Carving our Pumpkin...I almost forgot!

We carved our pumpkin last week, but I forgot to write about it! Helen, Wayne's mom, was here for the week. She sold her house in Arkansas, so Wayne was helping her buy a house here. In a week's time, she found the house that she loved, made an offer, and is closing the week after she moves from Arkansas! We're so excited, especially Nathan. He's going to love having all of his grandparents here to spoil him!


Nathan and his pumpkin. Can you tell he's excited? He picked this pumpkin out all by himself.





After Daddy carved it, I outlined it so that it would show up a little better. Really, I just wanted to be part of the process :)


The finished product!

Afterwards, Nathan, Grandmother, and Daddy played in the yard and went for a walk. Grandmother is home packing right now! We can't wait for her to move!





This entry is out of order. Our actual Halloween entries are after this one :)

Happy Halloween!

Last night was Halloween, and boy did Nathan have fun! Our friends, Meredith and Darin and their little boy, Andrew came over. Alison, Shawn, and Lauren also joined us, but they came a little later. Nathan and I have been practicing saying "Trick or Treat" all week. I thought the best way to teach him would be to actually give him a treat when he said it right. He soon got the hang of it, and would even come up to me on his own (with his pumpkin basket) and say "Trick Treat!"


"Hey, that's a frog!" Andrew looked so cute in his froggy costume!



After playing inside for a while, we packed up and headed to our neighborhood block party. I kept trying to take a picture of Nathan and Andrew next to the pumpkin, but I could never get BOTH of them to look at me at the SAME time :)

Nathan pretty much ran the whole way there. Here he is following some other kids. He kept yelling for us to hurry up!

Darin and Meredith wore their best outfits for the party :) Darin had the best wig, but he "forgot" it at home.

The first thing Nathan wanted to do was jump in the bounce house.

"High five Daddy!"

And then Nathan participated in the hula hoop contest!

When Lauren got there, Nathan gave her the biggest hug! They almost fell over :)

"I like your skirt, Lauren. Will you marry me in 25 years?"

After hanging out at the block party for a while, we went back to the house, ate dinner (Meredith made the best casserole!), and then got ready to go trick or treating ourselves. We really wanted to get a picture of all three kids sitting on the step in their costumes...easier said than done!

Andrew, sit on the step. Nathan, sit down...

Lauren, put your tiara on. Nathan, stop chewing on the wrapped Tootsie Roll...

Smile! This is as good as it gets! Let's go Trick or Treating!

I was worried that Nathan would be shy about actually going up to a door on his own. Wow! Was I wrong! He loved it! He yelled "Trick or Treat" really loud the very first time. He was soooo cute!

Nathan LOVED going to each house, ringing the doorbell, and getting candy. In the beginning, he just yelled "Trick or Treat!" Then he started saying "Trick or Treat," get his candy and then say "Thank you!" And then, Nathan started saying "Trick or Treat," get his candy and then say "Thank you, You're Welcome!" It was so funny. We had planned on just going to a few houses, but they were having so much fun, that we stayed out for at least an hour. What I really loved was that there were SO many kids and families out. There were lots of families just hanging out in their front yards, handing out candy. Maybe we'll do that next year. I just love our neighborhood!

When we got home, Lauren, Nathan, and Andrew couldn't wait to dump out all of their candy!

Daddy opened M&Ms for Nathan, plus lots of other goodies. After we told Nathan he couldn't have any more candy, he soon disappeared. I found him hiding under the dining room table with a sucker he had gotten out of the big bowl of candy that we were handing out to other kids. He opened it on his own, and was trying to eat it without us knowing :) Someone sure does like candy!

Here is a short video of Nathan going up to a door.

Halloween Parties!

Thursday was a BUSY day! Nathan and I hosted our playgroup at our house, went to Kelly and Ryan's Halloween party, and then met Lauren, Reece, Connor, and Suzy at another Halloween party that night! Boy were we tired!


Nathan never wants to wear his hat on his head. He just likes to have it hang around his neck. Well, I was able to bribe him to wear his hat into Kelly and Ryan's party, but as soon as we got inside, he was struggling to get it off!

Nathan quickly joined "Dorothy" in his new favorite activity...coloring.


And then he flirted with another little girl as they danced and twirled.

Nathan and our hostess, Kelly, enjoying snacks and juice boxes (of course).


Nathan made friends with another cowboy named Andrew. Andrew is a little older and asked Nathan what his name was. Nathan answered, "Nay-Nay" then Andrew pointed to himself and said, "My name is Andrew." Nathan looked really confused, started shaking his head, and said, "No, you're Woody." How funny is that?! He's dressed up as Woody from Toy Story, so of course, that's his real name :)

They both found harmonicas in the toy box and never wanted to put them down :)


They moved into the hallway while still playing...

And when it was time to hear instructions for the first game (Stick the Nose on the Pumpkin), Andrew and Nathan, were STILL playing their harmonicas! Andrew's mom and I thought it was so funny and cute, but then we realized it was probably pretty annoying to everyone else...plus no one could hear the rules to the game, so we had to take them away. After a few tears, they were happy again :)

"I'll stop playing my harmonica and try to stick this nose on the pumpkin, but as soon as the game is over, I'm playing my harmonica again."

Nathan sure has a way with the ladies. Thank you Kelly and Ryan for inviting us to your party! Now, it's on to the next one!

We drove straight from one party to the next. Lauren and her parents invited us to the party at their country club. As soon as we walked in, Nathan and Lauren were so excited to see each other. Isn't she the sweetest fairy ever? We were also going to see Reece, Connor, and Suzy.

There's Reece who is The Cat in the Hat...love it!

After Nathan and his friends ran around the lobby like wild children, we went to our first activity which was decorating pumpkins. Nathan listened very intently as this sweet woman explained what to do.

Daddy helped Nathan stick his decorations on, but also let Nathan pick out anything he wanted.

What a great job Nathan! I laughed when I first saw it, but Nathan was so proud of it :)

And then Nathan went to help his friends decorate their pumpkins (I forgot to put the flash on here).

"I like what you're doing Lauren."

"What about this?"

After decorating pumpkins, the kids tested their skills with several games. Nathan was able to throw the bean bags through the holes every single time...maybe that's because he's standing inches away :)

Game #2 with Connor.

"Look Connor! I got a tattoo!"

Finally, it was time for a dinner break. Nathan hardly ate anything because he was stuffed with junk. Oh well, I figured this wouldn't be a "healthy" eating day :)

He and Lauren had so much fun dancing on the dance floor. Look at Nathan's moves!

"Bye Lauren! Thank you for inviting me to your party!"