Leaves and Stuff

Here are some random photos of your favorite kids. The pictures don't fit into much of a theme other than they were all taken within the last few weeks.

It's Fall and the leaves or down. That means Nate and Sean get a chance to romp through big piles before the vacuum truck comes to take the leaves away. It was still warm when we took this picture. That was a perfect day for scattering the piles about as quickly as mom and dad could rake them into place! Nate still had one of his front teeth in his toothy grin so you can tell this picture is a few weeks old.

Here's how things looked when we stacked the piles high. Nate can still get head and shoulders above the top but Sean looks like he's going down to the bottom in quicksand. Be careful Sean -- the leaf truck might not be able to see you. Next thing you know, you'll be turned into mulch!

Now it's cold. We went to visit some friends over the Thanksgiving holiday. They had piles of leaves, too. Lots of them! Nate took a few moments away from the pile hopping to sit down with his new friend, the multicolored frog. There have already been a couple of snows here in the mountains but we've not been so fortunate (or unfortunate as the case may be) to have anything like that near our home.

Sean looks like he's dressed for an arctic expedition in that puffy blue ski jacket. It's really not that cold yet. But he'd rather run around without any jacket at all so this sure beats the alternative. As usual, Sean doesn't like to pose for the camera so we have to take candid shots from a distance, and catch him by surprise.

Thanksgiving Pageant

Nate participated in a Thanksgiving Pageant at his school just before the holiday. Parents got a chance to see their kids in action. This photo took place during the entertainment part of our time together. All the kids lined up and recited a Thanksgiving poem. Then they all sang a song. Nate, unfortunately, inherited his sense of rhythm from his mom, but he mostly kept beat with the others.


Next Nate got to show off some of his wonderful artwork. He's become very interested in drawing in recent months, and he always has a pad of paper and markers nearby. It's probably his favorite activity right now. You should have seen his Thanksgiving turkey dressed in various NASCAR driving outfits. Yes, you heard that correctly.


Later everyone posed for pictures before digging in to the Thanksgiving feast of cookies and muffins. We sure have a lot to be thankful this year!

I Got no Teef!

Nate is a toothless wonder. We've got him singing, "all I want for Christmas are my two front teeth." Both of them fell out within about a week of each other. Hopefully this look won't last long, and in fact one of his permanent teeth is already starting to poke through. He sure looks funny though and he sounds even funnier! We thought he wouldn't be able to eat very well but he showed us his technique using the two side teeth.

It's been a long time since Nate has been so toothless. In fact, we have to go all the way back to 2002.



Nate's been a little impatient for his new teeth so he decided to try some dentures. I'm not sure this is exactly the look I'd recommend but he seems to be satisfied with it.

Nate Can Ride a Bike

Nate can ride a bike with no training wheels! He's been getting closer for months but finally something clicked in about a twenty-minute period on Friday afternoon. Suddenly he got it. His first attempts were wobbly but soon he could go the entire length of the street, turn around without stopping, and come back. He tried it again at the park on Saturday and Sunday and each time got better and better. Now he can start without someone giving him a push, he banks into turns, and he's able to avoid nearby objects. On Sunday afternoon he took his bike down a hill and said "I was going so fast I almost couldn't keep peddling." For someone who once took pride in the nickname "Lazy Bones," you'd think he'd learn the fine art of coasting!


Here's a still photo of Nate during one of his early trial runs. Notice that mom had to keep a close distance to give him encouragement and a push to start each run. Just two days later he can take off like a shot, leaving everyone behind in the dust.


Sean, of course, wanted to get in on the action too. He can scoot along on that tricycle at an amazing speed. He's still a little small for a bicycle but he has all the necessary enthusiasm. Maybe too much enthusiasm. See the little bruise around his left eye? He got that at preschool last week when he decided to go down the sliding board backwards! He's fearless. We'll make sure he keeps that helmet on.

Halloween

Nate and Sean were ready for Halloween this year. Sean decided on a NASCAR outfit. He's really into NASCAR at the moment, much to everyone's chagrin. Dad blames the movie "Cars." Mom thinks it happened when Sean randomly flipped through the TV channels and happened upon the Speed Channel. Either way he's become quite the aficionado. He selected a Tony Stewart "Home Depot" outfit, and convinced Nate to go along with a Jeff Gordon "Dupont" look. This was amusing since Nate wanted to go as a red power rangers because he was a green power ranger last year; not terribly original but not surprising after his string of dog outfits in previous years: Clifford the Big Red Dog, one of the 101 Dalmations and then a brown dog. So Sean shamed Nate into something different.

They posed by one of the "fooks" in a neighbor's yard. Sean can't pronounce words starting with "sp" properly, so spooks becomes fooks. Nate looks a little frightened here and that's probably the case. He likes the candy but he doesn't like the spooky stuff or walking up to stranger's doors. Sean, on the other hand, rushes from door-to-door as quickly as he can and doesn't pay any attention to the frights and sights. It's all about the treats.

Look out, Fooks!!!

Birthdays

Nate and Sean both had birthdays recently. They're getting old enough to need separate parties now, so that's twice the planning but fewer kids at each event. It works out about even.

Nate started out the birthday season with an aquarium-themed event. Mom made a cake shaped like a starfish and another shaped like some kind of tropical fish (whatever one happens to be orange and blue -- pick one). He also got a three gallon aquarium as one of his presents since he's done so well with his smaller one the last couple of years.

All of the games were aquarium themed. Here, Nate is "fishing" for prizes. Mom cleverly taped a string to a wooden dowel, and connected a magnet to the end. She put little plastic sea creatures inside of baggies along with another magnet. Everyone had great fun. They also played pin the arm on the octopus and other party games.

Sean followed up with his party a couple of weeks later. We didn't expect to have it outdoors so late in the year but the weather took a wonderful, warm and sunny turn. Sean chose a NASCAR theme. There were race cars everywhere, including the cake and various party decorations. Mom lit the candles and Sean blew them out. But then they lit up again! Mom said she "accidentally" put trick candles on the cake but we're not totally sure we believe that.


Then all the little kids dove into their cake. It was about the only time all afternoon that they were sitting still and being quiet. We loved having everyone running around the backyard but we were happen when it was time to send everyone home, too!