The Halloween Zoo

Our giraffe and elephant had a grand time on Halloween. We went to a little party on our street and then trick-or-treated. Andrew was less than pleased that he had his pumpkin filled with candy that he couldn't eat. Hunter has been under the weather all weekend, but was feeling better for Halloween.

Green Acres Farm

Last weekend Nathan was gone on a youth retreat. Saturday morning I took the boys to Green Acres Farm. I definately recommend going if you are local. There were many things to do, especially because it was the weekend. It was an added bonus that the boys got in for free.

Hunter climbed on and in bulldozers, backhoes, tractors and a fire truck. Several times he asked me with the most serious look on his face, why the equipment wasn't moving. He was quite disappointed to find out that none of them moved. They had inflatables which is Hunter's absolute favorite activity right now. Both boys played in the sand, climbed through tunnels in the hay and loved the hayride. I'm loving the fall weather where it feels marvelous to be outside.

brothers.

There's no other love like the love for a brother.

There's no other love like the love from a brother.

~Astrid Alauda

These 2 love doing everything together. I'm thankful that they are close in age and the same gender to enjoy playing with similar things. Yes, it often ends up in screaming or tears on both ends. But they love each other so much.

Pumpkins

Why it's impossible to get a good picture of 2 boys:

my beautiful mess.

Oh, what a great picture you drew Hunter. I see circles and ...

it's on our bedroom WALL with a SHARPIE?

A few weeks ago when Mimi and Bapa were here, Hunter slept in our room since the guest bed in his room. One night we heard a few loud noises so I went upstairs to check on him. This is what I found. Sharpie (don't ask me how he found it) marker on our wall, all over his bed, and on one of my cream pillow shams. Needless to say we were not very happy. He knows and will tell you that you only draw on paper.

Later that night, I was laughing at the fact that he drew on the wall. (This is the last room in the entire house not painted, otherwise I wouldn't have been laughing so soon.) It's just funny-paint will cover it and why stay mad. I'm working on laughing at things more. Still not loving the fact that my pillow sham was ruined.

A few days later I was reading a caringbridge site of a little boy who was born 15 weeks early, was in the nicu and was barely hanging on. The dad wrote about how he wanted to be able to get mad at his son, he actually wanted him to DRAW ON THE WALL so he could have something to get mad about. That would mean that he survived. Wow, that was great perspective. Yes, our children need to learn right from wrong, but we need to teach that and not dwell on the wrong. So the drawing on my wall is my beautiful mess. A mess I will soon have to paint over, but beautiful because I am blessed with two children. That dad just lost his son. I pray that I can take this lesson to heart and be a grace filled mom remembering who extended me grace first.

State Fair.

I was so proud of Hunter for riding these rides. He did the one above by himself and it went faster than expected. He had a slightly worried/happy/confused look on his face. We rode monster trucks together and I was not a fan, but he loved it.

We went to the NC Great State Fair on Monday. We haven't been in several years, so it was fun to go back. Hunter was quite overwhelmed at first and then he wanted to get out and explore and of course, ride some rides. The new, "hot" item at the fair was a Krispy Kreme hamburger. We are glad to tell you that we didn't try it.

*who forgets to take their camera to the fair? oh, i do.

Andrew's birthday party

We had a family party for Andrew's birthday this year. It worked out perfectly that Mimi and Bapa were in town so my family joined us for a little celebration. Andrew loved opening his presents and quickly caught on to the idea of new books and toys. (Hunter loved opening and playing with Andrew's toys also!) Andrew loved his birthday cupcake-especially the icing!

fall festival.

I love this-he is holding his hand out to get more tickets. Thank you Bapa!

We went to a fall festival that was held at the school nearby. Unfortunately Mimi couldn't go with us because she was sick, but Bapa enjoyed watching our active boy bounce and slide on the inflatables. Hunter appeared to be one of the only 2 yr olds around and he didn't mind one bit. The slide that he was sliding on by himself was enormous, and he wanted to do it over and over. The last time he had a chance to get inside a fire truck he was nervous and didn't want to get in. This time, he hopped right in and was ready to ride.