Ethan's Free. (Three, that is!)

Ethan turned 3 on December 22nd.

He LOVES Peppa Pig...hence the pig family on his cake. The figures came the 21st in the mail, from the UK. Just in the nick of time. I made his cake this year....and it turned out pretty well. Everyone was pooping rainbows the next day. Kidding about that. Maybe.

We gathered a small crowd here at our home and celebrated him. He's a kamakazie, not afraid of anything, and a snuggly little boy. He'll get up in the middle of the night and crawl into bed between Mike and I, or the other night he crawled up into Austin's bed and snuggled with him. He crawls on the countertops to get my candy from the cupboards that I can't hide from him anymore. He responds to "dame un beso" which I love, and loves to drive Mario Kart on the wii so he can run into the cows. He hollers "tractor" whenever we pass one while we're driving in the car. He loves building things with the Magna-tiles and Brio train sets....and is a little helper around the house when I'm cleaning or putting things away.

That's Ethan!

We love him so!!

Polaroid Dump

Nature

Mommy Nature has been showing off lately...blessing us...

...with gorgeous sunsets,

...pinkish-purplish skies,

 ...and a full moon.

3 pics | November weekend

Our first November weekend.


It was laid-back, but busy. If that makes sense.


Austin started basketball Saturday morning.
He's pictured here with his 'best buddy' Ryan.
I'm not sure what they're talking about...but I like how they are sitting on their basketballs, together, side by side, a bit removed from the whole basketball thing...maybe talking about Austin's loose tooth or how someone is dribbling the ball. He claims to not remember. Or maybe he does but doesn't want to share. I dread that day. The not sharing....


We dug into the pumpkins for some late carving. I surprised Austin with a candle in his Jack-O-Lantern and he loved it. My angel is a nice touch, don't you think?


Then on Sunday Austin found a caterpillar, and had to run up to his room to get his puppet caterpillar to show me they are alike. He wanted a picture. I should have known.

Halloween Friends

Halloween Day trick-or-treating with good friends.

Trick-or-Treat | Round 1

In our city Trick-or-Treating isn't until Halloween Monday evening...but where I grew up, 42 minutes from here, it was tonight. So, I gathered up the boys' costumes, and headed back home for a few hours. It started off well; the mist was bearable. But by the time we got around the block, it was getting uncomfortable and the boys had enough.

"No more houses...." they each told me.

And that was OK! Because we're doing it all over again Monday night with their friends.

It was fun seeing the neighborhood again where I grew up; seeing my former neighbors as they answered their doors to my boys, not me, holding out their bags asking for candy, prompted sometimes by their mama ..."What do you say?", or "Make sure you say 'Thank you!'", or "This time..nice and loud - yell: Trick-or-Treat!" My gosh, it was like déjà vu...it seems like yesterday my brother and I were running up and down the driveways to get to as many houses that we could...I still remember the vinyl pants and the plastic face masks. You were lucky to make it home without the crotch ripping open!

It was fun to catch up with the neighbors that answered their doors. We briefly chatted about what their kids (my neighborhood friends) were doing now that we're all older, married, with kids...I was disappointed that a few houses didn't have their porch light on signaling they were giving out candy - I wanted to say 'hi' and get an update on them and their kids.

Maybe next year?

Here are the two munchkins all dressed up at Grandma and Granddad's house...awwww!

Happy Hallow's Eve!

The Teepee.

The other day Austin was interested in building a teepee. He set out towards the creek and collected all sorts of sticks, bought them back to his building site not far from the playset, and started building the frame. Then I suggested he add in some morning glory vines and hosta leaves to block the wind from blowing in the teepee. We did some more collecting, adding and stuffing the greenery into the crevices of the sticks. I cut some Juniper branches and we shoved them in, too. I cut some pampas grass and added the plumes to the top of the teepee. Voila!

Rainy Fun Day

I rushed out of school after bus duty today and picked up the boys for an outing. We headed to a local farm for the Conference Cross Country Meet. The boys came with me last week; the sunshine and dry weather was perfect. Today...it rained all day, but luckily the rain stopped a few hours before the meet. We donned our puddle boots, and had umbrellas to ward off the rain. It worked, since it didn't rain on us at all. Plus, I was excited to try out a new camera strap I got yesterday. It doesn't use the typical eyeholes on the top of the camera, rather the tripod mount.  Talk about a quick draw of the camera! It worked pretty slick.

Brothers' Bond

"Like branches on a tree we grow in different directions yet our roots remain as one. 
Each of our lives will always be a special part of the other." -Author Unknown

Like Summer

'Round these parts lately it has been more like summer. The temps are 10-15 degrees above average...and not a soul complains. Who would complain when Mommy Nature throws us some good weather? So we've been relishing...

The "Blue Truck" is officially done.

An opportunity and the mood to pose for his mother...

Austin's photography...

Austin's gymnastics...

And Ethan...just being Ethan!

Happy Friday!

Ethan :: Toes to the Sky

The Fair

The Fair was in town the last week in late August/early September. Austin and Ryan had to go on the race cars again this year...they each went on about 5 rides inbetween rainshowers.

Of course we strolled through the buildings and saw the animals...

Had cotton candy...

And on the way out, we stopped to see the tractors and farm implements on display....the kids love climbing on them...

...and of course jumping off of them!

The Big "K"

Kindergarten.

Today was Austin's big day of school, and he survived. I wondered all day what he was doing...if he would ask for help if he needed it, if he paid attention to his teacher, if he played nice with the other kids on the playground, if he made new friends, if he ate all his lunch....

I'm happy to report he did well.

And I survived.

This morning the sun was soft, and as we headed out the door the fog was starting to lift.

Poor guy, squinting in the sun...

I just love this picture. I had put my camera away, and saw he walked over there...I'm glad he stayed long enough for me to grab my camera and capture this moment.

I dropped him off at school, got him into the gym/cafeteria for breakfast, then left. I had to. It was my first day back too, year #12. While driving my eyes welled up a little as I imagined him at school, carrying his little lunch bag...I know, cheesy. But hey, I'm allowed...right? But then I settled down. He attended 4K last year, and that went well. I am used to being away from him while I teach, but this was a little different. He was in an Elementary School now. New hallways, new teachers, new students. New routine. 

Change is good.

He's excited for day two. It'll be nice to get a three day weekend to rest up and head back for a four day week. I'm betting he'll be tired!

"Children are the living messages we send to a time we will not see."
~Neil Postman, The Disappearance of Childhood (introduction), 1982

How about 'dem apples?

This year we have, I believe, four trees bearing apples. And we don't spray or net the trees...they just get to do their own thing. And this year, on the one tree where the boys were picking from, the fruit isn't that buggy, and the apples are tart and delicious.

So Austin picked his apple.

Then Ethan had to naturally pick his own (can't you hear it now..."Me do it"), so Austin picked Ethan up and he got his own apple.

Kids Were Here | Days 15....21

Day 15: Homemade chocolate chip cookie and milk. Perfect combo.

Day 16: Had too much fun, no picture taken. Challenge failed. Oh well!

Day 17: Lincoln logs....

Day 18: Austin took a box and had his way with it...lovely combo of pipe cleaners. I wonder if they are still used for cleaning pipes? haha...

Day 19: Austin's tractor drawing. He's pretty good!

Day 20: Ok, I broke the rules, again...no kids allowed! But, we were out of town, and here is Delaina and Austin at the Madison Children's Museum...gotta love her curls. Jealous.

Day 21: Austin's soccer ball...on the line...it was the game ball on Suday! He made a great goal assist.

Day 21: The training wheels have been removed. Practice has started. Falls and stubbornness have set in. (Yes, day 21 again. What can I say?)