Happy Halloween 2011

We have been having a great Halloween at our house.  We have read a ton of Halloween/Fall books, played pumpkin games and much more.  Last night we went trick-or-treating in Waukee in Andy and Whitney's neighborhood.  They did a great job saying trick-or-treat, getting candy, taking candy, saying "thank you" and "Happy Halloween."  We all had a lot of fun.

 My little pumpkin.  He kept saying "Boo, Boo" like the pumpkin head from the book The Little Old Lady who wasn't afraid of Anything.  

 Maxie my caterpillar.   He wanted to be a carrot but we just couldn't pull it off in time.  I had this costume and he was still pretty cute.

Happy Halloween!

Arboretum Day

Today we picked up Aunt Whitney and headed out to meet Uncle Andy at the Brenton Arboretum for a picnic lunch and some play.  It was a lot of fun, we spent about an hour inside the building looking at all the nature things they have collected from around the ground including: tree cookies, nuts, seeds, pine cones, turtle shells, feathers, snake skins and more.  The boys were full of questions.  Then we headed out to the pond and the nature playground.

 Andy gave the boys each a net where he helped them catch some tadpoles along with lots of scum and dirt.  

 Max and Andy walking to the nature playground.  Such a cute shot!

 Emmeric loved the hay bales.  He kept jumping on and off and throwing the hay.

The nature playground: it's full of old stumps, sticks, bit logs, hay bales and sand.  The boys played, dug, crawled, climbed for over an hour.  It was a lot of fun, thanks for inviting us Whitney and showing us around Andy.

Pumpkins

My brother Andrew is a great gardener and this weekend he shared a lot of veggies with us including: garlic, butternut squash, acorn squash, tomatoes, broccoli, potatoes and he brought 2 pumpkins for the little boys.  Today we did lots of things with our pumpkins.

 We played ring toss.

 Pounded golf tees.

 Scooped out and played with the insides.

And finally carved them for Halloween.

Farmer's Market

Saturday we went to the Farmer's Market in the morning.  The Downtown Des Moines market is HUGE!  We spent three hours walking around, looking at produce, home items, baked goods, sampling food and listening to the music.  It was a lot of fun and we ate some great food including beef sticks, bread, dutch letters, egg rolla, burritos, cheese and so much more.  We also took home a few items including honey, bread and apple cider.

 One of the many beautiful pumpkins we saw.  I love when they have tall stems.  

 One of the probably 5 "bands" we saw.  We stopped at all of them because that is Emmeric's favorite part.  

A HUGE cinnamon roll, it took up a whole paper plate.  You could, and we did eat our way around the market and never ate lunch.  Everything was wonderful.

Bucket Heads

With our Halloween buckets we have been playing bean bags but the boys also think it's fun to put them on their heads.  

 Cheese!

3 buckets...What talent....

Thin Ice

The boys have really been into games lately.  We've been trying to find games good for 2 and 3 years old.  Thin Ice is a great game for fine-motor skills, color awareness, taking turns, being gentle and most of all it's fun.  The boys like to "break the ice."  

 Emmeric thinks it's funny to drop them from high up.

Max, concentrating really hard.  He loves to get the marbles with the tongs.

Soybeans

Last week we brought home a big sack of soybeans from the farm.  We put them in our sensory bin and have been having fun with them ever since.  So far we have used farm machines, construction machine, and just our hands.  There is a lot of potential to add measuring cups and spoons along with other stuff.  It can keep the boys occupied for a long time which I love.  The one complaint, those beans get everywhere.

 At one point Max was completely in the bin.

Need to make a road and roll it smooth.

Bubbles...

This is how many bubbles you get when you dump out a half full bottle of baby wash.  

Monkey Bars 101

After the Downtown Farmer's Market today we stopped at a local park to play.  Emmeric loves the monkey bars but just isn't quite strong enough to do them on his own.  Daddy to the rescue.  Eddie helped them both across more than a few times and taught them how to swing your arms and legs for momentum. It was fun to see them interact and practice together.  

 The look of Determination on both faces.

"Can't hold on much longer"

Raking up leaves

We spent the morning raking leaves in the front yard.  There were so many, we made 2 really big piles.  The boys were helpful raking and sweeping the leaves up.  Of course, they had fun jumping, throwing, dumping and scattering the leaves.  I have a feeling we will be playing in these for a few days.  

 The face says it all.

Gotta load up the dump truck and take them somewhere besides the HUGE pile I raked up.  

Farmin'

Wednesday, we traveled back to Waterloo to do a little bit of farming.  The boys love to ride around in the tractor and combine.  It was a great day to be out.  Emmeric was full of questions and loved seeing the stalks come down and the hopper fill up.  

 The corn coming out of the auger and into the grain cart.  

 Emmeric & I on the combine.  Thanks Brent and Lisa for letting us ride.  

Beans in a corn field?  That's just what we found, we picked up a bag full to take home.  The boys just love being in a field.  

Emmeric

Emmeric playing at a new park.  This picture was too cute not to take.  

21 Weeks

21 weeks.  Baby is growing, tummy is growing.  Feeling really good!

Haystack

Tonight at the local Hy-Vee they had a Giant Haystack and family fun night.  Of course we had to go.  The boys had a lot of fun in the bounce houses, eating hot dogs, and playing in the giant haystack.  They each walked away with a big bag of candy and a water yo-yo.  It was a fun night and something easy we could do to be apart of or new community.

 Having fun in the hay.

 New town, same cute family.

They each ate 2 hot dogs.

4476 Concord Drive

We made it to our new home.  Ed & I closed on Friday morning then Eddie went off to work.  My parents came down Saturday and while my Dad painted the boys room my Mom and I cleaned.  It was awesome to get it done before the boxes started coming.  After we worked for 4 hours we left, spent the night at my brother's home and went back the next morning to finish.  My Dad and my brother Andrew did some more painting while my Sister-In-Law Whitney, my Mom and I finished cleaning the whole house.  While we were busy at the new house Ed was busy packing up our 10x20 storage unit and random stuff we had at my parents home.  When he pulled in at 3 we were ready, ready to unpack the u-haul, get boxes inside and start going through them.  Then my father-in-law Steve and Eddie's Uncle Steve brought a 16 foot trailer with all of our garage things inside.  We unpacked and set stuff up until 7.  The next day on Sunday Steve and Sherri and Sarah brought the boys down to us.  Stayed and helped do more unpacking.  It's been crazy, overwhelming and exciting.  The boys loved to get out literally all of their toys and books,  and Ed & I loved being a real family again.  I cannot thank my whole family enough for all the work they did, all the help and support they gave to us during the whole process.  We love all of you!

 I know we will make some wonderful memories here!

New house, same great family!