Halloween & Misc.

So, initially I thought I'd get around to updating my blog every week...maybe once a month is a better goal.  Let me backtrack a little to some Halloween pictures.  The holiday fell on a Wednesday, but I was able to get the day off work so that I could join the kids in their school festivities.  In the morning, James's daycare trick-or-treated around to the nearby buisnesses.  James cried most of the way saying he wanted to "go home."  I think he was just confused by the whole thing.  Later in the afternoon, at Haden's school, the kids paraded through the gym for the parents.  That evening, after a quick dinner, we headed out trick-or-treating with some neighbors.  The kids had a blast.  Here is Haden as Captain America.

James was a firefigher.  Here are both boys together:

At the last minutes, I decided to throw together a costume for myself and this is what I came up with:

Here are our pumpkins:  one is an Angry Bird, the other is just a cat.

The kids each had big accomplishments this past month.  James learned how to zip up his own coat and is very proud to demonstrate his new skill.  Haden learned how to tie his shoes!  Another skill Haden has been practicing is paper airplane making.  One day I rounded up 40 airplanes that were scattered throughout the house!

Haden is still loving Kindergarten.  We had his first parent/teacher conference a couple of weeks ago.  His teacher had many great things to say.  He is such a good boy at school and a great role model for the other kids.  He is getting very excited for his 6th birthday in just over a week.  He'll be having a pirate party with some friends from school and the neighborhood.

James continues to be as wild and naughty as ever.  He is always singing new songs and has been enjoying the christmas CD's I dug out.  Speaking of Christmas, the kids were bugging us so much that we already put up the tree.  I don't think I've ever had it up before Thanksgiving before.  This year I bought an "Elf on the Shelf."  I'm excited to start using that.  For those who haven't heard of it - its a small elf that you position somewhere different in the house each day.  The kids find it and the elf reports back to Santa every night so the kids need to be on their best behavior so no santa doesn't get any bad reports!

The basement project is coming along nicely.  Kye finished the drop ceiling last week and we have the carpet ordered for the toy room.  I also have a treadmill ordered that will be delivered after we get the carpet.  I'm super excited to get the treadmill.  A couple of friends and I have decided to run a 1/2 marathon next June and then continue training and run a full marathon in September.  Here is picture of the room.  I'm impressed every time Kye tackles a new part of the basement.  This was his first time doing a drop ceiling and it turned out great.

Here our the boys working on a project at Lowe's.  We discovered these classes last month.  They are free kids workshops where the kids get to build something from wood.  Haden loves these, James was a bit put off by all the noise (50 kids hammering can get quite loud)!

Birthday & Fall fun

Well, my baby turned 3 last weekend.  It's really hard to believe how quickly those three years flew by.  We had a family party for James with a carnival theme.  I had so much fun planning the games and making decorations and had my fingers crossed for good weather so we could be outside.  Unfortunately it ended up being cold and rainy so we were all stuck indoors, but I think the kids had fun anyways.  We had a clothspin drop game, ball toss game, face painting, tattoos, and balloon animals.

Here is James showing how old he is:

James loved the candy bar!

 Face painting was a big hit- thanks Aunt Kalee!

 Amazing artwork by Aunt Kalee!  Thanks Uncle Shawn for painting on the unibrow!

The kids have enjoyed some fall activities lately.  Last week we visited Bloomsbury Farm - a place with a ton of kid friendly activities including pedal carts (a favorite), bounce pillow, corn mazes, tire maze, haunted house, tractor ride, etc.  Here are some pics from that trip.

We also did an evening hayrack ride at a local pumpkin patch.

So, about two weeks ago we decided to combine the bedrooms for the boys.  They are now sleeping together in one room and the other room has become the toy room.  They were both very excited as we rearranged the rooms.  They've been promised bunk or loft beds if the change goes well.  It is going alright for the most part, but James is still taking a loooong time to get to bed each night, but eliminating the distraction of toys from the sleeping room has helped a little bit.  this change has also made me more aware that we have way too many toys!  I can't wait to get the basement finished and spread out the toy clutter a bit.

Fall is in the air

This was the last official camping weekend of the season at our local campground and we had some great fall weather - 70's by day and crisp evenings perfect for huddling around the fire.  We enjoyed a couple of nice hikes, some bike rides, dipped our feet in the chilly Coralville Lake, and the kids spend hours playing with their friends at a sandy playground.  We had an awesome first season with our camper and went on 10 camping trips spanning the state.  We're very excited to start planning our trips for next summer!
 

Sunrise, with mist rising off the Coralville Lake.  Yes, the kids woke us up early enough to see the sunrise, two days in a row :)

Haden's new pursuit at school is joining the Chess Club.  After hearing about this club, he insisted that Kye teach him how to play.  Kye spent each night last week teaching Haden the game and then he attended his first meeting on Friday.  I've never learned how to play and didn't really care to know, but I suppose I'll have to learn now so that I can play with Haden when Kye is busy.


Ok, so I've been couponing for a while now and James loves to work on his coupon binder too.  I give him expired coupons and other random papers to cut and he will sit and cut/organize his scraps of paper and then insists on bringing his binder to the store also.

Last weekend, the boys and I headed to a local apple orchard for their Johnny Appleseed festival.  Unfortunately, a cold spell early in the apple growing season caused the trees to produce few to no apples.  So, there weren't any apples to pick, but we still had fun on the tractor ride and they each picked small pumpkins.

 I love how the boys are so in sync in this pic!

 At first glance, it seems the boys are trying to think of a way to pick up the giant pumpkin, but they were really just studying the yellow ladybug type of bugs sitting on top of it!

welcome to my blog

Ok, so I've decided to start a blog.  This is my first time blogging so we'll see how it goes and how often I get around to updating it!  I plan on using this platform to keep family and friends up to date on what we've been up to since a few are not on Facebook (where I normally post pics and updates).  I haven't written anything in my personal journal in far too long so I'm hoping that if I can keep this up-to-date on the zany things my kids are saying and doing then this will be a great way to document their lives.

Let's begin with Haden...  He is loving Kindergarten and making many new friends.  We hadn't planned on doing the school hot lunch or using the school bus, but within a couple of weeks he wanted to do both.  He has been riding the bus for about a week and that is going well.  He doesn't even want me to walk him to the bus stop anymore.   I had no idea the "I don't want to be seen with mom" phase would begin so young.

Haden also began swim lessons last week.  He hadn't taken any lessons since last December, but he is doing great and loves the water.  James is eagerly awaiting his 3rd birthday so he can begin lessons too!

Another exciting event for Haden was his first race.  He participated in the North Liberty Fun Run "kiddie run" this past weekend.  The kids run was only about 1/2 mile and he did great - running the whole thing and keeping up with the older kids.  After the kids race, Kye and the boys watched me run the 5K.  This was their first exposure to a running race and Haden seemed pretty excited about it.  Kye promised Haden that if he trains and can run 3 miles then Kye would do a 5K with him!

James has been enjoying more one-on-one time with me since Haden started school.  We've been playing a lot of cars, doing puzzles, and coloring/painting, in addition to spending time with friends from our playgroup.  James finished potty training a few weeks ago and is quick to tell everyone (including complete strangers, cashiers, etc) that he is wearing underwear.  The other big event for James was moving into the 3yr old room at daycare.  He is loving this room since his favorite teacher is in there along this a bunch of new toys and friends. 

Kye has been working hard in the basement.  The room he's currently working on is the largest and will be the toy room/bar/exercise space.  I'm excited to get this room complete so that I can get a treadmill since my outdoor running has been non-existent because it's now to dark at 6am.

On to me...I recently ran a 5k.  It had been many years since I've done one (at least 6).  It was the NL fun run and it was really a laid back race and it went well with a time of 24:58.  I've recently gotten into a crafty kick and have been working on stuff for James's 3rd birthday party.  I made the invites using scrapbook paper I already had and have been painting signs for the carnival-themed party.