Prepping for Halloween

His "template" for Nick to recreate on the actual pumpkin. 

With some leftover pumpkin seeds, the kids "planted" them in the yard. 

Finished products.

Shenanigans

With Teddy becoming more aware of his surroundings and the goings on of his brother and sister, playtime around here has gotten crazy funny and a little more daring for all. But at the same time, I'll find them all nestled together in a fort they've built, reading books to each other and giggling like best of friends. 

While Mom's Away...

My neighbor so kindly invited me to her beach house in Myrtle Beach a couple weekends ago for a girls weekend away. We ate delicious food, relaxed at a spa, laughed over bottles of wine and best of all - got to sleep in for a couple days! Nick was on daddy duty, so by the time I got back Sunday afternoon, he was thrilled to pass over the baton! 

This Week

Early this week, we had Max's first parent-teacher conference at school. According to his teacher, he is a very neat and quiet worker who completes his assignments on time. He does need to work on his sight word recognition and expressing his feelings in class. I'd say we were more than pleased with the report. Here is a picture of a self portrait hanging in the hallway. 

We took a trip to Target to get a couple birthday gifts for some upcoming parties and pick out our Halloween costumes. Along the way, we tried on a few crazy wigs that kept us laughing the whole night. 

I'm off for a girl's weekend tomorrow to Myrtle Beach with some friends from our neighborhood. So, pray for Nick as this is the first time he'll have all three kids for longer than 48 hours. By the way, he's already asked when I'll be coming home!

At 15 Months...

...he refuses to sit in the bath seat and stand the whole time. No longer are baths relaxing.

But, I do get a cute view every once in awhile!

 

...everything still goes in his mouth. When does this end again? 

...hide and seek is easy when you're this size.

Speaking of size - at Teddy's 15 month doctor appointment he weighed in at 23 lbs, 6 oz (75%) and 32" tall (90%). Oh, and his head was in the 95%.

For giggles, here are Violet and Max (with a picture here) at 15 months old.

Nick's Birthday Weekend

Nick's 34th birthday was this past Friday and to celebrate we had a low key and fun weekend with the kids. The weekend started with early morning presents before work and school. 

Max's homemade card - a birthday cake picture.

We made a chocolate cake for Nick during the day, but the kids weren't happy about having to wait till the birthday boy came home.

Later that night, we roasted hot dogs (after a full dinner of sushi and cake) over the new fire pit in our backyard.

Saturday morning we took a ride to the zoo. 

While at the zoo, Max and Nick wanted to live on the wild side and braved a tall obstacle course.

Walking across the rope bridge.

Teddy got a little tired of watching the big boys on the course, so he took a little snooze in the stroller (here he was just pretending to rest, but later did pass out).

Sunday morning the boys started piling up more wood for the fire pit.

Our weekend ended Sunday night with Nick's annual turkey dinner and plenty of football to watch.

Happy birthday, Nick!! We love you more and more each day.

Phone Photos

Our first visit to a local children's museum where we met up with Sophia and Sara Hall (old friends of Nick's from Cincinnati) and coincidentally bumped into our neighbors, too.

Ready for the road.

My favorite (and apparently Teddy's, too) fall food - my mom's chili recipe.

My boys and their cars. 

French braids have never looked so cute. 

Max's flag football team. 

Trying to decide which princess to be for Halloween.

Hard to see, but this was a shot of Teddy's "Rod Stewart" hair. 

Who needs spoons for yogurt when hands are much easier.

Real men push pink shopping carts.