Pumpkin Patch 09

Yesterday, John and I loaded up the boys to take them to the pumpkin patch.

It was a mad dash getting out the door. I think I changed shirts twice and kept changing the boys' clothes around. Our outfits were not meshing well, but it was getting late. There was not time for any more wardrobe changes.

John said it was going to be chilly. Finn was wearing shorts and I did not care to fight him into pants. So I grabbed a beanie for him as we were walking out the door. And poor Calvin was wearing flip-flops.

And it's a good thing I did grab that beanie, because the wind picked up quite a bit when we got there. It was actually down-right chilly. Just right for taking fall photos, right?

Wrong.

I felt a smidge guilty trying to take pictures of cold children, as they were shivering. Twain was sporting quite the pout.

And Ollie was looking rather rum as well.

I have a new sympathy for those of you taking pictures in colder climates. Especially in the wind. Not easy wiping runny noses and taking photos at the same time. Thankfully, the wind eventually died down. It was still a little chilly, but not too cold to get Twain out and introduce him to some PUMPKIN LOVE.

Finn got busy right away selecting a pumpkin. He's my most decisive child. Calvin, on the other hand was wandering aimlessly...

Ollie was thrilled to find a little pumpkin just his size. He carried it around possessively the whole time.

I like how all of our feet are showing in the above photo:)

Finn looks like such a BIG boy here...

But he's still our little squirt.

These two. Peas in a pod, I tell you.

Ollie would have been content to watch the animals the entire time. He was seriously giddy, running wild in the 'non-petting' zoo. Out of all my kids, Ollie loves animals the most. Finn prefers stuffed animals and Calvin is afraid of dogs. But Ollie is the animal lover. And for someone so young and tenacious, Ollie is surprisingly gentle with animals.

Gotta love the tag stickin' out of the back of his pants. (I frequently buy elastic waist bands on the boys' pants, so I can roll the top over in the beginning of the season...and by the time spring hits, they have grown into them and don't have to wear flood pants. I really save lots of money this way.)

And it is our tradition(as of last year) to take pictures in front of this barn.

You'll notice the Twain was looking a little teary-eyed. He was only happy if I was holding him.

At this point, the kids were cold, hungry and whiny. John and I just kind of looked at each other like "What the heck are we doing? Why did we think it was possible to enjoy the pumpkin patch with this many kids running amuck?" It was hard enough last year with 3 kids. So we(as in me) quickly tried to sneak in a few more shots, before calling it a day.

And soon enough, the twinkly lights came on, signaling that our time at the pumpkin patch had come to an end.

Time to get home to our taco Tuesday tradition.

There's nothing like coming home to a warm, cozy house after braving the cold for an hour or two. For the first time in many, many months, all I wanted to do was take a warm shower and crawl under the warm covers with a good book or movie.

Welcome back, Fall!

around the house

My sinuses/allergies have been acting up all week long, rendering me more pathetic and useless than ever. My head hurt. My nose was all stuffy and clogged. Perhaps a cold was also involved. There was a LOT of lounging around the house, trying to get my energy back.

Thankfully I had Sir Calvin Jack to give me some excitement by taking me on my very first tour of the Buckingham Palace.

That's right, the Buckingham Palace, built by my very own Calvin Jack, in all its colorful glory.

Initially I had to google the 'Buckingham Palace', mainly for the spelling...and wound up typing the Beckingham Palace --the home of "Posh and Becks".

At this point I was totally confused. I had to go ask Calvin, "What was the name of the palace you built?"

"The Buckingham Palace", Calvin confidently replied.

Ok then!

Back to google, and there was the "Buckingham Palace", the official London home of the British royalty...and apparently part of the Little Einstein's show Calvin had been watching. Yes this made more sense. Buckingham, not Beckingham. Yes, I know these things.

And this week, I was also granted the privilege of attending a special piano concert, featuring the music by Edvard Grieg. The sheet music was constructed by our very own Conductor Finn.

Finn left special instructions: "Play Ples John" ...how could daddy resist? So daddy played the piano for us. Apparently this Edvard Grieg music is also played on the Little Einsteins.

In addition to my tour of the Buckingham Palace and Concert a la Edvard Grieg, I also got to listen to the orations of Finn from various books he has constructed. Here is one of his first books.

At first I was quite taken aback by the mass quantities of words on one page. Oi!

However, lately most of Finn's books have been cute little thematic books, which are much easier on the eye!

Such as his Alphabet books. Here are the first 4 pages.

And here are some samples from his "Colors Book"

There are many, many, many more books such as these, scattered all about the house.

Who knew I could get such rich culture, never leaving house? I'm a lucky girl!

babies in jeans

The topic of discussion today is babies wearing jeans.

A few weeks ago, Twain wore jeans to church, and I snapped a few shots of him when we got home.

And ever since, the photos sat, collecting dust.

Why?

Because I am so NOT OK with how grown-up he looks wearing these jeans!

I bought these jeans at Old Navy a few months ago and thought they were just adorable because of their built-in-belt. I totally have a thing for belts.

But golly, doesn't he look like a teenager in this shot?(Well aside from the onesie. Teenagers do not wear onesies.)

And the funny thing is, Finn and Ollie LIVED in jeans and cords. It just suited their style.

Calvin, on the other hand, was soft and squishy like Twain and rarely wore jeans. He mainly wore soft comfy clothes that were more baby-ish. And it suited his style.

I may not prefer Twain to wear jeans, but I don't want to waste money and they are very practical for outdoors. So, he shall still wear them from time to time.

And underneath, he's still my same warm snuggle bug.

The end.

little leprechaun

And this year, we are the Leprechauns!

For the second year in a row, Finn is the youngest{and smallest} member on his soccer team. He is playing with 3rd graders. THIRD graders!!

At first, I was very uncomfortable with Finn playing with kids so much bigger and older than he was. And I still think it's kind of wrong. Unfortunately, his birthday falls on the wrong side of the cut-off date.

Buuuut, we decided to play it by ear, and so far Finn is definitely holding his own out there! He has gotten a lot more aggressive this year.

The other players and their parents are the sweetest ever, so that helps.

And Finn pretty much LOVES it, so that's all that really matters.

Last year I was so involved and went to almost every single game. Holding my breath every time Finn went within one square mile of the ball.

And this year? Sadly, I have only been to one game, because I refuse to feed Tweetle on the field. Seriously, I am sure nobody wants to see that. And I am starting to mellow out because when Finn gets the ball, I no longer hyperventilate. Don't get me wrong, I'm still just as excited...it's just different the second time around! And I think this is a good thing. I'm more relaxed.

Regardless of how many games I've gone too, I'm so proud of you Finn-boy!

favorite spoons

Yesterday while shopping at Target, I was very pleased to see that they now carry my favorite baby spoons, made by the eco-friendly company Boon.

Let me count the ways I love these Boon spoons:

soft and comfortable for baby's gums

perfect size

cute fun color and modern style

BPA-free

and did I mention cute?

And baby loves them too!

Though he may not be particularly fond of the avocado I've been feeding him lately.

He makes the most awful faces when I give him avocado...he eats it so reluctantly. Yesterday I thought I had finally convinced him to eat his whole bowl. I was so pleased. I had triumphed!

Until I saw him spitting out little mouthfuls of green here and there.

Where is all this green coming from???

Little bugger tricked me and had been hiding mouthfuls like a chipmunk in those chubby cheeks. I'm sure he thought it was pretty funny.

Alas, I am stubborn and he shall be getting more avocado in his near future.

And gosh no, I don't always put hats on my baby. He was blessed with such a great head of hair at birth, only to have most of it fall right out. Such a pity. The lighting makes him look bald in most pictures, but really his hair is starting to grow back in. See?

And check out this spiffy high chair that Boon makes. It would match my kitchen perfectly.

Isn't it cute? The answer is YES. Yes it is cute.

Even though we don't have a wild new high chair, we are very pleased with our new bib and spoons.