Second pumpkin run

This one was to Maris Farms for Ian's school field trip. Here he is with his class and his teacher, Miss Rhonda. He loves her.

BFFs.


Petting the bunny.

Could at least one of them look at me and smile?



The hay ride.

Pumpkin carving party

Last night we celebrated Halloween and Jim Jones birthday. We made lots of creepy things to eat.

And made a mess of our garage.




The finished products. I wanted to get a picture of the kids with their pumpkins but there was way too much chaos for that to happen.

The Scooby Doo after party.

It has been raining

- so I have been sewing. For some reason I thought it would be a good idea to make the boys yummy warm robes for winter (in Seahawks colors). They detest them. Actually, Ian likes the idea of his robe but won't keep it on for more than 30 seconds. James starts screaming "off, off, off" as soon as i put his on. Really, I don't know what I was thinking.

Caution - this may make you motion sick.

The first pumpkin run

This is by far my favorite October activity - especially when it is perfectly crisp, sunny, sweater weather.

And especially when you get to go with lots of friends.

And ride in a wheel barrow.





There was a tractor to climb on.

And lots of animals to look at.

And a corn maze to walk hand and hand through.


And creepy seven dwarves photo ops.

These two

It must be that they are both in an easy phase right now because lately all I can think about is how much i love love love my boys. Like that overwhelming kind of love that squeezes your chest a little. And sometimes I feel a little sad that, someday, they might not realize how completely loved they have been since the day they were born, how much they are adored by so many people, how almost my every waking second revolves around them.


Things I love about Ian:
1. He gives me completely unsolicited "I love you mom"s several times a day. Sometimes followed up by an "I love you more." It melts me.
2. He can often be found "teaching" his brother things like jumping from the couch to the coffee table or knocking over chairs to climb across - and his response is, "mom, I'm teaching him."
3. He says funny things like "the car smells like permanent marker" and "It is ok if you lose mom, it is still fun to play".
4. Contrary to his own belief - he does like soccer and has played every night with his dad since his first practice on Saturday.
5. He changes his mind about his halloween costume hourly, and his ideas have included "a boot", which clearly means I get to choose.
6. He refuses to wear shirts, especially to bed and at all playdates.

My favorite conversation this week:
Ian: Mom, want to see something challenging?
Me: Sure.
(Ian stands on the rocking horse's head)
Ian: No hands mom, isn't that awesome?


Things I love about James:
1. He went from a few words to all words in about two weeks. Which makes me think everything he says is brilliant and makes me want to give him everything he can now ask for because he says is to cute. He also really likes to growl his words.
2. His obsession with the scooter - it is actually turning from cute into a bit of a bother.
3. His hockey player mullet - it is starting to get really curly in back.
4. He is starting to look like Ian even to me. I love to hear them playing and talking together (inevitably followed by a scream or cry from james - but when it is good it is really good).

Two things

Just because ian is wearing a spider on his head doesn't mean I can't start thinking about Christmas - we picked names last night:
Nicki - Mike
Tom - Amy
Meg - Kristine
Amy - Ashley
Curt - Tom
David - Cami
Kristine - Meg
Ashley - Curt
Hank - Dave
Cami - Nicki
Mike - Hank
Does it seem like the family is growing?

And a little scooter action - sorry that I filmed it sideways but you get the picture.