“I want you to knock my tooth with it!”

Justin’s loose tooth begged to be pulled.  It was literally just hanging on, but he wouldn’t let us touch it!  We worked on getting him to wiggle his tooth for over an hour.  All he had to do was give it a little pull and it would have popped right out.  Finally, we gave up and decided it would come out when it was ready.  When all the drama was over, he taped his mouth shut to ensure that we would not come near him and pull out his tooth! 

 

Shortly after this, we put him to bed.  He came out about 10 minutes later  holding his watch, he says to me, “I decided that I want to be brave!  I want you to take my watch and knock my tooth with it so it will fall out!” WHAT?  Did he just ask me to knock him in the head with his watch?  I told him that I would absolutely not do that, but I would pull it out! One minute later, the tooth was out after a slight tug. 

Now, he can officially sing the “All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth” song!

Fall Leaves

The kids absolutely love when all the leaves fall off our tree.  I am not allowed to rake them up until there is enough fallen leaves for them to have fun with.  They gather their friends and then the fun begins! They rake up, jump in, toss and throw the leaves and then the annual leaf fight begins.  It is a lot fun!  When the battle is over, the kids disperse and I am left with a lawn that is just as covered in leaves as when we started…it is all worth it!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

He is looking so grown up….

My handsome young man on a field trip with his class to the Discovery Museum.

“Can I help?”

Ryan LOVES to help me in the kitchen.  Everyday he asks if he can help me make dinner.  He is getting very good a cutting up the fruit, especially strawberries.  On this night we were making a carrot cake for Grandma’s birthday.  He was a good little helper!

 

 

 

 

Mohawk Mania!

I hadn’t cut the boys hair in over two months, so they had plenty of hair to sport mohawks….or should I say fauxhawks!  I think they look pretty cute!

USS Hornet

Justin and Jeff spent the night on the USS Hornet with Justin’s Cub Scout Pack!  They had a GREAT time!

All smiles!

Justin and Parker waiting to board the aircraft carrier!

Giving Mommy a call from the deck.

Sitting in the Captain’s chair!

Engine Room

Ready to take off!

Good neighbors, good friends!

 

Jack-o-lanterns

Top: Travis and Ryan’s creations Bottom: Jeff and Justin’s creations

The boys did a great job designing their jack-o-lanterns this year.  Justin actually carved his entire pumpkin by himself.  If you notice, his pumpkin has a “z” shaped scar on its forehead just like Harry Potter!

They are just so cute….

Ryan and his buddy Gia are so cute together!  They are like two peas in a pod.  At school, they can always be found together, typically without regard to any other kids in their class.  When you ask Ryan who his friends are, Gia is always at the top of his list! 

These pictures were taken at Ryan’s first fieldtrip to the pumpkin patch. 

Best friends!

 

 

Catching rain drops!

Big smiles for a fun day!

Love this!

Ryan with his preschool friends!

It is Pumpkin Time!

We love our annual trip to the local Pumpkin Farm…corn maze, hay maze, hay pyramid, train ride, slides and pumpkin picking. 

Trying to make our way through the corn maze….let’s just say we went in AND OUT through the entrance. 

All my favorite boys!!

Me and the boys!

Justin finds his perfect pumpkin…..

...and Ryan finds his perfect pumpkin

He even hauled it to the wagon by himself!

Travis, on the other hand, had far too many pumpkin options and was having a difficult finding his perfect pumpkin!

Ahh!!  He finally found it!!

Man, these boys are handsome!

A rare picture of all of us…sitting on top of the hay pyramid.

Exhausted….

Ryan was exhausted from our long vacation.  He put himself to bed at 4:45!  When the house went quiet, we went looking for Ryan, we found him snuggled in his bed sound asleep!

As our plane landed…..

As our airplane safely landed after our vacation, Justin throws his hands up in the air as a sign of victory and cheers, “Yes! We didn’t crash!!”

The Happiest Place on Earth!

A month later, I am still trying to get this trip blogged.  Apparently blogging has taken a back seat to life! 

We LOVE Disneyland!  It truly is one of our favorite places to visit, both before kids and now!  We decided to do things a little different this year and stay at Disney’s Grand Californian Resort.  It was so convenient to be so close.  I loved it, the kids loved it and it will be difficult to stay anywhere else in the future.  It was great having Downtown Disney at our disposal and listening to the nightly music below. 

We have never been to Disneyland this time of year, so it was our first time seeing the park decorated for Halloween and enjoying the Halloween festivities.  The kids were able to wear their costumes and Trick-or-Treat inside the park (for an extra fee, of course!), which was lots of fun!

There was a noticeable change in this trip from all our previous trips since having kids…it was EASY!  For the first time, there wasn’t a baby to feed, diapers to change, nap times to deal with or a need to use the “Parent Switch Pass”.  EVERYONE was tall enough to ride all the rides!  Ryan, following suit with his brothers loved all the rides!  For the first time we were able to ride all the rides as a family!! 

The only downside to this trip was the rain, and it rained A LOT during our first 2 days!  At one point, we had to go back to the hotel just to dry all our pants and shoes!  The plus side….the lines were short and we rode a lot of rides!  The last 2 days of the trip were beautiful, with lots of sun shining. 

Whatever the holiday, Disney goes all out!

The boys with Jack, the Pumpkin King!

Not just a drizzle, full on rain! 

Waiting in line for Space Mountain during the Halloween Trick-or-Treat event.

Ryan ready to ride Space Mountain for the first time!  He LOVED it!

Gotta love this!  My little thrill seekers!

Meeting Mickey…Ryan doesn’t look so happy to have Mickey’s hand on him!

California Adventure.  Waiting for the World of Color show!

Our only castle shot..

Balloon swords, hats and belts

Just love Justin in this picture…looks like he is saying  “how you doing?”

  All of us!

Despite a few bumps in the road, we had a fabulous vacation!  After 9 days it was time to go home so we could rest!