Now That's a Snow Storm

We heard that snow was coming so we spent the majority of our free time this week working on the yard and getting things ready for winter. We weren't disappointed when we woke up to this sight this morning:We went out with a measuring stick and the snow came in at 12 inches. Now that's a snow storm! Daddy went out and got the snow blower up and running. We cheered him on from the front door. Good job daddy!Here we are out in the snow on our way to church today. We're supposed to get more snow tonight, tomorrow, and Tuesday.In other non-snow events of the week - we love to hide around the house when the garage door opens. Either mommy or daddy (whoever is coming home) has to wander around the house to find us. This was my newest hiding spot - it was a good one!

Sam got in on the "hiding in the bucket of balls" action.

We also did some wrestling with daddy. Boys just can't seem to get enough of wrestling!We had a little crafting time, as usual this week. We made Indian Corn. The glue should be dry tomorrow and we'll put the tops on and hang them up in our rooms.
Sam Alert: Howdy y'all. We love to play "turtles". Daddy puts beanbags on our backs and we crawl around like little turtles. Fun huh! Have a good week everyone.

A Quiet Week

Everyone has been feeling a little under the weather this week. Sam's been fighting another round of croup - keep your fingers crossed that daddy and mommy aren't out tonight walking him in the cold air.

Sam has always loved music. He loves to pull out the piano bench and start playing. This week he found a new way to make piano music . . . with his knee. It was actually pretty good.

Story time is always a favorite time of the night for us. Here we are reading The Grouchy Ladybug by Eric Carle. It's a good one!

We got in the Christmas spirit a little this weekend by watching The Polar Express movie. It combines two things we love . . . trains and Santa. We also helped with some yard work this weekend. The leaves seem to be waiting until its gets really cold to fall this year. Sam begged to rake the leaves all day . . . even after we were done. I did a little block building - I built a city with a train going around it. The building with the orange semi-circle on top is the Orange Factory - where they make oranges and orange milk . . . who knew?

Another one of our favorite things is doing Yoga with mommy. We have mastered our Downward Dog poses. Here we are doing some relaxation. Namaste. And for craft time this week we made hand print turkeys. Then we got to paint a whole turkey scene. We love crafts! Sam Alert: Hey everybody! Sam here. The title of this picture is . . . A boy and his dog. And the title of this one is . . . Following in Daddy's Footsteps. Ahh - now if I could only stop coughing. Sam out!

Adventures in Camping and the Sandbox

Ahhh - the dog days of Fall. Despite the recent snow at our house, we ended up having a really nice week weather-wise. We tried to make the most of it!

One of the fun things we get to do as annual pass holders at Thanksgiving Point is to go to different educational sessions. This week one of the Animal Crackers sessions was all about camping. We had a great time learning about the supplies you need to take on a camping trip.

We made bandannas, bracelets, looked at constellations, and - our favorite - went fishing and hiking.And we ate smores . . . . what's camping without some gooey chocolate and marshmallows!We also spent quite a bit of time out in the yard playing (while mommy and daddy did yard work). We know where our priorities are!
Sam got brave and tried out the "big boy" swings in our sandbox. He giggled the entire time. We had to remind him to hang on tight though - he had a couple of near-miss falls. He loved it!He still enjoys the "little boy" swing too. He begged to get on this one as well. It's funny to think back about how much he hated swings when he was a baby - now you just can't keep him out.One last run with our big metal trucks before they went into the warm, dry shed for the winter.
And another swing around the yard in the wagon. Good times!The last really cool thing we did this week was plant pumpkins. Daddy and mommy selected some really neat decoration-only pumpkins this year. So of course we had to break them open to see what they looked like inside before they headed to the trashcan. They were so cool, we decided to try planting some of their seeds to see if we can grown some next spring. Wish us luck!Sam Alert: Hey everyone. Mason thought he would spare you all the pictures of us after eating our smores the other day. I'm not so kind. Not surprisingly, my favorite part of a smore is the chocolate. I went through a short phase this summer of being a little nervous about slides. I'm glad to say that phase is now over and I'm a slide maniac. And I've fallen in love with one more thing this week . . . mommy's iPad. Between Mason and I, mommy hardly knows where to find it. She loaded on some great games and educational apps for us. We love this thing! We know how to work it better than she does! Sam out - catch you next week.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN

And what a Halloween it was! We took every opportunity this week to dress up in our costumes and gather candy and do Halloween things. It was a fabulous week!

First of all, however, who turned the snow on? It snowed about 7 inches of snow at our house this week (between 2 storms). This is what we woke up to on Monday and Tuesday mornings. Fortunately it was still warm enough during the days to melt everything pretty quickly - in fact too quickly for two boys who were dying to shovel the snow.And the picture we know you've been waiting for . . . we present - - - Thomas the train (Mason) and the fireman (Sam). We were very happy with our costume choices this year. In fact, Sam thinks he might actually be a fireman when he grows up and I would like to be Thomas every Halloween from now on (or so we both announced earlier tonight).

We started our week of Halloween celebrating with our usual Mommy and sons night out at Thanksgiving Point. We hit both the Dinosaur Museum and then Barnyard Boo at the Farm. It was a cold night but well worth it. In fact, we spent some quality story time at the farm with Milly the Witch (she looks very much like Polly the Scarecrow from a few weeks ago). She told stories, taught us a dance, and we did crafts with her. We really really like her!

There was face-painting, cookie decorating, a scavenger hunt, "booling", spider tosses, more crafting, and lots of other fun things to do.And of course, the usual pony ride. Sam has not participated in this traditional activity the last few times - - - he says he's scared of the ponies. We're working on him. Have you ever seen a train riding a horse?We also carved our pumpkins this week. Nothing like some gooey pumpkin guts to make some boys happy!
Then after trick-or-treating at Mommy's office on Friday, we stopped at Gardner Village to see all the witches. That was pretty fun - although it was packed with people. Here I am with my favorite witch - she was on a boat tossing dynamite into the pond.And here is Sam with his favorite witch - the fire-witch.

A few more witch pictures from the day. They were everywhere!We decided to have our big Halloween celebration on Saturday. The morning started with pumpkin pancakes - not pancakes made from pumpkin, but rather orange and green pancakes shaped like pumpkins. With whipped cream (from a spray can - our favorite) on them.
Then it was Mason's last soccer game for the season. I've had such a fun season - and a perfect first sporting season ever. My teammates and my coach were the best - a very positive experience all around. Since it was Halloween we all dressed up in costumes for the game. I didn't want to take the chance of ruining my Thomas costume so I wore an old pirate costume.The pirate costume brought out the animal in me - I scored 13 goals in the game. It was so much fun!Here I am with my coach.And me and my whole team - the Dino Squad.
Here are our finished pumpkins. Daddy picked a super cool knobbly, warty pumpkin that he turned into a witch.Mommy chose a really cool pumpkin that was surprisingly heavy. She turned it in to a pirate. Aaarrrggghhh!And here are Mason's and Sam's pumpkins all lit up on the front porch.
Today we went with daddy up to take more flowers to Grandma June's grave. We've had such pretty flowers around the garden, even with all the snow. It was a beautiful day. Sam and I have started a pine cone tradition now - every time we visit a cemetery we like to decorate the grave we're visiting with pine cones to show our love. It's like flowers, but very Mason/Sam-ish.
Sam Alert: Hey everyone - Sam here. I have loved being a fireman this week. I didn't want to take my costume off! Here I am at Mason's soccer game. I was his biggest fan! I sure can't wait until I get to play on a team. And just another cute picture of me as a fireman. I am adorable! Sam out.