October Photos

~Wyatt shooting some hoops~ Star Wars Monopoly~ Wyatt and I playing school games~

~Wyatt learned to pump!~ Wyatt crafting at Mimi's~ Sleeping together~

~Artwork done in the boys room~ Lego creations~ Halloween Play~

~Grant at his Pumpkin Patch field trip~ Wyatt's create a dino from Trex~ Fall trees~

~Fall tree across the street~ Cuddles all safe and buckled~ Holding hands shopping with my big guy~

~M&M graphing~ Connect a Straw fun~ Rudolphs came to the park with us~

Trick Or Treating!

I left our Trick Or Treating decision up to the boys- to go or not to go? To go in our neighborhood or Mimi's neighborhood? They ultimately decided to go in Mimi's neighborhood. The houses in our neighborhood are too far apart to make Trick or Treating really worthwhile, especially on a cold night like it was! So we went to Mimi's house early for some pizza and playtime before we layered up to hit the streets. The street right around the corner from Mimi's house is the perfect Trick or Treat street- a straight long block, with houses side by side lining both sides of the street! So many of the houses had lots of decorations and music and lights!! It was a great time!! You wouldn't have known it was only 37 degrees!!! They ran from house to house in complete happiness!!! It was a wonderful evening with my Star Wars fellas!!

Scary Face Pumpkins

At the beginning of the month, the boys had gone to IHOP with Mimi and PawPaw and they were so excited to tell me about the Scary Face pancake they were serving on Halloween! So I knew that after school on Halloween Day, we would head to IHOP for that special treat!! I didn't even realize that kids got their scary face pancake for FREE that day!! Woohoo!!! It was a fun little memory to add to the rest of our Halloween fun!!

Grant's Halloween Party

Grant's Kindergarten class got to have a parade and a super fun party on Halloween! Since he is just morning kindergarten, theirs was the only class who was having all their festivities in the morning! The rest of the school didn't celebrate til the end of the day. So they got to parade around the entire school, in and out of each classroom! Grant said the fifth graders were the best, because they gave everyone high-fives! He sure loves getting in glimpse into the "grader" classes! The parade lasted quite a while, as the entire school welcomed them into their classroom, and its kind of a big school!! 

After they got back to class, it was time for treats!! Grant ate his blow pop, but that was it! Since many schools are going to a very specific list of approved foods, the classic cookies and cupcakes are no longer an option, so he was kind of bummed about that!  But he took home other goodies instead! After treats, it was time for games and activities. I led a Pin the Nose on the Pumpkin game, which I totally didn't take a picture of. I only got to lead one group, as I had to run out and pick up Wyatt from school. By the time I got back to his class, the games and activities were done, and since Grant is not forthcoming with lots of details, I'm not sure exactly what all else they did. But he was happy and smiling and that's what matters most!! 

 Grant loves his class very much! He loves Kindergarten and has established himself very well!! I'm so thankful to see him thrive and enjoy each day!!

Wyatt's School Parade

 Wyatt had a fun Halloween Parade at his preschool on the morning of Halloween. He was excited to be a SWAT team police officer and was pretty confident that no other kid would have his costume! There was one other little guy in the school who had his costume, but he didn't notice so he was so excited to tell me he was the only one!! Sweet guy!

Of course, this day turned out to be horribly cold and windy- I think it was 33 that morning!! So when we found out their little parade was going to be outside, Wyatt was not too excited! But they literally walked out one door, down the sidewalk, and into the other door, so the parade was over in about 45 seconds!! But he smiled and waved the entire way!!! (Oh, the director of the preschool was dressed as Cruella Devil, and all the teachers were dressed as dalmatians! Wyatt was so excited to tell me his teacher, Mrs. Albrecht, was a firehouse dog!)

 Then they headed into the Big Room to do a little Halloween concert for us! They'd been practicing songs all month long, and he never let one slip! I didn't hear any of the songs they were going to sing, and Wyatt's a pretty big singer. He sings when he's playing, but I think maybe these songs were still a little unfamiliar still. But regardless, they sang the cutest songs!!! He's quite the little performer!

 And here is his class, minus one of the girls!

 After the concert, it was time for them to enjoy the rest of their morning without parents. They played games, ate yummy treats, and got lots of goodies!! He just loves school and I just love that!!

Pumpkin Fun

 Oh remember my sweet baby punkins from back in the day!! Goodness, they were so precious and cute!! They still are, but in such different ways. Some moments I wish I could rewind to this phase in life, but then I think about how I never slept- like EVER- and I'm very happy we are living in= the moment we are now!! But seriously, the cuteness in these pictures is too much!!

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Now that the boys have very strong opinions about pretty much everything, Grant knew from day 1 of even mentioning the word pumpkin, that he wanted his to be a stormtrooper. I found (what I thought to be!) an easy template on Pinterest so he picked out his pumpkin accordingly. Wyatt was a little less decisive, so we had to scour pinterest for a bit before he decided on an Angry Birds pig. But when we held it up to his pumpkin, it wouldn't fit, so he settled for smiley Lego guy face. 

I don't know what it is, but I always seem to pick the pumpkins with the hardest, thickest rind, or maybe I'm just a total wimp. Or maybe it's the fact that Levi and I usually tag team on this task. Either way, these pumpkins were HARD to carve!!! It took me almost 2.5 hours to gut, carve, and clean up everything! And my arm was soooo tired!!!

But I have to say, I think they turned out pretty darn awesome and the boys loved them too!! Since we didn't actually stay at our house to trick or treat, I put in an electric tea light and left them on the porch, but we forgot to look at them all lit up. So while we never got to enjoy their magical glow, we got to enjoy their orangey goodness in a kitchen for the entire day of Halloween! And I got to enjoy sore arm muscles the next day! :)

Little Hoopsters

Grant's turn for basketball is here!! After watching Wyatt play for 4 weeks, this guy was excited for his turn!! I wasn't sure what he would really think of it, since he's not too fond and working on the same thing over and over again, especially if he's not too good at it. And since this isn't a game league, just a practice league, I knew there would be a lot of drills. But he was excited for his first practice!!! 

He's learned how to dribble with both hands, which he is pretty darn fantastic at!! He can dribble in circles, back and forth, and all around without looking! He's learned how to do jump stops- which was very very hard for him at first. To see him try and try made me very proud! He's worked on passing, pivoting, playing offense and defense, and rebounding! He's got all the basics about down! He still needs a little more oomph behind his shot, as he's not quite clearing the rim yet, but he hit the rim twice today, so he's almost there!! 

He's only got one more week, and I'm not sure what his sports future holds- it's really hard to tell if he truly likes it or not, but the fact that he's working hard, trying his best, and gaining strengths each week is awesome to watch!! So proud of you Grant!!

Pictures Before Pictures

Every year, about this time of year, we find a beautiful fall backdrop for our family pictures! Even though Levi isn't here, I knew I'd regret not getting the boys pictures taken! Afterall, I'm a sucker for comparison pictures year to year!! So when I found out one of the photographers I've used in the past was doing mini-sessions, I jumped!! Yesterday was a pretty warm day for fall, but the trees and colors were just amazing!! I was on picture taking overload, I couldn't stop! I managed to get a few pictures before our pictures! Can't wait to see how the real pics turn out!!!

Enchanted Forest

Halloween. Such a magical time in childhood. I have so many memories from so many Halloween nights! One thing I remember is going through the Haunted Forest at Sar Ko Park. Each year that thing scared the pants off me, and yet I still remember it as a fond memory! (But it probably has a little something to do with why I don't watch scary movies to this day!). So when Sar Ko Park decided to change it to the Enchanted Forest quite some time ago, I knew we had to go to it!!! After our disappointment with no hayrides at the cider mill, the top thing on their list was the hayride!! But there were many many other awesome things!!! 

So we gathered our Star Wars gang and hit up The Enchanted Forest at Sar Ko Park!

 First up was pumpkin decorating! They spent quite some time decorating their very own pumpkin!

 And then it was time to head over to the hayride line before it got outrageously long! The tractors drove around a grassy area of the park where there were lots of lighted displays, just like a drive thru Christmas light display but with Halloween decorations. It was so cute!! I'm pretty sure if Levi were there, he would've come home with a new light obsession!!

 

We continued our walk around the park and saw a magician, song little concerts and plays, an awesome flame thrower- the boys were mesmerized by him! Wyatt said that was his favorite part. As this guy kept swallowing fire, Wyatt kept saying, "How is he doing that?!?!" Truly amazed! We ventured over the bouncy houses and snack lines. The bouncy houses were crazy crowded and the long lines allowed them to only get into one bounce house the whole night, but they still loved it!!

It was a beautiful night, spent with the cousins and Mimi and PawPaw making lots of fun Halloween memories!!!

(PS- seeing the trees lit up all around the park made me oh so anxious for Christmas!!) 

Louisburg Cider Mill

To make our fun Fall experience complete, we had to make a trip to Louisburg Cider Mill! I had the genius idea to go one afternoon during the week to hopefully avoid the crowds and enjoy the Cider Mill without the millions of people. Well, we definitely avoided the crowd, but we also missed out on many of the fun things the Cider Mill has to offer because we went during the week. But it was a beautiful day shared with friends, so it was all worth it!

We found a day that Christine and Ace could join us, so after a quick lunch, we headed out to the Cider Mill. I almost didn't recognize it without the millions of cars in the parking lot, so I had high hopes for a fun adventure! We saw the cider making, and took in the delicious smells!! The boys definitely had a one track mind though, so after our quick cider glimpse, we headed out to the play area. As we went to get our tickets, my heart sank as I saw the jumpy pillow was NOT inflated!! Grant was crushed!! That was really the only thing he was truly looking foward too! So we tried to make the most of it and head over to the other playscapes! 

They soon forgot their disappointment and enjoyed the things we could do! Of course, after playing for quite a while, they were ready to rest their feet on a hayride, but disappointment #2- they were only running hayrides for the field trips there! Luckily, I had one more idea in my arsenal get them over that disappointment- the BIG slide!! This kept them happily playing for quite some time!!

So after our fun play time adventures, we were all thirsty but our mouths were watering for apple cider donuts of course!! No trip to the cider mill would be complete without a dozen donuts!! 

So while we had a few disappointments, we enjoyed a fun fall experience!! Although next year, I guess I'll just have to brave the crowds because really, who doesn't love a good jumpy pillow playtime?!?

T-Rex with the Westfalls

Nothing like spending a great day with your best friends we don't get to see as often as we would like to! When we found out the Westfall family was heading our way, we were sooo excited!! They had big plans while they were here, so we were happy they were able to spend an afternoon with us! Luke just celebrated his 5th birthday, so what better place for us to celebrate together than the T-Rex Cafe!

Right after Grant got out of school, we headed up to the Legends! (I'm so thankful he's in half day K!!!) The kids all greeted each other with hugs and squeals!! Like no time had passed!! We ordered our food and then made our way around the restaurant, chatting and playing along the way! After lunch, they ran around outside like the fun and crazy children they are, and then we decided to head back in to dig for fossils and mine for gold. I'm pretty sure we were at T-Rex for 3 hours!!

We love these dear friends so much!! In Enid, we got so used to weekly (sometimes daily!) playdates, so waiting months on end to see each other is super hard! So times like this make us so thankful we have such wonderful friends to play with and chat with and make memories with!!

We love you Westfall family and can't wait to plan another adventure soon!!!

This little sweetie pie has a piece of my heart, that's for sure!!!