Pictures from October

We've had a lot of fun this month. The weather has been wonderful and we've enjoyed being outside as much as possible.

Dandelion fluff: not delicious

Oh, right, we're supposed to BLOW this stuff off, not eat it.

We went on a firestation tour and Luke got to sit in a police car...

AND a helicopter!

We have a new walking/biking trail behind our neighborhood, which we've been exploring.

Other Boy spent some time here and I was reminded of how much fun these boys have together. Here, they were making up stories using flannel boards.

We painted pumpkins...

...And ourselves.

We toured a local dairy farm, where Luke had his face painted as a cow and went on a hayride and watched chickens eating a snake. (Um. Did you know chickens ate snakes?)

The State Fair came to town and Luke really enjoyed this huge slide.

He and Other Boy got to go on some rides by themselves!

And of course, feeding goats is always fun.

They don't really look like they're two years apart, do they?

We went to an insect-themed tea party. My boys ate waaaay more than their fair share of snacks.

I took the kids to the zoo one Saturday. Here they are, being "unhatched birds," as Luke says.

Looking very chimp-ish at the zoo.

Such fun!

This is apparently Luke's favorite new outfit. He got so many compliments on the bow tie that he wore it again the next day...or two.

...Stay tuned for Halloween pictures!

Not Interested

Dear Solicitors,

No matter what you're selling, there's a pretty good chance that I'm not interested. With that being said, even if you're selling the Holy Grail itself, I will not buy it if...

-you ring my doorbell during naptime. Do you have any idea how much planning it takes to get these kids napping at the same time? So when I finally pull it off and am enjoying a few minutes to myself, DO NOT come wake them up with some asinine sales pitch about insect repellant.
-you ask to see my parents.
-you ask to see my employers. Because...really? REALLY? Get off my damn porch.
-you look at me skeptically when I tell you that I am, in fact, the homeowner.
-you forget the NAME of your product.
-you utter the phrase, "Well, I can't leave a card or a brochure because we really need a decision right now..."

So Much To Talk About

We've been hitting on some big concepts around here lately. There was the discovery of the basic principle of democracy:

Luke: Can we go gem-mining today?
Me: I wish we could, but no. It's too long of a drive.
Luke: I'm okay with a long drive.
Me: Yeah, but I'm not.
Luke, after briefly conferring with Weston: Well, I talked to Weston. He's okay with a long drive and I'm okay with a long drive. That's two of us. You're only one person, Mama.


And the discussion of gravity, which happened while looking at a book about astronauts:

Luke: How do astronauts fly?
Me: Well, on Earth, there's something called gravity that holds us down close to the ground. That's why when we jump up, we land back down on the ground. But in outer space, there's no gravity, so people and things can float around.
Luke: Well, can we get on a space ship and go to space and fly around someday?
Me: Right now, only astronauts can do that.
Luke: Well...we could build a space ship. Then it would be ours, it would belong to us, and we could do whatever we wanted.
Me: True. We'd have to figure out how to build one, though.
Luke: I think I saw a kit at Target. It had all the parts and you just have to put it together. It even has instructions! We should get it next time we're there.


And the concept of death, which came during a pretend game of doctor:

Luke, after listening with a paper stethoscope: You have no heartbeat.
Me: Oh, dear! All living people have heartbeats. If I had no heartbeat, I'd be dead.
Luke: Yes, you are dead. Just sit there with your eyes closed and don't talk. Don't worry, I'll fix it.
Me: You'll fix me being dead?
Luke: Yes. After I do all the things to you, you'll be alive again.
Me: You know, once something dies, it doesn't come back to life again.
Luke: Yes, but I know how to do it.
Me: Do tell! What's your secret?
Luke: First, you get a shot. Then, you get some sunscreen. Then, you get an x-ray and the x-ray makes you live again. Now stop talking and be dead.

Pictures from September

Waterfalls we hiked to when we were on vacation in the mountains

Proof that Weston was there on the hike. I tried to get a picture of both of us together, but apparently, my arm isn't long enough.

We looked through a bridge and I held my phone waaaay out over the water to get this shot. Risky, but I like it :)

Weston helping me unpack.

A friend and I took our kids to lunch at a restaurant with a ridiculously long wait for lunch. Luckily, they also had hammocks out front.

Oh, how I love these overalls!

Where's Weston?

There he is!

Engrossed in collecting acorns

Who knew a bucket and some acorns would entertain him for 30 minutes?

My camera does odd effects without my permission sometimes, but I like this one.

I loved the overalls so much, I had to get them matching pairs. Luke coordinated their outfits that day, down to the matching blue shirts. It made it really easy to keep track of them at the park...clearly, I should do this more often.

We went to a puppet show, where the people were the puppets.

Here are Luke and Other Boy, entranced by some kind of mask. They talked that poor frog's ears off.

Picking dandelions = current obsession. (Also: the reason we have a billion dandelion plants in our front yard. He keeps scattering the seeds and growing more!)

See the scrape under his eye? That was his first big ouchie. Didn't even phase him, but it sure looked pitiful.

He brought me these sunglasses so that I could put them on him, and then went and checked himself out in the mirror repeatedly.

And...this is what happens when he tries to put them back on himself.

Pictures from August

August was a nice month--it finally started cooling down and wasn't raining every single afternoon, so we got to spend more time outdoors. Sand was a big favorite and it seemed that no matter where we went, they managed to find a sand box of some sort.

In the sandbox

"Look how strong I am!"

Luke very carefully constructs sand castles, just so he can destroy them.

Such a lovely, sensory experience!

He insisted on wearing a sunhat every time we went outside.

He told me that this seal was his "best animal friend."

Added bonus of spending the afternoon at the park: no fights about naptime!

Rocking at Cracker Barrel

Pink socks. Plaid shorts. Non-matching plaid shirt. Santa hat. Flag. Yes, we left the house with him looking like this.

More sand!

We took a trip to a petting farm

Daisy the donkey was a big hit.

Crying because someone took his tractor

...All fixed up by procuring another tractor

Other Boy spent a day with us and we painted on aluminum foil...

...And played with colored ice...

We started by transferring the ice between containers with spoons

And ended by smashing the ice to smithereens. Hey, whatever keeps everyone occupied, I say.

Why must we always hang out in high places?

Medusa-baby

Before his first haircut

During his first haircut (being bribed with an animal cracker)

After his first haircut, looking thoroughly unimpressed.

Attitude

Luke likes for us to kiss his "ouchies," but lately, he has gotten very particular that you have to kiss the exact spot that hurts. If you're even a millimeter off, he whines and complains that you're doing it wrong. Add in the fact that most of the time, his ouchies are on his legs and feet, which are both hard to kiss and frequently gross, and I decided it was time to introduce the concept of traveling kisses. In other words, he comes to me with an ouchy, I kiss near it if that's an option and if not, I kiss his forehead and tell him that the kiss will travel to reach the ouchy. It worked great for, oh, about a week. And then?

Luke: Ouchy, ouchy, ouchy! Kiss it!
Me: *Mwah!*
Luke: No, that is NOT where the ouchy is. It was right here. *Points to a spot that is literally indistinguishable from the spot I just kissed.*
Me: It's okay, it'll travel over there, remember?
Luke, sighing: Kisses do NOT travel. Water travels. Cup milk travels. But kisses do not travel because kisses are not a liquid.

(How do you argue with that?)


On a similarly attitude-y note, last night, McMoose was reading to Luke and Weston kept trying to step on the book. (Side note: Weston is the most jealous little thing ever. The minute we try to read to/play with/cuddle with Luke, he is RIGHT THERE, wedging himself between us.) McMoose was using one hand to turn pages and the other hand to keep Weston from walking on the book. After trying for about a minute to get around McMoose, Weston took a step back and then bent down, got in McMoose's face, and roared as loudly as he could. It was the funniest, most obvious expression of frustration and aggression that I've ever seen from him. That kid is going to be quite the handful, I predict.