Happy Halloween

Today we started our day with Spencer & Erik working in the garden.

Then after lunch they carved pumpkins.

Tonight was Cameron's first Halloween. He was pretty quiet for the trick-or-treating and even fell asleep in the stroller long before we got home. (Spencer is correcting me: Cameron fell asleep 14 minutes and 35 seconds before we arrived at home.)

Erik on the other hand enjoyed trick-or-treating this year. Just the other day he was telling me that he would go to every house in town (that would be more than 600 houses!). He was choosy about houses but went to quite a few (I lost count). He also thought that he was going to eat all of the candy tonight before bed. He was sad to find out that was not going to happen.

All in all it was a good Halloween and there's candy for all of November.

Small & Simple Joys of Boys

This last Sunday we sent Erik to get dressed for church. To our great surprise when he came out he was dressed and had tied his own shoes. We have only showed him a couple of times how to tie his shoes and found that both Spencer and I tie shoes differently. The poor child was confused. So we just left it for another day.

I have seen Erik work at tying his shoes, but he wanted to "do it himself!" All it ever produced was a long string of twists and knots that got bent over and knotted more. So I figured I would just let him be and sometime the moment would be right. Well he showed us. He came out of his room to show us that he was dressed and even tied his own shoes. We were so pleased that I think Erik beamed all the way to church that morning.

I can not believe how fast he is growing up. He no longer is my "little" boy.

As for my little boy, Cameron is starting to fill out. The boy loves food! I kind of worry that he over eats. As long as you keep handing him the spoon he keeps opening his mouth. When we stop he screams. Yet I would swear that his tummy has to be way beyond full with rice cereal & squash. He has figured out how to catch my hand and the spoon with both of his hands so that the food doesn't get away. If he were a little more coordinated I think he would be feeding himself.

Cameron, for him, is getting chubby. His little legs have filled right out and he no longer has long bird legs. His dimples are much more visible with his little cheeks getting plumper by the day. And the baby wants to eat every hour and a half.

I measured both boys the other day. Cameron is 24" and Erik is 4'. Cameron's hands and feet continue to grow longer with his body instead of him "growing into them". I've searched out the boxes in the garage so I can start boxing up the newborn and 3 month clothes and get out the 6-9 month clothes. We've only lived here a month and I'm starting to box up clothes for storage.

I'm ready to do the same for Erik. He has been in a size 6 but I've started buying size 8 clothes as he keeps growing so quickly. Size 6 still works in jeans as 8's are too long, but 6's are getting a little bit short. We had to buy him new Sunday shoes recently because he finally complained about his shoes hurting. I thought they were too small but he claimed they weren't until finally he couldn't stand it. So he's now in a boys size 1. I'm afraid it won't be but a couple more years and he will be as tall as me. He only has 1' 4" to go. Well see over the years how quickly they catch up to Daddy.

New & Exciting

Well Kindergarten gets more exciting. Erik came running up our street yesterday afternoon. That is no small feat. I literally mean up our street as we live at the top of a hill. He was so excited to show me what he brought home & I could not imagine what was in the box he was carrying. It was Kinderbear! So Erik had a sleepover buddy.

It was fun to see him that excited about Kindergarten. Then before bedtime he got to draw a picture of things he had done with Kinderbear and write a short report.

This morning it was time to box Kinderbear up in his house and send him back to school. It was cute to see all the boys at the bus stop gather round to see the bear. Then it was on the bus and off to Kindergarten for Erik & Kinderbear.

Cameron enjoys his stroller ride down to the bus stop. Mommy likes it because once Erik is on the bus it's quite time for me. Cameron falls asleep during the stroller ride. I use his car seat to go to the bus stop since the road has gravel and it makes the ride a little bumpy. But around the house since he wants to be sitting up (or standing) most of the time, I have started alternating the baby swing & the stroller for his chair.

Last night Spencer caught Cameron napping with one finger in his mouth & thought it was cute. Cameron loves to chew, and I mean chew, on his fingers. Usually it's either three of them or all of them at once. He can practically fit his whole hand into his mouth. He loves to bite! I keep watching for teeth since he does this and drools like no other. But none yet.

MOVING

As you probably already know; we've moved. We said good-bye to apartment living and are now in a house. YEAH!!!

I'm ecstatic! It is so nice to not worry about disturbing neighbors who share walls & floors with you. I also enjoy having rooms that are not 5-in-1. We now have a large kitchen (at least to me) and a seperate dining room. There is a laundry/pantry area & now an office/hobby room. Our bedrooms are now just bedrooms, not storage & office & hobby etc. I don't know when I will stop smiling. I know that no one can tell how happy I am to have space. Next spring will be lots of work though with a yard & garden spot. Right now I'm looking forward to it and already tried out our new lawnmower. I'm sure the last time you were excited about a lawnmower was back when you were a kid, but it's nice.

Erik has loved every minute of his running through the house & not to mention jumping. :) He is enjoying Kindergarten. I think he misses his old school (only there 7 days) because they didn't seem to have any homework. However here he gets to ride school buses everyday and his teacher is very good at keeping them busy not just with paper work but with their minds. He brings home lots of drawings and just can't wait when he gets off the bus to tell me something new from school. The other day he was excited to be a cookie salesman and just couldn't wait to ask me if I wanted to buy cookies and sell them with him. :) [Fundraising, I guess it comes with having children in school & activties, but I never enjoyed it as a child.] He's learning, I think, that writing his name once a night, practicing writing an alphabet letter (about 6x's) and reading with Mom & Dad can be fun. Of course his favorite thing at school is recess. His teacher says he's very social. Image that.

Spencer I think is just itching for the garage to be empty of boxes so he can set up his workshop and get to his projects. He likes where we live but is sad to be to far from work to ride his bike. I'm not to sure he's happy to be driving the Honda everyday, but it was his choice to save on gas. So the pickup stays home with me.

Cameron, well, he's just busy being a growing baby. He is now rolling from side to side and kicking his way around his blanket. He has started talking up a storm (at times) and loves to laugh. Cameron just loves his big brother & watches just about everything Erik does. Sometimes I wish I could teach Cameron to stop "egging" Erik by his laughing. Oh well, they love each other and it's fun to watch them interact.

We've had a busy but fun summer. I feel very blessed. The Lord has been watching over us and blessing us daily. I'm so grateful for 2 healthy little boys and a loving husband. I feel very blessed, especially in this economy, to be able to move and for Spencer's steady employment. I pray for all of my family and friends to be continually watched over and blessed by the Lord. We love you!