The Newest Pumpkin in the Patch

Meet Robert! He is the son of our dear friend Colleen and her husband, Dave. Robbie was born today on Halloween. He was 8lbs, 2 ounces, and I have to say he is one darn cute little pumpkin.

Congratulations, Wanek Family! We hope that you are soaking up every precious moment with your little man! We wish you all the best as you start the amazing journey that parenthood will take you on.

Halloween 2010

I feel like Halloween started about a month ago for our family because that is about how long Charlie has been wearing his costume. Back in July, I gave Charlie a choice between a pirate and a dinosaur (two characters that he loves to talk about). Without any hesitation, he announced that he wanted to be a pirate like Captain Feathersword from The Wiggles. It took a while to find the perfect costume. As soon as it came in the mail, Charlie wanted to try it on. I kept it hidden in the closet for a while, but as soon as October rolled around, and we were talking about Halloween, it became harder and harder to keep him away from the costume. He would ask to wear the hat out on errands, which was okay with me. He has even been sleeping with the sword for a few weeks. He was more than happy to tell anyone and everyone what he was going to be for Halloween, and we had even practiced saying "Trick-or-Treat".

When it came time to dress up for our playgroup party and trick or treating, Charlie lost all of his enthusiasm. He was not happy about getting into his pirate costume and protested going trick-or-treating. Fortunately, he has quite the sweet tooth, so I was able to lure him out of the house with the promise of filling his jack-o-lantern bucket with more candy than he had ever seen before.

We met up with a few of our neighbors, but Charlie and his buddy Leila did most of their trick-or-treating together. It was perfect because they were both moving at the same speed. At first, Charlie wanted to be held and seemed uncertain. After a couple of houses, he got into it and was okay holding my hand. A packet of Skittles also helped keep him going. We probably went to ten houses, and I could never get Charlie to say "Trick-or-Treat", but he did say thank you and waved goodbye. He and Leila looked so darn cute together, and it was a perfect night for Halloween. The weather was amazing, and I was so proud of Charlie for having such a good time. We both enjoyed visiting with our neighbors and seeing all of the kiddos in their cute costumes.

Poor Jack had to miss out on the Halloween fun. He woke up from his nap today with a runny nose. As the afternoon progressed, the nose got worse, and he was just not himself. I knew he would be miserable if we took him out. I figured he could care less about Halloween, so we decided to keep him in the house. He and Nick stayed home to pass out candy. Nick said he fussed the entire time we were gone. Looks like we have our first cold of the fall. I am sure Charlie will be sick in a no time. We missed having Jack with us, but I have to say, it was nice being able to spend that special time with Charlie.

Playgroup Halloween

We hosted our third annual playgroup Halloween party last Thursday. The children all looked so adorable in their costumes, and the moms had fun trying to wrangle all of the kiddos onto the couch for a group shot. Nothing like M&Ms and the promise of a cupcake to get a toddler to sit still for a few seconds. Charlie was less than happy to sit for the picture and was screaming the majority of the time. He has really grown to hate having his picture taken. The above shots were to only ones that I got with his eyes open and his mouth closed.

Jack, Mickey, and Matney are missing from the group picture. Jack was napping, Mickey was too busy playing, and Matney was at Preschool. Next year, there will be four new little ones to try to get in a photo. How crazy is that?

Brothers

Okay, so they do not really play together yet. And Charlie is definitely a little threatened now that Jack can crawl and is getting into his toys. But every so often there are times like this when they are just so stinking sweet together. We played with Charlie's grill and had a lot of fun cooking the other day. I was even able to convince Charlie to let me take his picture (which is a rare occurrence). Look at his sweet face in the pictures. You can tell he is having a good time. The world is really a much better place when Charlie Shaw has a smile on his face.

My Big Boy

It's been almost a month since Jack started pulling up, but it still surprises me when I see him standing up like such a big boy. His new favorite activity is pulling up on all of the kitchen chairs and playing under the table. Nick thinks he enjoys it because it's like a little maze.

You Know a Toddler Lives in Your House When...

...this is what you see upon opening the toilet seat. What a turkey! Might I add that he was quite proud of himself.

Pumpkin Carving

Charlie carved his first pumpkin today. Well, to be honest, I carved while Charlie assisted. I bought a pumpkin carving kit and let Charlie pick the design for his pumpkin. He was excited about a cat, but really wanted me to put a dog on the other side. I had to try to explain that without a template, his puppy would not look much like a puppy.

The best part was lighting the pumpkin tonight together as a family. We even had some extra time to take a quick walk to look for the moon. When we came inside, we enjoyed some yummy roasted pumpkin seeds.

Fall Fun

Fall is my favorite season. I mean, really, who does not love the fall? Last year, it rained so much that I felt like we were cheated out of autum. That is why we are trying to fully appreciate every second of this beautiful time of year.

Something about fall brings out the teacher in me. There are just so many fun projects and activities that can be done. Now that Charlie is a little bit older, we have been able to do some fun crafts together. Below are some of the projects that we have done so far.

Burt's Pumpkin Patch

We made our third annual trip to Burt's Pumpkin Patch last week. After two years, we have realized that the best time to go to Burt's is during the week. Nick has been traveling a lot lately, so we were so happy to have a long weekend with him and a wonderful day at the pumpkin patch without the crowds.

Charlie was excited to go this year and liked the idea of having the special task of picking out pumpkins for the entire family. He liked running through the rows and rows of pumpkins and really did not sit still unless he was in the wheel barrow. We offered to take him on the hay ride, but Charlie was less than interested. Who knows why, but he just did not want to go.

Jack loves being outside, and the weather was absolutely gorgeous. It was a perfect fall day. He was happy to sit back and relax in hi stroller and take in all of the sights. He liked standing next to the big pumpkins and even played the drums on one with Charlie. He was thrilled each time we showed him one of the little pumpkins, and decided they looked rather tasty.

After we had picked all of our pumpkins, we headed over to the picnic area and had our lunch under the falling leaves next to a stream. It was a great end to a really perfect day with my boys.