young. That was the first time that I was a crayon. The second time I was a crayon was in college. My friends and I decided to use that as a group costume. Four of us were crayons and one was a box. We were a hit. Then when Dane and I lived in Madison, one halloween, we had several friends come to visit and, once again, Crayola Crayon seemed to be a perfect idea. 

This year, it was Liam and Gavin's turn. Somehow, I found a bit of time to make their costumes. Liam got to pick our their colors. Green is quickly becoming his go-to color when asked to choose. Although, he is a fan or purple, and being in the fabric store suddenly brought out his love of hot pink, in the end, he settled on green and wanted baby G to be blue. They turned out great and looked so cute! 

We had a busy day that started off at daycare for a party. It was not their day to go, but I try to take them for the parties when I can. Liam enjoys it. After that, we swung by their Pediatrician's office so Gavin could get his second flu shot. (yes, children under age 9 have to get 2 injections the first season that they get the vaccine) A long nap gave me the opportunity to clean the house, do 3 loads of laundry and rake the front yard...have to capitalize on that! Then Lynn (Dane's AMAZING aunt) and McKay (that's Un Kay to Liam) came over for dinner. I have to add that the entire homemade dinner and dessert was supplied by Lynnie. Then it was time for trick-or-treating. 

The boys had fun. Gavin got a VIP seat in the jogging stroller while Liam walked the streets of Hawthorne. He did really well. Wasn't quite sure what to do the first couple of houses. It was something between not being sure about talking to a whole bunch of strangers and not believing his parents are just letting him collect all of this candy. He primed his pumpkin bucket with a couple of pieces from our home supply. He then tried to use this to barter at the first house. He thought that if he took a piece from her, he should give her back a piece of his...he really put a Butterfinger in her bowl from his pumpkin. After that, it didn't take him long to catch on. In the end he made a haul and only tried to walk into 2 houses uninvited. Here are a bunch of pictures in random order:

Gavin is skyping with Gram and Papo before leaving the house

This was Dane and Liam after trick-or-treating

Gavin at the end of the night

Ok, I forgot to mention that Dane drug out our old costumes from Madison and we wore them out with the boys. It is OK to laugh. The quality of ours was not as good since they were mass produced in one afternoon. I had the luxury to take time to made the boys' look a little nicer.

 

Almost lost G on this one

I was so impressed he kept his hat on...didn't try to take it off

This was Liam before we left

At daycare party

This is priceless. This was at daycare when I put Liam in his costume for the first time. He was SO excited to be a green crayon.

Gavin's first Halloween!

Lazy Saturday

These are just a couple of fun pictures of the boys playing last Saturday while I was working. Dane had just cleaned them up from lunch (the lack of shirts) and reports them to have been quite happy :)

Painting Pumpkins

Here are some pictures of Liam painting pumpkins on our front porch. We decided that carving could wait another year until he honed his knife skills. He got to go to Michael's craft store and pick our his own colors and paintbrushes. He was so excited that he tore through his lunch just to get outside. He was not shy about experimenting with color on his pumpkins, our concrete porch and our house...maybe painting should have waited another year :)  

A visit with Uncle Tommy

Pumpkin Patch, Farmstead and Grandparents

This past weekend, Gram and Papo came for a visit. We spent time at the Farmstead (the infamous site of the goat attack on poor Liam...yes, we still go there, no, we do not pet the goats!) and the Pumpkin Patch. It was a great weekend. This post is just a lot of fun pictures.

Enjoy!

Liam sharing his stick with his brother

Look how big those pumpkins were! 

A wheelbarrow is good for transporting pumpkins and little boys

Dane hard at work.

Gavin was in awe.

Liam helping little G take his sweater off

The cutest pumpkin is the one standing behind the rest

9  months old!!!

 

Not the best picture of Liam...but still cute

Liam picking his pumpkins

The true test of a good pumpkin is to sit on it

So tired!

Our Family

Liam was loving the baby chicks

Look at all of the baby piggies!

Cool dude in his Diego sunglasses

Look mom I am driving

Liam making some new friends

Looking for more baby chicks

The pig race

Stay away from the goats

Mom and Gavin at the farmstead

Gram, Liam and Pippi

Feeding the fish

Fun on a tractor

Papo and his buddy

Quarter-life Crisis?

On my birthday I walked into our kitchen and started taking down the wallpaper. It is something that I have loathed since the day we got the keys. It makes the kitchen so dark and dreary. I decided it was time to fix the problem. I elicited Liam's help in doing a quick clean up...that boy loved to use a swiffer. Then he helped me peel off the vinyl layer of the wallpaper. Although, once the ladder came out, all he wanted to do was to run his trains on the "ladder train track". The he learned that the magnets would also stick to the ladder. I am not sure if he was helping me or making my work more dangerous! None the less, he though it was cool to hang out with mom and the tools.

This will be a work in progress. Once I started, it occurred to me that I have less than zero time for home improvement. (not to mention I underestimated the extreme height of the walls and the fact that they are recessed behind the cabinets...oops) I now have a kitchen that is half stripped. I will need to finish stripping the paper, repair some drywall, prime and paint. I know that in the end it will be so worth it. Already, the room seems bigger and lighter. I will keep everyone posted on my progress. 

Oh, and I guess that I got the housework bug because a few days after I started in the kitchen, I laid a new floor in the laundry room. Be impressed. It turned out well. Looks much nicer now. 

Happy Fall

Sorry for the delay in posting. Things have been busy around here. I am either working or doing school/clinicals. Dane has really been pitching in around here caring for the boys, doing laundry, cleaning. Needless to say, I am glad for a day off tomorrow (if you don't count 3 hrs of class in the afternoon) to spend some much needed time with the Liam and Gavin. Gavin was sick last week with 2 ear infections and a cold, but is now recovered. 

After not getting to play with my little guys much since last Tuesday, I was shocked to see that Gavin is so close to crawling. He goes from sitting to his hands and knees, rocking back and forth. He has the army crawl down, as long as he doesn't have to go too far to get to the object of his desire. If it is more than 1-2 scoots he simply is just not motivated. I am FINE with that. It makes me nervous to think that he will very soon be able to get into anything. It is so hard to control toys in this joint with a toddler. I am going to have to watch G like a hawk so he doesn't get something of Liam's in his mouth! Gavin is also pulling up on things. Tonight I was amazed to see him standing up, letting go after steadying himself and trying to take a step. He also was bending down to pick up toys while just holding on to things with one hand! Maybe he will 

just skip the real crawling?!? 

Liam is busy busy. He is currently obsessed with Mary Poppins...particularly the music. This is all he wants to do. He sings "step in time", "spoonful of sugar", and yes, he tries to sing "supercalifragilisticexpialidocious". He has decided that it is even more fun to "Skype" with family members (that means webcam...he can tell you about it sometime) and make them watch him dance on our laptop. It is quite a site. He has rhythm...it is just a cross between dancing and a seizure. 

Here are some recent pictures of the guys:

Here is Gavin on the Bounce and Rock Pony that Liam got for his first X-mas. He goes crazy on it. The downside it that Liam gets jealous. He is also aware that the seat holding Gavin on is removable. Dane and I spend several minutes a day unscrewing the seat and then putting it back on. We have to be fair and take turns after all!

Last weekend, I took the boys on the trail and down to one of the fields. Liam was so elated to run. It is one of his many needs these days. He has a daily routine of running from our fireplace to the laundry room (it is a straight shot from one end of the main floor to the other). He will abruptly stop play to announce "I need to run." Then he stands on the fireplace and yells, "Ready. Set. Go" and then takes off. Nothing gets in his way of this task. He has good form. Who knows, maybe an Olympic Runner someday?

Yes, the ball pit is back. It was demoted to the basement when we first moved into our house. Liam got a kick out of going to the basement with daddy to play with his "big toys" (all of the things that have been given to him that are too large to keep out in the living areas of the house). Now Gavin gets to get in on the fun. He was a little leery at first, but it is growing on him. I know that you are wondering where we have room for this with all of the other things that are already scattered. The answer is a rarely used dining room thanks to my weekend away at work, constant hurricane rains, and Dane needing something to do with the boys while stuck in the house. He moved the dining room furniture and turned it into a playroom. It will stay for now. But come to think of it....the whole house is a playroom. All I can say it that payback is sweet. Tom- can't wait for you to have kids. You will see this again. I take good care of everything that the boys have. Your children will also be pictured in this ball pit. Start thinking about where you will put it!

Need I say more about that cute face? Isn't that the cutest hat ever? Who ever said that dressing boys isn't fun?

I want Dane to carry me around like this. 

When you are two, all you need is outdoor space and a stick to carry while you frolic. The end.

Hope everyone is staying dry! Will try to be better about posting! Have a great week.