Halloween and more fall fun

I have been wanting to catch up on my blogging (once again) before Christmas came and I was officially three holidays behind. So here are some pictures from Halloween and another fun visit from Aunt Cathy. No comment really needed on our cute Holden above...

Carson at the park. This is how he usually plays...with his bike helmet on because he is always going between the playground and riding his bike or scooter. The kid seriously loves anything outside...there isn't much he would chose to do over riding his bike to the park!

They have so much fun together!

Aunt Cathy and Holden. Go Bears!

Super Girl (again) and a construction worker. Neither one of them was particularly thrilled with their costume. Morgan changed her mind at least four times and Carson at the last minute was bummed that I returned the so-cheap-it-was-scary policeman costume and got this instead. But this costume is now in our dress-up basket so it was all worth it!

With our little monkey.

This is easily one of my all time favorite pictures of Carson. He is just SO happy here. This was at a petting zoo at the fall festival at our church. After we left, I regretted not letting him stay there longer. He was just in awe and in love with all the animals that he was able to see and hold.

And only becasue I don't want my children to not have any pictures of me when they are old...a picture of sweet Morgan and me before we went to a children's play last month.

Fall!

There is so much I have missed in my blogging, still hoping to go back and post about it for memories sake. But we are trying to act like it is fall here, even if the weather doesn't feel like it. Here are some pictures from one of our days of fall festivals and Halloween parties.

These were the best two of all of the group shots.

Holden.

Chris, Morgan and Carson starting to carve our first pumpkin.

Morgan getting dirty!

Carson scooping some seeds out.

Big boy Holden patiently waiting to go home to bed.

Walk to School Day

Today was Walk to School Day (we really should do it more often!). It was 43 degrees and fun!

Carson Starts Preschool

Carson started preschool this week! Not sure if he is excited or not, but he needs it and I know he is going to love it! This is him at Meet the Teacher day showing off his blue star that they put up every morning when they get to school.
Morgan was so sweet and excited for him. I'm sure that helped him get excited too! Anything Doo Doo says, usually goes.
All my boys.
Showing off the cute treats for his teachers that our friend Mariah made. :)

He went right to this firetruck when we dropped him off. Good luck to his teachers when they try to interest him in the rest of the class room!

First Grade

Morgan started school last week. My little girl is in first grade...WOW!!

A picture of her in her classroom on the first day. She was able to pause the tears for this picture. But she only cried on the first day (HUGE) and she told me she "had so much fun" when she got home. So proud of you Morgan!

Summer

During our summer vacation we played in the rain,
washed our Matchbox cars,
and baked,
So we could have Nancy (our neighbor that the kids adore) over for tea. We also went to VBS, went to camp, took skating, tennis and swimming lessons, vacationed in Michigan and were in a wedding! Lots more pictures of that to come.

Holden Turns One!

Whew! A computer crash, a nine-day whirlwind vacation and #1 starting first grade can really put a girl behind in her blogging. So I'm back...with a one year old! Holden turned one on the 21st. Truly can't believe it's been a year, and that we survived!

So Happy Birthday Holden! You are such a sweet, happy blessing to us. You brought so much love (and craziness) to our family this past year. We love you!!



It's no surprise I'm sure how much Morgan LOVES Holden...She made this sweet sign for him on his birthday.
Holden eating his birthday cake at home, already his third time eating cake. Actually the day after his birthday since he and Carson were both sick that weekend.
Eating a birthday cupcake at the cottage a week earlier.

And his first cake also a week earlier in Michigan. Love his look in this picture!

Fun with Uncle Eric and fire fighters

My brother Eric was in town for work recently so he was able to visit us one night. The kids LOVED it! M and C will say they miss Grandma and Grandpa (so sad...insert tears) and especially Carson has been saying it a lot lately. So they were so excited to have Eric visit. I can't wait for them to get to hang out with their cousins and get to know them more as the kids get older. Can't believe how old Morgan looks in this picture!

Carson has always loved anything related to fire trucks, but due to some extra excitement at our house a couple weeks ago, he has taken a special interest. The two of them were playing fire trucks for quite a while one day!

July 4th

Just some fun pictures from July 4th weekend. I know some of them need to be edited, but we are having some computer issues right now so I can't. They're still cute! I had some cute ones of the kids playing with Pop Its for the first time but Carson was in only a shirt and his underwear once again so I decided not to post them! :)

More Visitors

We love it when family visits! The last of our visitors were my parents a few weeks ago. We don't normally have visitors this far into summer, but we were fortunate to luck out with some rain and cooler temps. It was a fun, chaotic and productive visit! Here are Grandma P. and Holden. I cannot believe how much he looks like her side of the family here (even if I'm the only one who sees it), what a cutie!!


Grandpa P. with Carson and Morgan

Getting projects done...hanging the kids chore charts. I just realized this is the third picture within a few days that I've posted of Carson in his underwear. Must work on that...

Luckily Grandpa P. loves the heat so the boys (minus Holden) spent some time in the backyard. I think Carson was shocked, amazed and thrilled that they let him use the hose to make mud in the sandbox.

Especially since it's summer and we don't have a lot of activities, it's always hard when family leaves. Can't wait for our Michigan trip in less than a month!

Good Daddy

Baby over shoulder and pushing the stroller with his diaper bag in it...Such a good daddy.

Backyard Water Fun

Just some fun action shots of the kids getting creative in the backyard. They love the play set they got for Christmas and water makes it even more fun! I just love seeing the fun they come up with when they're together outside. Carson especially could spend hours and hours out there. We try to not say "No" very much and let him make a muddy mess all he wants!