Our Tree and Santa

Here are the boys....with Santa in Madison, and in front of our Christmas tree this year. Awww...

a foggy first day

Austin's first day of first grade. We set his alarm last night for 6:30am this morning, leaving him plenty of time to get dressed, eat a bowl of cereal, brush his teeth, eat his vitamin, get his socks and shoes on...and for me to get rid of the hairs sticking up on his head...kisses and hugs, and a few morning photos before daddy took them to town at 7:00am. He woke himself up early, got dressed and made his way to my bathroom where I was in the shower...knocked and waited for me to say "come in". He came in and I was surprised at what I saw. He was a wee bit excited for his first day, I think. :) I told him to turn his alarm off, since it hadn't gone off yet, and to go down and get a bowl of cereal and he could watch a show on the tele. If only every morning would be like this. That would be bliss. So I leave you with a few shots of my first grader, among the fog (first day of kinder was foggy, too. Remember?) who had a fantabulous day of school today.

"Say cheese!"

Tonight I took the boys to my school's first home football game of the year. We were there early and snagged a seat spot right on the edge of the track where it met the turf. When taking pictures at the games, I must be as close as I can be. I had two cameras with me, so I had one boys sharing one so they could take pictures of the team, too. Ethan turned around and said "say cheese" so Austin immediately snuggled close and Ethan clicked.

And clicked.

I'm grateful to Ethan for capturing these images of Austin and I. Next game, it's Austin who will take a picture of Ethan and I together. Must keep it fair!

Tractor Men

This year the boys are taking their pedal tractors that Michael restored for them to the tractor show in Edgar. They are so excited to go! My favorite parts at the show are the tractors, the long rows of flea market tables, the deep-fried cheese curds, and ice cream. I'll have to run it off later so I don't add more poundage to my midsection. Ugh.

Can you tell which one was crabby this morning? :)

Ha!

Big Enough to Ride

Last Sunday Austin was invited to a birthday party at a hotel oasis, and I took Ethan to partake in the swim part (okay'd by the birthday boy's mom). After Ethan saw the kids go down the waterslide he was begging....he isn't 48" tall, like the sign said he needed to be, that I know. I took his hand anyway, and we marched up the red stairs, and met the attendant before the last flight to the top. I asked Is he too little to go down the slide? He's my child that has fear of nothing. Can he go down? She sat, looking down, and was silent. Do you know if he's 48 inches tall? I knew he wasn't....I have no idea...he has no fear... I assured her...He's my little kamakazie...so she said sure, let him try and we'll see how it goes. Well....that was the beginning of him on an endless circle of stairs and waterslide. He had so much fun, he didn't want to get off!

Swings

Every spring/summer I enjoy listening to the cranes sing in the field adjacent to our house. Music to my ears. I've loved their songs since high school, when I went on the same biology field trip to the International Crane Foundation all 3 times it was offered to students. Someday I want to take the boys there. Soon. (The quality isn't great; I had to keep my distance and I had a 24-70mm lens on).

The weather has been unseasonably warm, so we've enjoyed time after school running around barefoot, swinging, walking, and playing with sticks.

Polaroid Dump

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!

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!