Happy Halloween!

POW........ZAP........WHAM.......It's Batman!

Just as Mommy, Daddy and their two "Caped Crusaders" were heading out the door to do some trick or treating in our neighborhood, two Fairy Princesses (aka: Krista and Erika) came by. This worked out great since the girls showed Brian and Spencer exactly how the whole trick or treating thing works! After visiting one or two houses, Batman was TOTALLY into the Halloween spirit! Mommy was in charge of holding Brian's "loot bag" while she stayed back at the sidewalk. It was fun watching him go charging up to each house, get his treat, say his thank you and race back to her so that he could put his goodies into his bag. Daddy said it's going to be difficult to explain to him that we only do this once a year. Every other day of the year we do not talk to strangers or take their candy!

Tool of the Day!

No, Brian is not getting "happy gas" at the dentist office, he is modeling today's tool of the day - the MSA model 1400 OSHA approved respirator mask with dual positive flow filters (rated for 5 microns). This little number is great if you have some drywall to sand and you would prefer not to taste dust for the next 3 days. Brian also recommends this mask for anyone who happens to be changing Spencer's diapers!

How Was School?

Aunt June is out of town visiting her mom for a few days so the boy's cousins came over to play at our house tonight - until Uncle Kevin got home from work that is. Brian was very interested in this thing called "school" and wanted to hear about about it from Krista.

Extra Extra!

Here's a recap of this morning's post breakfast activities at our house.





Daddy headed out the door on his way to work.

Mommy sipped at another cup of coffee.

Spencer was browsing the sale flyer's from today's paper.

Brian kept current with what is going on in the world around him by pouring over this morning's newspaper.

Hide & Seek!

We found a new use for one of last nights left over glow sticks.........hide and seek! Mommy helped Brian keep his eyes closed while Daddy hid the glowing neon green stick somewhere in the room and then Brian went on his seeking quest to find it. Listening to his little comments as he searched the room was hysterical! "Hmmmm, lets see......." "Not there......" and finally, with his arm raised up over his head holding onto his prize he would pronounce "Found it!" After each find, he would squeal and giggle while running back to Daddy, hand him back the glow stick and say "Again!"

Pumpkins!

The wait is finally over........today is the pumpkin carving party! It was a cold, rainy and very windy day but that didn't bother us because this year we once again did all our carving out in Brian's/Daddy's shop. It's a lot more fun when we can all sit around the same table, talking, laughing and carve our spooky masterpieces at once.

Brian was much more involved in the carving process this year. Once Daddy cut a hole in the top, he shoved his hand right inside so that he could squish his fingers through the seeds and other pumpkin stuff.

Let's Cook!

Brian will be co-hosting our families annual pumpkin carving party tomorrow so, we had some prep work to do today. Brian assisted Mommy in the kitchen by making some cup cakes. He did an excellent job of getting the eggs mixed!

A New Snoozing Spot!

Brian has always been amazing about going to bed at night. We keep a gate up in his doorway partly because he is usually the first one to wake up in the morning and also because we want a safety net in place in the event that he should wake up for some reason and decide to go roam the house. So, when Brian went to bed tonight it seemed just like any other night. He had a few books read to him, willingly hopped up into bed, said his prayers and had a kiss good night before the lights were turned out. An hour or so later Mommy popped her head into his room and needless to say, when she saw that his bed was empty - she was shocked! This is what she found........Brian curled up in the recliner with his blanket and two be-be's. There was a book under his arm so apparently, he decided he needed to read one more before falling asleep. Mommy called Daddy in to take a look before Brian was relocated back into his bed - (where he remained for the rest of the night!)

Tool of the Day!

Where is Brian's tool of the day taking him today?

It's taking both him and Daddy up to the third floor of a home where Daddy is currently doing some work. True, Brian and Daddy have used the Genie GS3246 32 foot gasoline powered scissor lift as a tool of the day before but when you come across a tool that's this much fun to ride.....er.......I mean, this useful - a little repetition can't hurt!

Vanilla!

We decided to try something new for snack this afternoon.....pudding! Mommy gave Brian the choice between chocolate or vanilla and chocolate was his flavor of choice. After he had eaten about half of it, he decided to give the vanilla a try. The verdict was that both were equally yummy!

Kid Tested - Brian Approved!

The boys accompanied Mommy to the grocery store today. In honor of today being Mommy and Daddy's wedding anniversary, both boys decided to be on extra good behavior! When we got home, Mommy started putting away the groceries - all except one bag because Brian was assisting her with that one. He entertained himself for 15 minutes just taking everything out of the bag.....then putting them back in......then stacking them up......then putting them back into the bag.....and so on and so on. Mommy tries to keep our cereal supply well stocked - especially Brian's favorite kind, Kix!

What's In The Box!?!?

When Mommy told Brian and his brother that the big box that came in the mail was from Grandma and Grandpa, they got excited. When she told them that the package was for THEM, they got even MORE excited! Mommy got it opened and then let the boys dig in. "Dig" would be a good word since there were lots of packing peanuts to sift through and play with before they even got to what was packed inside!

Brian giggled and giggled when he saw the silly faces painted on the Halloween pumpkins that Grandma and Grandpa sent. After they had a chance to play with them, Mommy put them up on a higher shelf so that we can all enjoy looking at them. (This decision was made after Brian tried to see if they would bounce on the floor like a ball.) Thank you Grandma and Grandpa! We have our Halloween costumes for this year ready to go and are looking forward to Mommy taking lots of pictures of us for you to see!

THOMAS!

Meet the newest member of our family - the boy's new Thomas the Train sofa/bed.

We already have a Big Bird sofa/bed but since both boys use it so much, it was time to add a second one. We put one of these bed's into Brian's room during his morning "quiet time" and he sits on it while he reads some books. Brian has always been great about going to bed at night. Once he's in, you don't see him until he wakes up the next morning. But, for some reason, he hardly ever takes his afternoon nap in his bed - he prefers to go to sleep on the Big Bird bed!

Just-a-Swingin'

Brian has been known to fall asleep in some strange places as well as some uncomfortable looking positions. Today he added another location onto his "Nap Spot" list.........the swing set out in the backyard. He loves to swing and as tired as he was this afternoon, he didn't want Daddy to stop pushing him!

Overnight Guest!

The boy's cousin Krista came over tonight which is always a win win situation. Krista loves playing with her cousin's (win). The boys love playing with their cousin (win). The boys go to bed exhausted having played their little hearts out (win-win)! Tonight was extra special because not only did Krista come over to play, she got to spend the night with us! Brian took full advantage of having a 3rd grader here and let her read him some stories too!

Tool of The Day!

Brian is introducing the Stanley all weather 15 amp UL listed 50' extension cord.

He also recomends you don't let it get tangled up.

Build It And Daddy Will Come!

Daddy set this opened case of soda on the table this morning. Seeing it there was a temptation just too great for Brian to overlook so he pulled up a chair and got to work stacking some cans. When he got them piled three high - Mommy suggested we move onto a different toy.

PS: Daddy, you may want to open a few of these can's very carefully!

Who's Calling?

A couple weeks after we got home from our South Dakota vacation, we went to have Brian's two year old pictures taken. Since both boys birthdays are so close together, we have both done at the same appointment. We had been waiting in hopes that the latest bruise on Spencer's forehead would fade, but it seemed that as soon as one bruise went away, another would take it's place. That being said, we decided to just have them taken - bumps and all! Here's a few pictures of our T-W-O year old little boy!

We have a few toy phones around our house. Sometimes Mommy or Daddy instigate some entertainment by answering the phone and telling Brian the call is for him. It's usually a cousin who calls him - either Nolan, Krista, Erika or Haley. But, sometimes Brian makes calls on his own. "Hello......yeah....okay....yes......uh huh......okay.......bye." When we ask him who he was talking to his response is always one of two answers. He was either talking to Grandma or Grandpa!

Car Rides

Going for a car ride with Brian is always an adventure. He seems to be adding new words to his vocabulary on a daily basis so we never know what we will hear next! Sometimes he will call out the name of something he has just spotted and we have to hunt to find it! For example, today he called out "mail!" as we were driving down the street. Eventually Mommy spotted the mail truck that he saw that was parked about 2 blocks down the street! He pulled another one of his "How does he know that?" tricks during that same car ride today. When we order pizza, we always get it from the same restaurant which is a small local place, not a big chain. I only say that because the sign on the store isn't a big logo that he might recognize. We haven't ordered pizza from several weeks and even when we do, Brian never goes along to pick it up. So, when we drove by the restaurant today and he called out "Mommy, pizza".......I had to ask myself, how does he know that?????????

Bring On The Patch!

Along with Grandma, Grandpa, Uncle Kevin, Uncle Colin, Aunt June, Aunt Karyn, and cousins Krista, Erika and Haley, we all headed out into the pumpkin patch to select the pumpkins we will carve for Halloween! We took a ride out into the pumpkin patch via hay wagon and as you can see by these expressions, pumpkin picking is very serious business!

There was a big field to investigate so while Spencer and Mommy went one way, Daddy and Brian went another - everyone in search of the perfect pumpkin!

We had a good day and found some excellent carving pumpkins! Brian stood guard over the treasures until everyone was finished hunting.

Before we left there was just enough time for Brian to look at the horses and rabbits in the children's animal farm area and to test out this antique tractor! What a fun day we all had!

Check Your Oil?

This is a picture that we took a couple months ago but it's so cute we thought it needed to be posted here so that everyone else could see it too. Mommy and Daddy picked up a pair of rain boots for Brian last spring but they were too big for him to wear. On this particular day, Brian found them tucked away in his closet and insisted on wearing them. They are still a little big but by this coming spring, they should be perfect!

Cir-le!

Brian and Mommy have been making friends with the neighborhood squirrel's lately by putting a few peanuts out on the porch railing. As soon as one comes up and sits on the railing and begins eating the nuts, Brian announces "Cir-le" before he watches from his window vantage point.

Tool of the day!

The days are getting shorter, the air cool and crisp. That means only one thing.

Autumn is here!

One would think a boys thoughts would turn to pumpkins and halloween, but not Brian's!

What does Brian think of?

The Ames Greensweep model 19-200 26 tine yard rake of course!!!!!

It's A Real Page Turner!

One of Brian's favorite things is Elmo. There is a big Elmo face on the boy's fold out sofa as well on sippy cups, diapers, Brian's toothbrush, his pajama's and a variety of toys. One of the books that the boys received for their birthdays was this very cool Elmo book - which Brian loves reading!

Box Boy!

What do you get when you take two little boys who both wear the same size diaper and put them in the same house? You get a constant flow of "truck/train/car" box's just like this one for those boys to play in!

Then What Happened???

What is one of the best ways to spend an afternoon and/or evening? If you want to have a lot of fun and play all kinds of games, who do you call? We can answer both of those questions with two words.......Krista and Erika! With Aunt June out of town visiting her mother for a few days and Uncle Kevin at a meeting tonight, the boys were thrilled when they found out that their cousins were coming over after school today! We played inside as well as out in the yard, built (and destroyed) towers out of Mega Blocks and even had pancakes for dinner - I ask you - does it get any better than that????

The icing on the cake was reading a book with Erika! Thanks for coming over to play tonight - we can't wait to do it again soon!

The View From Up Here!

Daddy had to get a few things down from the attic tonight. Having a ladder in the hallway is an open invitation for Brian to climb it........which is exactly what he did!

Once Mommy finished spotting him on his climb up the ladder, Daddy took over from attic. We can add "heights" onto the list of things Brian has no fear of since the only thing that upset him was when he had to come back down!

1 Month To Go!

Election Day is just 30 day away! By now you have probably seen all the commercials on TV, read all the stories in the newspaper and heard all of the speech's and debates. The only thing left for you to do now is just get out and vote!

Grandma and Grandpa have been on vacation for the past week so my brother and I went over today to hear all about their trip! While we were there, I helped Grandma put their campaign yard sign up. I knew exactly how to do it because when I was in South Dakota, I helped Grandpa put up some of his campaign yard signs! Speaking of that, if you live in District 22 of South Dakota (and you know who you are), remember to vote for Grandpa!

Ker-Plop!

Brian has a thing that he does that always puts a smile on his (as well as his parent's) face. He goes into the kitchen - gets on his mark - set - and when Mommy or Daddy say "GO" he races out into the living room. He runs straight for a pile of pillows and then does a belly flop down onto, then gets up and runs back to the kitchen calling out "again! again!" This time Spencer wanted to get in on the action so Brian gave him some pointers. The first thing he needed to know was where to start.

At first, Mommy and Daddy tried to encourage the idea of the boys taking turns with their running. Since Spencer didn't really have a grasp on that concept yet, Brian did a wonderful job of waiting until Spencer had landed on the pillows before he took off.

***And yes, those are sandals Brian is wearing with his pajama's. When he was getting dressed for bed, he insisted on putting his sandals on over his socks. Maybe he is starting a new fashion trend!

Brian was very careful to make sure that he never had an accidental pillow flop onto his brother but he did still check on him from time to time.

Tool of the Day!

Everyone probably has (or at least they should have) at least one flashlight in their house. Brian really likes this Stanley Max Life 369 Tripod flashlight. The tripod makes those times he is working alone much easier since he can use it without having to hold it. You can't see it in this picture, but the icing on the cake is that the light itself on this flashlight tilts so that Brian can shine it exactly where he needs it.

Close Your Eyes!

Apparently Brian is part fish. He jumps at any opportunity to get into a swimming pool and if he had his way, we think he would prefer for "bath time" to happen several times a day! When he hears the phrase "Brian, are you ready to take a bath?", he runs straight to Spencer's room (where the tub toys are kept) like he was shot out of a cannon! Once all the toys have been dropped into the tub, he heads straight for his room to get undressed. The squeals and giggles of delight are heard throughout the entire process! Ever since Brian was a baby, he has never minded having water poured over his head. He really has fun with it now because he knows what is about to happen when he is told to close his eyes. Once the bucket has been poured over his head, he is the first to say "again!"