November 2011

A few pictures from last month:

The empty candy bucket was a constant companion for a few weeks after Halloween.

Taking a little time to read after a visit to the library...I managed one picture of Henry before he took off to avoid the camera.





We thought it might be okay to take Gumball Guy out of hiding, now that Walter is a little older. Henry was more than happy to show his little brother how it works.





I can't help but laugh when Henry decides to go with his "camera smile."


Horsing around

Fun with the Short Mimis

A couple of weeks ago, the "short mimis" (aka cousins M & L) came over with their dad after church. The dads watched the football game and the kids had tons of fun playing together. The mimis sure keep Henry and Walter entertained. As you can see, the mattresses are still being used with creativity, along with tunnels, blocks and almost every pillow from the bedrooms! Bedtime was a breeze that night!

Halloween

Henry and Walter had a great time at our church's Trunk or Treating event. We had dinner, played games, had a costume "parade," a pumpkin parable, and of course, the trunk or treating (which is what the boys were really waiting for).


Henry refused to open his eyes, so this is what we got - gotta love 'em!


Costume "Parade": you can see H & W in the first pic, in the second picture Walter was wandering around, checking out the other costumes. He was kind of taken with the bee in the back row, far right. This was just kids under 5 years so you can imagine how crowded it was!



Visiting Mama A's (decorated) car trunk to get a treat. Walter was quite selective - people would offer him a candy and if it wasn't one he was interested in he would say, "No thank you," put it back, and find a new one! And if he was given a choice, we were there for a long time, "Hmmm," he'd say as he picked through the candy bucket looking for the best piece. Meanwhile, Henry's goal was to get to all of the candy stops as quickly as possible.


Enjoying the fruits of their labor while Mom and Dad got to catch up with some friends.

I didn't get any pictures, but on Monday, the boys had the best time handing candy out to the kids who were trick or treating who came to our house. They were standing on the porch yelling, "Candy!" to all the kids passing by. They would see someone coming and yell, "Visitors! We've got more visitors!" Then they would stuff fistfuls of candy into each bag (needless to say, we ran out before the night was over).

It was so nice out, I took them down our street and then we ran into their cousins and the fun really began. They feel so special when they get to do things with the big kids. I was exhausted by the end, but it was a fun night.

*This post is for a certain boppa out there, who was giving me a hard time about not posting frequently! :) I think I'm almost caught up...

October 2011

Life's been full the last few months and I haven't been doing a great job of taking pictures regularly or posting them here. So here are a few pictures from last month.

My aunt and uncle were kind enough to pass down a bed with a trundle bed to us. We haven't set the beds up yet, but when we brought the mattresses in and set them in the family room, the boys had them on the ground and were jumping on them in under a minute. To be honest, they are still in our family room (1 month later) because they have kept the boys occupied and burning energy. We've had dance parties, tumbling events, made slides, played Venus fly trap, seen lots of running in place and jumping up and down...and just taking time to wake up in the morning.




In mid October, Nate went to S.D. for his first pheasant hunting trip of the season, so the boys and I drove with Mama L. to surprise Mama Bakkel with a visit. We even got to see Aunt Gayle, too. I thought for sure we'd get at least one fabulous picture with great-grandma (since we took about 20) but a certain four year old wasn't exactly a willing participant, so I'll just be grateful for what I did get!




Henry thought we should take this picture so we could show it to his pre-school teacher, Mrs. V. He spends quite a bit of time building with blocks these days.

Carwash

Henry and Walter love to do things with their dad - especially washing cars. We had a Saturday with decent weather in early October and they used it to wash the 'burb...and themselves. Their favorite part was dipping their hands into the bubble-filled bucket. The wind made it a little chilly by the end, but they enjoyed every second.

Leaves

We thought we would try to get a picture for the Christmas card while the weather was warm and the leaves were colorful a few weeks ago. The boys started out raking the leaves and running through the pile, which was fun until Henry got a piece of a leaf stuck on his tongue causing him to throw up all over Nate!







After a quick clothing change, we tried again...


We both look like we're about to fall asleep, but I'm sentimental, and I don't want to forget the quiet moments when I get hugs from one of my guys...


or when we're silly...


This would scream, "Wishing you a joyful Christmas" if it was the year 1900.


...love these precious faces.


We weren't overwhelmed with choices, so we moved over to the "climbing tree" hoping that would work.





(Getting comfy while watching his big brother climb.)





Oh well, we still have November and December, right?

Venus Fly Trap

I'm not exactly a great seamstress, so when Henry said he wanted to be a venus fly trap for Halloween...I was a little worried. Thankfully, turns out I'm not too terrible with a hot glue gun and craft foam. Here's the finished product - just in time for trunk'r'treating at church tonight.


He's a fly getting eaten by a venus fly trap...maybe you can see the fly wings on the back of his shirt.