Pumpkins!

Have I ever mentioned how much I love fall and pumpkin patches? I know, you're sick of reading about them and seeing pics of the boys with pumpkins. It'll all be over in a few days, right? :) Until then....

We went back to our favorite pumpkin patch this afternoon for one last hurrah before Halloween. You just can't beat a pumpkin patch for cheap entertainment for kids and adults! And it was so nice out today we just had to spend more time outside :)
The boys together


Logan


Staring longingly at Connor on a ride


Daddy took Logan on the train. He was really happy!


Logan loved playing with all the different shapes and textures of squash but for some reason really didn't like this one!


We ran into Rhyann and her family there so Connor wore Rhyann's witch hat for a bit


It was a good thing we didn't wait to buy pumpkins until today, though! They had really been picked over so there were very few left that weren't rotten or very lopsided :)

Tonight after dinner we carved our two biggest pumpkins. Connor wanted to help scrape out the inside until he realized it was slimy!


Here's the end result...

It's almost Halloween!

I took a couple more pictures of the boys in the leaves the other day - Logan just wouldn't give up the baby doll :)


We ended up just playing in the park...

Who's who?



We went to Connor's last swim class of this session this morning and then to Longmont's annual Halloween Costume Parade. Families line up at Roosevelt Park and then walk down Main Street for a few blocks and then trick-or-treat at the stores on the walk back. It was a bit chilly out today but that didn't stop us - we just added a few more layers!

The boys both had fun! If there had been a costume contest, Connor surely would have won - nearly everyone we passed said something like "Wow! That's a cool costume!" or "Did you make that?? That's so creative!" Go me :) They were really impressed when he turned on the light and it worked! The costume was actually inspired by that light - we bought it months ago on clearance at Kohl's and the boys have played with it ever since.

Here's a shot of the boys before the parade. In case you're wondering, Connor's saying "woo-woo-woo" - you know, the sound a fire engine makes!


The back of the fire truck

While trick-or-treating after the parade, Connor evaluated each piece of candy that was put into his bucket while walking between stores. After one store he saw that an Almond Joy had been his treat from the last one and was not at all happy about it and wanted to get rid of it right away. He got out of line and ran to give it to Jeremy because apparently Daddy likes Almond Joys more than Connor. I'm not even sure he's had an Almond Joy before...

Connor hitched a ride with Logan on the way back to the car. What makes this picture funny is that a lightbulb has gone off in Logan's head - something like "Connor loves to pose for the camera so while he's distracted I can steal his candy! Yes! I did it!"

The day didn't end there! We came home for lunch and a nap and then were off to Kangaroo Kingdom for a birthday party for a 3 year old girl. It was Logan's first time there but Connor has many memories of the place since we took a sign language class and also did two sessions of play classes there. He remembered all the songs and parts of the play class routine like it was yesterday even though it's been two years or so since we took a class there. The boys played hard and enjoyed some yummy cake.

We had this conversation on the way home...

Connor: When we get home, I'm going to eat TWO pieces of candy.

Me: I don't think so, Connor. You've had a lot of sugar today.

Connor: No I haven't.

Me: You had candy after the parade and you just ate a big piece of birthday cake!

Connor: Mommy. Cake does not have sugar in it. Only candles do.

Good to know :) He then opened up the goody bad he'd gotten from the birthday party.

Connor (completely exasperated): Oh no! Not again!

Me: What's the matter?

I looked in the back seat and laughed out loud - he was holding an Almond Joy. Apparently he really doesn't like Almond Joys! :)

Since we just can't get enough of Halloween, after dinner Connor and I went to the nearby high school for "Trick-or-Treat Street." Connor had a ball in the cake walk (he won a cupcake!), bean bag toss, mummy making contest (hold on to the end of the toilet paper roll and spin really fast until it's all unraveled - he won!), and getting his face painted with flames on both cheeks. We trick-or-treated around the dark hallway with each group of high schoolers commenting on how cool his costume is. :)

What a great day! I can't wait for Wednesday and real trick-or-treating around our neighborhod! :)

Teacher, Doctor, Pumpkins, oh my!

It's been another busy couple of days for us! :)

Jeremy and I went to the first Parent/Teacher Conferences of the year at Connor's new school yesterday. We like his teacher a lot; she's just exactly how I picture a preschool or kindergarten teacher in my head - gray hair, long denim skirts with apples embroidered on them, super sweet. She said that Connor is "a joy to have in class" and makes her smile every morning. They sing a good morning song where they sing to each child "Good morning Connor, Good morning Connor, Good morning Connor, How are you today?" and apparently every day he yells "HAPPY!" which makes her laugh. She loves his zest for learning and excitement about being at school but points out that he needs to slow down and concentrate a bit more during his projects - he tries to do everything fast so he can move on to whatever comes next. This is no surprise to us - he's a fast kid :) She showed us examples of his work like writing his name (it's improved a lot recently!), cutting straight, curvy and zig-zag lines (we were impressed), and a self-portrait (like all his people drawings there were no arms but there were distinct parts like a head, body, legs, eyes, nose, mouth, and hair). She said he's doing great and she loves having him in class! Yay! Go Connor!

Today was Logan's 15 month doctor's appointment. He weighs 23 lbs 4 oz (30th percentile) and is 31 inches tall (50th percentile). He's growing well and doing great! He only cried for a few seconds during the shots but as soon as the nurse was done and I picked him up he stopped! Go Logan!

Our friends Shannon and Patrick and their son Dillon were supposed to come visit us today but unfortunately Dillon was sick. Jeremy already had the day off so we talked Shannon and Rhyann into going to a pumpkin patch with us this afternoon - Miller Farms. It was our first time there and it was fun, but I'm not sure it deserves all the praise I've read about it! :) Anyway, here are some pics...

Connor on a huge orange tractor


With the Miller Farms "truck." This truck confused Logan so much - he would look at the front of it, walk around to look at the back and be surprised when the rest of the truck wasn't there!


Rhyann and Connor being corny :)


In a wagon


And finally a picture from dinner tonight. Now, if I asked those of you who know both Connor and Logan well who you thought would be most likely to be called the "class clown" in school, I would bet that you would pick Connor. At this point, though, it looks like Logan is much sillier. At the doctor's office he fell over and the three of us (doctor, Jeremy and I) laughed so he tried to do it over and over again to get another laugh out of us. At dinner tonight he put some bread on his head and when we all laughed he kept putting more food on his head. I know, we should teach him this isn't right, but it's really hard to say no and mean it when you look at this face!!!

BOO!

Ok so a couple of days ago we were putting the kids to bed and the doorbell rang. Jeremy went to the door to find we had been "Boo'ed" - are you familiar with this tradition? Someone left us a cute little pumpkin bowl filled with candy, popcorn, hot chocolate and note that said:

"You just got BOO-ed! A generous spirit has left this bag of Halloween cheer!
It's filled with sweet treats instead of fright and fear!

Now it's your turn to spread the ghostly fun!
Go out and repeat the treat for someone!

Just make up a Boo Bag and make it good!
Then treat someone else in the neigh-boo-hood!"

Connor was, of course, very excited about this idea and asked over and over again when we were going to make our Boo treats. We made them today - two little pumpkin buckets filled with candy, a small slinky and two small containers of play doh. We decided which two houses to take them to and then decided that we should wait until it was really dark so we would do it after Connor's bath. Connor talked all afternoon about how we were going to wear dark clothes and tip-toe, tip-toe, tip-toe up to the door, ring the doorbell and then run away as fast as we could. He couldn't talk about it without getting completely giddy with excitement.

So dinner finally came and went and Connor hurried his bath up as much as he could. He put on dark pajamas, shoes and his dark hooded sweatshirt and we set off for the first house (only two houses down so, yes, we left Logan sleeping alone for 5 minutes while we all did this - our house was locked, in plain view the whole time and he was sleeping soundly :) ). Two of his friends live there - a 7 year old girl and a 3 year old girl - and their house has about 8 or 10 steps up to the front door. Connor was so excited tip-toeing up the driveway but when we got to the bottom of the steps and he saw that their living room blinds were open a bit he froze.

Most of this conversation was in loud whispers, with me at the bottom of the stairs, Jeremy at the end of the driveway and Connor on or at the top of the stairs....

Connor: What if they see me?

Me: It's ok. Just go up, leave the bucket, ring the doorbell and run back down. I'll help you get down the stairs fast.

Connor: But they're going to hear me.

Me: It's ok, Connor. Just ring the doorbell. I'll help you get away before they see you. Just run toward me.

Jeremy (standing at the end of the driveway): Come on, Connor! You can do it!

Connor: No. I'll knock.

Me: Ok, fine. Knock. Just do it! :)

He moves toward the door, sets down the bucket and then knocks on the milk box.

Me: Connor! They can't hear that! Ring the doorbell!

Connor: I'll knock on the door.

He again moves toward the door and this time knocks very softly.

Me: Connor! It has to be louder! Ring the doorbell!

Jeremy moves toward the bottom of the stairs. Connor quickly rings the doorbell and Jeremy quickly helps him down the stairs. Jeremy and I run back toward our house but Connor...well, he runs in the opposite direction! Across their grass! And then stops in the middle of the sidewalk, in plain view of the front door.

Jeremy and I (now in really loud whispers through laughter): Connor!

The porch light and lights on either side of the garage door flood the area and the screen front door opens. Oh no! We're caught!

Connor (now yelling): Hi! It's me! Look down!

Me (laughing hysterically but still trying to save our anonymity somehow): Run over here! Shhhh!

Neighbor: Oh, hi Connor! Oh! Thank you for the treats!

She comes down the stairs to see why Jeremy and I are laughing so hard as the girls check out the treats. We had to explain how it was supposed to be a surprise but Connor didn't quite get it and how we'd been on their steps for a few minutes before he got up the courage to ring the doorbell. I'm not sure I can portray here just how funny it was but it was hilarious! I was laughing so hard I was crying!

We caused such a commotion that our neighbors in the house between ours and the Boo-target came out and asked "is it Halloween already?" We could only reply "Um...no. Sorry!" :)

We left Jeremy back at home and moved on to the next house. It is a block over from ours so the whole way Connor and I were planning how it would go - there were no steps at this house so Connor would take the bucket up, ring the doorbell and then run to the garage side of the house so that no one would see him. He seemed very clear on his role in the whole thing but when we got to their house he saw that their front curtains were open slightly. Uh oh. He stopped in his tracks and insisted that I do it. He said he'd wait on the driveway so reluctantly I went up to the house, rang the doorbell, ran around to the garage side and immediately light flooded the driveway and their dogs barked loudly. Connor was so confused he ran down the sidewalk in front of their house and I had to do the whole loud whisper thing again to get him to turn around and run my direction so he wouldn't be in the light. Somehow I think these neighbors didn't see us so we may have had our first success!

We giggled the whole way home and Connor asked if we could do two more tomorrow night. I'm not sure about that but it was fun! I've never tp'ed anyone's house or anything but I can see how it would be fun - our adrenaline was definitely flowing and I felt like a 3 year old running next to Connor and giggling :)

Wow, a whole week has passed?

Life is going by so quickly these days! Here are some pictures from the last week...
When the boys "play" together, this is how it usually goes: Logan is playing with the phone (his favorite toy), he sits ON Connor which tells Connor it's time to wrestle and then a full-fledged wrestling match ensues with both of them giggling most of the time. Through all this, Logan never lets go of the phone :)


Connor insisted that he and Logan just had to wear their pumpkin shirts last Thursday. He is sooo excited for Halloween!


We went to a friend's house for a Halloween party on Saturday morning. I just barely finished the boys' costumes in time (there was still some glue drying on the way!) so I haven't gotten a good picture of them both but this should give you an idea what they look like. Connor is a fireman and has a cardboard box firetruck to wear over his costume complete with flashing red light (the part that was still drying), a fire extinguisher, plastic axe and a bandana with flames all over it so he has a fire to put out. The fire truck was such a hit at the party that each boy had to have a turn "driving" it around and eventually the light fell victim to their roughness - apparently there just wasn't enough glue. I promise to take pictures when it's all back together again! Logan is a dalmatian to fit the fire fighter theme. :)

In the graveyard


Connor with a plastic snake


After the boys napped we went to a pumpkin patch - the Pumpkins N More Farm. It was a bit windy and the sunlight was fading fast but we still had lots of fun!

Logan in the hay


Connor is the scarecrow and Logan is the pumpkin


A family shot - we don't do too many of those so enjoy it while it lasts! :)


Huge pumpkins


Logan didn't want to leave his behind


This morning it snowed for the first time this season! Yay! It didn't stick around, of course, and is supposed to be back in the upper 60s or 70s later this week (as per usual in Colorado) but Connor was very excited about it. He wanted to go sledding and was very disappointed when we told him there wasn't enough snow for that.

Getting back to "normal"

Last week was rough but we're all getting better. We even ventured out of the house today to get some fresh air! Yay! :)

Hanging out on the couch on one of the sick days. According to Connor, Logan was ordering a pizza :)


Giving me his best "I'm sick" look

Here are some pictures from our short adventure out of the house this morning. Don't forget you can click on them to see the larger version :)


















No more pictures!

I love fall! :)

Birthday

Yep, it was my birthday yesterday. No, it wasn't a fun day. Jeremy has strep, I've been sick but apparently it's just a bad cold as the strep culture was negative. Connor started a fever last night so we're waiting to see if it'll be strep or just a cold. Logan has had a runny nose for a week so that could just be teething. Ugh...

Nope, not a fun birthday....

Happy little boy pictures will resume when we're all feeling up to it :)

PUMPKINS!!!

We visited our first two pumpkin patches of the season last night and this morning. We had to pack them in before tomorrow's cold snap! :) Last night we went to one of our favorites - Rocky Mountain Pumpkin Ranch. I'm sure it's just the first of two or three visits there in the next few weeks! They have the yummiest pumpkin bread!
I think this might be the only shot with both kids looking at the camera! :)


Logan, again thinking "Why does Connor like having his picture taken so much? I don't get it"


Contemplative Logan :)


King of the mountain


Let's see, if Connor were a pumpkin he'd be over $13!


Checking out the pumpkins


Connor with the sweet dumpling squash

And, my favorite part, the height comparisons! Since we've been going to this same farm since Connor was 10 months old it's fun to see how he's changed! We weren't able to get Logan to stand next to it long enough to take a picture but we'll keep trying.
2004

2005

2006

2007

This morning after Connor's swim class we went to Anderson Farms. It was our first visit there and yes, it was fun, but I'm not sure it was enough fun to be worth the entrance fee!
I like windmills :)


Connor


You were supposed to be able to "milk" this cow but it wasn't working...


We went on a wagon ride to go pick pumpkins and got to stop and feed some animals along the way. Connor's favorite was the buffalo. It has a huge black tongue!


The boys watching someone else have a turn feeding the buffalo


The boys on the wagon

The cold front must be coming - the wind has really picked up since I started this post!