More Pumpkin Patch Tidbits

Pumpkin Patch

Last Sunday the 6 of us, along with my parents and my neighbor Jessica and her 4 yr. old son David, went to the Pumpkin Patch! And what a beautiful day we picked! It was in the low 70's and we were all plenty warm by the time we were done!

The boys loved the petting zoo of course. Zach especially loved the cows and the goats.

Up close and friendly!

Grandpa taught them how to feed the goats!

This was such a hoot! It was a giant Checkers board with the different colored pumpkins as the markers. Grandpa used this flat surface to teach the boys how to roll the pumpkins on their sides.

So Tyler laid down and had a nice game of Roll-the-Pumpkin with Grandpa!

This was an obstacle course that the boys loved that ended in a great slide

And the big balloon trampoline

Big pumpkins....

...and Indian Corn...

And ya gotta have some pumpkin sitting! Grandpa demonstrates...

And the tractor ride

And this was the greatest. A giant 'sandbox' filled with dried corn. My OCD/clean freak child spent most of the time picking the corn out of his toes!

Tyler however LOVED it!

Zach finally took refuge on the hay bale in the middle

All in all, it was a great day.

Football Comes To An End

Tonight was Matthew's last football game. And let me tell ya, it was cold outside! Matthew's 8th grade team won their game and he did a phenomenal job! The highlight of the game was him catching a pass and running the ball in for a touchdown! And he also had several great tackles!

Matthew is #25 and is just a GIANT on the field compared to everyone else! Good job Matthew for a GREAT season! Can't wait for West Salem High School football next year!
And I have GOT to get off my tushie and get these boys in toddler beds!!! They want to sleep together but it is just too crowded in one crib for the both of them, so tonight, after I put them in their rooms and raced off to watch Private Practice, Kathryn came and told me that they were out of their cribs. So when I went to check on them at commercial, they were both trying to sleep on the floor right outside Kathryn's bedroom door. So I went ahead and caved and made them beds on their floor.

On Top Of Ole Smokey!

Yesterday we had a full day! Church, Pumpkin Patch (pics coming soon!), and then off to Grandma and Grandpa's for turkey dinner. The boys did so fantastic without a nap! And when they got to Papa and Grandma's, they had a special treat: Old Smokey! When I was little, this was my FAVORITE thing. I remember riding Old Smokey all the time, and my parents stuck him away in their attic with the hope that some day he would come out again. And sure enough, the boys love him just like I did! Here are a few photos and videos from the time at G&G's house.

Monkey See Monkey Do

Apparently when Tyler saw Zachary pee in his big boy potty the other night, he liked the idea of doing it himself, so tonight he took off his diaper, sat on the potty, peed, wiped, then flushed the big toilet. Whoo-hoo!!! Oh, and in other lovely news....the boys locked me out of their bedroom tonight! That was fun. Not. I had several moments of sheer panic until I said sternly 'Unlock the door now!' and Tyler actually unlocked it. Whew. Off the hook for now. But, I would suspect that pretty soon they'll figure it out that if they don't unlock it, there is not much I can do about it. So I need to be talking to Mike to figure out how to get it unlocked. Or at least take the door off the hinges. = ) I guess I need to add 'screwdriver' to my list of essential parenting tools!

The First Pee

Part of the reason I keep this blog is so that the kids will have a sort of electronic 'scrapbook' of their lives to look at when they get older. I love that they will be able to look back at the photos and stories and hopefully have some fun with them. So, having said that, bear with me as I write about potty issues. Recently I put the boys' blue potty chair next to the toilet in our bathroom so that they could just get used to seeing it and maybe would get interested in it. Last night, I took the boys' shirts and pants off and started the shower and was waiting for it to warm up. Zachary took off his diaper, sat down on his potty, peed in it, stood up, got toilet paper, wiped his bottom, threw the toilet paper in the toilet, and flushed. All without me saying a word. I couldn't believe it!!! Woo-hoo, way to go Zachary! I hope this means that potty training will commence shortly!

Lets Meet In The Middle

Seriously, are my boys weird or what? This is another midnight picture. I actually left them there until 2:00am so that I could show Mike when he got home because I thought it was so funny, then we put them in their own beds.

In other non-child-related news....I started playing the piano again this weekend for the worship team at the church just right up the hill from us. I LOVE IT! It is so good to be back with a band again and using my gift. The boys love the toddler room, Kathryn gets excited as we near every Sunday, and Matthew actually likes the teen program! So it seems to be a hit all around. And the greatest part is that it literally is about a 2 minute drive from us, or probably about a 20 minute walk. Our neighbors go with us each week too, and lots of Mike's co-workers go there, so it seems to be a great fit.

Quack quack!

We have really been trying to take advantage of this sunny weather by getting out of the house! We've been to the same park each day for the last 3 days! Today we decided to feed the ducks. We took our neighbor David and met Tristan and his grandma. The boys loved it!

I just love these!

I can't help it....I just had to post these. I love the sleeping pictures!

Snuggle Buddies

The boys lately have decided that they want to sleep together. Usually I let them play together for a while, but then separate them as they're about to fall asleep. I always worry that they will wake each other up during the night or just not have enough room. But Wednesday night I told Mike that he had bedtime duty as Private Practice was on and I just couldn't bear to miss it! : ) So after my show was over, I went in to check on the boys and I could barely tell in the dark that they were sleeping in the same crib. So I asked Mike if he knew and he said 'yah, I told them that they could sleep together'. How cute! So I got the camera, set the flash, held the camera up over the crib in the hopes that I would aim correctly and this is what I got:

How precious is this?!?!? And they slept there all night without waking each other up until 7:40am! I think I am finally deciding that since they'd rather be together, I should just go with it and let them do it!

'Ice Cream'

I love this stage where the boys learn new words every day and new things are so exciting to them! Tonight they had their first Dilly Bars and Zachary immediately picked up the word 'ice cream'. Boy what a mess these two made!

Tools of the Trade?

When I was pregnant and doing my baby registry, no one told me to add Duct Tape and Bungi Cords! I would have laughed at them. But, let me tell ya, these are now the tools of my trade. Yes, parenting. You might think that with two of them, the cords and tape are for strapping them together to keep them from running around. But no. The boys have figured out that taking their diapers off, especially right before and after nap, is such fun! Yah, not so much. Not for mom who has to clean up the sheets when they get peed on! So, hence the duct tape for the diapers. It's the only way to keep the diapers on. And the cords. Well. The boys can now climb out of their cribs and what Zachary does is climb out and empty every, and I mean every, drawer in his room when mommy isn't looking or thinks he's asleep. After about the 27th time, I finally said to Mike, you have to do something! So, the drawers are now securely shut. Oh boy, what tools of the parenting trade am I going to need next?!?!?

Belly Laughs

Who knew Uno could be so entertaining?!?!?

Safety First!

Zachary loves to wear Kathryn's helmet when he's riding his 'bike'. But, it is a bit too big.

So this is how he usually ends up wearing it!!!