Halloween 2012: Trunk-or-Treat

Halloween this year was a little uneventful. But how exciting is it really with a 3 year old and a 1 year old? I didn't even do a cute Halloween craft with the kids or anything today. Well, that's not true. We were going to decorate our trunk as a ghost for the trunk-or-treat tonight. We thought we would let the kids try to throw a ball through the eyes or mouth. As we were figuring out how to cut our giant white sheet, I thought it might be fun to let the kids paint. So we decided to do a monster instead so the boys could paint it green. Sounds like fun right? Bad idea. Koyle actually really enjoyed himself, and painted his whole body green. He also sat right in the middle of where we were trying to paint and was oh so helpful. Matthew was not interested at all and ran around wild in his underwear while I tried to finish the painting and keep Koyle under control. Then Matthew ripped the sheet while I had it hanging up to see how the finish product looked. Justin ended up sewing it back together with black thread to give it a sort of Frankenstein feel. I guess all the hassle was worth it because it actually turned out great; it was fun to see all the little kids get a little leery to reach their hand in and grab some candy.
    After the trunk-or-treat we stopped by one friends house and visited for a few minutes. Then we put the kids in bed and Justin headed off to study for his test on Friday. We only got one group of 3 trick-or treaters. So either we missed them all while we were gone or we just don't get a lot around here. Good thing I bought a whole bag of good candy to pass out. Maybe I will save it for Christmas. And now, without further ado, some pictures:

 These first few are from Monday. We had a few friends over to carve pumpkins and enjoy some wassail.

Matthew and his buddy playing while the adults carved pumpkins

We did an owl this year. Justin did a great job and I love the way it turned out

Greg, Justin and Brad with their masterpieces

The boys in their matching Halloween shirts. How many years will I get away with that?

The boys together getting ready to go trick-or-treating.

Our monster trunk!

Our adorable little monkey. I like this picture because it looks like he is doing a Tarzan call or something!

Koyle has been addicted to sugar and candy the past few days and he figured out right away that people were putting candy in his bag. It is going to be a long week before we get rid of all the candy and he forgets about it.

Happy Halloween y'all!!

Koyle

• Finally started walking!! He really took off on Thursday the 18th. I guess he finally decided that walking was a desirable skill. He is still not very stable but he is getting better each day. He almost always tries to walk somewhere first, then when he falls he just crawls. It is pretty adorable to watch him wobble around. I am so glad he is walking but sometimes it makes me sad because that means my baby is really growing up and not a baby anymore. (video coming soon, it is on my other computer)

• Koyle has done most things later than Matthew, but I am pretty sure he will be talking before Matthew. He already tries to mimic animal sounds. My favorite are his cow, lion and sheep. He says hot and tries to say soft. On Friday he said "owl" plain as day, and he has done it again a few times. I have an owl picture hanging above the changing table that Koyle loves to look at and point at so I always tell him that they are owls. This time I told him, "owl" and repeated it back! I was shocked. He is trying to mimic our words more and more.
• Sadly, Koyle is down to taking only one nap a day. And it usually isn't much longer than an hour. This means I have to be on my game to get the most important things done during that brief time. It also means that by the evening time he is CRANKY. Most days he goes to bed around 7:30, although sometimes he goes down as early as 7, and occasionally he is happy enough to make it until 8. He had been waffling between one and two naps for a while, but when I took his binky away at the beginning of the month, it pretty much sealed the deal. He has done much better than I expected without the binky. And it only took about 3 days for him to learn to go to sleep easily without it. We did have a few early mornings because he would wake up and then not have the binky to go back to sleep. But he got over that too and is back to waking up around 7:15 most mornings.



Getting cleaned up after dinner one night-daddy style

• Favorite foods: yogurt, animal crackers, cereal with milk, peanut butter & jelly sandwich, oatmeal, most breads and grains, bananas, grapes, string cheese. He can be kind of a picky eater sometimes, but then he will surprise us like last night when he gobbled down the pumpkin soup that had curry in it! I'm pretty sure he doesn't like garlic. Other than that it is kind of hit or miss if he will eat it or not. But he is always hungry and would snack all day if I let him. You should see the kid shove an entire large marshmallow in his mouth-hilarious! He insists on feeding himself, and has to be using a fork or spoon to start but will eventually resort to fingers.
• Koyle really loves to color on the chalkboard, and to color with crayons. The other day I gave him a paintbrush and water, and him and Matthew sat and painted the entire chalkboard-giggling the whole time. Justin says his favorite thing to do is cry and whine : ) But he is normally a happy kid; just not in the evenings which is when Justin is mostly home.
• Koyle loves to read books! Right now his favorite are Brown Bear, Brown Bear, Panda in the Park, and The Puppy Book. If the house is quiet, I know Koyle is in reading books. Or rather I should say tearing all the books off the bookshelf. He loves to sit on my little purple chair and then he can reach all the books. He will look at one for about 3 seconds, then throw it on the ground until he can't reach any more.
• Koyle is fascinated by all pictures and anything that is hanging on the walls. But he especially loves looking at family photos.
• Koyle loves to set up Matthew's tee, but a ball on top, and then hit it with the bat. He will do this as long as I will help him get the ball back. It is pretty cute to watch because the bat is twice his size. Another favorite game of his is to simply hit a ball around the family room with his bat, chasing it wherever it goes. He likes playing trains, when Matthew lets him.  He even got two pieces of track put together on his own this morning!  He LOVES his purple beads. The day isn't complete until he has his purple beads around his neck.
• I have been working on getting Koyle to enjoy the bath more. I think he learned that the tub is a dangerous place because Matthew was always knocking him over, splashing him, etc. I noticed that when Koyle bathes by himself he does so much better. And since Matthew has been wanting to shower more often lately, I have been letting Koyle bathe on his own. He still won't crawl around at all. He pretty much just stays put where he starts. But he will play more, and longer. I really need to find a good indoor pool and take the boys swimming. Koyle doesn't ever really moo for me here, but it is still cute and you get to see how he folds his arms. (I apologize for the weird formatting here but blogger is retarded and always does weird things)

So this is pretty much the cutest thing you will ever see. This is how Koyle dances! He loves to dance when there is music on. If he is standing he will bounce to the beat but then he just can't resist getting down and really moving to the beat. This was not a one time deal, this is how he always dances.

I love this picture. Matthew was in the bath with Koyle and was "messing up his hair" I love how it shows off all his curls!

!

Sporting their more formal Boise State colors.

Trains and Texas Snow

The other day as we were driving to Justin's intramural football game, we passed a train. Matthew was thrilled and wanted to go and see the train, especially because it had a red caboose. As luck would have it, this train is actually part of the Ranching Heritage Museum. It is 16 acres of old houses, farms, etc. that they have set up for you to learn about the history of ranching and the southwest. As part of this museum, they have a real train. Best part-the museum is free! So we can go back whenever we want..and I have a feeling we will be going back often. It was actually really cool to be so up close and hands on with a real locomotive!

This is actually from a few weeks ago. There was a train group that set up their model trains at the library for a few days. We met Matthew's friend there and the boys had a blast watching all the trains. I thought it was relevant to this train post.

The boys are sitting in one of the cattle cars. This one would have been used for smaller animals since it had two levels.

Matthew and Daddy in front of the engine and coal car. Matthew got to look inside and see all the levers and buttons. He kept talking about how it was just like the Polar Express, especially because it had a real coal car!

Isn't she a beauty?

Little boy heaven

We of course picked one of the only cold days we have had to go on our outdoor adventure. But it was kind of fun to get all bundled up. I have pictures of  Koyle as a newborn in this hat. It is still adorable on him.

Sitting on the caboose. Mom and Dad were fascinated by the engine, but Matthew kept wanting to come back to the red caboose. It was definitely the highlight for him. It was humbling to see the meager accommodations they had on the train; and they considered traveling by train a luxury!

I couldn't get over how big the engine wheels were. They were taller than me! The whole thing was so huge, and very awe inspiring.

Sitting on the chuggas. They were also massive. Matthew thought that was cool.

Seeing my little boys next to this ginormous machine brought a whole new meaning to the thought of being run over, or hit by a train.

After our train excursion we decided to run over and take a picture of the cotton fields. They are so beautiful. Especially when one sneaks up on you. Brown, dirt, open space everywhere and then BAM! a beautiful white cotton field!

The fields were more pretty a week ago; they were a little more dry and dead today so the brown showed through more. A lot of the fields have already been picked, and there were actually tractors out harvesting this field while we were taking pictures of it.

So Fast!

Justin recently got an ipad. My computer has been slowly dying and so as we started talking about what we were going to do when it actually did die. We decided (after much persuasion on Justin's part) that it would be more cost effective to just get him an ipad to take to school, and I could use his computer at home. Despite not really wanting to get the ipad, I must say that it has turned out fabulous, and everybody is happy. Justin is loving his new toy and it is working great for his classes at school. Now he doesn't have to buy most of his textbooks, he can just use the ipad. And I am LOVING having a computer that actually works. For example, I opened up both of the computers at the same time. Matthew is going to play a game, and I was going to do some work. My computer started up, I checked my e-mail, the blog, read a friends blog, messed with the old computer for a minute, and wrote this blog post. And just barely, right now, did the old computer finally open the website. So can you see why I am loving this new improvement in life? That is what I have been dealing with every time I want to do something on the computer. And of course, Matthew is also in heaven that we have an ipad. There is an app called zoo train. Ever since Matthew was little he would watch this youtube video of a guy doing a review of this app. He loves it! So that was the first, and only app we have downloaded for Matthew. That is all he ever wants to do. It's like the game was made just for Matthew.

Cutest Snowman Ever!

Okay, so I have a million things to blog, and some super cute videos to post. Especially of Koyle. But I just couldn't resist putting these up tonight. I thought about waiting until Halloween to not spoil the surprise, but I couldn't resist.

Matthew's friend Riggs had his birthday party yesterday and they did a little fall carnival. It was adorable and so much fun; the kids LOVED it. Of course, everybody got to come in their costumes. I may be biased, but Matthew was the cutest snowman, and had the cutest costume by far. He definitely had the most original. (And I was so proud that he came up with this idea all on his own. He truly is a kid of my own heart. One thing I worried about having boys was having to do all that stupid super hero action figure junk that I just don't get into. Luckily Matthew has not entered that world yet.)
Anyways...

Check out that cute snowman

It was hot-the high was 92, so we decided not to have him wear his costume since it is long sleeves, and stuffed with fluff.

Matthew loved the fishing. He fished and fished until they closed shop.

Koyle loved the spider ring!

Matthew loved his monster teeth

We tried out face painting on Koyle. We kept it simple. He did pretty good!

I have the cutest boys ever!

A Little Vent

1. Shower curtain
2. Vacuum
3. Make a quilt with Matthew so he will actually like his bed
4. Batteries for toys
5. Christmas shopping
6. Painting a wall
7. Kitchen Chairs
8. New computer
9. New car
10. New pair of skechers
11. New mop
12. New broom
13. Door mat
14. Make-up
15. Fruit snacks

This is small portion of things on my list of needs/wants/somedays. I try to stay positive and be grateful for all that I have because we truly are blessed. And I know that. And I really am content and happy with where we are in life. (Code for don't give me a sermon please). And all of our real needs are being met; don't worry we're not going hungry or anything. But sometimes I just feel so limited by our finances. Matthew always complains about not liking his bed. I would love to take him to the fabric store and pick out some fun material he likes and make him a super awesome, comfortable blanket. But that is $60+ I just don't have.  So too bad buddy-o. You're gonna have to just suck it up. And it will be good for you and someday you will thank me. And someday I will thank me too!

Pumpkin Patch

 I needed to get out and do something yesterday so Justin took a break and we went to the pumpkin patch! There is a big pumpkin patch/corn maize/hay rides/cow train, etc. place that is supposed to be really cool. But it was SUPER overpriced and they charged you for every little thing. I had visions of the apple festival in my mind. (Supposed to be really cool but ended up being kind of a lame money pit.) And since we only had an hour, we went to a smaller pumpkin patch we had seen advertised. It was PERFECT. Exactly what I wanted. It is normally $2 to get in but they weren't doing hayrides that day so we got in for $1; included in that price we each got to pick out a small pumpkin to take home. It was a little bummer the hay ride wasn't working, but it didn't ruin our day. They had a miniature hay maze. We made Matthew go through by himself and he did great! They had a few different picture spots set up. Since we hadn't been planning on this outing, we weren't dressed in our autumn finest...but who cares?  We tried out our hand at some roping. We weren't very good, but Matthew was entertained by our efforts.Then we roamed through the pumpkin patch and picked out a large pumpkin for carving. We also got a couple of pie pumpkins for me to cook with. I am going to try the Cinderella pumpkin for a pie; the lady said they are supposed to be really good. So we'll see how that turns out.

I loved these things. They have them in the field by the freeway to advertise and whenever we drive by Matthew gets super excited to see the giant pumpkin faces.

 It was a fabulous little pumpkin patch and made me want to have my own pumpkin patch someday.

Itsy Bitsy: Past Tense

I LOVE the way Matthew sings Itsy Bitsy Spider. And he sings it ALL the time!

 He reminds me of myself as a child sometimes. He sings all the time. And he will make up his own words to songs and just sing about whatever he sees, is doing, or is thinking about. I have a tape of myself as a young kid that is full of me singing random songs. Did I teach this to him, or did he inherit this trait all on his own? But even though he sings the alphabet a bajillion times a day, we are still only accurate through the letter G...and it took us about a week and a half to get that far : ) Old habits die hard I guess.

Halloween Costume

The past week we have been asking Matthew what he wants to be for Halloween. He has shown no interest. Every suggestion by us was rejected. The other night in the car we had this conversation:
Do you want to be a monster?
"No"
Do you want to be train conductor?
"No"
Do you want to be a dinosaur?
"No"
Do you want to be a pirate?
"No"
Do you want to be a football player?
"Dad, I already am a football player!"
Oh, right!

After we got home Justin was getting the boys into their pajamas and Justin asked something about Halloween and Matthew said, "I don't want to be anything for Halloween." Justin told him that was okay, and that he could be whatever he wanted for Halloween. Matthew quickly replied, "I want to be a big, giant snowman for Halloween!!"

This morning I asked him again what he wanted to be for Halloween. I wanted to see if that was a fluke response or if he really meant it. Without hesitation, and with a big smile, Matthew told me he wanted to be a giant snowman. So a snowman it is. I can do a snowman.

And tonight we were looking at some snowman costume pictures on the computer and when Matthew saw them he declared, "Hey, that's what I'm gonna be for Halloween!"

The boy knows what he wants.

September

Matthew always looks so handsome all dressed up in his suit. I learned the downside to buying your toddler a real suit though. He peed his pants at church one week, which meant we had to pay to get his pants dry cleaned. Lame.

Why not wear your pants on your head? I can't remember now who or what he was pretending to be. But he is always pretending to be someone. The other day he drew lines on his face for a mustache (he is kind of in to mustaches) and called himself Captain Hook all day long! 

He is wanting to outgrow his nap. Which I am okay with. I can't complain because I got him to take naps this long. One day that he hadn't taken a nap he asked for a snack while I was cooking dinner. After a few minutes of quiet I wondered what he was up to. He had taken one bite out of his cracker before crashing!

One night after Justin left to study he called to tell me that the tractor across the street was running if I wanted to take the boys to watch. Matthew is always talking about the tractor so we walked to the end of the road and sat down to enjoy the show. I think lots of people who passed by were really confused at what we might be doing just sitting on the sidewalk staring at the road.

I really do exist! I am never in pictures, but I managed to snap this one of us together. Koyle wouldn't cooperate so he isn't in the picture.

This is what we were watching across the street. Matthew always asks to go watch the tractor again but we haven't seen it out. This farmer seems to just plough the field occasionally but not ever do anything with it.

Matthew is SOOOOO into football these days. Slam tackles. Defense. Quarterback. Goal Posts. Broncos. To keep things exciting Justin teaches him football stuff. He had him doing high knees and up down drills the other day. And he was drawing plays out on the board and Matthew would choose which guy he wanted to be and then they would go run the play in the family room. Pretty cute!

After 3 failed attempts at doing something exciting last Saturday, we ended up just walking around the mall. We let the boys ride on the tractor together!

Adorable. Koyle LOVES his shoes. I have to hide them sometimes because if he can see or find them he will beg to have them put on. And then he usually wants to go outside. Matthew was never really into shoes so this has been fun because the kid seriously loves shoes.

Need some help? No, I like it this way!

 

Also adorable! Koyle always enjoys our daily walk to the mailbox.

For some reason I think it is so cute when Koyle sits on the couch. This day he wasn't feeling well due to immunizations and catching a cold. He just sat on the couch eating his cheerios and drinking his water. Wearing his shoes, of course!

Koyle LOVES sitting and riding on things. Especially Matthew's bike. Sometimes we will bring it in the house and let him sit on it and ride it around the house. (By that I mean, we get to push him around on it.) This day he just had to have the helmet on when he sat on the bike. I didn't mind because he was so stinkin cute in that helmet!