Pumpkin Patch

The Parents as Teachers program had a field trip for families to go to the Flower Mound Pumpkin Patch on Monday.  Dylan got to pick out a pumpkin for Colton and himself: 

 Going with these two by myself was fun, but chaotic.  It was the 2nd time I knew exactly where Dylan was but he lost sight of me and freaked.  I was parking the stroller to get on the hay wagon and he started crying that he was lost (the library was the 1st time).  He is now better at staying close to me in public, that's for sure.  At Walmart yesterday Dylan heard a boy crying and said, "That boy's crying.  He's sad.  He lost his mommy."  I almost laughed out loud in the baking aisle.  He said it again about a baby at the library storytime.  Colton screamed most of the hayride.  He had just woken up from a short nap and was not happy I wasn't going to feed him on the ride.  I was ready to jump off while it was still moving:   

Dylan doesn't like bounce houses and was a little young for the maze, but he liked to look at the wooden characters and all of the pumpkins around the patch:

Peeking out of the little playhouse:

Dylan really wanted to ride in a little wagon, so I put the stroller back in the car and pulled them around.  That lasted long enough to get a picture.  Then I ended up pulling Dylan and carrying Colton because he was too wiggly and Dylan wanted to hold the pumpkins instead.  It counted as my workout for the day.

I tried to be Supermom but next time I'll bring reinforcements.  It's a good thing they're cute!



35 Month and 5 Month Updates

Dylan 'making dinner' right alongside me with my old pans and all the empty food containers I have saved for him to play with: 

I love these jammies.  Seeing Colton in them reminds me of when I put them on Dylan just after he was born and how huge they were on him.  I was a rookie and didn't understand 0-3 month clothes wouldn't fit right away, especially with my little guys:



Big smiles and big kicks:

Woah.  That smile's too big:

That's better:

This weekend we went to the Celebrate Roanoke festivities.  Dylan was super excited about this little train, hence the reason he wanted to wear his train conductor overalls.  Why he is wearing them with a 4th of July shirt, snowman socks, and Lightning McQueen shoes that are way too big is beyond me.  What a goof:

Police doing a motorcycle demonstration.  It must be really tough because they kept falling over:



Bean bag toss:

Cookie Monster:

Sponge Bob:

'Working Tractor':

Historic Fire Truck.  Colton didn't like the hat and Dylan was too busy playing with the wooden car he watched being made and got to keep:

Pretty funny that Dylan was dressed up like McGruff:

Relaxing at home:

How can you not smile at this face?

Dylan's 35 month update:

 

*I can't believe he's going to be 3 next month.  Doesn't seem possible.

 

*He adds "or some-pin" (or something) to the end of sentences.

 

*He will say "Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah" instead of just "yes," like I do sometimes.

 

*While pretend cooking: "I'm going to boil it" and "Can I steam him?  Pssssshhhh" (Referring to baby Colton while Colton was sitting in the 'Honey Pot' cooking)

 

*To a 'Counting Bear': "How was your day?  His/My day was great!  I'm going to eat you!" Then he chomps his head off and eats the rest of it.

 

*His favorite Spanish phrase lately is "mucho traffico."

 

*He told his 1st joke.  I was wiping the Play-doh off the table so he count and eat some marshmellows.  I said, "Wait.  Let me finish wiping the table so you don't eat Play-doh."  He responded, "I want to eat Play-doh.  Just kidding.  Hahaha!"

 

*Dylan didn't want to go to bed right after his bath last night so he told Autrey, "Daddy, I want to go watch baseball with you again."  Well played.  Daddy isn't going to say no to a few more minutes watching the game while Dylan quietly plays with his cars next to him.  Smart boy.

 

*Dylan: "The Holy Ghost is going away."

  Me: "Really?  Where?"

  Dylan: "To California."  Doubtful. :)

 

*We are 'reading' an illustrated child's version of the Book of Mormon with him at night before prayer.   

 

*He is finally over all of the puking and coughing sickness.  My kids rarely even spit up, so I hope to go a long time without getting puke all over me again.  Dylan did learn to cover his mouth when he coughs though.

 

*He also has learned to put the toilet seat down softly so it doesn't slam any more.

 

*He is learning to spit when brushing with regular toothpaste.  Gonna need some work.

 

*Two days at the beginning of Oct. Dylan started getting out of bed and sneaking into the playroom when he was supposed to be napping.  We had a few talks about it and he has 'been a good listener' since.  He doesn't always fall asleep, but at least he stays in his bed to rest until I tell him he can get out.

 

*I usually shop at Walmart, but I stopped at Kroger's one day since it was closer when I was running errands.  Dylan hadn't been to this particular Kroger's since we stopped there with G-ma in May, but as soon as we pulled into the parking lot he remembered the special carts and said, "I want to ride the race car!"  He held onto that memory for a long time and could tell the parking lots apart before we even got out of the car to see the carts.   

 

*A lot of my friends have kids that are friends with Dylan.  Makes it nice for the play groups, library day group, and temple/date swaps we have going.

 

Colton's 5 month update:

 

*He is wearing size 1 shoes, size 2 diapers, and 0-3/some 3 month clothes.

 

*He constantly has a 'deer in the headlights' look on his face because of his big eyes.  With his big ears and bald head, he would make a perfect little Yoda.

 

*The kid likes to suck on stuff and he's not picky about it.  His own bottom lip or a thumb, binky, blanket, toy, etc works just great.  He will stick his thumb in his mouth and go to town with it to self soothe.

 

*He has found his tongue and likes to stick it out.

 

*He still fall/rolls from a push-up to his back.  Now he goes from his back to his side, but not all the way over yet.

 

*He grasps his hands together and holds onto anything in reach.  Dylan is not a fan of baby brother pulling his shirt.

 

*He 'talks' to me while he's nursing.  Great multi-tasker.



Nana and Maggie's Birthday Weekend in Santa Fe

We went to Santa Fe this weekend to celebrate Nana and Maggie's birthdays.  We stayed at the gorgeous Buffalo Thunder, which was conveniently next to a golf course.  I'm glad the hotel was so nice because I spent a lot of time in the room with my poor, sleeping sick boys.  They also had a beautiful pool and hot tub Autrey went to in an attempt to break up his congestion:

We ate at Rancho de Chimayo, a family favorite.  Great food.  They make their own honey, which is so good on the sopapillas.  I also loved the prickly pear frozen lemonade.  Nana and her kids: 

One of the few pictures you will see of me sporting the awful haircut I recently was inflicted with (the bangs were collateral damage of a failure to communicate): 

 We missed Matt and Allyson, who were in Utah for her stepdad's funeral.  Sending love and prayers your way, Allyson!  5 year old Maggie with her Repunzel doll:

We flew out of Albuquerque, where they happened to be holding the International Hot Air Balloon Fiesta.  Dylan was intrigued by all of the 'tiny' balloons in the sky.  When I told him there were people riding inside them I think I almost heard his little brain exploding.

Mommy School

Dylan still has this year and 2 more before he goes to all day kindergarten.  I'm thinking about doing some sort of preschool next year for him, but this year he and I are just doing "Mommy School," which is really just playing with an academic twist.  Not really structured and very informal.  We focused on Red and Squares during September and are starting Orange and Circles in October.  Each week we also do a new Capital Letter and Number.  Some highlights:  

You'd never see "naked painting" in a public school curriculum.  :)

My bulletin board fridge (The only problem with making letters and shapes out of food - marshmellow square, pinto bean E, pretzel stick A, etc. - is he wants to eat them):

We made a few batches of red fruit snacks (Very simple.  Just 1/3 cup water with 3 oz Jell-o powder and 2 packets of unflavored gelatin heated and poured into the mini ice cube tray and popped out with a toothpick after 20 minutes in the fridge.  I've also done it using juice instead.  Just search Pinterest for that recipe, or call me.):

 And some orange ones.  Just like the "Counting Bears" (Teddy Grahams) he has to tell me what color they are and count them before he gets to eat them:

We make shapes and letters and play with shaving cream:



After our lesson I let Dylan play around and make a huge mess in this video:

"Chicka Chicka Boom Boom" snack with 2 PB graham crackers as a tree trunk and 2 "coconuts" on each "leaf" for him to count:

2 "Pirate Ships":

 Dylan has become interested in pirates, so we are dressing up as pirates for Halloween and he is having a Pirate Birthday Party a few weeks after that.  More on that to come.

 

Colton's Mommy School focus is learning to sit up and "talk."  I finally got him really laughing in this cute video.  As always, excuse my blabbering: 

Such cute students, no?