Tag Archives: Halloween

Autumn Little Big Things…

8 Nov

Little things are big,  and what make life memorable.  Here are some of the little things about my kids that are memorable to me the past few months:

M.J.ready to sparr

  • M has been loving playing football.  It is pretty fun to see him catch a 20 yard pass and then see that look on his face. So proud and a little shocked (I caught it!)
  • M went to his first Tae Kwon Do tournament and got 4th place in forms and 3rd place in sparring. Both him and his Dad loved the experience overall.  I am looking forward to seeing the next one, which will be closer to home. (see short video of practicing form here, or longer video of tournament sparring here)
  • M got Student of the Month in October for being artistic/creative. Then he also got a sudden interest in playing electric guitar again.
  • Today Neil joined M for lunch at his school and it was a surprise. I am not sure who had more fun, M or his Dad.  When the kids talk you into staying for recess, you know it is good.
  • It is really fun to see him really learning how to read words and be so excited about school.
B.T.B on a hayride
  • I have been enjoying some time w/B in the mornings, on the laptop next to me, after M leaves for school and before CJ wakes up.  He likes to wake up early, then “rest in my office” with his blankie for a bit.  I like my  new office-mate.
  • I love first drawings.  B’s faces and family drawings are fun.  Big eyes, big smiles, lots of legs.
  • B has had mid-night wakings lately that result in “Daaaad” being yelled from upstairs.  Dad (or mom) goes upstairs and then he says”I just want you to lay by me.” or “I want you”. Sleepy parents usually abide, but in the meantime a bad habit has begun.  Sleeping by a cuddly kid who wants you to sleep by him, though, is not all that bad.
  • B knows how to talk the talk.  His says some pretty “big” things and his dad says “his negotiating skills have improved.” huh.
  • So he loves to Dance and Sing, he particularly likes Go Fish and a kids Halloween CD (yes all year round).  But if his mom dances or sings *too much* with him, he says “Stop Mom!” Yes he already thinks his mom is embarrassing.
  • Preschool is oozing out of this kid, he is learning so much and growing so smart.
C.J.kitty cat learns how to say trick or treat
  • She learned how to say “trick or treat” by the end of Halloween night.  She also protected her furry pink pumpkin candy holder all night until bedtime.  She then transferred all the candy to her purse, and then proceeded to try to hide her purse under her crib.
  • We are working on all of our words.  She says some words, but many others are a bit backwards or all sound like “daa” or “dis” or “joose”  or “uck” or “um”.  I have to remind her to practice all the time, “can you say [insert any random word here that CJ thinks is pronounced  "diiiis" or "aaaaaak"]?.  Maybe every word needs to have the excitement of “Trick or treat” with it for her to learn it faster.
  • We have been working on potty training, mostly when we see the look that a #2 is coming, we rush to the bathroom.  She knows the drill now because she will look at me smile, hold her hand out (grab it mom) then totally get into the mad rush to the bathroom. She is doing pretty good but we are not pushing it real hard.
  • Although she loves to try dressing herself (likes pulling up her own pants!), she likes to make it a challenge for me to get her dressed, usually escaping mid-way with giggles half naked.  The funny part, if I want to take the easy way out, I just pass the chore on to her Dad, which she will run to (instead of away) to get dressed.
Other fun stuff:
  • We went to Nelson Farm with Grandma Kathy and saw all kinds of farm animals, climbed haystacks, and went on all kinds of wagon rides.  Kids all fell asleep on the way home.
  • Halloween is one of our favorite holidays.  The kids get so excited about it that the decorations go out around Oct. 1.  The kids were Darth Vader, a Ninja, and a kitty.  The kids got a couple rounds of trick or treating in, as well as a full dose of handing out candy at our house and seeing all the other spooky and silly costumes.
  • Neil turned 36.  I had no idea that putting all those candles (an entire box) on a cake would make such a waxy, smoky mess.
  • I am a new Aunt!  Joe and Amanda had baby Nolan Hendrix! And the baby has some very proud cousins, especially when Darth Vader so little Yoda sleeping on Halloween.
halloween crew

Pumpkin Patches, Scarecrows, Snow!

14 Nov

It’s 10:01pm on a Saturday night, and the house is totally silent, except for the hum of the furnace. At least 2 out of 3 kids are sleeping, and I think Neil is sleeping in M’s room after a botched attempt at having the boys “sleep in mom and dad’s room”. CJ has been a little down today, I think because of that bit white thing trying to poke thru her bottom left gum, that looks like a molar.

Sometimes this is what it takes to "Clean House".

Another busy month has gone by. Today, was the first snow of the season that stayed on the ground all day. Both M and B were outside at 8am ready to play. It was so awesome to see that total first snow excitement in them. It was a very wet and slippery snow, and when each of them first stepped on the deck, they both fell on their butts. B was not happy about this (and did not have snow pants on) and insisted on changing pants that instant. Luckily I also talked him into putting his snow pants on then too. Even though there was not a ton of snow, they each had a blast going outside on numerous occasions. Neil also got some Christmas decorations on the house so they helped some with that.

Just a week ago, we were outside without coats. Neil was hunting and the kids and I had the most awesome bonding weekend together. On Saturday, M played pumpkin bowling, which turned into pumpkin basketball, which turned into pumpkin smashing, and then pumpkin cleanup. We also spent a lot of time cooking and making snacks, mostly out of a Kids Disney cookbook they got for Christmas a couple years ago…. we made a couple desserts (including birthday cake) and Power Up Pasta and Meatballs. M picked out all the recipes, and B would help me make them. Then the boys scrounged them up….. On Sunday we went out to Diamond to celebrate Neil’s birthday with him since he was hunting that weekend. The boys have been getting more into drawing and coloring lately, and made him some really awesome birthday cards. It was so cute, to see how M treated his dad on his birthday, especially later that night…. talk about VIP service. “Dad, you know, you can do anything you want on your birthday! Dad, do you want to do this….?” An un-planned gift from the kids to Neil is the game “Plants vs. Zombies” although this was probably more of a gift for M. After getting hooked on the trial version this summer, it seemed to jump right out at us (like a Zombie would) as a fun gift. Speaking of Zombies and spooks….

Then just a week before that, was HALLOWEEN. My boys live for Halloween. In fact, when we got the Christmas lights out this weekend, B kept saying they were spooky…. Halloween weekend (especially Saturday) was another gorgeous weekend. The kids and I made some scarecrows with leaves and old clothes and Halloween masks. They were all setup for trick or treaters, and one looked creepy and the other one was a little silly. Neil had spooky music playing and we had the front garden set up like a little cemetery. I think our decorations actually kept some kids from trick-or-treating at our house, once it got dark. My Mario (who almost reverted to his last years Batman costume at the last-minute) Scooby Doo Vampire, and Bumble Bee were adorable. Of Course, CJ was a little confused as to why we had her dress so silly, but in a couple of years it will probably be a favorite holiday of hers too.

Another fun October activity that we did was the Nelson Farm. The kids and I went with Grandma Kathy. B loved the baby chicks and after holding them for a few minutes, he thought he was going to take one home. CJ also loved the animals, and gave the rooster and pretty funny look and it cockadoodle-doo’d at her. They had giant haystacks setup and M and B climbed and jumped for what seemed like forever. All the kids got their face painted, and it was so cute when CJ looked in the mirror and saw hers. She loved it and looked so proud. It was priceless. Then it started to get really windy and cold towards the end,but at least we had already gotten some fun in at that time. I always know it is good, when the boys both say on the way home “Can we go there again sometime Mom?”

Attack of Brodzilla

17 Nov

Brodzilla, as we so lovingly call him, has taken over the house with his terrible 2 ways. He has instantly taken over the role as the middle child, and comedian. Here are just a few of the animal’s wild and funny ways:

-He makes such a mess around the house, and TRIES to clean up after himself. This has led to an obsessive compulsive relationship with cleaning tools such as a wash cloth, vacuum or broom. He will go around wiping all the crumbs off any surface (onto the floor) walks around the house swinging a broom around, INSISTS on vacuuming for at least 20 minutes, etc.

-He loves monsters and spooky stuff. Everything says RAWR to him, with spooky hands in the air and fingers moving for a dramatic scary effect. Yes, even cute little furry animals like bunnies say RAWR!

-Today he attacked the vaseline. He sees me put it on my lips every morning, and decided to take a couple huge gobs and spread it all over his face. Luckily I caught him before he touched much.

-After the vaseline incident, he then pulled a stool up to the bathroom sink where he turned the water on and wanted to play in the water/sink with my breast pump parts. This would not be so bad, if they were not suppose to be sanitary and there was nothing at risk if he lost or broke a part. I substituted a water cup for a breast pump bottle, and he acted as if I took away a birthday present…[insert tantrum here]

This masked crusader is ready to rid the world of crime and suckers.

-We went out for coffee this morning with Grandma while M was at school. John gave him a sucker, which I should have waited to unwrap…When we were ready to go, he still had a lot of sucker left and a huge mess. We thought had him talked into “saving” the sucker for later in a ziploc bag so we could go. As soon as I zipped up the bag, he threw a huge fit in the middle of the coffee shop, thru himself down on the floor, and cried with a purple “can’t breath” kinda face. This was one of the first times Grandma had seen such a fit from him…. and needless to say, he got his sucker back, this time.

Too independent for bibs, boosters or sippy cups! Hello Mess!


-B is also a pocket gopher. He likes to store food or drink in his mouth, then just spit it out when you least expect it. Today he did it with juice. He especially likes to do it with grapes and granola bars. Oh and today I found half of a sandwich in my plant. Maybe he is trying to store his food for later, kind of like that annoying little red squirrel in our backyard.

-B has been rocking on the potty. Out of nowhere really, he has been telling us when he has to go #2, and going #1 whenever he takes a seat. We are still in diapers, but are super impressed with his potty progress. Big brother has been a HUGE help with this.

-He has been getting his own water from the fountain on the fridge for quite a while. I thought he understood how it worked, until today, when I heard him from the other room in a cry of distress. I have heard this cry before when his leg is caught somewhere, or he is holding on for dear life from falling from a chair or something. Here he was, cup under the faucet, pushing the button to get water. It was over flowing all over the floor, and his pants were all wet in the front, and his sweatshirt all wet in the back. SOAKED. I had to pull his arm from the fridge, as he was in shock from the water, but did not move to stop the water from soaking him… it was really quite hilarious.

Mav took this pic, so I cannot explain it other then, it is a good example of Brodzilla's ways.

-The afternoon wrapped up with a crabby B flipping his chair down on its back, as he likes to do when he is trying to express himself in a destructive way. What he did very wrong though was that the back of the chair hit CJ. So I freaked out, then he proceeded to flip the other 2 chairs on their back, yell at me in the same tone that I yelled at him, then tried to bite me through my jeans. [TIME OUT].

- Neil said tonite that B reminded him of a NOID…. not sure if that means in a hyper, goofy, pizza-loving kind of way? Which BTW, a couple weeks ago, while Neil was hunting, the boys and a got a large pepporoni pizza from Pizza Ranch for dinner. We finished all but 2 pieces (Mav had 4 pieces, I had 3, and Brody had 3). Then, the next morning, each boy had another piece of pizza for breakfast after a bowl of cereal. I told them that their Dad would be proud.

Proud Big Brother


-He SO loves his baby sister. Always wants to hold her, giving her kisses, sharing his blanket. We went to open play at the school yesterday, and when the teacher asked M about his baby sister, B proudly spoke up so and said ” Ma sista too” or something like that. He was proud, and put his hands to his chest, like she was HIS.

Oh my Brodzilla, you do keep my life interesting and full of laughs….

Treasures of the day

27 Oct

M had a big day at school today. I had read in the preschool newsletter about how they were using the partner/buddy system to get kids to work together and take turns. The duo that works together the best each day gets to pick a treasure out of the treasure chest. I was asking M about it last night, if he has ever picked a present out of the treasure chest, and what him and his buddy usually play. He talked pretty lividly about it. Today he excitedly came home and said that him and his partner were picked as the best buddies of the day! He was so excited. i thought it was odd though, that he picked a sucker from the treasure chest, that had other little toys in it…Ironically Neil also ran into the other buddy and his mom and the library, where Neil heard all about it from him! Great to see some excitement about school.

We also colored some Halloween pictures for a coloring contest, well more like, color the picture, bring it in for a bag of treats. M struggles with coloring and drawing and still does not get the concept of coloring in the lines. He prefers to trace the lines with his crayon.


B continues to amaze me with his emerging personality and talking. Yesterday we went to open play at M’s school, where B got to play in the big kids preschool classroom for the first time. He was so proud to be there and to act like a big kid. His favorite part was the end when we sang the song from a book that we have re-read a billion times in the past couple weeks, called the 5 little pumpkins. Then the kids went around and sang a song with each kids name in it, and B was happy he was included. Even Lottie got sung to, although she was sleeping the whole time.

My biggest struggle right now is keeping the 2 boys from fighting, driving each other and me nuts. If only we could go outside more, wear them out, and have room to run in a warmer temp we may be OK. So we have been trying to do lots of new activities to keep them busy, like making different food, homemade clay, craft projects like ghosts to hang in the tree, painting, coloring, pounding golf tees into pumpkins, etc etc

Both boys are totally into Halloween, spooks, skeletons, and all the comes with it… they have been waiting for it for months. Well if you count wearing Halloween socks all year long, Mav has been waiting for it for the past year.

My little CJ is such a bundle of love. I will miss the feeling of my little 7-8 lb baby sleeping on my chest, as she has done so effortlessly the past couple months. She is getting bigger, stronger, longer. She is holding her head up alertly, looking around toward the boys’ noise, lights, dada’s voice. She has had hints of a smile the past couple days. She smells so wonderful. That new baby smell could make someone millions if it could be bottled. If I tallied the amount of kisses she gets throughout the day, it would probably be triple digits. She is getting a little voice, as she is “yelling” for me right now from her makeshift room…. off to cuddle.

Mav and Oz, Brod and Dada

22 Nov

Maverick & Brody had a great time feeling the inside of the slimy pumpkin and turning the lights on and off to spook themselves out...

Maverick & Brody had a great time feeling the inside of the slimy pumpkin and turning the lights on and off to spook themselves out...


Maverick watched Wizard of Oz tonight, and put his hands half over his eyes during some scary parts, like the trees in the forest. He doesn’t like watching shows that are scary (i.e. Finding Nemo never used to be but now it is). He seems so polite lately, saying “thank you” all the time, and lots of “your welcomes” too. Oh and one of my favorites, when I ask him to do something, “OK Mom!” with a cheer in his voice. Man that feels good.

Mobile Brody is slowly advancing from the army crawl to a hands and knees crawl. He has 4 buck teeth now, and I can see one popping in on the top and one on the bottom. He loves finger foods, and would prefer to eat exactly what the rest of us our eating for dinner instead of that crummy baby food.

Oh the things that Mav says… I so wish I could record them all somehow. Maybe what makes them so entertaining to me is his matter-of-fact tone and serious look on his face. Like, “mom I’m done waking up now.” and “I am too hot for my pajamas.” .. and then there are a series of them around naps, treats, and trains. Like “After I eat my cottage cheese, then I can have a halloween treat. I will dump it all out mom, not you.” Or “after I have lunch, I don’t have to take a nap anymore.” So funny… and entertaining.

And back to Brody, just like Mav, his first and favorite word at this point is Dada. He really thinks his dad is cool, not unlike his mama.fu

A Super Halloween!

31 Oct

Mav made a fantastic superman!Maverick was superman for halloween and boy did he have a blast! We quickly at pizza for supper so we could get on to the trick or treating. The trick or treaters hit our house hard and Mav enjoyed giving out candy. Our new neighborhood seems to be the place to be for halloween trick or treating. We had all we could do to get Mav’s costume on, while answering the doorbell and getting out the door before we ran out of candy. When we finally got out Mav, would ring the doorbells and then when the person would answer, he would give THEM candy. It was so cute. We visited all the grandparents and some neighbors. Mav also visited Great grandma Kaufenberg at the nursing home and sure got a lot of attention by the residents there. It was so fun, a night to remember. Maverick loved his costume, although at first it looked as though we would have a hard time getting him to wear it.
Mav was so sweet, he gave his grandma candy for trick-or-treatAll the fun of trick or treat, plus you get to eat candy?! Cool!

Pumpkin Patch and Animals too!

28 Oct

We went to the Nelson Farm in Litchfield to the Pumkpin Patch Festival. Check out the 1000 lb pumpkin that Maverick stood in. We pet all the animals and saw soo many pumpkins, and corn and all kinds of fall farm activities. Mav loved it and so did mom and dad.

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