Good Morning, Friends!

Garrett is such a happy morning baby.  In his nursery, above his changing table, he likes to look at the wallpaper.  Every morning he talks to his friends on the wall as though he is telling them all about his night.

Thanksgiving Prep

This year we will be celebrating Thanksgiving at home, just our new little family of four.  It’s exciting because I get to make my FIRST Thanksgiving turkey!  I love to cook, so I feel that with a little help from the boys, I am up to the challenge.  On Wednesday, Noah helped me get some things done that would make our Thursday morning run a little smoother and give us extra time to watch the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade  

Mixing up the herb butter for the turkey

Noah was SO excited that he got to use the mixer for the pumpkin pies

Can we taste it yet?

Garrett’s help was equally important!

Can’t wait to count our blessings and fill our bellies tomorrow!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving Feast!

We went to a Thanksgiving Feast yesterday at Noah’s school.  The kiddos made special shirts, head dresses and necklaces to dress up like the Native Americans. They even prepared a special surprise song for the parents.  The feast was a great reminder that we have so much to be thankful for! 

Noah in his costume

(Not quite sure the Native Americans wore Crocs!)

For the next picture, the kids told Ms. Sue and Ms. Michelle what they were thankful for.  Other answers were “My Mommy and Daddy” or “God” – this was Noah’s response when asked what he was thankful for:

I suppose we’re all thankful for garbage trucks if we really think about it  

Garrett slept the whole time, just like the Halloween Party!

 

Noah sizing up his cupcake

And finally…the performance:

Albuquerque Turkey

(I had to email Ms. Sue last week to ask what Noah was singing in his room – it sounded like Apper Turkey)

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!!

Falling leaves means FALL indeed!

There are certain things which mean Fall is finally here – falling temperatures, falling leaves and, of course, the “FALL BACK”! The time change has been a shock to us, as I’m sure it is every year, but we never quite remember just how dark it is by dinnertime! Greg typically gets home from work by 5:00 and does something fun with Noah while I make dinner.  But in the last week, they have found themselves playing in the dark.  Noah’s new “FUN” activity has been raking leaves, and I giggle when he wakes up from his nap asking if he can rake leaves when Daddy gets home. Let’s hope he never catches on!

Neighbors, we can send him your way for a nominal fee

Diggers and Dump Trucks and Bobcats, Oh MY!

Noah has been watching the construction equipment at his school/church for weeks now as they move around dirt to get ready to build a new building.  This has caused great excitement every day we go, speculating about what the diggers will be doing today.  Last week, after we got home from school, Noah was playing quietly on the screened porch while I worked on loading the dishwasher.  After a few minutes, I figured he was playing a little too quietly, so I went to see what he was up to…

He told me his digger and dumptruck brought in the dirt…

…Then his bobcat got to work pushing the dirt around!

Leave a kid and his imagination alone for a while and you may be surprised what they come up with

Big Brother, Little Brother

Quoting Kelly Fons:  “Now I will say that I won’t dress them in matching outfits at the same time…”

Yeah, so that didn’t last long.  Actually, to be honest, this has been in the works for a long time – ever since I bought these shirts over the summer. It was so sweet to see them finally wear them  

I’m keeping these pictures so I can show them in a few years how much they really love each other

Bumbo!

Friends of ours loaned us a Bumbo for Garrett to sit in, and he LOVES it!

It’s good for Noah because they get to sit next to each other – Noah wanted Garrett to watch Mickey Mouse Clubhouse with him.

Trying to get Garrett to smile for the camera, I was a little crooked – oops! It looks like he’s ducking down for me instead of falling!

He would give me these little smirks, and then when I put the camera down, he gave me the BIG smiles (sigh)

I sure do like sitting up  

This next picture made me laugh – foreshadowing (and he really was pointing at Noah):

(Look at those fat rolls!)

Happy Halloween! What to do??

We had a tough decision this year on Halloween.  There is a local church fall festival that we went to last year, and Noah loved it!  This year it fell on Halloween…right at the time of our neighborhood trick or treat.  After a lot of discussion, Noah told us he wanted to ride the ponies and jump in the bouncy houses.  So, to the festival we went!

Noah went to Trick or Treat at his teacher’s house before we left the neighborhood. Thanks for the Laffy Taffy, Mrs. Sue!

(This is the last time you’ll see the Lion head)

It was a chilly night – Garrett bundled up, nice and toasty!

Ready for some festival fun

The first thing Noah did was ride the train

Noah did a great job of waiting his turn for the pony ride – he listened SO well!

On his pony

We met up with friends, Tyler and Molly Kate – Noah thought Molly Kate was so cute as a kitty cat!

And look at this brave boy hanging with Monkey Joe!

When we got back to the neighborhood, Noah saw the other kids trick-or-treating and then he decided that he would rather trick-or treat than go to the festival (ha!) – so Daddy took Noah around to a few houses, and Noah got the best of both worlds!  One lucky boy

Reunion Fall Festival

Last Saturday was our neighborhood’s annual fall festival.  Because it was chilly, I stayed home with Garrett while Greg took Noah.  The first thing Noah wanted to do was the bungee trampoline. He didn’t get to do it last year because the line was too long, and he remembered it!

 When he got home, he was excited to tell me that he jumped HIGHER and HIGHER and HIGHER!!

Of course, the pony ride! 

Noah wanted to dress in costume – he’s wearing his race car costume from last year.

Greg said Noah’s favorite thing was the ticket booth sponsored by Monkey Joe’s (it was free!) – you get in the box an see how many tickets you can catch!

Another great Fall Festival!  Hopefully next year Mommy and Garrett can go, too

Brothers Share!

One thing I have given my mom grief about for the last “29” years is that I had to wear hand-me-downs from my older sister, Kim.  I’ll be honest, I was slightly relieved when we found out we were having another boy because that means fewer new clothes we would have to buy for Garrett.  Well, now I see how much fun it can be to see both boys in the same outfit:

Now I will say that I won’t dress them in matching outfits at the same time…or will I??  Never say never, I suppose!