Little Willie & Owl (his sidekick)

What a fun Halloween night! James always amazes me at how independent and gung-ho he is! He had no problem charging up to houses (alone most of the time) holding up his bag and saying "Trick Treat!" After awhile he swithed to "Happy Halloween" as this was the new phrase he had just learned from the two previous houses.

Us - right before heading out
Most people knew who he was suppose to be. We got a few "What a cute Indian!" or "And who are you suppose to be little boy?" But mostly people would proudly say "Look dear, it's Willie Nelson at our door!" That always made James excited. He even broke into his version of "Mamma's don't let babies grow up cowboys" for two lucky greeters! :-)



Isabel enjoyed the specktacle from Mom's arms. After a while, she was happiest being pushed by Grandma and munching on her own version of a "milk dud."


After about 1/3 of the neighborhood, James proudly declared he was done and wanted to go home to EAT his candy. We turned around and headed back for the house. Izzy Jeanne went to bed while the rest of us sat on the porch to greet the trick or treaters.


I must say we had a great turnout this year. Rivaled our old location even! The door was opening so often, we found it much more enjoyable to just sit on the porch under the green-lit Zombie and wait for kids. James got a kick out of throwing his football at the motion-activated clown just as the kids would approach us for candy. In all fairness - they did get a warning. As they'd near the door James would walk up to them and say "I'm gonna scare ya!" Then he'd turn, toss the football and laugh (his evil laugh) when the clown would go off and the kids would react. Ah. He's a boy after my own heart!! I'm so proud! :-)

Grammy Visits

10/25 - 11/4 We're so lucky to have Grandma visiting us for the next week! James just loves visitors!



More to come.....

Trunk Or Treat

10/25 - Ward Trunk or Treat party. James LOVES his Willie Nelson costume! I had a great time constructing it and he had an even better time helping me. The hair and the vest only stay on him for a few minutes at a time, but they are super cute when he has them on.

The first time we got him ready (see below pictures) he goes "Mammas don't let babies grow up cowboys." (That's his song I've been trying to teach him to sing.) Then we spent about 20 minutes looking in the mirror. He'd see himself and just giggle his guts out. Then we'd load another item in the car to get ready to go and he's say "Let's go look in the mirror again Mamma." Then he'd just smile and giggle this silly little look-at-me laugh. It was wonderful to see him so excited.


Isabel made an adorable owl. She was a really good girl at the party too. As long as there are children around to watch, she's a happy girl.


JL took James around trunk or treating. James was so excited over all the treats that he got. The trick was getting him to stop eating it!


Willie right before we had chili
The scene when Izzy and I arrived home. JL and James had taken off to the airport to pick up Grammy!

Civic Duty

10/23 Gettin' in a little early voting
James and Bert and Ernie to the rescue!
Isabel was a favorite among the fellow grocery shoppers with her sticker proudly displayed on her head
Also, the first time she sat in the shopping cart all by herself! Thank goodness for her now constant sitting ability

So behind!

My apologies to my fan. October has just been really busy, and as they all do, has slipped away from me. Here's my make-up plan - post a bunch of pictures and give a blurb about each. :-)

James and Rose painting the pumpkins they picked out from the preschool field trip
Jamescaso
Getting ready to carve our funkin
James at the garden center pumpkin patch (Ward playdate for that week)
Izzy Jeanne lookin' all cute

Izzy: 8 Months

Our little Isabel is 8 Months today!!


Cuter than ever and soon to be crawling!

Great-Grandpa Visits

After the pumpkin patch, JL's Grandpa flew in to visit us for the next few days. We had a great time! We took him and his wife Barbara around to see the sites. The funny things was - despite this being the first time James ever met either of these two people (that he can remember anyway), he took to them right away.

It was amazing to see the instant bond he developed with Grandpa. It was like he'd known him forever! Those two were so funny to watch. They'd play and James would just GIGGLE his guts out. Even Isabel (who doesn't let anyone hold her) let Grandpa hold her! Don't ask me what it was, I don't know. But it was awesome to watch.

Here's a few of my favorite pictures from the visit:








We had such a great time with Grandpa and Barbara! It was really cool that the both of them were able to visit us. Hopefuly we'll see them more often!

Pre-Preschool Field Trip

This past Wednesday was the first field trip for our pre-preschool. What better place to take the kids than to a pumpkin patch! This is one of our traditions since James came along. The firs time he went to this pumpkin patch he was just 5 months old! Now, at 2, it's amazing to see how different he is. Different, but the same.

Naturally, the highlight of the trip for him was the tractor hayride. Last year, he would sit near the tractor and make his tractor "brrroooom broom brooooooom" sound. This year it was "Look Mom!! A tractor in the dirt! Are we going to ride it?" Just 12 months later!! It made me a little sad to think how quickly he is growing up and changing. But at the same time, I love to see him now and how expressive and excited he gets about things.

He had a grin on his face the whole time we were riding behind the tractor. At one point he started making a half laugh/half squeal sound that then lasted for the rest of the ride.




After the ride, he and Rose played with trucks and went "way high" on the swings. This was actually the firs time James sat on a big-kid swing by himself. He usually will make me or JL sit and ride it with him. I think Rose is to thank for his independance! They both were swinging and laughing the whole time. James put his fear aside and decided he actually likes going high on the swing by himself. It was funny to hear him. Each time he'd swing up toward me he'd go "whoooaaa." :-) So cute!





After that, we snagged a wagon to pick out a few pumpkins. Rose and James were adorable! Rose started out pulling the wagon. Then James and Rose were pulling the wagon. Pretty soon, James was pulling the wagon while Rose was riding in it (at James' request!) Then they both were riding and I was pulling! How that happened, I'll never know!

James was so funny about which pumpkin was his. He picked out one that was somewhat beat up on one side and didn't have a stem. I wasn't a fan so I thought I could outsmart him by putting that pumpkin aside and getting a different one that was in better shape and looked almost identical to his original pick. Boy, was I wrong! He took one look at my substitute and said "where's my punkin Mom?" I was immedately racked with guilt and realized I wasn't sure where his exact pumpkin was anymore. Never fear - James spoted it almost immediately! Sure enough, he found that same old, raggedy pumpkin and proudly brought it over to the wagon. Sigh. We then picked out a little white one for Isabel.






It was a fantastic field trip! James, naturally, can't wait to go back again. I'm sure we'll have at least one more visit before the month is over!

And did I mention how adorable the kids were in their Halloween shirts? Here's Isabel doing her best impression of a spooky owl...

Whoooo Me?

And the decorating continues

We got a few decoration up on the 1st. But most of them went up on the 4th. It was a family effort. Isabel deligated from the stroller while James and I and Dad hung, placed, and re-placed items.

Isabel in her office
James was way into it. He would place a pumpkin, move it, look at it from the lawn, and then re-move it. All the while saying "this one is spooky Mom." or "look at that naughty guy decoration Mom." After we were set with the result, he would request to "go outside and look at the punkins again." We did that on and off for the rest of the afternoon. Even today, he'll go out and look at everything. And each night he helps me light up the pumpkins.

James placing pumpkins
And now, to reposition them...
He loves to turn on these two pumpkins and watch them blink. He picked them both out this year. The black one is his while the orange one he lovingly picked out for Isabel
Another new tradition that has developed: walking around the neighborhood (nightly) to look at everyone elses decorations. He loves it!! And Isabel loves it!! And of course, being the Halloween junkie that I am, Mom loves it too!! And Dad is a good sport! :-)

James loves to put on my witch hat. He gives his best cackle and wriggles his fingers about by his face. "I'll get you my pretty!"

On the 2nd day of October...

We visited a fire station for playdate. It was sooo fun! We toured the firehouse and got to see where the firemen eat and work. But really for James the fun part started when we went out to the garage. There was an ENT ambulance in there, a fire emergency response truck (which looked like a red ambulance) and the kicker: a huge fireengine! James was....overwhelmed!

The firemen let the kids crawl inside the truck and spray the water hose. James was a tad afraid to spray the hose himself, but with Mom's hand and a little encouragement he at least got close enough to snap a picture.

Izzy Jeanne thought the whole thing was fascinating. She would kick her legs and squeal when the other kids would get excited. Afterwards, great naps were had by all.
Isabel looking very festive
James waiting patiently for his turn inside the truck
Inside the firetruck
It was all I could do to talk him out
James spraying the water hose (with a little help from me and Izzy)
James and his friend Katelin sitting on the bumper for pictures.
Partial group shot
Here's the kids with all 4 of the firemen that were showing us around. Everyone had a great time!
James with our main fireman guide