In Case They Ever Wonder

Happy 31st Birthday Matt! Most people say things like, "I can hardly believe it's been a year since we fill-in-the blank... My, where does the time go???" Well, I know where the time since your last birthday has gone. It's been right here backing over us like a mack truck! All I can think as I remember last Halloween is how has it only been one year since you were celebrating your 30th birthday by going to a Halloween bash designed for teenagers while Aunt Pam and I took the kids trick-or-treating in the rain? It seems like at least three years ago since you and I were in the house with a princess throwing a fit about something while Aunt Pam was on the front porch knocking on the door to let us know our dragon had just made himself throw up to avoid wearing his costume. Seriously. Are you sure you're not turning 35? Since this year has been oh-so-eventful, I thought it would be no problem to come up with 31 memorable moments from the past year! 1. Begin at the b...

Last weekend we had our traditional pumpkin-carving around the fire at my parents house. I can't say how wonderful it was to be with the whole family, carving, laughing, and eating pumpkin crunch, without having to make a 4 1/2 hour car trip! Anyway, Matt outdid himself, reminding me once again of what is probably the main reason I married him: so my children could have really cool jack-o-lanterns. This year's creations included: A Barbie silhouette for Sophie Diesel 10 (you have to be a Thomas fan to know this one, but the resemblance is uncanny) for Will Lillie's pumpkin portrait Oddly enough, my pumpkin won the contest (as it does every year), but the kids really loved their designs, so they were fine with it. And the craziest part is that I'm always the first one finished, yet I always win. Weird. Despite the fact that my classic design once again stole the show, I thought Matt's creations for the kids were pretty decent. In fact, if the student pastor thing doe...

It's official. Will has had his first fight. I knew this day was coming, but I didn't expect it to come while he was still two! The story (as reported by Ms. Theresa to Aunt Tori) goes something like this... One of Will's little buddies hit him (or as Will corrected me, "he didn't hit me, he punched me in the face!) At which point, Will put his little buddy on the ground. Then while his buddy was being put in time out by the teacher, Will proceeded to make his bull-snorting noise (or as Ms. Theresa called it, "that aggressive sound he makes") to the entire rest of the class including the teacher (which earned him a little visit to time out)! I'm pretty sure he was just letting everyone else know not to make the same mistake his little buddy made. I mean Will likes his friends, but it's nothing to him to put someone on the ground. At least he warned them. I asked him if he said sorry to friend, and he looked at me like I was a bit slow, and said, ...

Last week in "Will School," we talked about the letter B! We had lots of fun since Will is a big boy and a big brother whose favorite color is blue ! We learned that B is for: Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See ? and Baby Bear, Baby Bear, What Do You See ? (both of which Will can "read" perfectly and nothing is quite as precious as hearing him say "flying fwirrel, flying fwirrel, what do you see?) The Bible - Will loves "Bible time," and since we usually have a devotion in the mornings, any time I mention the Bible he asks for a vitamin! Baseball, Basketball, foot ball, soccer ball - Even though some of our family members already have him playing o-line, we aren't sure which ball will is going to take to. Even though he's talked about soccer, I'm hoping to get him interested in baseball since he's not quite as "fast, fast super-fast" as he thinks he is! Blue General, Byron the Bulldozer , Sir Toppenhat's blue ...

It's beginning to look a lot like fall, and, occasionally, it even feels a bit like it (though it didn't today)! Since Matt's birthday is on Halloween, the onset of autumn brings extra excitement at our house, and this being Lillie's first fall is even more special! Today, we visited Gentry's Pumpkin Farm, and had a ball! It was Lillie's first trip to this family favorite, and she was definitely the cutest pumpkin in the patch! We ran through the corn mazes (getting way more lost in the kiddie maze than the adult maze), explored the log cabin outhouse, and teepees, and played in the barn maze and on the slides. (Will couldn't get enough of the slide even though he was nearly as long as it was!) We played in corn, saw lots of farm animals, and played with lincoln logs, a farm set, and tons of other neat toys in the granary. Will loved riding on the toy tractors in the t...