Heavy reading

Autumn in Alabama

We had a very beautiful autumn this year. I wasn't expecting much as everyone told us that it didn't get cold enough here for a real fall. They said that the leaves just gradually turned brown and fell off. Luckily for us, this year was different, and the trees were very colorful. Of course the kids and I had to go out and play and Vance collected leaves in a bag like he was trick or treating.

Caleb loves being outside, though he was a bit frustrated that he couldn't walk on the uneven ground.

He was more interested in pine cones and sticks than in leaves.

Vance was excited that I let him wear his rain boots.

All aboard!

The McWane Science Center is currently having a train exhibit with model trains, toy trains, and a train ride outside the building.

Caleb enjoyed playing with the toy trains but enjoyed the giant lite brite much more. He would have spent the whole day putting the pegs into the holes if I had let him.

Vance had fun looking at all the trains, but was most excited about the train ride outside. All the kids rode in the blue car, leaving us adults in the others. I'm sure the passing cars got a laugh at all the moms crammed into the tiny train.


Here are Vance and Caleb waiting in line. Caleb didn't know what was going on, but he had a lot of fun anyway.

Caleb took off his own shoe. I'm not that bad of a mom.

Just because...

I thought this picture was funny.

Happy Birthday Ryan!

Yesterday was Ryan's Birthday. Vance had a lot of fun preparing for Daddy's special day. He picked out a present for Daddy (which we had to hide and not tell Daddy about so that it would be a surprise), colored a banner for Daddy, and even decorated the wrapping paper. He couldn't wait until Dad got home so that we could have a party.

Caleb thought the candles were great. He kept saying "Woooooo."


I don't think Ryan appreciated my joke, but the cake tasted really good. Ryan wanted an ice cream cake, so that is what he got. I made a yellow cake and put Blue Bell's Snickerdoodle ice cream in the middle (cinnamon ice cream, caramel swirls, and cookie bits.) It's frosted with whipped cream and ganache.

Onions and Sponges

There are two things that Caleb is always playing with: onions and sponges. He is constantly getting into the pantry or cupboard and pulling them out. He carries them around, throws them, and chews on them. I constantly have onion skins all over the floor. At least Christmas shopping will be easy this year.

Baby steps

It has been a big couple of weeks for Caleb. He has gotten three new teeth (two on the same day, which was fun for the whole family), he's really started walking, and just got his very first haircut. One moment he's my baby, and then suddenly he's becoming a little boy.

Caleb walking:



I just gave Caleb his first haircut. I probably would have waited a little longer to cut off his little baby curls, but Vance informed me that if the circles (curls) on Caleb's head got any longer he would be a girl. I guess we can't have that.

I asked Vance if he would become a girl if we let his hair grow out. He said, "No, I would become a daddy."

Anyway- Here are some before pictures:


During:


After:



Ryan says that if the curls are meant to be, they'll come back. I guess we'll see...

Even more Halloween doings...

To celebrate Halloween, Vance and I made pumpkin T-shirts. I cut out some freezer paper stencils for both Vance and Caleb. I painted Caleb's and Vance painted his own (he really wanted a yellow and green pumpkin, not an orange one). I like how they turned out. I was glad that I let Vance do his own thing, and they took less than 30-minutes, even better.



Here's a picture Vance drew of a monster. He says that the monster is yelling because he didn't want his teeth to be colored red, and he didn't want to be blue. He's a nice monster though.

Halloween carnival and Halloween

Our ward had a Halloween carnival and trunk or treat party. We all dressed up for the party. Vance was a dinosaur-dragon (he called himself that), Caleb was a monster, Daddy was The Cat in the Hat's younger brother Hank, and I was a rodeo clown. Vance had a blast playing all the carnival games and came home with a bunch of candy. We forgot to bring a trick or treat bag for Vance, hence the grocery sack.



Here's a picture of Caleb after trick or treating door to door on Halloween.

Vance was so excited that he was able to celebrate two Halloweens. He kept asking if we could visit another house that we hadn't been to before. Caleb liked all the lights and the sucker we let him eat while we walked around.

Vance's favorite day

Vance recently told me that Halloween was his favorite day. (He says it's even better than Christmas, but he likes it the same as his birthday). He has been playing with pumpkins, painting pumpkins, carving pumpkins, and drawing pumpkins (and other scary things) all month long. He likes his pumpkins. Caleb likes pumpkins too, but he just rolls them around the house and tries to throw them.

Here are some pictures from our family pumpkin carving night:

Vance and Caleb helped Daddy draw the face on the pumpkin.

Daddy got to use a big knife.
Vance wanted to help clean out the pumpkin, but soon decided that Daddy could have that job.

Caleb was very impressed with the finished product. This is the face he makes whenever he is really excited about something. (Just imagine him saying "Ooooooo" in the background).


Here's our jack o'lantern. Isn't he scary? Vance wanted a scary one that was nice.

A walk in the garden

We went for a walk at the Birmingham Botanical Gardens. The kids enjoyed being outside and playing with sticks.

Food samples at Costco

My kids favorite part about shopping is the free food samples at Costco. They had freshly baked chocolate chip cookies during this particular visit. Caleb took his time eating it and then fell asleep on the way home. I think that he was one satisfied customer.

A visit to the pumpkin patch

We had a fun time visiting the pumpkin patch in Hayden. We took a hayride to the pumpkin field.

They had a hay maze just the right size for Vance and his friend.
So many pumpkins, so little time.

Vance picked out a nice white pumpkin. Caleb had fun rolling around every pumpkin he came near.

Vance insisted on painting his pumpkin as soon as possible. He picked out a face he liked, had me outline it for him, and then he painted the rest. I was impressed with how well he did.

Caleb's First Birthday!

We had a fun birthday party for Caleb. Vance helped pick out some balloons and we ordered pizza. We had some friends over for cake and ice cream. The kids had fun playing together and with Caleb's new toys. Caleb had fun playing with the wrapping paper.

Here is Caleb's cake:

Daddy helped Caleb blow out his candle.
Caleb had the turtle part of the cake all to himself. This is before the destruction:
This is after:

He didn't actually get that messy. Shortly after this picture was taken, he started to cry. He has never been one that liked to be dirty.

Birmingham Zoo

Vance had a lot of fun at the zoo. He followed his friend Brooks around the entire time. My favorite part was when he saw a white tiger and said, "Look! A zebra!" He says he liked the zebras the best. (I don't know if that was the real zebras or the white tiger). Caleb liked the giraffes.

Vance asked for the map as soon as we went into the zoo. He carried it the whole time, telling us where we needed to go.

Here are Vance and Caleb at the Australian mining exhibit.

Vance never quite got the 'only put your face through the hole' concept.

They had a water fountain area to play in. Vance was quickly soaked.

Between Caleb's splashing and Vance directing the water streams toward me, I was quickly soaked as well.