Our Favorite Holiday

Rob and I both love Halloween so much.  I just love to see the boys dressed up in their costumes- it is the cutest thing ever.  Rob is on trick-or-treating duty which he thinks is great.  He always comes back and tells me what a great time they all had.  I am pretty sure it is Rex's favorite holiday too.  He loves to ring doorbells and he gets candy for doing it instead of getting in trouble like he usually does.  Two words-  Awe.  Some.





Wyatt ended up in the stroller after two houses but he had a good time too.  I stayed home and made a jack-o-lantern pizza and handed out candy.  Rob said Rex opened a few people's door when they took too long to answer after he rang the doorbell.  Oh dear.  We will have to work on our Halloween etiquette for next year I suppose.  Last year, he went into people's houses, this year he opened their doors so maybe next year he will get it finally.  We had two little boys (I would guess they were about 2 years old) that were twins come to our door dressed as Mario and Luigi and they get my vote for best costume- they were adorable.  Besides my two boys of course.

The Pumpkin Patch

Our trip to the pumpkin patch falls into the "Better Late Than Never" category. I've been trying to go for the last three weekends with our whole family and it just never has worked out. Today is a beautiful day and I decided to just take the boys by myself. I loaded them up and took them to the farm of one of my favorites from our local farmers' market which turned out to be a great choice. For one thing, the lady could be mother-in-law's twin and I always get a kick out of seeing her. Anyhow, the boys had so much fun on their trip out to the farm to get pumpkins.









So they had a good time with the pumpkins, but they actually spent a majority of the time playing with the rocks in the driveway and with the cat (you can't see the cat in the second picture but it is in the tarp).





It turned out to be a lot of work, taking the two of them there by myself so we didn't stay all that long. It was just off a busy road and every time Wyatt heard or saw a big truck go by, he would take off towards the road so he could see it. Umm, I don't think so Wyatt. We got a nice big pumpkin, perfect for carving, as well as some smaller pumpkins and gourds and even some pumpkin butter (soooo yummy). Trips out to the country always make me want to live there and this time was even worse with the boys running around and loving it. We will stay put for now but I am sure it will always be something we are thinking about.

Cheating and Stealing

Our theme this past weekend seemed to be cheating and stealing. Not that we were actually doing that, it just felt like we were. We decided to get up early and go to Des Moines Saturday morning so that we could go out to breakfast, go to the Habitat for Humanity ReStore and Sears. Breakfast was great put the next two stops were awesome. The ReStore had an ad on craigslist for some carpet tile that we were interested in for the family room. I called and it turned out that they had a lot more carpet tile than just what was shown in the ad. When we got there, we discovered they had HUGE piles of new carpet tile for 37 cents/sq ft. SCORE. But there were two small problems- they were all different colors and styles (a few multiples of some but lots of singles) and they were commercial style, not residential (hard and dense versus soft and plush). We figured we could get enough tiles in similar colors to do the room so problem one was solved- hopefully it will look something like this.



Then Rob pointed out that Hot Wheels go a lot better on this type of carpet then something thicker so it made me feel better about that. We bought enough tiles to do the room plus about 10 extras for when some need replacing in the future- and with my two boys, that is a when and not an if. So it ended up only costing us a little over 100 bucks to carpet the room, plus spares. Feels like stealing but it is not. In fact, we are helping Habitat for Humanity so that makes even more awesome. I also picked up some banquet table legs (for only $7!) that I have been looking all over for to make this large piece of wood we have (I think it's an old door) into an extra table. I think I was more excited about that than the carpet tiles! Anyhow, then it was on to Sears. My dad bought Rob a cordless circular saw for his birthday that was really nice, but we ended up exchanging it for this air compressor/nail gun combo. Rob got the baseboard and some door trim up this weekend and he said it was so easy, it felt like he was cheating thanks to the nail gun.



Rob also finally busted out my birthday gift to him, a compound miter saw, to do the baseboard and build a step going from the house out into the family room.





I help a little, but mostly I just try to keep an eye on the boys. They need it. Here's what they do when you turn your back for a second.





Actually, I helped Rex into the monkey costume. It is from last year and we were checking to make sure it still fit. It does- yay! And then I was making a cake with Rex and watching Wyatt as he climbed onto the table. I don't think Rex ever tried that. Rex does some crazy things but I think Wyatt is even more of a daredevil. Oh dear. In related news, I colored my hair this week to cover up all the gray. Not that I have that much, but it certainly does seem to be coming in more and more over the past 3 years. Thanks boys.

Artistically Challenged

I am terrible at drawing and it seems Rex has inherited this from me. He likes to draw circles, jump ropes, snakes and even a plug and cord (this is what he says his drawings are- too funny!). What he lacks in drawing abilities, he certainly makes up for with his creativity and imagination. Here he is with a little of his artwork.



While I can't draw, I do okay with some creative pursuits. I like crafts and scrapbooking and things usually turn out pretty good. Lately I have been trying to make a few wreaths after picking up the BH&G Holiday Crafts magazine. I made a Halloween wreath partially inspired by that magazine and this wreath.



For my first attempt at a wreath, I am very happy with it. I thought it would be easy to find a spider at the store but couldn't find one in the right size so ended up making my own. He had a tragic accident and lost half his legs but he has a nice home on our wreath on our front door now. Maybe there is hope for Rex after all!

What Haven't We Been Up To?!

It has been crazy around here for most of September and the first few days of October too. So last time I blogged Rob's parents had just been here and now my parents just visited us too. Here are Nana and Papa with the boys.





They spent 2 weeks in the midwest- some of it here with us and some of it sightseeing through Iowa, Illinois, Indiana and Michigan. I feel like I can never say enough about how much we enjoy having our family visit- it is just the best times. Unfortunately I was sick for the first part of their visit but we did manage to have a yard sale during that time. (Oh yes, at least one of us was sick for about half the month of September. Ugh.) When they got back from their road trip though everyone was feeling good and we had a lot more fun then playing cards, going out and having fun with the boys. I also got my dad to help me on a little painting project Rob has been resistant to. I asked if I could take over the fourth bedroom for an office and if I could design it however I wanted. Rob agreed but he wasn't really into my idea of painting stripes on the wall. I was determined to do it though and finally got it done. Here it is.



I think the stripes came out really nice. Now I just have to get everything else in order in the room. We are still trying to finish up the family room project so most of our time is spent there. Rob had his own little painting project going on while I was busy striping the office.



The fireplace bump-out still needs to be painted and there is a good chance it will be the same color as the stripes in the office (the wall color in the two rooms are the same- Churchill Hotel Vanilla). Rob also hung the ceiling fan in the room. He is working on the threshold for the new exterior door right now and trying to get that door all sealed up just in case it ever decides to get cold around here (it has been in the 80's for several days- crazy!). I am sure it will be plenty cold so I am just enjoying the warm weather for as long as we can get it.

The boys are doing what they do best- being crazy and getting into things. Here are some of their greatest hits over the last few weeks.







Yeah, so they're doing just fine. Rex also started a soccer class a few weeks ago. The parents have to stay the whole time and work with them. It has been fun but Rex would rather just run around than try to learn anything. Rex is best at running and throwing the ball inbounds (the kid can throw a ball like nobody's business- I really should have gotten him into some toddler quarterback class). He also likes kicking the ball at the "goal".





I am setting a new goal to blog once a week, probably on the weekends, so that I can have a deadline to work at. I don't mean to neglect this but I just get so busy sometimes. Thanks to those of you for sticking with me and who keep reading!