Halloween 2015

A friend from church has given us pumpkins the past couple of years but this is the first year we decided to carve one!

 This is my favorite...Carter concentrating with his tongue out and Cooper dancing like a crazy man.

 It was messy and fun and we'll do it again! 

 Two Optimus Primes and a ninja. We didn't know what they were going to be until the afternoon. We have so many costumes in the dress up box that we just told them to pick one:) 

 It was pretty chilly and windy so they didn't last too long but they sure brought home a load of treats!

October Highlights

Mustache Night at Awana! The boys have LOVED being involved in the Awana program this year! My good friend Allie now volunteers with me with the 5th and 6th grade girls. Never a dull moment in that room:)

Cooper and Isaac after school one day: "Hey Isaac, let's run and pretend that girls are chasing us!"

Enjoying a fall day. We have had such great weather!!

The boys were visited at school by the fire department and they came home insisting that we do a fire drill. They all hopped out of the window. There were some scrapes and it was crazy but they were very insistent!

"The Spark Ship". Good thing Amazon always sends their packages in extra large boxes:) Endless fun.

The boys had a couple of days off from school for NDEA and I took them to the Pumpkin Patch with some friends. Good times!

Tim was in NYC for a week with Cru. When he got back we took the boys to Cherry Berry to celebrate our reunion and he showed them pictures on his phone. It is always so good to have him back home!

Stillwater Sparks Come to the GF

 The Sparks made the 5 hour trek up north to hang out with our crazy family! We had beautiful fall weather and loved the company! 

 Who is goofier, Gramps or Cros? The jury is still out!

 One-on-one reading! 

 The boys got lots of story time with Mimi!

 Saturday morning the boys both had soccer games and each scored a goal! Then we came home to a Hawkeye game...and victory. But I didn't get pictures of those events. So here is a pic of the boys doing what they do. Random costumes and sword fighting! 

 I took Mimi out for a late birthday pedi. Girls Afternoon Out!!!

 On Saturday night we celebrated Crosby's birthday...again! He had been begging for a 2nd party because "Carter ALWAYS gets 2 parties". Well there you go, Cros. Dreams do come true!

Crosby's August-October 2015 Update

The college students LOVE Crosby:) 

 Chilling at our staff retreat! 

Cros: "Mom, can I wear this to bed...please??!" 

Me: "No hon"

Cros: "Awwww man!"

 There is a pedestrian bridge that crosses the Red River near our house. Crosby calls it "his favorite bridge" and asks to bike there often and throw bread out for the ducks.  

 "Mom, can I play baseball with this?" (zucchini)

 "Mom, will you take my picture?!" He was especially excited to hold a light saber with Elsa for some reason:) 

Cheese!

 Cruising on his strider bike. 

 Cros had his annual eye check-up and they said it looked great and we don't have to come back for another 2-3 years! 

He has been loving seek and find books lately.

Singing while playing

 And of course, selfies with mom! I've been loving all the extra alone time with Crosby this fall. He is so easy and wants to jump in and help me with laundry, cleaning, baking, etc. We played house the other day and I was the baby. I got to take a 15 minute nap! Life is good:)

Crosbyisms from the past 3 months:

-After I was singing along to a song Cros said:
"Mom, what is wrong with your brain?"
Me: "What???"
Cros: "You are acting sooo crazy!"

-At his 4 year check-up he weighed 46 pounds (97%) and was 3'7" (93%). Big boy!

-He loves to comb his hair after getting out of the shower.

-After his last hair cut, Cros cried for 2 days every time he looked in the mirror:(

-He loves play dates with Mason during the week. 

Carter's August-October 2015 Update

Wearing Tim's t-shirt from when he was in elementary school!

 My freckle-faced, muscular, athletic, smart, intense Carty man! 

 Hats and face paint. Carter still will dress up from time to time but not as much as he used to. 

Viking Pride awards!

 Gigi's wig! This picture totally cracks me up!!!

 Carter lost his front two teeth just days apart from each other.

Carter's little ditty. He sings this random song all the time.

Carterisms from the past 3 months:

-Tim cuts the boys hair and typically just uses clippers and trims them up. This past time Carter asked for hair like a "DJ-long on top and short on the sides". Tim asked Carter if he knew what a dj did. Carter replied: "No, but they seem cool!" No idea where he got that from.

-"Mom, how do you always know when I have to go potty? That must be your superpower!"

-While driving: "Mom, did you use your blinker? I always have to remind Tim to use his." Mr. responsible:)

-"Dad is the best in the west! And the east!"

-When I pick Carter up from school he is usually holding his student teacher's hand. She happens to be young and very cute:)

-Carter is progressing very quickly with his reading, spelling and math. He loves school so much!

-He also loves piano.