Pumpkin Carving

This is going to be one of several Halloween posts that I hope to get done before Thanksgiving. :) And yes, I am posting it at almost 11:30 at night; the ONLY time I have uninterupted. We have had such a fun week of Halloween activities! I took Holden back to Rader's for one last evening of fun at the pumpkin patch so that he could pick out our pumpkins. It was fun to go on a date with my 3 year old. I didn't even take any pics (okay, a couple on my phone, but not on my camera!) because I was having so much fun with him. When we got home, it was carving time.

This year was a big improvement; he actually scooped out some of the pumpkin! Albeit with a spoon and without touching any of the goop with his hands, but considering we started at age 1 with him screaming, crying, and running to get the cleaning supplies from under the sink, I'll take it. :)

We carved one pumpkin into a "happy face" at Holden's request, and used some cute potato head pirate pieces from Memaw on the other one. They are no masterpieces, but they met Holden's approval.

A couple video clips of the action. In the second one, you can see that Jay let Holden choose where the "tater head" pieces should go. It actually turned out pretty cute. And I applaud Jay for being kid-friendly. The teacher in me wanted it to look just like the package, but I realize that it is more important for Holden to be a part of the process. :)

Finally, some pics of my littlest punkin'. He was already in bed during the pumpkin carving activites. So we had a photo op the next day with one of the baby pumpkins Holden picked for him. He loves sweet potato and pumpkin flavored baby foods...not sure this had the same taste but he sure tried it. :)

Haunted Trail 2010

It's costume time again! Holden couldn't wait to get his Spiderman costume this year! He was very decisive about who he wanted to be, and didn't waver, even in the costume store amidst all of the different choices. A loyal fan. :) I thought Hunter could go as a spider to keep with the theme. For one thing, he is WAY too big to fit into the Tootsie Roll costume that Holden wore at his age. And then my friend, Annie, found this costume for $3.50 at the Goodwill! I washed it up and I think he is adorable in it. Here are my little trick-or-treaters together.

We visited the non-scary Haunted Trail (there is a scary version next weekend for those that are not faint of heart) last year for the first time and loved it. I hope to make it a tradition each year. We were sad Daddy couldn't join us this time because he was busy logging evidence for a burglary. But Grammy and Papa came along, and we saw lots of friends that we knew. Holden ditched his mask pretty quickly because he couldn't see out of it at all. I love the little muscles on his costume! Crack me up! Hunter did NOT appreciate his costume very much. It was pretty puffy, and kept getting up near his mouth. I made him suffer through it and he is laid back enough that he was still pretty happy. Every now and then he'd let out a little whien to remind us he wasn't happy about it. He did like chewing on the spider legs. :)

LOVE this picture of all of us! Thanks, Stephanie and Travis, for taking it and making the boys smile! :)

Stephanie, Travis, and adorable Ava joined us on the trail. Ava was in her Tinkerbell costume. (I am told she has another costume for their Halloween party next weekend!) Holden was excited to see her. Love the picture of both of them in the strollers. Hunter wanted out, so Holden decided to warm it up for him while we waited in line. It was a beautiful night, so the line was LOOONG. I am told some people didn't make it in because they filled to capacity. Glad we got there early!

Holden was also thrilled to see his friend from church, Gabrielle. Isn't she beautiful?! She was Alice in Wonderland and her baby sister (not pictured) was the white rabbit. :)

Before entering the trail, the kids all got light-up necklaces.

Some pictures on the trail. There are all kinds of characters, fun and spooky music, and things that light up. Holden was the perfect age this year and loved telling everyone "Happy Halloween!" I wonder what in the world Hunter was thinking. He just looked around with big eyes and held onto my dad. :)

Hunter fell asleep on Papa midway down the trail. There was loud music playing, people being noisy, bright strobe lights, etc. This baby can sleep anywhere!

My little ladies' man with a group of characters.

Ava's eyes were as round as saucers, but I think she enjoyed herself. She never cried or freaked out. Isn't she adorable?!

My little muscle man with part of his face paint done. At the end of the trail are treats, a puppet show, face painting, and hot chocolate.

Holden and Gabrielle waiting to have their faces finished.

We love the "zoo lady!" She is awesome and does the best face paint ever.

Gabrielle and Holden with their finished faces. How cute are they?! Love how G. is posing.

Love him!

Funny story about this last one: when we were in line, Holden kept telling Stephanie and Travis about "the digger" on the trial. I just kinda rolled my eyes behind him and mouthed, "There is no digger." He is obsessed with diggers I figured he made it up. At the end of the trail, we go into a building to get hot chocolate and wait for the shuttle to take us back to our cars. This building is also a warehouse for parks and rec, apparently. As we walk in, Holden announced, "Yep! There's that digger, Mommy! You didn't 'member it, did you?" Sure enough, there it was. He remembered that from last year when he was just 2. And we were in the building for probably 5 minutes last year. OBSESSED is the word! I couldn't believe it. I told him I wanted a picture of him by it and at this point he was done with my camera, as you can see. He does have the whole pout thing down pat. :)

Fall Family Pics

Our wonderful photographer, Lori, met up with us at-where else-the pumpkin patch for our fall pictures. It seems to be our home away from home these days! I had planned cute sweaters and jeans for everyone, but the weather had other plans. It was in the 80's, so I threw together plan B: browns, blues, and greens...and orange for Jay since he didn't have anything that seemed to work right with the rest of us. I love how the pictures turned out. Lori has such a gift for capturing the moment.

LOVE this one of Holden in the truck! I think it's neat how we're peeking in the background.

One of my favorites of Hunter. He loved the straw!

Holden Jay at 3 and a half years old

Hunter James Paul at 6 mos.

My two favorite boys in the whole wide world.

My favorite of the two of them! Note my hand to the right; Hunter was a bit top-heavy and Holden was having a hard time holding him up! Luckily Lori's camera can snap multiple pics in a row because she got this perfect split second before Hunter started flailing and Holden announced he was DONE. :)

Family shots

I asked specifically for some pictures of my baby and me. I have SO many of him, but so few of the two of us, because I am always behind the camera. Glad she was able to capture some of the two of us.

Love our little family!

Another year older

I turned 31 on the 13th. Sigh. I still feel like I can't be a day over 25! Well, except that I look older...and can't eat what I want without it showing now...and I have a few more bags under the eyes due to lack of sleep...but I do have to say that I have never been happier with my life, so I wouldn't rewind. :) Love my little family. We went to Chili's for dinner with my parents, Tami, and Aunt Allie. I picked Chili's because it is LOUD there so it doesn't matter if the boys are loud, too. I had a yummy dinner and got some really nice gifts. It was great having the most special pepole in my life with me.

This picture just made me laugh. My dad was taking candid shots.

Mr. Hunter had quite the eventful evening. I had him in his seat in one of those sling things that the restaurants offer to set them in. I was talking to Jay and heard my mom and dad both scream (literally!) and turned my head in time to see the sling tipping backwards and his seat about to plummet to the floor. Mercifully, a waitress happened to be there at exactly that moment (thank you, God!) and grabbed him. My heart pounds just thinking about it. Apparently he was kicking his little legs, and pushed off the table hard enough to tip the seat over. After that, he went between my mom and Tami pushed up against the wall. Here he is eating mashed potatoes. He started to get crabby midway through the meal, so Tami let him try some. Every time he'd start to fuss, she'd shove another spoonful in and he would just sit there with the below expression and smack his lips for about 5 minutes.

Holden is always great at helping to open gifts. He also made sure to tell me what my gifts were before I opened them! "You're getting a watch, Mommy!" Ha! Gotta love kids and their honesty. I love how he is holding up my new shirt...just like I do when I model something new. :)

We ended the evening with cake at our house. Holden of course helped me blow the candles out. Hunter watched everything with a confused look. Next year he'll be able to help us eat some.

Thanks, everyone, for making my bday special! I also had a great girl's night out on Thursday with Annie, Steph, Bridget, Kara, and Kim. We went to Outback Steakhouse and then to the movie, "Life As We Know It." (Super cute!) I wish I would have thought to get a picture of all of us. LOVE my girl's nights! So vital for my sanity. :)

Fall + Friends= Fun

We met up with some friends at Rader's last weekend. The previous weekend that we were there had been so chilly the boys wore coats and hats/hoods. This time around was in the 80's; we were all sweaty! Nothing like Illinois' fickle weather for you. We had a good time though!

Lauren, Colin, Cade, and Holden by the big spider. Colin wasn't feeling the picture. :)

Holden and the Cunningham boys! They have so much fun together. I snuck one in of Chase, too. He is such a little sweet pea! I know next year Annie and I will be hopping trying to keep up with two active toddlers plus the big boys! :)

Bridget, Ryan, and Natalie were there, too. Holden hasn't gotten to see his girlfriend much lately since school started and the mommies are busy. He was excited she was there! They spent a good chunk of time chasing chickens with Lauren. (See top picture) :) He was really hoping to take her on a little date on one of the barrel trains, but Bridget was afraid she'd hop out. They'll have to "save the date" for next year.

Holden was also pumped to see Lauren! They are so cute together. They were holding hands and Kim and I were close enough behind to hear them talking about "what chicken say." Their conversations are so cute and hilarious!

My favorite 3 year old in action.

Let's not forget my favorite baby! He fell asleep on the way there, so Daddy sat in the van with him for awhile and let him get a nap in. Then he just hung out in the stroller watching everyone. And also took a MASSIVE poop that resulted in a blowout and a change of clothes on a bench! How does the kid always know when we are NOT someplace with a suitable changing table? This is him right afterwards; happy as a clam. He's lucky he's such a doll. Oh-and the outfit he is wearing is 18 mo. Holden wore it when he was 1. I had to pull out a new tub of clothes just to get him through this Indian summer that we are in.

Rader's Pumpkin Patch

Besides Christmas, fall is my most favorite time of the year. Rader's pumpkin patch is just down the road from us. All year when we take the "back way" to get to places around town, and we pass the farm with the big pumpkin-topped silo, Holden and I both look wistfully at it, and he always says, "Mommy, how long until the pumpkin patch is ready?" I was so excited last week to be able to tell him, "The pumpkin patch is READY!" We have already visited several times, as you may notice by the different outifts the boys are wearing in some of the pics. :) Some days it has been cold enough for winter hats and coats, and others we have been hot. The boys haven't minded and have fun every time we go. Holden is big enough to do everything there this year, and Hunter just loves to watch everyone and try to put things in his mouth.

Papa and Grammy joined us after church on our first trip of the season.

Holden helping Cousin Kyle "drive" on the barrel train. We met up with Memaw and Aunt Allie, who were watching Kyle for the afternoon. Holden did a great job making sure he didn't climb out of the seat. :) I thought they looked cute in their matching red hoods.

My sweet little punkin' amidst the pumpkins.

This one is my favorite.

Holden is a busy boy out there! There are so many fun things to do at the farm.

My big punkin'!

The boys were watching the people down below us, but this was the best one out of the three we took. :) Might I add Holden and I had hay all over us for the rest of the day after climbing up the haystack.

The amount of pictures that I take of my baby is a little ridiculous. I know a lot of people say that the second babies get less camera time, but not the case with Hunter. I think I may actually take MORE of him than I did of Holden (and I took oodles of Holden!) because I know how quickly the baby days fly by. He is just such a smiley baby; all I have to do is look at him and I get a big grin.

Holden is extremely hard to catch sitting still these days. He is one busy 3 year old! He loves two of the new features at Rader's this year: a big dirt mound with a giant tunnel to slide down, and "the giant pillow," which is a big trampoline of sorts. He convinced me to join him on that one and it was quite the adventure. We haven't picked out our pumpkins yet, but he had fun walking through the patch and scoping out which ones he might choose.

This year Holden hit the 3 foot mark!

Hunter (with some assistance from Grammy) is right at the 2 foot mark.

Out of about 25 takes, this is the closest I got of the two of them looking anywhere in my vicinity. Mission: Impossible!!! There was just WAY too much going on around them.

This one cracks me up.

The boys love their Aunt Allie!

Just some scenery shots. If you look closely at the big pig, you'll see he had a friend of a different animal variety hiding behind him. :)

Jay is the best Daddy! The boys have so much fun with him.

Daddy doesn't mind getting dirty.

Scarecrows

On the hayrack ride with Grammy and Papa. The sky was like a postcard that day; so blue with the fluffiest clouds.

We are getting family pictures/Hunter's 6 month shots done by Lori tomorrow at the pumpkin patch. Hoping they turn out well! I had to completely change what we were all going to wear because it is supposed to be in the 80's! Indian summer has arrived.