Emmett's First Haircut

We have seriously been meaning to trim Emmett's hair for probably 6 months. But by now it was way past just a trim. You know how you teach kids their body parts? Yeah, well Travis even taught Emmett how to identify his mullet. Despicable. Pathetic it took us so long. But finally, on this scary Halloween day, we made Emmett's hair a lot less scary.
I would sort of curl it up with my fingers so it wouldn't hang so long, but after finger combing it down this is what we started with:


And this is where we finished:


That's right Emmett, you (well, your hair anyway) don't scare us anymore.

Jack O' Lantern Pie

Last night we had Jack O' Lantern Pie, courtesy of Taste of Home. I don't know how they got their pastry to be so perfectly, uniformly orange, or that lovely of an orange for that matter, but the boys still thought mine was great. Usually I get an idea from a recipe and then go my own way. This time it looked good enough (and I had the items) to follow as is and it was delicious. Travis thought it needed cheese, which obviously makes most things yummier, but I thought it was great without it too!

A Strange Balloon Request

On Saturday Avery's aunt Megan was giving horse rides with her pony club at a local pumpkin patch. Papa and Grandma picked up Avery and cousin Alli for a fun afternoon out there. One of the things they got there was a balloon shape. Alli asked for a pumpkin and got a cute little one. When Avery's turn came the balloon guy was met with probably one of the craziest little kid requests ever:

"I want a brown butterfly getting eaten by a snake."

"Um, okay, I'll try..."

So here's Avery with his balloon masterpiece when he got home.


Here are a few of Grandma's pictures from the outing.

Spooky Sunday Dinner

Something spooky was baking in our oven tonight!


Mummy dogs, bloody Frankenstein toes and mummy pizza!


Avery: "This is the best dinner ever!"
and later: "Mom, I really appreciate all the work you did for this, I think you've earned a dollar from me."
Sweet boy.
And he even told me that as he was helping me with the dishes.
Sometimes being a Mom is rewarding!

Actually, Avery also gave a great talk in primary today that was obviously also rewarding to hear. His memory, when he decides to put a little work in, is really impressive! He shot right through his three paragraphs, no sweat. I wouldn't say he's the model primary child, so I think he really surprised his teacher, and the primary president certainly looked shocked as she turned to me after and said, "That was really good!" The best part was Avery's self discovery that he can do it, and do it well, and that if he does his part then Heavenly Father has blessed him with a good memory that will serve him well.

Bauman Farms Pumpkin Patch

On Tuesday Carson's preschool went to Bauman Farms. He enjoyed himself, honest.


We took Emmett too. He also enjoyed himself, honest.


Smash that bug, Emmett.


See, they're happy!


Really, they did have fun, promise!


In the maze.


Time to exit the maze - wait boys! Let Mom go first!


I have to take their picture coming out obviously.


Petting the animals. Carson was all about this, which is great since they scared him last year. It was Emmett's year to be scared. Except of the bunnies. He couldn't get enough of those. In fact I had to pack the kid to the car when it was time to leave because he was having a throw down fit about seeing the bunnies more.


There were two adorable calves just born in September named Billy the Kid and Jesse James.


Time to watch the cider press!


Be careful, it splatters.


Yum, fresh cider!


More, please!


Ah, that's the stuff.


Big long slides are all over the place out there.


And shorter ones too, like this one that exits a giant fort.


He's saying, "Ooo, I'm a scary ghost, oooOOOooo."


Tall ceilings in a tee-pee.


Yup, pretty cool stuff.


Thursday was Avery's turn to go with Kindergarten.




With his buddy Hayden who's in pre-K.


In the maze climbing over the obstacles in the back. I didn't need to go in this time.


Exiting the maze.


Back to the cider press.


Another slide exit from the giant fort.


Um, King of the Mountain... in a strange super-hero pose.


Another giant slide, face first of course.


And then it was time to go.

Each person gets one pumpkin, one gourd (which is hard to choose from a fascinating variety!) and one Indian corn from Bauman's so with the three boys and me going twice we now have several piles in front of the house. Of course, it'll all have to be rearranged once the big pumpkins get carved.

I'm Dead Now

Says Carson last weekend after flopping on the floor. Okaaaayyyy... I guess he needed some attention in the midst of my taking Avery's picture doing the dishes... Indeed, after taking his picture he popped right up so he could see it... and then asked for more.

Dishes

Unasked, Avery decided to do the dishes for me yesterday! To him, that meant hand washing them and then loading them in the dishwasher. The pile on the counter is all the dishes that he washed and was just starting to load. When he finished loading he put the soap in and ran the dishwasher. Thankfully the dishes he did filled the last of the dishwasher so it was a full load instead of wasted on a marginally full washer. I had to talk to him about that today because he wanted to run it on only the few dishes he loaded today.


Hmm, it's a good thing we just bought more dish soap because he killed the entire half inch that was left in the bottom of the bottle... I guess we'll have to work on moderation. Still, I'm not complaining, I'm being super supportive because after all, why would I want to shoot myself in the foot?

Slug

Oh be still my beating heart, what is that thing doing in my kitchen!!!???!!!


As grossed out as I was to find this in the kitchen earlier this week, I couldn't help but just cage him so Avery could see him after school. Not that he hasn't seen hundreds of slugs already, but I figured the boy would appreciate my waiting for him. Besides, I thought I'd ask if he'd prefer to salt him or set him free. He chose freedom.

Hangin' Around

While the boys were waiting for Travis to finish Avery's training wheels last weekend, they did some hanging around. Travis had to lower the bar so Carson could do it.


Travis also hung his speed bag from the rafters of our overhead storage. I can't believe Avery is tall enough to jump up and hit it!


Carson is not. Dad took a break to help him out.