Fall Fun

The other afternoon, Andrew had enough of being inside and told Daddy that he wanted to go out and play.  Dustin bundled him up and ventured to the back yard.

Andrew took a few passes down his slide.

And then meandered to the dormant garden searching for tomatoes.

Nothing left!

He did discover some tree seed pods.  I'm sure you've seen them before, but I have no idea which species of tree it comes from.

Andrew thought those seed pods should be placed in the area we designate to burn our brush.  So, daddy told him to throw them over there.  

Surprisingly, we still have lots of herbs that are alive and well in this cold weather.  Andrew is sniffing some sage...and doesn't think too highly of it.

All Hallow's Eve

This year's Halloween excursion fared much better compared to last year.  Last year, Andrew only made it through about 4 houses before we had to take him home.  If you remember, Andrew got upset because he was not allowed to enter stranger's houses.  Anyway, this year we teamed up with the Bellomo's and went Trick-or-Treating in their neighborhood.  The fire station had an open house and gave out candy.  

Andrew and Cole got to go inside a real fire truck!

We tried for a picture of them two together, but Andrew was more interested in his candy than posing.

This was the best they could do.

This picture was decent enough, but what you didn't see was 2 seconds later when Andrew snaked his way out of my arms crying.

Patiently waiting for someone to open their door and give out candy.

They looked pretty cute with their Halloween buckets.

Jackpot!

It was a pretty cold night and I just realized that with Andrew's jacket on you couldn't tell what he was. Andrew was an Indian and Cole was a pumpkin.

After a cold, fun-filled night of Trick-or-Treating, we retreated to the Bellomo's for some hot chocolate.  Andrew had TWO cups!

Cole enjoying his much deserved treat.

Spooky Halloween Party

Our friends, the Bellomo's, had a Halloween party tonight.  Costumes were mandatory.  There were some pretty creative and funny costumes.

Tony and Niki dressed up as a hunter and his prize doe.

We dressed up as Native Americans - to honor Dustin's heritage.  I will have to say that he looks odd as a brunette.  And although you can't tell that I am pregnant, if I was sideways you would definitely see a baby bump!

Jess and Cole were a cowgirl and cowboy - although Cole decided to take off his costume, and Jim was a vampire.

This was probably the 4th lollipop that Andrew swiped from the candy bowl.  He figured out how to take the wrapper off, so he didn't have to ask mommy or daddy for permission to eat them.

I gave Dustin my "Glamour Shots" pose.

Group shot!

I had to include the 2nd picture because of Jim.

Happy Halloween!

Meet Jack!

It's pumpkin carving time!

Andrew wanted to help daddy gut the pumpkin, but he still has an aversion to feeling "yucky" things.

He more or less pretended to scoop seeds from the outside and only touched the inside of the pumpkin if a seed was at the very top of the opening.

Mommy's turn to draw the pattern.

Andrew helped pull off pieces of the pumpkin as mommy cut them off.

Captain Hook!

He was pretending to eat the parts of the pumpkin for the camera.

Almost done!

Andrew decided to hide out under the trash bag.

More pretend eating.

The pumpkin is finished and Andrew deemed it worthy of a kiss.

And an eye poke.

Scary!

Blue or Pink?

Last Thursday we went to the doctor's to find out what we're having.  After telling myself that I would most likely have a boy (even though I wanted a girl), Jesus must have been listening to my prayers because we are having a little girl! 

More treat than trick!

Halloween is right around the corner, which means it's cookie baking time!  Nana and Papa sent a care package last week and included Halloween cookie cutters and assorted sprinkles.  Andrew was more than ready to help in the kitchen.  

Andrew loved his cookie cutters and took great pleasure in using them.  He identified all of them: ghost, pumpkin, bat and cat.

He had to take a break and consume some sprinkles for energy.

I kept telling him to say "cheese" while I took the picture, but every time he heard the click of the camera when I took a picture, he made this face.  Attractive, I know!

Yummy cookies!