Superhero Halloween!

Halloween this year was thankfully nice and warm. Ian had school the morning of halloween and was beyond excited to go dressed in a costume. Originally he had decided he would like to be Captain America however after our ward party he decided way to many people were dressed like Captain America. He borrowed a Wolverine costume from his friend Kimball but unfortunately Ian is much taller and the costume did not fit :( So while he listed off many other superheroes for me to go and buy for him he finally decided on Spiderman. We happened to already have a wonderful hand-me-down spiderman costume from Hunter plus spiderman shoes from Evan! He would always strike a spiderman pose at the door when trick-or-treating...it was hilarious!

Aaron enjoyed looking through Ian's superhero book that morning but had his mind set on dressing up like Ironman!

The kids in our area started early...very early. We were just sitting down to eat dinner before 5 o'clock and the doorbell started ringing and never stopped. We made the boys shove some homemade jack-o-lantern pizza in their mouths and then they were dressed before we knew it and ready to go! Of course I had to take some pictures which as you can see did not go very well. Threats were made, "If you do not look at me and smile, you will not go trick or treating." Which worked but only for one child at a time. 

 Enough was enough we were off! Spider Pike too!

Ian could hardly wait for Aaron he was so excited to collect candy. Aaron loved holding all of the candy in his hand while we walked from door to door. When his hands were full and he started dropping candy then he would let me put it inside his bag.

The Bawden's! Aaron absolutely loves them, they are his nursery leaders and do an amazing job! The moment he see's them he starts wildly waving with both hands high in the air. We are so grateful for them!

The boys were having so much fun and did not want to stop. Aaron started dragging his bag on the ground because he had so much candy. He finally broke into a candy bar (without me seeing that he had actually opened it) and shoved the whole thing in his mouth right before our neighbors house. When our neighbor Mike reached out to give Aaron a candy bar Aaron returned the favor by spitting out his candy bar into Mike's hand. Thankfully Mike has twin 3 year old girls and handled it very very well :) oops

When we arrived home Aaron enjoyed helping pass out candy with Daddy. Ian, Pike, and I decided to walk around another neighborhood in our ward. Pike was exhausted when we got home and did not mind the the kids were tossed various halloween costumes on him.

Ian loved making a big pile with all of his candy. Here are a couple of his favorite things that he received that night...

Bag of Popcorn: He was beyond excited and turned around immediately saying, "Thank you, thank you, thank you...how did you know that we were out of popcorn! Now we can have a movie night!" 

Halloween notepad, eraser, and pencil

Paddle Ball -sadly it broke the next day.

I was surprised that he really did not care to eat a lot of his candy. His favorites were fruit-roll-ups, m&m's, and suckers. Everything else he does really care for. That night Ian blew out the candles in the pumpkins and then we all headed to bed!

Everyone seemed to have a sugar hangover and be extremely tired the next day. Except for Aaron -probably because he spits out all of his candy!

Halloween Activities

Our halloween activities this week have all been...indoor! The kids have loved waking up to snow in the morning unfortunately by late afternoon it is gone. Thankfully there is still snow in the mountains!

We started off the week with the ward halloween party. Ian went as captain america, Aaron as Ironman, Tim as the Hulk, and I went as black widow. 

The boys are not understanding the concept of "halloween." Everyday around our house is halloween. My favorite is when the boys would like to run errands around town dressed up as superheroes. It always puts a smile on everyones face when we pass by and the boys love when people stop and call them by their superhero name.

Later that week we wrapped the kitchen table in garbage bags and began carving. Ian and Aaron loved digging out all the pumpkin goo! Aaron also enjoyed putting it back inside the pumpkin.

I was so impressed with Ian this year! As I am sure you can tell these boys are obsessed with superheroes. We don't mind we enjoy superheroes as well. They both love watching SuperHero Squad,  and has decided the Wolverine is "so cool." This year he drew his own picture of wolverine -dad helped his make the picture a little more simplistic for pumpkin carving then away Ian went. Dad helped him tape on his picture then Ian poked the holes for his design and proceeded to carve the entire pumpkin by himself!

Aaron helped carve his pumpkin for about 2 seconds then waited for me to finish.

After the boys went to bed Tim and I finished our pumpkins, Tim carved the hulk, and I went with spiderman.

The hulk did not light up very well so Tim put an actual lightbulb inside and it worked much better -although it almost looks fake. It is an actual pumpkin -he used food coloring to make it green.

The next night we headed over to the Redd's house for dinner and dessert since both our husbands were gone. The boys had fun playing together and decorating cookies, but mostly licking the frosting :)

Ian has also been rocking this pair of vampire teeth around all week. His swimming instructor gave them to the kids for halloween with a treat. I still find it surprising when he smiles.

Bring on halloween! The boys are excited since they are starting to remember that Halloween means lots of candy (joy, just what we need). Ian has also decided that he no longer wants to be Captain America, he would like to be Wolverine. I informed him that I would not be buying him another costume and that he would have to be Captain America. After school that week Ian informed me that I did not need to worry. His friend Kimball is not going to be Wolverine and said that Ian could borrow his costume. Sure enough we now have Wolverine hanging in the laundry room ready for Ian to wear on Halloween. Lucky boy!

P.S. In other news my new battery charger for our camera came!!! Hurray finally no more blurry phone pictures.

Choose the Right

Every night before bedtime Aaron asks to sing Choose the Right. This last week he has been singing it with me. I tried to sing very quietly because if I do not sing he will not sing. So precious. Enjoy!

Late Fall Break

Our fall break started a little late due to the fact that we all had colds :( Nonetheless after the weekend was over we were able to enjoy the beginning of the week without the rest of the valley there to join us!

We started out by heading to the zoo. The zoo never gets old! The boys could sit and watch the elephants eat and play for hours. Well maybe not hours, but a solid 10 minutes. We went to the zoo Tuesday when most kids had returned to school which was perfect, there were only a handful of people there.

We always love riding the carousel, watching the polar bear swim, the seals play, and we were able to see the new baby giraffe. The baby giraffe was a little shy and very good at hiding behind his mother.

After the zoo we headed to paradise bakery cafe for some dinner. It was an added bonus that kids ate free that night! The boys sat at the table and waited patiently while I ordered. 

The next day it was supposed to rain so we headed to the dinosaur museum. Apparently they were both really into puzzles that day. Ian and I put together the giant magnetic dinosaur puzzles while Aaron helped point to pieces and hold the map. Ian also had to stop at every computer and play the dinosaur games. Which Aaron found to be very very boring. The both enjoyed digging for fossils and then were ready to head back home.

The next day the weather warmed up and the boys decided a day playing outside sounded the best! Nothing beats a child's laughter, they were having a blast all day long! They have both been getting along sooooo well. They love playing games with each other, coloring together and playing hide-n-go seek. 

I hope it lasts forever!

Here are some other random photos from fall break...mostly of Aaron being silly. Ian and Aaron would have toast with cinnamon and sugar for breakfast every morning if I would let them.

Aaron has also decided that vegetables are delicious. He was eating the carrots as if they were pieces of candy. Unfortunately Ian did not feel the same way.

Ian enjoys getting ahold of my phone whenever possible. Unfortunately I have to change the password frequently the little smarty pants.

We finally framed and hung Ian's superhero posters in his room! Both the boys just sit in Ian's room lay on the floor and stare at the posters on the wall. I still need to complete a few things but I am getting close to having it complete. We have only lived hear for a year and a half :) Plus maybe one day Tim will finally paint his orange walls :) I wont hold my breathe. 

Aaron being silly and wearing his glasses as a mustache.

Ian loves taking showers and is always singing while doing so. Can you tell that he had Spanish class that day? I love it!

Our usual evenings. Sitting at the counter eating dinner. We had chicken alfredo that night and the boys each had three helpings. I can't imagine how they will eat when they are teenagers.

If only they could stay this way forever :)

Incase you have forgotten we do still have Pike. He is starting to get old and gray but is still a joy! This day he was particularly funny. I made Ian clean up and put away all of his stuffed animals, pike then pulled them all down to lay on top of in the sun. Ian did not mind and said that he would clean them up when pike was done.

Aaron's 2nd Birthday

October 11th - 2 years old

Weight  25.4 lbs               18th percentile

Height  34 in                    37th percentile

Head Circumference  49.5              72nd percentile

I cannot believe my baby is two! He still seems so little -as you can see from the statistics above he is! We had a toy story birthday party which he loved. Although he did not notice the toy story decor was just excited to jump in all the balloons. For the boys birthdays I always fill their room with balloons (when they are little I just fill the family room) it is always so fun to see their expressions when they wake up in the morning.

The boys and daddy had been sick earlier that week with fever and sore throat. Thankfully they were doing great by the weekend. Although Ian's allergies have been full blown. Poor kid can hardly breathe. Sure enough that night I got a wonderful high fever and sore throat too. But, the celebration must go on and thankfully my parents were here to help out (I don't think I moved from the couch).  Aaron opened presents throughout the day which was great -he was able to enjoy everything and not get too overwhelmed.

Ian picked out these Toy Story Cars for Aaron. Ian wanted so badly to help Aaron open all of his presents, Aaron just wanted grandma to get everything out of their box. Aaron's expressions were wonderful when opening his presents.

In usual birthday tradition we had juicy rolls for breakfast. The boys could hardly shove then in there mouths fast enough they just wanted to go and play.

Aaron and Grandma cuddling on the couch.

After naptime Aaron opened some presents from Nana and Papa. He was beyond excited for the big cars.

He loves hiding his little toy story cars in the toy story garbage truck.

My mom made Aaron's birthday cake (homemade marshmallow brownies) which we all loved. It smelled and looked so good that we had a "backwards" dinner. Yep, we had cake first! Then about a half hour later we had spaghetti dinner. one of Aaron's favorites. 

Later on that evening Aaron got one more big surprise. A new balance bike that looks just like his brothers bike.

The first time he got one his balance bike he went down the drive way then dropped the bike. Turned around and ran back to grab his tricycle to speed down the hill. Thankfully after watching his brother on his bike he decided to hop back on and give it another try. I can't believe how quickly he is catching onto balancing. If only I could get him to sit on the actual seat and not the bar -I think it would be much more comfortable.

This past week the boys have wanted to be outside riding their bikes all day long. Ian now enjoys biking up the hill and down the street. He then hops on his bike petals as hard as he can and comes flying down the hill.

Yes, Aaron tries to follow as well.

These boys can't simply just ride their bike in the driveway. It is much more enjoyable to race each other down the hill and of course you have to look good while doing it!

Here are a few highlights from this year....

After continuous ear infections and rupturing your eardrum the doctors finally agreed that you needed tubes. In March you had surgery and have not had an ear infection since!

You love to color and are an amazing scribbler.

We always thought maybe you would be our mellow child, or blob that would just be good with anything. That is proving to not be the case. While you can be so sweet, affectionate, and love to cuddle -you are no mellow child. You enjoy pushing your brothers buttons when given the opportunity, and if you don't get what you want you throw an awesome tantrum that we happily ignore.  

A few weeks after have tubes put in your vocabulary exploded. You are now saying complete sentences. You also say "please" when asking for things and always remember to say "thank you" on your own.

You enjoy "putting on a show" for mom and dad when we take you to nursery and you have for the last 5 months. We mention nursery or begin to leave the Chapel and you pout your lip and being screaming. Brother Bawden happily takes you and the moment the door closes you jump down and being playing. Literally the moment I shut the door you are done. 

You try and usually succeed at doing most everything your brother does.

I was dreading moving you to a big boy bed, but the joke was on me. You sleep even better in a big bed than you did in a crib. In the morning you come walking into our bedroom and say, "ood morning mommy, ood morning daddy" and jump in the bed to snuggle. You will just lay with me in bed until Ian gets up and then you excitingly jump up and shout, "ood, morning Ian!" 

You love changing your own clothes throughout the day and are obsessed with wearing and putting on socks. You prefer the socks to not match. 

You love airplanes. You can hear and spot one from anywhere.

People are always surprised that you do not like fruit snacks. You also just enjoy sucking the butter out of popcorn and then spitting it out. Your favorite foods are pizza, mac n cheese, chicken, anything with ketchup, rice and beans. 

Happy Birthday Aaron!!! 

Monkey Bars

This happens to be out of order but I had to post anyway...

 We stayed in Logan on Saturday after my parents 50th birthday party. This is a picture from my cell phone in Sardine Canyon...no I did not enhance or color edit the photo the leaves truly were this gorgeous!

We stayed Saturday so the gals could attend the General Relief Society Conference, while the boys all attended the USU Homecoming game. We had sometime to kill before both events so we took the boys down to the elementary school playground. I cannot explain how in shock we were when we watched Ian go from beginning of the monkey bars all the way to the end. I remember having contests in elementary school (yes this exact playground was there while I was in school) to see who could make it the furthest...and my four year old just cruised through it like it was nothing??? We though maybe it was just luck. Then after he swung across them all a few more times we decided we better record it.

Which brought about a little competition. See how far the rest of us could make it.  Clearly given my toothpick arms my chances were not high.

Even Aaron got in on the fun!

After we were all exhausted from swinging on the monkey bars we headed back to my parents house. My mom ended up staying home (she did not feel well) and Aaron ended up staying with her (he did not want to leave grandma's sight. My dad and his dad at the game.

We headed back home late that night after a great weekend!

The next day we enjoyed coloring outside in the shade..

And inside when it got too cold. The boys were coloring pictures for a halloween contest. 

Fall cleaning began and quickly came to an end. Aaron enjoyed helping wash the baseboards. I really can't believe how dirty the lower half of ALL of our walls get :( I have only completely the top floor of our house and now need to get the energy to tackle the basement.

The boys have been getting along and playing together very well. Don't worry they still have their moments. They love to take turns pushing each other in the tikes cars. 

They have also been going a little crazy with halloween stamps. It is much more fun to decorate yourself than a paper. Ian's scary face does look quite frightening.

I think next year I may have to pull the halloween decorations out closer to halloween. We still have weeks to go and everyday they ask is it halloween yet?