10/23/08

I can't believe that October is flying by so quickly that I've only managed to post just a few blogs for the month! We've been keeping really busy and enjoying the nice weather by getting out of the house and spending as much time outdoors as possible. We took a trip to the pediatrician's new office yesterday so that S&S could get their first flu shots, and I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised at how easy it was and how well they both did - Halloween rewards stickers all around! Speaking of rewards stickers, we have also been dilligently working on potty training with Sawyer, and he is now wearing underwear almost all of the time that we are at home with very few accidents (he's not quite ready to move on to underwear for out-of-the-house activities yet, but it's getting close!). I can't believe how quickly he's growing up! Conversations with him are really on a whole different level now, and sometimes I feel like I'm talking to a 20-year old midget LOL!

We're getting ready for the Halloween festivities to begin - this weekend we are going to choose between a few fall festivals and early trick-or-treat activities that are planned in the community (Holly, I'm down for Trunk-or-Treat if you are!), next week we are hosting a pre-Halloween Sugar Fest play group on Wednesday, and then Grandma and Grandpa will be coming for a visit to join us for Halloween night and the following weekend. We want to take the boys up to Apple Hill sometime during that weekend so we can enjoy all the apple goodness after the pumpkin picking crowds have cleared out of there. I can't wait! I need to go somewhere where I can see enough trees and colored leaves to remind me that it's Fall!


Here are some photos of what we've been doing this week...



Aunt Kari decided to spend her birthday working out her arm muscles by giving S&S a blankie ride around Gigi's kitchen - I'm sure the floors ended up squeaky clean!



Happy Birthday Kari!



Nathan brought his new black lab puppy, Lucy, over to play for the evening



Oh no! Lucy stole my blankie!

After three weeks, Smokey has finally discovered Boots the fish

There's no better place to go after the doctor than to the park!

I wonder if swinging will still make him this happy when he's older. Right now, it trumps everything else.

"Look at me. I flying like SUPERMAN!"

Sawyer taught Sutton how to twist the swing up and then spin around on your belly

He was so proud of his new preppy sweater this morning that he actually said "I look SO cute my new sweater. You take a picture of me, please?"

Flashing forward to First Day of School Pictures 2011

Photo Overload - Pumpkin Farm

This morning we took the kids to Bishop's Pumpkin Farm for our annual pumpkin picking adventure. For those who have never heard of this place, it's located out in Wheatland, but I can promise you it's well worth the drive (and the extra gas money!). There are SO many things for the kids to do there - petting zoo, train rides, corn maze, slides galore, old train cars to explore, a wooden train to climb in/on, pig races, a dog show, the cider press and tractors to explore, and of course, the always popular hay bounce. There's also a lot for the parents to do and lots of yummy treats to eat along the way.

We experienced the scariest 15 minutes of my life this morning when Sawyer went up the stairs to the barn slide and then never came down. Sutton and I were off behind the barn playing with a tractor in the rock pit, and Mitch was waiting at the bottom of the slide for Sawyer to come down. After he saw the same kids go up and down the slide more than once, he knew that something was wrong. He went up the stairs and couldn't find him up there either, so we quickly raced around the entire place calling for him, but he was no where to be found. Fortunately, he ended up at the Lost & Found center...I guess he thought there were too many kids upstairs waiting for the slide, so he had gone back down the stairs instead of going down the slide, and then he couldn't find Mitch at the bottom. It definitely felt like a "Mommy Test" to see if I could remain calm during the ordeal, and I did manage to stay level headed even though I was freaking out inside. We were all pretty shaken up, but in the end everybody was safe, fine and glad to have our family reunited.

We had some muffins and carmel apples and tried to shake off the scary experience, and then we decided to take a ride on the train. By that point, Sutton was ready for his nap, and we hadn't even gone into the field to pick our pumpkins yet! As you can see in the pictures, he was getting pretty crabby, and he definitely didn't want to be going on a train ride! We somehow managed to make it out into the field for pumpkin picking, and we came home with four huge pumpkins to carve. It was a long morning, but aside from the few scary and cranky moments, we all had a really good time. Now the boys are sleeping for a little while, then it's off to Gigi and Granddad's house for Kari's birthday BBQ!



We love the pumpkin farm!


The cool kids travelling in style


Sawyer's favorite thing to do at the farm is play in the hay


Sutton driving the wooden choo choo train


Carmel apple goodness


Sutton ate his all the way down to the seeds!


Checking out the cider press in action


Peek-a-Boo!



"I being patient."


Waiting for the train ride


One of the scarecrows on the train ride route



Train ride, train ride, going on a train ride...


Not his finest moment of the day, but he tried to hang in there





The hay ride! Sawyer scooted too far forward to get into the picture :(


Finally - time to pick pumpkins!


Checking out a caterpillar crawling in the pumpkin patch


Hmmm...picking out a pumpkin is a tough decision!



Sawyer's photography skills


Why are these things soooo heavy???


From a few days ago...

Playing with his Halloween kitty flashlight


Enjoying Mommy's chocolate chip waffles


Sawyer modeling the "Baby Legs" legwarmers that Mommy made - on his arms. The lack of pants is due to his awesome attempts at potty training this week. He's doing great!!!

Fall Is Finally Here!

This week it seems that autumn has finally graced us with its presence, along with a ridiculous amount of steady, strong and chilly wind. Granted, it's supposed to warm back up into the 80's next week, but most of this week was spent in stark contrast to the 90 degree days we hit last week with temperatures hovering in the high 60's. Today Sawyer was begging us to take him outside for a walk around the block, so we bundled up in our jackets, and headed out. We only made it as far as the corner of our street when he suddenly stopped in his tracks, turned to me and said, "Pick me up, Mommy. I'm cold. It too windy. Let go home."

Yesterday we attempted to brave the cold together for a Mommy-Sawyer day at Bishop's Pumpkin Farm. I figured that since it's free admission on weekdays, we might as well head out there for a change of pace and something different to do. We only lasted about an hour and a half before we were both feeling like popsicles despite our hot chocolate, but we did manage to squeeze a lot of fun into that short time. We played on the tractors, the big barn slide, an old railroad car, and the hay jump (which was the hugest hit of the day). We munched pumpkin-apple muffins and drank hot chocolate, and we watched the pig races, which were an utter disappointment. The name "pig races" really should be changed to "animatronic chickens singing obnoxiously for 20 minutes before watching pigs streak by you at lightning speed for literally less than ten seconds." Sawyer was sorely upset that we didn't get to see more of the pigs. He had been SOOO patiently waiting for them to show up, and then he barely even had time to let his eyes focus on the little guys before they were gone. He even mustered up enough courage to go ask the old Mother Goose lady who was running the show "Where pigs go? Why they go away?" She just told him that the pigs would be back again to race later if he wanted to come back for some more NasPig racing. Pffffft. As if.

We were supposed to go back there tomorrow with my family, but I think we're going to skip it until it's warmer next weekend. Sawyer is actually going back on Monday with his daycare group too. I think he'd happily go back there every day if we let him, so no need to worry that it's pumpkin farm overkill. Next time we go we'll take the hay ride out to the fields to pick out our big carving pumpkins because this time all we got were a couple of little ones to decorate our table. We got out our Halloween decorations and put up a few of the indoor things, but next weekend will be the time to put up our yard decor. I can't wait! There's already some good competition out there for the association decorating contest...unless it's all been wind-blown to smithereens these past few days lol.

Today we had a lazy day staying warm indoors. Mitch took Sawyer to get a much needed haircut, and I spent the better part of the day reorganizing the boys’ closets and dressers. Thanks to a couple of huge bags of clothing from cousins Jonathan and Ryland, it looks like our boys have enough jackets and coats to last through the next couple of years. Yay! Tomorrow we're going to take the boys on a picnic at the park and then settle in for another round of Sunday football and cupcake baking. Hope everyone is having a great weekend!




Tractors are always a huge hit with this guy



Waiting patiently for the pigs


This is truly all we saw of them




The hay bounce is a trampoline-like surface covered in hay


He even took the time to bury himself in it all!


Playing with our Halloween decorations


Somebody got a cute new haircut!


In the spirit of fall and Halloween, the boys had ghost and leaf shaped grilled cheese sandwiches and bat and pumpkin shaped turkey for dinner. They had just devoured a ton of grapes and strawberries, so that's why the whole fruit/veggie category is sorely lacking from the plate :P

American Idol, Here I Come!

lol, we need to work on this one a bit more :)

Crafty Fun

We've been busy doing all kinds of arts and crafts projects these day. Now that the kids have better motor skills they're definitely interested in making things, so I've been busy creating new ideas to keep them entertained. Sawyer often requests to go to Joann's craft store to look for things to make. He calls it the "Make It Store." Anyone who knows me knows that I love crafting things, so I'm glad that the boys seem to share my enthusiasm for it. I'm starting to think that I should teach a once a week toddler art class to make some extra $$$ :)

This morning Hattie came over to try the latest creation - spray bottle sheet painting. I filled small travel sized spray bottles with a mixture of washable tempera paint and water and let the kids go crazy spraying an XL twin sized white sheet that was nailed up to my back fence (sets are on clearance at Target for $6.48 right now if you're interested in recreating this at home!) Sutton made the biggest mess because we quickly learned that the only way he can make the bottle spray is to turn the nozzle towards his face and then push the handle. Needless to say, he was a purple paint covered mess until I swapped out his bottle for one that was only filled with water. The kids had fun creating their masterpiece, it wasn’t too messy, and the end result was actually really pretty. I'll probably just wash the sheet and save it for another day of spray painting fun.



The first few test sprays




The final collective masterpiece - pretty colorful!


Sutton modeling his tasty Cheerio necklace project


"Tie Dye" painting wet coffee filters



Sawyer - very seriously into his artwork


Riding a cardboard box "train"


So much joy from nothing but junk!


They're still having fun playing with their box "houses" 4 days later!


Sutton got caught in the act - playing with Stella's jungle mobile


Cutie pie cousin Stella is almost 4 months old now!