Learning curve

I'm not amazed that he wrote his name by himself.  A lot of three year olds can do that.  And he does have three of the easiest letters to write.  The only way it would be easier was if it started with an "X" instead of an "E", but that would be weird.

No, what I am amazed at is that this is the first time he has ever written it.  Or even attempted it.  And that he sat down and did it completely by himself, with no guidance and no example in front of him.  I actually accused Myka of writing it.  So then he did it again.

And I'm baffled by the fact that the only instruction he has had in writing these letters, other than me guiding his hand over the magnadoodle during church once in awhile, is that two evenings ago I wrote his name with highlighter three times and had him trace the letters with a pencil while we were "playing school".

So while it took him 8 months to learn to swallow food, it took him all of 5 minutes to learn to write his name.  Either we are getting better at this or we should have started with the hard stuff first.

Candy Time!

They were old pros by this point.  We had already taken in quite a haul and the church Trunk or Treat event the Friday before.  A few extra clothes were required based on the map Kurt and Myka made of the route they were going to take assuring them the most loot.

Ready to go!

I always love watching them walk away with Daddy on Halloween.  Not sure if I'm nostalgic for the memories of the all the excitement of the evening or if I just like being in my own house with some peace and quiet for an hour or so.

A short time after they left I saw our neighbor head out (she had already been by our house while the kids were home) and realized that Kurt never took the kids over there.  I texted him that they should stop there and he said they would swing back around.  He took the opportunity to dump all of the candy they had already gathered on the table so they again had three (oh yes, three.  But not because Kurt was asking for candy.  I don't think.) empty buckets to fill.  Then they stopped by the neighbors before hitting every house on the mile path they had mapped out on the way to our friends' house for dinner.

This doesn't even include the bowl full we still had from the church event.  Or the very picked over remains from the parade.  Or the twenty some odd pieces the adults in the house ate after the kids were in bed before they had a chance to sort everything the next morning.

Happy Halloween!

Baseballs and Butterflies

This was pretty much his idea with a little prompting from me reminding him that he had a totally awesome Joe Mauer jersey and would be able to wear daddy's hat.

This was pretty much her idea with a little help from a google search and an incredibly talented father.

Eli got to be first to celebrate the season with a Halloween carnival at preschool the Thursday before the big day.  He had a fun time playing the games and winning prizes to put in his bag, but I think he mostly loved that he got to be there with his good friend, Riley. 

These two are best buds.

Making sure they look good before the big party.

Eli and his "first teachers", Ms. Robin and Ms. Rochelle.  We are blessed to have had such kind and loving teachers for both kids' first preschool experiences.  A year ago I was thinking that there was no way Eli would enjoy preschool and that I would be dragging him there kicking and screaming every day.  It has turned out that when he finds out it is NOT a preschool day the tears start.  He loves it!

Almost as much as I love my two kid-free mornings every week!

Jack-o-Winta

The fourth annual Hoover-Bates pumpkin carving weekend was held the week before Halloween and was once again a huge success.  We added a new element this year as we got to carve four pumpkins that we had grown ourselves over the summer.  There was something extra satisfying about that, beyond the fact that I knew I had saved twenty bucks.  We had a fun time watching them grow and pretty much take over our entire side yard. And Eli, after learning about carving pumpkins in preschool, couldn't wait to make them into "JackOWintas" for Halloween.

Myka was eager to do her own pumpkin this year, so even though she was leery of the squishy pumpkin guts, she dug them out herself.

Eli woke up from his nap shortly after the fun began and waited off to the side for awhile to take it all in.

This was the look on his face pretty much the whole time...

Myka kept on working, drawing her own design

and cutting it out herself (with a little help from Grandpa).

Eli finally decided the cutting part looked fun (after I removed the guts from his pumpkin, of course) and picked up a tool and went to town.  After trying to get him to let me help him cut on the lines I had drawn, I finally relented to him wanting to "do it myself!" and turned the pumpkin around so he could stab it in the back of the head over and over.  Poor Jack never saw him coming.  When he was satisfied with his butchering I turned the pumpkin around and finished the face.  I'm pretty sure he thinks he did it...

The annual group photo.  The pumpkins get better looking every year.  The rest of us? Well, you can decide that for yourself.

Below, Eli's is on the left.  Kurt experimented with some huge seeds he found at T-Ball practice to make the brains for the guy on the right.

Below, Myka's is the one with ears.  Uncle Isaac wins the most difficult carving award with the skull on the right.

Bring on the trick or treaters!

Pick a little, eat a little

You know you're behind on your blog when you write a post about something that happened the same day as the previous post, but it is already a month later...

After our quick getaway from the parade, we headed out of town for our first ever apple picking experience.  We knew we were getting in on the end of the crop, so our expectations weren't that high.  We were more excited about the fact that we were all free to do whatever on a gorgeous fall Saturday.

The kids had their fair share of apples as we made our way through the trees, which worked out well since it was lunch time when we got there.

Myka got to take two turns on the giant jumpy pillow.  Eli had to sit this one out as, well, he had eaten at least four apples and there were only portapottys available for bathrooms.  I'm sure it's a surprise to no one that our little poop-o-phobe wasn't about to let loose in one of those.  And knowing that after about one minute on the jumpy pillow would have created a "situation", he was forced to sit out. 

But after walking out of the bathroom at home he proudly announced,

"I pooped.  I can go back and jump on the pillow now!" 

Guess we'll be going back next year.