Kids Say...

It seems like Ben and I are laughing a hundred times a day about the things that the boys are saying these days.  Arie is stringing up to four words together, and will try to pronounce pretty much anything we suggest.  It's been really nice to have more clear communication from him about his needs and wants, and to see him use the manners we have tried to teach (pleases and thank yous, etc).

Jack has a billion questions a day about life in general.  Just this morning he has already said several things that I want to write down for memory's sake.

While we chatted over cereal, Jack asked me, "Why do we keep waking up?"  I asked a few questions to get at the real meaning of his question, to which I was able to satisfy his curiousity by talking about God having a purpose for our lives and that we have things to "do" each day, which requires us to wake up and get going!  Then he asked, "Why do we keep going to bed?", so we talked about needing rest so our bodies can be strong and healthy to do the things we need to do when we wake up.  Later, while building a train track with Daddy, Jack was discussing the Michigan football game we would be watching soon.  Daddy explained to Jack that his favorite player, Denard Robinson, would not be playing again today because his elbow is hurt.  Jack suggested that we pray for Denard, and proceeded to say a sweet little prayer, asking God to heal Denard's elbow. :)  Too cute not to remember.

Happy Halloween 2012

We had a great Halloween!  We weren't quite sure how it would play out because up until Halloween afternoon, Jack had consistently stated that he did NOT want to dress up, he did not want to go trick or treating for candy, and he just wanted to stay home by himself.  Hmmm.  Ok.

Ben and I had talked and decided that if he didn't want to dress up, that was fine.

If he didn't want to go trick or treating, one of us would stay home with him to hand out candy to other kids.

If he wanted to go with us trick or treating, he would not be allowed to get candy if he did not dress up, but he could go and hold the flashlight, etc.

Low and behold, that afternoon, he decided he wanted to dress up and go out.  Ok, so now we had to scramble to decide on a costume for him.  When we had asked him for the previous weeks what he wanted to "be" for Halloween, he would respond with, "nuffing." 

On Halloween afternoon he suddenly stated that he wanted to be a "bat."  Well, I had been gathering a few options for him to choose from (just in case), but a bat was not one of those options.  Shoot. 

We layed out his options, and he maintained that he wanted to be a bat.  I thought briefly about how I could create a bat custume out of something we already had at home, but decided agaisnt that, and told him he had to choose from the options we were giving him.

He chose to be a shark.  I had gathered the supplies, but hadn't created the costume yet, so while the chicken pot pie was baking, I quickly sewed the pieces together. :) 

Our ferocious shark and sweet little monkey! :)

 All ready to head out for candy!

 Jack did great yelling, "trick or treat!" and Arie told everyone "ween!" when we would say "Happy Halloween!"  They both said "thank you" to most of our neighbors. :)

 Our last stop was to see our neighbor friend, Hannah (we saw her brother Hayden earlier in the evening)

 Both boys got to eat a peanut butter cup before heading to the bathtub and bed.

Maybe next year I'll have a bat costume ready and waiting. :)

Harvest Party

I was fortunate enough to be able to help out with Jack's pre-k Harvest Party.

The kids enjoyed a healthy snack together first.

 Then we headed inside to make a cute craft.

 See the little boy in the background?  That's Jack's good buddy, Rowan.  The teachers say they are "two peas in a pod." :)

 Next Mrs. Chris reminded the kids what they had learned earlier about the pumpkin and how it can symolize our hearts, cleaning out the yucky stuff inside and instead choosing to shine the light of Christ to the world!

Then the kids played a game of "hot potato" with the pumpkin and each received a sucker to enjoy.

 Arie was along and made himself right at home, playing with all the toys.

 He even got a sucker and sat at the table with the big kids! :)

It was a fun morning with my little guys.

Pumpkin Carving Party

We got together with some friends after church yesterday to carve some pumpkins.  It was a very warm day and we enjoyed the time with family and friends.

 Wesley and Ella swinging with Jack.

 Fun times!



Jack's First Pre-K Field Trip

Jack's class went on their first field trip this fall to Amy's Farm.  I was really happy that I could take a couple of hours that morning to tag along.  Jack was so excited to ride a school bus for the first time!  I told him he could pick a seat, and he ran straight to the back!

The only rules for the bus were to stay seated and facing forward. :)  He did really well on the way there, watching everything out the window.

He got to choose a pumpkin,

milk a cow with Farmer Heidi, 

 pet lots of goats and sheep, 

 

 feed a pig,

 search for pumpkins hiding under the big leaves,

 and hang out with good buddies, like Adalyn.

 Jack LOVES his teachers, Mrs. Chris (left) and Mrs. Shari (right).

It was a fun first field trip!

{the ride back to school on the bus was a little crazy... Jack and his friend Anthony were a little hyper and got to giggling about every silly little thing they saw, naming everything with the word "chicken" at the beginning, i.e. "chicken truck", "chicken tree", "chicken lady"... and boy, was it HILARIOUS... to them. :) silly boys! }



Oak Glen 2012

We recently found a free Saturday morning to make our annual trek to Oak Glen for some good old fashioned fall fun.
 

We tasted apple slices.
 

And apple cider.
 

And donuts!
 

They were delicious!
 

What a fun treat.
 

The boys had fun exploring the orchards.
 

And it was great to spend some quality time as our little family of four.
 

The animals were a hit also.  Here are the pigs: "Bacon" and "Sausage".

Ben commented that "Sausage" had an eye that was kind of bloody looking, and our little parrot (Jack) felt the need to repeat that line over and over throughout the morning. :)

The apple picking was kind of exasperating and hilarious all at the same time.  Trying to show the boys how to do it correctly, trying to keep Arie from eating wormy or bruised apples on the ground, keeping both boys from picking a zillion apples right off the trees... all while trying to let them have fun and enjoy the experience.  Ha!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We had a great morning, with really nice weather!  It was great to get a little taste of fall!

College Football Season

Well, it's hasn't been the best season for our Wolverines so far...
 

but the company for game watching is better than ever!

GO BLUE!