It's time for Halloween!

Tomorrow is officially Halloween, one of my favorite holidays. We have been quite festive here at the Hobson household, wearing fun Halloween shirts (well, 2/3 of us....Jay is not so into that!), decorating with pumpkins and other fall items, and watching Holden discover it all. It is so fun to see everything through his eyes; so new and exciting! Below are some shots from today. We took him to downtown Normal tonight for their annual trick-or-treating events. The local shopowners all come out (many in costume!) and pass out candy and other goodies. Our good friend, Cyndee, works at the Normal theater. She always has a great witch costume on. Holden wasn't so sure he liked her new look! But once the candy started dropping in his bucket, he quickly caught on to the plan and was ready to go to the next stop. I can definately say we ate our way through the route! It was a beautiful fall night in the balmy 60's!

"Boo!" or "Boo Hoo?"

Tonight we carved our big pumpkin that we picked out at Rader's Pumpkin Patch a few weeks ago. I have always LOVED pumpkin carving, and remember arguing with my brother about whose turn it was to scoop those guts out! No spoons for, me, either, I loved getting my hands dirty. That pumpkin goo was delightfully messy! Before having kids, I couldn't wait to do holiday traditions like this and imagined our happy little family, laughing as we carved our jack o'lantern face. Knowing how much Holden enjoys having messy hands (note the dripping sarcasm in that comment!) I had a feeling it wasn't going to go over quite the way it had looked in my mind. Last year, at only 6 months old, he freaked out when I put his fingers in it. As you can see in the collage below...he started out thrilled to see his pumpkin on the table. Then Daddy cut open his nice perfect pumpkin. He wasn't sure he liked that. Then Daddy put his hand in it....NO, DADDY, NOOOO! Then Mommy held some yucky guts and seeds up for me to see. THESE PEOPLE ARE TORTURING ME!!! His involvement ended in a mad dash for the floor, after which he proceeded to (I am not kidding you, people!) open up the kitchen cabinets, grab the box of garbage bags, and implore us to get rid of it since it was "Ucky!" as he kept saying. Too funny! I got the whole thing on video tape so his buddies can make fun of him when he is older.

Yes, he also got out the pledge for me so that I could clean the table. He did this on his own. The kid is a weirdo.

I forced him back near the freshly carved jack o'lantern for a picture. He is only sitting with me because I bribed him with gummy savers!

My glowing pumpkin. I think he turned out pretty cute!

Am I crazy?

Just had to comment-put Holden to bed after a fun but long day. Got on the computer to post new blog pictures. After looking at the pictures, I miss him! Does anyone else ever feel that way? I waited for hours to put him to bed and have my down time. I'm not saying I want him to wake up-I haven't totally lost it-I just miss his little giggle. Am I nuts??

Cheap entertainment!

Holden is a huge fan of anything with wheels these days. He calls all vehicles "truck," and as I drive he looks out the window and has a running commentary going with a lot of blabbing and several "trucks!" thrown in. This interest has carried over to our van. He loves nothing better than to spend a half hour or so just playing in it. He pretends to drive, dances to the music, pushes all the knobs, and climbs around on the seats. It makes for a great last ditch effort on my sanity when it is yucky outside and we're tired of the house. This past Sunday after church he begged with his new word, "PEASE!" (please, and he says it sooo well with that little hint of desperation!) to play in it and I snapped these fun shots of him being a total goofball. (Yes he really is laying on the van floor in one of them.)

Who can resist this little smile?

He is such a ham!

My little monkey!

I find Holden's costume to be very fitting of his personality...and sooo adorable!

I love this shot! He is totally thinking, "What the h _ _ _, Mom???"

He keeps going...and going...and going...

Remember those Energizer Bunny commercials? I am convinced that was my son with a bunny costume on! This 18 month old is a ball of constant motion, noises, words, and giggles. I am exhausted just looking at him sometimes! Lately he has been getting up very early (5:00 or 5:30am...what happened to the nice 7:30 from this summer?) and is usually down to just one nap a day, and somehow he never seems to run out energy. I need an ounce of what he has! My parents took shifts babysitting him on Friday since my sitter's daughter had a doctor's appt. My Dad told me he sure had fun with "his baby boy," but he wore him out and there's a reason people have kids young! =o) Here are some recent video clips of the our little man:

1.Taking over the garage in his pj's on a rainy evening when he needed to run some energy off!

2.) Dancing to the background music at Carlos O' Kelly's!

3.) Trying some salsa...hey at least he is trying new things!

4.) Being a stinker. Which he is very good at. =o)

Purses, Pumpkins, and Paper!

Toilet paper, to be exact. Which is the "birthday present" that Holden created in the bathroom for me this morning! He actually led me to it from bed...taking my hand, smiling, and saying, "Here go!" (His version of "here you go.") So naturally, being a gracious recipient, there was nothing to do but laugh and tell him "thank you." Oh yeah, and then prevent him from flushing it all down the toilet, which was what he wanted to do next. =o)

I am 29 today! I will not be getting any older after this year....we will just keep celebrating 29. Jay and Holden took me to the mall to pick out a new purse. Holden discovered he really enjoys picking out purses, too, and carrying them around on his shoulder like Mommy. And looking at headbands. Daddy was not too happy. Holden helped Jay pick out my card. He took this very seriously as you can see. Until he found the vacuums. If you know Holden well, you know he is obscessed with vacuums. So this was like the jackpot for him. He kept pointing for us to get one for him! He also sat by Daddy and pretended to get a massage, and enjoyed riding the little ice cream truck. And I really like my new purse!

Later this morning, we headed back to Rader's pumpkin patch with my parents. It was a warm but overcast day, which was nice because it wasn't too hot. Holden was getting tired and wasn't too smiley for these pictures, but they still turned out pretty cute. Holden fell asleep on the way home with his head bent almost to his lap. He doesn't look very comfortable to me, but when I tried to move his head he put it right back down!

Nothin' like a boy and his remote....

...and basically, I just wanted an excuse to try out the Picasa 3 I just downloaded, which makes really cool new collages! =o) Holden has loved the remote control since he was old enough to grip things with his fingers. I am convinced it is one of those innate "guy" things! I think the combo of that and his dino pj's is pretty adorable! Hope everyone is having a good long weekend. (We have Columbus Day off here...hope you do, too!)

Fall Fun at the pumpkin patch!

This weekend Holden and I joined Memaw, Aunt Alison, and cousin Chelsey for a day at the pumpkin patch. (See huge post below...needless to say I took my usual millions of pictures.) It was such a gorgeous fall day, and there is a farm right down the road with all kinds of fun activities: hay rack rides, pumpkin decorating, animals, a hay bale maze, corn kernel sandboxes, and of course loads of pumpkins to choose from! Jay was so bummed he had to work so I promised we'd wait to pick out our pumpkins until next week when he can tag along. Now Holden can show him the ropes! As you can see from the pictures he had a blast.

Holden and Mommy

"Hi Ma!" Posing back at home with the pumpkin we decorated.
(Okay, I decorated it...but he handed me all of the craft supplies! When he wasn't trying to eat them.)

Nothing like a little boy and his pumpkin. I didn't get a shot of the next action he took,
which was trying to throw it like a ball. See him eyeing the stem???

See the post below for the full 9 yards! (Remember you can click on the collages to see the pictures close up.)

Rader's Pumpkin Patch '08!

Okay, I warned you there were quite a few! But I think you'll agree they're all so cute...and this is after I "cut down" to a select "few." =o) Enjoy!


There were so many things to see and do (and even taste!) at the pumpkin patch. Chelsey helped him master the art of sticking out his tongue....thanks, Chels!

Holden was a riot out in the actual patch...he wanted to touch as many pumpkins as he could. BUT he didn't like when the dirt got on his fingers. Can you tell he has just (FINALY!) learned "so big?" It makes for some good pictures since he always grins when he does it. So I think a lot of our future pictures at this age will have him with his hands up in the air! =o)

I love all of his different expressions. He conked out on the ride home but woke up in time to help Daddy hang ghosts from our tree later. =o)

Q is for duck...

...because they say "quack!" Which is one of Holden's favorite animal sounds, and was also his first word, of all things! For the first two years of our marriage, Jay and I lived in a cute little apartment complex that surrounded a pond. At night we liked to walk and feed the ducks. Recently we took Holden there to use up some rapidly aging hotdog buns. He loved it! (And so did the ducks.) =o)

Prayer Request

One of Jay's softball buddies lost his beautiful 2 month old baby girl, Aubrey, today. She was at the sitter's and the cause is still unknown. Jay was just out to eat with her Daddy last night, and Holden and I saw her two weeks ago out at the softball fields on one of the last warm evenings. They were so proud of her. They are a young couple, engaged to be married soon. What they are going through is incomprehensible to us. Please keep this family in your thoughts and prayers. I don't understand why babies have to die. =o(