What better way to start a 'Fall' blog entry than with Snow.
Actually this was the only snow we got in October, the rest of the month it rained.
Below is a picture of our backyard. The kids were super excited.
Something we do for every holiday is make and decorate sugar cookies. The kids just dump a ton of frosting and sprinkles on the cookies and make a mess. Charlotte tends to take the task very seriously while Liam just eats everything.
Below: The fruits of their labor. They were very proud of their cookies and (surprise) it only took a day to eat them.
Charlotte snuggling with Pumpkin. Pumpkin is the best kitty ever. He lets Charlotte do pretty much whatever she wants. She loves to read to him.
In October Brian's brothers/cousins came up for a weekend to help us get some work done and hang out. The boys worked on the living room while the girls worked on the bedroom.
Below: Our new, blue, living room.
Below: Our very unfinished bedroom. We managed to remove wallpaper, scrape glue and paint our walls, but there is still much that needs to be done. Half our floor is hardwood, the other half is plywood. We need to decide what to do with our flooring and remove an old bathroom vanity and install a new one.
The boys, removing our pink carpeting!!!!
The finished product!
Below: The kids are painting Halloween Magnets. (wooden cutouts of pumpkins, bats, etc. that I got at Michaels.)
Below: The kids love the zoo, which happens to be open year round in Duluth. Liam being fed to a fake bear by Brian.
Liam posing by a skeleton. The minute I took the picture he ran away.
Petting a bunny at the zoo.
For Halloween this year, Charlotte was a kitty and Liam was a puppy. (Costumes were made by my mom, Debbie) We went to a Halloween party at church mid October. They had a few games, a cupcake walk, and a little haunted house that the kids LOVED!
They chose to spend a good amount of their time crawling around the church. Which was fine, anything to burn off energy before bed....
Eating their prize from the cupcake walk.
Liam taking a swing at the piniata
Charlotte's turn. Everyone and their mom actually got a swing in. The piniata's proved to be very difficult to open.
Here is our house all decked out for Halloween. I'm hoping to add a spider or two every year.
The Weekend of Halloween my folks (Laura) came up and we went to the Duluth Aquarium.
Above: The kids petting stingrays
Above: My dad playing with the kids. Liams favorite part of the aquarium is the 'great lakes/boats' exhibit.
Pumpkin, using my dad as a chair.
Below: Our very unfinished bedroom. We managed to remove wallpaper, scrape glue and paint our walls, but there is still much that needs to be done. Half our floor is hardwood, the other half is plywood. We need to decide what to do with our flooring and remove an old bathroom vanity and install a new one.
The boys, removing our pink carpeting!!!!
The finished product!
Below: The kids are painting Halloween Magnets. (wooden cutouts of pumpkins, bats, etc. that I got at Michaels.)
Below: The kids love the zoo, which happens to be open year round in Duluth. Liam being fed to a fake bear by Brian.
Liam posing by a skeleton. The minute I took the picture he ran away.
Petting a bunny at the zoo.
For Halloween this year, Charlotte was a kitty and Liam was a puppy. (Costumes were made by my mom, Debbie) We went to a Halloween party at church mid October. They had a few games, a cupcake walk, and a little haunted house that the kids LOVED!
They chose to spend a good amount of their time crawling around the church. Which was fine, anything to burn off energy before bed....
Eating their prize from the cupcake walk.
Liam taking a swing at the piniata
Charlotte's turn. Everyone and their mom actually got a swing in. The piniata's proved to be very difficult to open.
Here is our house all decked out for Halloween. I'm hoping to add a spider or two every year.
The Weekend of Halloween my folks (Laura) came up and we went to the Duluth Aquarium.
Above: The kids petting stingrays
Above: My dad playing with the kids. Liams favorite part of the aquarium is the 'great lakes/boats' exhibit.
Pumpkin, using my dad as a chair.Below: Alicia pushing Liam in the stroller during 'Trick or Treating'
Liam was so adorable. He would say 'trick or treat' so sweetly everytime someone opened their door. and then he would plop down and try to open the candy they gave him.
In Early October we visited a pumpkin patch. (Pumpkin Match, if you ask the kids) and they found these clowns extremely entertaining.
Liam, pulling a wagon in search of the perfect pumpkin.
Charlotte, posing with the pumpkins.
November was kicked off with Huting.
Liam was so adorable. He would say 'trick or treat' so sweetly everytime someone opened their door. and then he would plop down and try to open the candy they gave him.
In Early October we visited a pumpkin patch. (Pumpkin Match, if you ask the kids) and they found these clowns extremely entertaining.
Liam, pulling a wagon in search of the perfect pumpkin.
Charlotte, posing with the pumpkins.
November was kicked off with Huting.
Below: Brian, Loren and Liam
The Hunting Party and their Guns.
Unfortunatly, I didn't get pictures of Brians 8 point buck. But we've got the better part of it in our freezer!
Below: Brian and Dan. So cute.
Brian, Dan And Erik
Below: Liam's parade of cars. He really enjoys making long lines of toys, shoes, etc.
Below: Hand turkeys for Thanksgiving.
The day after Thanksgiving we went to Bentleyville.
Below: Pumpkin hiding in the Christmas tree.
Brian, Charlotte and Liam, decorating the tree.
Liam about to throw leaves at me.
Well, Our fall went by quickly and December is doing the same. A few things about the kids:
The Hunting Party and their Guns.
Unfortunatly, I didn't get pictures of Brians 8 point buck. But we've got the better part of it in our freezer!
Below: Brian and Dan. So cute.
Brian, Dan And Erik
Below: Liam's parade of cars. He really enjoys making long lines of toys, shoes, etc.
Below: Hand turkeys for Thanksgiving.
The day after Thanksgiving we went to Bentleyville.
Below: Pumpkin hiding in the Christmas tree.
Brian, Charlotte and Liam, decorating the tree.
Liam about to throw leaves at me.
Well, Our fall went by quickly and December is doing the same. A few things about the kids:
Liam
Liam is still an incredibly sweet, empathetic child, but he has definetly entered his terribly twos. We've discovered that he processes sugar much differently than Charlotte and as a result, we're very careful about what we give him. He, coincidentally, has much more of a sweet tooth than Charlotte. He loves to play with trains, dinosaurs, cars and other boy stuff, and seems to instinctively reject things that are pink and girly. He is all boy.
Liam had a busy year. He ran into a table at Barnes and Nobles in spring and split his head open, requiring five stitches. While they were stitching him up he wimpered and cried a little, but was a brave little guy. Afterwards he acutally told the doctor 'thank you'. It was precious.
So far Liam has an extensive vocabulary and has surprised us with his talking. He knows his colors and is working on shapes. He can identify every animal imaginable and we're amazed everyday by what he seems to have absorbed over night.
Yesterday we went outside to play in the dusting of snow we got. The kids were drawing pictures with sticks. Charlotte kept drawing candy canes. (lines with a curve on the end). Liam responded by drawing a straight line with his stick and saying 'look, a snake.'
Charlotte
Charlotte will be four in February and she is quite the little mother hen to both Liam and the cats. And on occasion, her mother. She begs me daily for a baby of her very own (a real one, not a doll) and LOVES everything princess. She loves to sing, (Liam hates it when we sing) and she loves her kitties. We're working now on identifying letters and numbers. Her favorite thing to talk about is 'when I'm older I can get married and get a baby in my tummy?'
A few months ago some friends of ours were visiting from out of town. Sarah was six or seven months pregnant and I whispered to Charlotte that she had a baby in her tummy.
Charlotte walked through several church pews to ask her about it and ask if she could see/touch it. Sarah let her touch her stomach and feel the baby and Charlotte was in absolute awe. It was really cute.
Charlotte walked through several church pews to ask her about it and ask if she could see/touch it. Sarah let her touch her stomach and feel the baby and Charlotte was in absolute awe. It was really cute.
Charlotte also lacks (most children do) a filter. She says exactly what she's thinking. one day at the doctor a woman sat next to me wearing an eye patch. Charlotte nocited this and shouted 'Look mom, that lady's a pirate.'
What do you say to that?
Luckily the woman had a sense of humor and explained to Charlotte that she was not, in fact, a pirate, but she lost her eye after an unfortunate heart attack.
This scared Charlotte slightly.
Hopefully we'll post again soon.