Halloween Fun

Pinata at a Halloween party
Peter was first to go and couldn't figure out what he was supposed to do. He kept tapping the bat on the ground. By his second turn, he'd figured out the objective.

Maze at a pumpkin patch
Eddie successfully led us through twice. Here we are stopped at a dead end.

Picking out a carving pumpkin

We ended up buying these toys for Peter since he'd already put them in his mouth.

Carving a pumpkin
Eddie and Peter weren't all that interested in getting their hands messy. Peter tried putting his hand in the pumpkin once. Eddie wouldn't.
Traditional stew and breadsticks dinner

Costumes
Ben was a vampire; his was last minute. He only dressed up because Eddie said it would be fun if Dad dressed up as something scary.
Peter was Tigger. He initially didn't like wearing his costume. He didn't mind it by Halloween, though, and even asked to have it on after Halloween was over.
Eddie was a black cat, my idea. He liked it initially, though, the day of Halloween he kept mentioning other things he would like to be (a robot, a firefighter, something scary). I will let him choose next year. He's on a kick of wearing his rain boots everywhere! They go well with the costume!I was a black cat, too, cuz it's easy. Eddie was more excited about wearing his cat costume when he found out I'd be one, too.

Butterfly Festival

On Saturday we went to a festival held in honor of the butterfly migration. Here are some cute pics of my boys.
Hanging out in the trunk while we got the stroller set up (the only way to keep Peter from wandering off).

Peter was quite taken with the butterflies.

We enjoyed a nice walk around the wildlife refuge. Eddie and Peter loved the boardwalk. Peter walked the whole time!



Eddie and Peter got firefighter hats. We ended up eating at Firehouse Subs afterward, where they each got a second hat! (Eddie has always worn firefighter hats backwards. On this day he asked me if he was wearing it the right way. I was sad to tell him no; I thought I would never see him wearing a firefighter hat backwards again. He wore it the right way for a while, but he decided he likes them better backwards! I do, too!)

"Numnin" Patch

We went to the pumpkin patch with playgroup this week. Peter was excited to see all those "numnin"s, a word he had learned just the day before because we hung up Halloween decorations. Eddie and Peter loved listening to the stories.

What a handsome young man! Love that smile!

Both Eddie and Peter loved measuring pumpkins with string. Eddie told me later that this was his favorite part.


Eddie learned that he could use his string to knock pumpkins into the holes between the boards. He's pretty impressed with his little game.

Of course they loved picking out pumpkins. Peter's was selected for him by another mom because of its perfect size. It has proved to double as a ball.

Eddie kept changing his selection. Each pumpkin was smaller than the last. He came home with a pumpkin even smaller than Peter's!


I attempted to get a lot of posed pictures, which of course didn't work. It's practically impossible to get two little ones to look at you at the same time.
I love this one. I had told Eddie to put his hand on Peter's shoulder, not realizing it would be the wrong hand.

The best I got of E and P!
Peter didn't fight getting his face painted, though Eddie wouldn't even go near the table. Eddie enjoyed playing games. Peter joined in with the parachute.


We ended at the playground and with a picnic lunch. It was a fun day!

Introducing Professor Peter

Maybe he's thinking about modeling...
...or becoming a mobster that packs a water gun.
Peter looks so charming and attractive in his new sports jacket.

Yay! It's cold outside!

The temperature dropped dramatically from our usual mid-90s to mid-60s, sometimes even in the 50s. Initially I had to convince Eddie that it would be okay to put on a jacket. Once he got it on, he fell in love with himself in it (the helicopter on it helps). We opened the door to venture outside. Eddie said, "My hands need something!". Gloves, Eddie. They are called gloves. We got the glove/hat box down, so, of course, Eddie needed a hat, too. We attempted to go outside again and Eddie said, "I need something for my face!". It's 60 degrees outside, and this kid wants a mask! We don't have one, so we had to do without. We took some cute pictures of Eddie and Peter having fun outside in not-hot weather. What a cutie! Pretending to make a mad face-not too convincing.
Yikes! I am scared of this mad face!
Peter hears a bird. Every time he hears or sees a bird, he stretches his arms up and flaps his hands around. He is started to say "bir'" while he flaps, but this is a recent addition to the cute ritual.
Look at that tongue!
Most of the pictures I took of Eddie have his tongue hanging out!

I am pleased to say that Eddie even agreed to wear pants (pants have been an item he has refused to wear for months now, even to church he wears shorts).

Yay for not-hot weather!

What Eddie Said

Eddie, while running his finger under the print in his Book of Mormon, "read": "And it come to pass that Enos saw the tree with the fruit all lit up and Heavenly Father told him not to eat the fruit, but he ate it. He didn't listen and obey, and Heavenly Father said he couldn't eat any fruit any of the days, but he ate the fruit all of the days. He didn't listen and obey. Then Enos thought, "Oohh" (said in a sad voice), and he listened and obeyed."

Eddie read this last night at scripture time. We were shocked he knew the scripture phrase "and it came to pass". He is using Enos's name (we are reading in Enos for family scripture time) and telling Adam's story, but including the detail of the white fruit from Lehi's dream! And of course he is very focused on choices and consequences, which is what we spend a lot of our time talking about these days. I am so pleased that our efforts to read the scriptures daily and to tell Eddie scriptures stories are paying off. We honestly had no idea he was even listening! This gives me a lot of happiness and encouragement, and it makes me very hopeful and sure that Eddie will grow up to be happy and capable. I am so thankful for the scriptures, for the anchor they are for me and my family.

Hat Boy

Peter loves to wear "'at"s! This boy seriously needs a whole hat collection. He puts a hat on and stands there just waiting for you to tell him he looks great. Then he rushes off to the mirror or the oven door, to admire himself. He smiles and points at himself. If he is in front of the oven, he sits down on the ground so he can just watch his reflection in comfort for an extended length of time. I love my little hat boy!

Happy 31st, Benj!

Ben's 31st birthday was on October 7. I made him a hummingbird cake, a delectable banana bread-ish cake we discovered recently) that looked like Ms. PacMan. Eddie and Peter were delighted by the cake, as was Ben.Peter was interested in the candles being blown out.
Eddie had to have a turn blowing out the candles, too.
Eddie was so eager to help Daddy open presents. He did a great job keeping the presents a "secret surprise".

Happy birthday, Ben! We love you!

What Eddie Said

I have been enjoying "The Fixer", a song from Pearl Jam's latest album. I've taught Eddie all the lyrics and some dance moves. Eddie has also made up some of his own lyrics. The other night he would throw his tortilla on the floor and say, "When something falls, I want to put a little spit on it.". Then he would spit on the tortilla. I wasn't impressed with the behavior, but I like him thinking about music.

Vacuum

Peter loves to vacuum! And he is so cute doing it!