A Trip to Dinges with Mamaw, Papaw and Aunt Emily

This weekend was our first Dinges experience, and it was a-ma-zing. Dinges is the reason that I love Fall. Pumpkins galore. All kinds. Types I have never seen. The boys rode the pony, jumped in the inflatable pumpkin, and we had munchies. On our way home we stopped at a yummy little deli in Three Oaks where I had the most fantastic apple and ham wrap and coconut macaroon. I even had some iced tea from a mason jar. Now, that is perfection.

Then we went to Evan and Jillians birthday party, where the boys bounced again in some inflatable castle goodness, ate cake & ice cream, and ran around like hooligans.

I decorated our porch with the corn stalks and pumpkins. For the first time ever, my front porch looks like a little bit of a pumpkin patch. No, I don't mean to rush it, but I have some great ideas for Christmas too! 

I need a weekend from my weekend. Ah but what a fabulous time it was.

Ben gets growing pain, just like I did as a child. They struck again tonight, no doubt from his running about today. I think I found a solution. I sing "99 bottles of beer on the wall", and by the time we get to about 75 he seems much better. I do replace beer with juice however. I'm not that mom.

What a great time we had this weekend. I sure do love creating these memories with my boys. Although I like being out in the fall, we do it for them now. We pack up the car with bottles, diapers, coats, stroller, snacks, camera, toys, bib, yada yada. It's totally worth it. Totally.

Botanical Gardens with Busia & Auntie Donna

Pumpkin Patch Visit #1 of Several

Minor meltdown - for absolutely no reason

Last weekend we couldn't just sit inside while there was gorgeous Fall weather outside. We visited a pumpkin patch, also known as a make-your-kids-so-tired-from-doing-everything-that-a-meltdown-is-inevitable farm. It was entertaining for a few hours, regardless. I loved the cooler weather and the hay ride. Ben ended our trip by trying to steal Henry's pumpkin, because the other thousand weren't good enough. Oh how I love it.

What I'm finding really cute right now is how Ben & Henry give each other hugs and kisses before we drop Henry and Max off at daycare and then take Ben to preschool. They tell each other to have a good day, and even give the occasional fist bump.

Rainy Day Treats

Food goes here.

That doesn't look like the chocolate milk I asked for.

I'm also past due on my nap.

Explaining the history of the Tootsie Roll

Rice Crispie apples

The weather today was sunny, then rainy, then sunny, repeat. It was also nice and chilly {which happens to be my favorite word that Ben says}. We made ham and bean soup with blue cornmeal bread, and these yummy apple-looking treats. We made similar ones last year - they were pumpkins though.

We tried quite unsuccessfully to put Henry in the bottom of the trundle bed last night so we could move him into the same room with Ben, thus freeing up a room for Max. Yeah, it lasted minutes. We know Henry's personality, which is a complete 180 from Ben. Ben never even tried to climb out of his big boy bed for at least 6 months. Henry was out of his bed, climbing into Ben's, turning the fan on, in the hallway, taking all the books out, and talking to us through the baby monitor within 5 minutes. We should have known, but was hopeful. FAIL. Ben was in tears when we said that Henry wasn't ready and had to move him back to his room. He cried that we were taking his best friend. Knife, in heart. So tonight, we moved Henry's crib in there and after 30 minutes of "Hey, Ben" and "What, Henry?", followed by several visits from us with stern faces, all was quiet. It was their first night together, and so far is still a success. Well, except for Henry's naked booty again when I went in and checked on them. I think I'll try taping it on tomorrow.

Max is moments away from crawling. He seems to have found his arms and uses them to propel himself forward. He also started eating cereal last week. He likes it for the most part, but does make some cute faces every now and then. I'll start making his food next month. Lots of yummy fall favorites right now.

We are currently focused on getting Henry to stop sucking on his two fingers. He is getting a blister on the middle one, and it's nasty. It hurts, yet he won't stop. We are trying a band-aid every night, which we found if we double he won't remove. He really focuses on it during the day, so we find random bits of band-aid around the house. There is this funny, clear piece in a magazine that you slide over the fingers and strap it around the wrist. It looks ridiculous. Cruel even. Is that what it takes?! Ben just used a binky, and in two nights he was done with it and we moved on. Kinda hard to do with fingers. Max, as it turns out, sucks his thumb. That will be just as fun, I'm sure.

Labor Day Weekend