Carving

Dear Jax,

Your concept of time is quite skewed; therefore, you've continued to ask "When can we carve our pumpkins??" every day for the last few weeks despite my answer of "Not until it's almost Halloween."

Well yesterday was the perfect day for THE event!  We hung out around the house for most of the day as Daddy had to go to work to get caught up after being away all week at jury duty.  So, while Colton took his afternoon nap, the two of us got to work on one of the pumpkins.

As soon as you saw the finished product, you asked, "When are we carving its face?"

We do have another pumpkin...

Halloween festival #2

Dearest Firefighter & Dalmatian,

Yesterday was the first time that we put you both in this year's costumes together as The Bailey Family invited us to a small, local, Halloween festival with them.

There were bounce houses...

There were games...

(In which, you two had drastically different techniques!)

There were prizes...

There were random goats...

There were snuggles...

And there was this disorganized cake walk!  

You boys made the loop around that faded circle umpteen times.  When one of your numbers was finally called, we decided it would be a team win!  Y'all decided on these cupcakes and shared them after a yummy dinner together.

Pplllleeeeease let me keep up this brotherly-duo-themed-costumes shtick for a while because I just LOVE it!  

School Events

Dearest Jax,

Your school put on a small "carnival" last night.  So, while Daddy was finishing up jury duty and Colton was with the Vaughns, the two of us enjoyed the festivities.  We started by making you a personalized baggy - which came in handy for holding all of your prizes.

Then we ran into a friend from another class, Jacob, and you boys actually wanted a picture together!  You know I won't turn that down!!

Despite the numerous game stations, this is where you would've been content all night.  You zoomed across that gymnasium more times than I could count and had a smile like this the entire time:

After playing a few games, you were timidly excited to run into your teacher!

We wrapped things up by taking a few turns on the cake walk.

Cupcakes are a great way to end anything!  : )

On our toes

Dearest Colt,

You've had some exciting times here lately, bud.  I know that we just celebrated your 2nd birthday but you seem so much older these days.  Your vocabulary is practically doubling every day and you now speak in sentences.  You even act so grown and this picture that Michelle snapped on her cell phone proves it:

You see, the boys were chilling out on the couch with a few beers and you took it upon yourself to emulate them perfectly!  Such a little man!

Then Ms. Steph texted me this picture of you the other day and I had to admit that you have your first girlfriend.  You & Ella have a special relationship and you exchange many tokens of affection throughout the day.  I knew it was serious when you started telling me that you were dreaming about her!

Then Katie visited us this past weekend and that further reinforced it.  You're not "the baby" - you're a big boy!  (You'll even tell us so if you think we've forgotten!)

But big or little, baby or big boy, you still need your momma and daddy and Tuesday night was the perfect example of that truth.  I heard some scary noises coming from your room a little before 10:00 on Tuesday night and I found you, in your crib, struggling to breath.  After a quick phone call to Uncle Mike, Daddy rushed you to the Emergency Room.  

You were there for almost 4 hours as they gave you breathing treatments, steroids, and a chest x-ray in an attempt to help your poor lungs.  You are battling a major case of croup and sound just pitiful.  I stayed home with you yesterday and we'll head to your pediatrician tomorrow to be reexamined.  

You sure do keep us on our toes, Colton James!  : )

The trick to sleeping in...

Dearest Jax and Colton,

You boys are very scheduled as that's the life you're used to.  You go to bed at the same time every night and wake up at the same time every morning.  While I think routines are paramount, a downfall is that sleeping in is incredibly rare.  If my memory was better, I could probably count on one hand the number of times you've slept past 7:00 and this morning was one of those mornings.  I think we found the "trick" to getting you to sleep in....

In starts on Saturday morning at 8:15.  

That's when we all report to the soccer field for the first soccer game of the day.  

After Game #1, we head to the fire station for their Open House - as they wrap up Fire Prevention Week.  You two scope out everything and even pose for a few things...

We can't stay long but do manage to see them rush off for an actual emergency call!

Then it's back to the field for soccer game #2.  

A very aggressive teammate turns you into an extra cautious player but I managed a few action shots - 

Here, said aggressive teammate about tramples you trying to take over the ball but you stick with it!!

And you make YOUR FIRST GOAL!!!!!!!!!!!  Your coach blocks my shot but behind him that ball is in the net because you just kicked it there!!  What a proud moment, buddy!

Get some lunch after the soccer game and then break up into teams.  Team 1 consists of Daddy & Jax and y'all head to the RC track to try to run the car.  Team 2 consists of Mommy and Colt and we attempt an afternoon nap.  Reconvene a few hours later to make our way to a birthday party.  The party spot has a sand pit and I give that sand a lot of credit for that sleeping in thing we're working on. 

After running through sand for over an hour with your besties, go to a nearby restaurant complete with arcade games.  Get a table for 12 but only occupy 7 seats as 5 kids jump from game to game wearing themselves out even further.

Fit in a quick bath before falling into your beds at, of course, your regularly scheduled bedtime.  

And if you do all of the above mentioned things - you might just sleep in until 7:45 like you did this morning!  That's all it takes : )

Let the traditions continue!

Dearest Boys,

I've said it before & I'll say it again...this momma loves traditions!  It could be a tradition just saying that ; )  

Fall brings some of my favorite traditions and yesterday we accomplished one of my most favorite of my favorites!  We played at THE pumpkin patch so now Fall can officially begin!  One tradition that I hope not to start is wearing winter coats to the pumpkin patch -- but that's what we had to do yesterday since that crazy cold front came through!  Patch pictures of the past include shorts, t-shirts, and even sandals!  But this year was straight up COLD so cute outfits were covered up and smiley faces were accompanied by red noses.  

After over 100 shots, I've narrowed it down to my Top 20: