Pumpkin Carving

When I told the boys today that we were carving pumpkins tonight they were so excited!  Eli has been talking for days about making a scary jack-o-lantern.  I opend up the pumpkins and let the boys dig in. Last year Eli wouldn't touch the stuff, but he dug right in this year.  He did a really good job of cleaning out his pumpkin.  Ian kept looking in his pumpkin. When he reached in and touched the insides he let out the cutest giggle!  Eli drew on his eyes and nose and told me how he wanted his mouth to look. He loves how his turned out.  A few minutes in to the cleaning the pumpkins, Ian was bored and off playing...until we put the candles in and then he thought he needed to check it out.  Can't wait for trick or treating tomorrow night!

Raising Readers

I have always loved to read. As an early childhood teacher, I know how important that reading to your children early is.  My husband used to laugh at me that I had childrens' books before I had children, but now reading to our boys is one of his favorite things to do.  He is their preferred reader, I will do if they have to listen to me, but they both love reading with Daddy. It may be the fact that their reading sessions also include a bit of wrestling and goofing around, but there is still plenty of reading. Tonight I captured Ian in the act of kicking back and relaxing reading a book. And can you believe it.....he is reading a John Deere Tractor book!   I love it!

Pumpkin Patch 2010

We finally made it to the pumpkin patch with a few days to spare! There was hardly anyone there when we went and the boys had a great time. There is a "haunted" barn that Eli loved and we went through it four times I think! The boys also enjoyed the straw maze, corn bin and petting the farm animals. I love going to this farm and watching my boys play.

 How tall this fall? I love, love, love comparing these pictures!  Ian just over two feet tall last fall and almost three feet tall this year!

 Eli, then (just over three feet) and now (almost three and a half feet).

 Daddy and Eli checking out part of the Haunted Barn.

God's Last Name

Recently Eli has been very interested in first and last names.  The other day he asked me "Mom, what is God's last name?". I told him that God only had one name, that He is very special and is just called God. He looked at me like I was crazy and said "Are you sure Mom?".  I promised him that God only had one name and he said "Well I better tell Grampy because he always calls him For God Sakes."!  Oh, Grampy....I guess it probably could have been worse.

Ian's Second Birthday Bash

I will start by saying that is really doesn't seem like Ian should be two years old! What has happened to my baby?!?!?  We had his party today and he had a great time.  He really wasn't too interested in opening presents yet, he was really more interested in talking with all of our family that was here. 

 Ian and his cake with Grandpa Jon and Aunt Dawn. Aunt Dawn always lets the kids (and encourages them to) get frosting off of the cake, she was trying to get Ian's attention to give him some frosting!

 Blowing out the candles.

 We had a Big Red Barn cake in honor of Ian's favorite book.

 Reading a card.

 Tearing open a present...TOOLS!  Ian LOVES tools!

 Aunt Steffy trying to get Ian to go back to opening presents.

 Ian and his cousin Hailey checking out his new work bench.

 Ian, Hailey and Matthew

 Mommy and Ian, he was too busy checking out his drill to look at the camera!

 Daddy and Eli

Ian chatting with Aunt Dawn and Uncle Jonny.

Playing at the park

The Butterfly Life Cycle

A few weeks ago, my mom and Ian found a caterpillar outside.  They brought it in the house and made a home for it, complete with air holes, grass and leaves.  I figured that the caterpillar would only survive a few days and actually tried to convince Eli to let the caterpillar free outside, but before I could convince him, the caterpillar decided to take a nap! Eli lifted the lid off one day and was heartbroken that he couldn't find his caterpillar.  I pointed out the thing hanging from the lid and he almost started to cry.  We read The Very Hungry Caterpillar again and Eli cried "But I don't want a butterfly, I want a caterpillar!". I told Eli there was nothing we could do to stop it from becoming a butterfly. Yesterday a beautiful butterfly emerged. Eli was finally excited about having a butterfly!  This week at preschool they are learning about the letter B and Eli took the butterfly to preschool with the pictures we took throught the last few weeks and shared this with his class. At the end of class today, Eli and his friends at preschool let the butterfly go. This morning, before Eli took the butterfly to school, Eli and I were talking about letting the butterfly go and he was worried about the butterfly being okay. When I told him that most of the time butterflies make their cocoons and turn in to butterflies outside and that they are all alone at first when the come out of their cocoons he asked if the butterfly would be able to find it's family. When I told him that it would definately find friends and maybe some family he said "Well, that's good. Finding his family will make him happy."  So sweet! 

Preschool!!!

I still can't believe that my little boy has started preschool! He is having so much fun and really likes preschool. He has a best friend named Zach, the teacher has reported that they spend lots of time together. I have asked him if he ever plays with anyone else and he said "Yeah, sometimes I play with the cute girl." Oye! Anyway, her are some pictures from his first day!

HELP! I Think My Blog Is Revolting Against Me!

So, as you can see from my last several posts, I haven't been very attentive to my blog this spring/summer. Recently I went to my blog page and couldn't see anything but my posts. I have messed around with lots of things and I still can't get it back to the way it was. I have gotten my information about me, my recent posts and the links to my past posts to show up, but they are at the bottom of my blog. I am still missing the blogs I follow. Help! Ideas???

THE * BIGGEST * TRACTOR * IN * THE * WORLD