Happy Halloween!!!!

Last year was the first year that Brian went trick or treating but he had a much better understanding of it tonight and he got into it - BIG time!!!! Most of our trick or treating was done in our old neighborhood. We met up with a couple of our good friends (Anthony and Christopher) and they taught the boys the fine art of 'candy gettin'. Before long Brian was the one racing up to the next house to ring the bell. If the homeowner didn't answer within about 5 seconds he would announce "Okay, next house!"

I know I am wayyyyyyyyy behind on updating the boy's blogs but I am going to work on becoming current. In the meantime, I will be posting the current posts and working at filling in the dates from the past couple weeks that I have missed. Thanks for your patience and feel free to scroll back through the older posts over the next week or so as I work at getting them added.

I Saw a Ghost!

Mommy and the boys thought it would be great fun to fill some little plastic ghosts with leaves and hang them from a tree in the back yard. Oddly enough, Mommy did all of the stuffing and no sooner had she got them hung from the tree..........they suddenly turned into mini pinata!

Feed the Birds!

Brian's preschool class made bird feeders today! They spread some peanut butter on a half a bagel and sprinkled bird seed into the peanut butter. A piece of yard looped through the center of the bagel made for a perfect hanger! I'm not sure if the birds had a chance to eat it before the squirrels got in on the action but by morning, it was all gone!

Play Dough Fun!!!

The boys have such a great time playing with their play dough! Our good friends Uncle Fred and Aunt Karen (actually their sons Anthony and Christopher) recently made a large donation to the boy's play dough toy collection. I guess maybe you really CAN be too old to want to play with play dough! Who knew?!?!?

My Room!

The boys colored signs that they hung on their bedroom doors today. Mommy wrote the words "Brian's Room" and then Brian got to work decorating it. Instead of doing a lot of coloring on the page, he got right to work tracing the letters. And yes, he did it all with his left hand!

Teeter-Totter

Brian loves Spencer's park evaluations because every park that Spencer rates is a park that Brian gets to play at! Talk about your win-win situation!!!

Tool of the Day!

As with any professional........you are never done learning. Brian stays at the top of his game by keeping up with the trade magazines!

Happy Anniversary Mommy and Daddy!

Do you remember where you were 4 years ago today? Mommy and Daddy do!

And wow.....what a difference 4 years can make!

Mommy and Daddy spent a very romantic evening tonight attending a meeting at Brian's school. Since child care was provided, the boys got to come along too and it really was a very interesting meeting. The teachers from preschool thru 2nd grade were discussing the methods they use to teach kids to read.

Hello Autumn

Brian's preschool class is talking about Autumn this week. In addition to going on a nature walk to look for leaves, nuts and berries, they also made these autumn hats.

The Pumpkin Patch (continued)

The boys had such a good time at the pumpkin patch yesterday that we decided to spread the pictures out over today's blog post too! I don't believe I posted this picture from last years trip to the patch so here is a side by side comparison from last years and this years pumpkin adventures!

Pumpkin Patch 2008

Pumpkin Patch 2009

After we had conquered "the patch", the boys rested up on some hay bales and enjoyed some pine corn (aka: popcorn).

Bring on the Patch!!!!

This afternoon we made our family pilgrimage trip to the pumpkin patch! With Grandma, Grandpa and the rest of the localized Aunt, Uncles and Cousins along, we made our way to The Children's Farm. Once we had all arrived, we got on the hay ride and took the short ride out to the pumpkin patch.

Apparently this was an amazing pumpkin growing year because the pumpkins were big and there was a huge selection to pick from!

Hide-n-Seek

Recently, Daddy introduced the boys to the game of Hide-n-Seek. This is a shot of Brian when it was his turn to hide. Daddy had a hard time finding him in this hiding spot!

Doctor Visit

Brian: "Mommy I'm going to the Doctor."

Mommy: "Okay Brian, I hope you feel better."

***Brian joins Dr. Spencer in the bathroom***

Dr Spencer: "What's wrong Brian?"

Brian: "My foot hurts."

Dr Spencer: "Okay, here's some medicine."

Brian: "Thank you! (brief pause).....okay, now it's my turn Spencer."

Tool of the Day!

Mommy was very grateful to have Brian's equipment advise today. She was ready to install the new living room window treatments but wasn't sure how she was going to attach the new material. Once again, it was Brian to the rescue! (As I write this post, Brian is taking a nap so I will have to wait until he wakes up to get you the stats of the staple gun that he used.)

Always Wear a Helmet!

This afternoon Brian was riding his bike around the living room. All of the sudden he ran upstairs into Spencer's bedroom. When he came down, he was wearing Spencer's old sun hat (which was way too small) and saying "I had to get my helmet." We didn't know that he even knew what a bike helmet was but apparently - he does!!!

Quality Time!

Two boys in jammies, each wearing their backpacks and playing with their Thomas the Train tent........all the makings of an extremely fun evening at home!

Officer Brian

This week Brian's preschool class is talking about police officers! Not only did a police officer pay a visit to their classroom, but they also made these cool hats!

Fire In the Hole!!!

Brian and Daddy took advantage of the nice day today to put together our new back yard fire pit! The boys both have a good understanding of how important it is not to touch it. Mommy and Daddy only have yard fires at night after the kids have gone to bed but we still want them to understand that fire pits are not something that they should ever play with.

Rock Climbing

The park we went to this week had a rock climbing wall. It was a little much for Spencer but Brian had no problem navigating it!

The Book Nook

As Brian and Spencer snuggled up in a chair together tonight, Brian decided to "read" to Spencer...........absolutely adorable!

Tool of the Day!

Daddy and Brian will be updating this post very soon. Mommy would hate to use incorrect terminology for the work that they are doing in our remodeled bathroom so she will just post the picture.

Ready at a Moments Notice!

I don't think that I have ever seen a firefighter wear his helmet backwards but Brian decided to give it a go. Maybe he will start a new trend at the fire stations!

Field Trip!

Brian went on his first school field trip today! (Mommy got to go too since she was one of the drivers.) Since the kids are studying fire safety this week, the 3 and 4 yr old preschool classes went to tour the La Grange Fire Station. Yes, this is the same fire house that we visited on Saturday, but today we got the FULL tour! Firefighter Chris, Firefighter Dan , Firefighter Brian and Firefighter Craig gave us a great tour starting with their living quarters on the upper floor.









Our tour guides gave us a lot of very important information today. Firefighter Dan demonstrated how he puts all of his equipment on and let me tell you......it is heavy stuff! Can you imagine carrying 70 pounds of equipment around with you just to go do your job????? Fireman Dan also reminded everyone that even though a firefighter might look a little scary when they have on their mask, they are there to help so we should never hide under the bed or in the closet.

It wouldn't seem like a fire station if it didn't have a fire pole! Even though Brian is in the Monday, Wednesday & Friday pre school class, almost all of his classmates were able to come today. We joined up with the kids in the Tuesday & Thursday class and all had a really great time!

Fire Safety Week!

Brian and his classmates are learning all about fire safety this week. When he came home from school today he told Mommy and Daddy how to STOP......

DROP..........

and ROLL!

MY BIG BOY BED!!!!!!!

Recently, Mommy and Daddy have been talking about upgrading Brian from his toddler bed to a twin "big boy bed". We weren't planning on doing it right his minute, but in preparation for the change, Mommy picked up a couple safety rails so that we would have them when we needed them. Brian saw the box and started questioning what it was. When it was explained that it was for his new bed, that was it, Brian wanted his new bed IMMEDIATELY!

Mommy and Daddy were able to stall him for a day but we couldn't make the poor kid wait it out any longer. So, as of tonight, Brian is in his new big boy bed and he is LOVING it!

Fire Station!

The La Grange Fire Station is spotlighting fire safety week by hosting an open house today. Mommy apparently got her information wrong because we got to the open house a little too early. The firemen were very nice in letting us look around the trucks that were outside for awhile before kindly suggesting that we come back in 2 hours. Here are some pictures of the highlights of the open house........once it had officially started!

The boys weren't at all intimidated by the size of the trucks. In fact, Brian acted like he has been crawling around on "Engines" for years!

With all of the excitement going on, Mommy and Daddy were pleasantly surprised at how patient the boys both were while standing in line for the fire hose display. When it was their turn, they got to help the fireman aim the fire hose at a painted display board of a house that was on fire. If they aimed the hose in the right spots.....they put out the fire!

The Fire Chief was on hand and spent a lot of time chatting with the kids as they took turns crawling up into the drivers seat of one of the fire engines. He suggested that when the kids had their picture taken, instead of saying "CHEESE", they should say "CHIEF"! Thank you La Grange Fire Department, you put on a wonderful open house and our entire family had a great time!

Daddy and Me!

This evening, Brian's school had a "Daddy and Me Night" for the preschool classes. Up to this point, Mommy has been the one to take him to school and pick him up so he was very excited to be able to have Daddy there tonight! Once the kids had shown their daddy's around the classroom, everyone headed into the gym. There was a shaving station set up where the kids could give their daddy's a shave. (The shaving cream was "shaved" off with Popsicle sticks!) The kids made a picture frame and also got to decorate a cookie for themselves as well as for their daddy. Everyone had their pictures taken and then the kids gathered around a campfire for some stories. Everyone had a great time.......especially Brian and his Daddy!

Tool of the Day!

Suppose your Daddy needs your help laying some bathroom floor tile. And suppose he asks for your recommendation on the best way to get a nice straight line all the way across the area you want to tile. If you are Brian, you wouldn't hesitate at all, you would quickly answer that the best tool for that job would be the Irwin Model 620 Speed Reel Chalk Line. On a personal note, Brian prefers the one with blue chalk dust.


With one quick SNAP, you will have a crisp clean chalk line on the floor so that you can get back to playing with your little brother!