Happy Haunting

Painting Pumpkins at Wheeler Farm with my awesome MOPS Group.A wagon ride at Wheeler Farm again with some of the other moms from my MOPS Group.Lucas had his Halloween parade at school and was so happy that mom got to stay and watch him show off his costume to all his friends. The kids each got a turn to stand up and let their classmates try and guess what they were and when it came time for Lucas he stood up and immediately declared "I'm G.I. Joe" so as there could be no mistaking what he was.

The night before Halloween we stuck to our tradition and carved pumpkins as a family. Steve and I were in charge of the actual carving and Lucas was in charge of picking out all the pumpkin seeds so that mom could season them and bake them. Yummy. Landon just kind of ran around the kitchen getting into everything.

Halloween night we had grandma and grandpa McCormack as well as my best friend Kristin and two of her kids - Colton and Gracie - over for homemade chili before heading out into the night for trick-or-treating. It was the perfect evening for collecting candy and after a couple of hours we headed home to hand out candy to the few kids that were still going strong.

Fall is in the Air

As soon as the first leaves started to fall off the trees the boys were so excited to get outside to play in them. We first tried to tell them that there were not enough leaves to jump in but that did not stop them from raking up a little pile and entertaining themselves for the afternoon. Even once we had large piles to jump in the thought of me or Steve going for a dive was absurd....we may break a bone or throw our backs out of place or something. I know that to Lucas and Landon the piles seem like mountains - at times I have to remind my self how big things seemed when we were that small. Needless to say we felt sort of guilty when we finally raked up all the leaves and bagged them but just as I forgot how big things may seem to kids; I also forgot how many more leaves were yet to fall......Landon is turning into quit the little chatter box already. He loves hanging out and playing with his friend Gracie. As soon as we drop Lucas off at preschool he starts calling out Gracie's name. If we head straight home he starts crying "Bye-bye Seesee". She is about 6 months older than him and when combined they can cause a lot of mischief. A couple of weeks ago while hanging out at Gracie's house they both got into the lotion while I was gone and then when I got back they got into the hand soap which they had all over the bathroom floor, their clothes and Landon's hair. Last week while hanging out at our house they got into Sarah's purse and got a hold of her lipstick that she loves because it lasts all day....well it lasted all day all over both of their faces. The two looked like they had birth marks all over their faces. :) They eat together. They play together.

They sleep together.

The last couple of weeks have also been busy with soccer practice and games. Lucas had his last soccer game of the season on Halloween day when he scored 2 goals. I am not sure what it was about that particular game but Lucas played the entire game with a drive and determination that I had not seen in him before. It was so much fun to watch and all of his teammates were so excited for him. We learned we may not have the same coach come the spring season because his son is getting bumped up to an older league and so Steve and I may be the new coaches. I will keep you informed..... Since last week Lucas only wants me to shop at the Smith's by our house from now on because they have the cute little carts that he can push. Of course I know that I will not be taking Landon there anytime soon as he is too little to control the carts and I don't see that as being very productive. Lucas was pretty cute pushing the cart around, putting the groceries in the basket and then scanning the items in the self check-out lane. He was so proud of himself and had the biggest smile on his face the whole time. Just a little something I have been wanting to write down so I remember it...when Lucas gets home from school he has been practicing writing his letters and writing his name. Well last week when I was on the phone with my friend Sarah he said he wanted to talk and so he told her he was writing his whole name all by his self. I heard her say "I am so proud of you Lucas" to which he replied "I know I am so proud of myself." Priceless.
Mug Shots - sometimes the boys ask me to take their picture......

and other times I can't get them to hold still long enough to get one shot.

These pictures were taken at Gardner Village where every year in October they have about 20 witches placed throughout the grounds. Each year we choose our favorite witch and the one in the boat was the winner this year.

OK - one more thing I have been wanting to write down. A couple of weeks ago when we were outside playing and an airplane flew over our house Lucas said "I don't really like flying in airplanes, jets or helicopters..........I only like flying kites."

Pumpkin Patch

Last week Steve and I decided to stop by a local flower shop that was advertising for their pumpkin sale and ended up hanging out there with the boys for a couple of hours!! They had a tractor that the boys loved playing on, a pirate ship with an upper deck, a hay maze and lots of other stuff for the kids to climb on and the best part was that it was FREE. They did have signs up that said if you enjoyed playing in their gardens to please consider buying a pumpkin from them which of course we bought two for a total of $16. I know - WOW!! They were very proud of those pumpkins and now so are we. We just can't wait to cut into them. :)

Lucas insisted on getting a picture with this scary Dracula guy and Landon insisted on being in the picture with his brother.

Oktoberfest

A couple of weeks ago we went up to Little Cottonwood Canyon at Snowbird to enjoy the last day of Oktoberfest. Even though the temperature was a little low it was a beautiful day none the less. The kids enjoyed the bounce houses and we bought a ticket for Lucas to do the bungee trampoline but he decided he would wait til next year to do that so we gave his ticket away. Both the boys enjoyed watching the Yo-Yo man and listening to the festive music. I always enjoy checking out the local shops and vendors and filling up on yummy pumpkin flavored beer.

Landon really did enjoy the bounce houses and had a fit when his time was up and mom had to go in and drag him out.

Of course now he wears the hat that goes with his costume from last Halloween. Lets just hope he is this gung hoe about the monkey hat for this years costume. ;)

If he doesn't like the monkey costume he could always just wear moms shoes for Halloween.

Or he could just wear nothing....

I'm not real sure why some days Landon would just prefer to wear nothing. He makes me cold just looking at him.

One Fall Day

A couple of weeks ago we took a drive up Little Cottonwood Canyon to see the changing of the leaves and ended up seeing more white than red, orange or yellow. That's right SNOW!!! I am not a big fan of the snow and cold but maybe that is because I really don't have a winter sport I thoroughly enjoy. I still try to get out and run as often as I can in the winter but sometimes that can be a bit treacherous with the snow and ice. Before we had the boys Steve and I started getting into snow shoeing and each year I say I will get back out there and do it.....so maybe this year. I would also like for Lucas to try skiing since we have some of the best ski resorts right in our back yard. I never learned how to ski so maybe we could learn together and I could grow to appreciate winter a little bit more.

Anyways...when we told Lucas we were going for a drive up the canyon he immediately suggested we take his fishing pole so he could do some fishing. Even though the creek was running pretty low and mom and dad were pretty sure we wouldn't be catching much of anything (not to mention the rocks and snowballs thrown into the water to scare the fish away) Lucas still went out there and gave it his all.