Our ill-fated attempt to meet Santa Claus

We've been talking all week about how we were going to meet Santa Claus at the Bass Pro Shops, sit on his lap, and tell him what we want for Christmas (more Playdoh). So we arrive at the store, check out the fish tank and this fish pond (which Aidan tried to jump into for the THIRD year in a row - yes that's Kurt restraining him) and all around had a good time.

We make our way down the glass elevator and arrive at Santa's station to get in line. We had timed our trip so we'd be on line before Santa even made his appearance (at noon). The lady manning the line tells us we need a "ticket" from the elf at the front door. Here's our ticket:

Ummm, so what the heck are we supposed to do with 2 three year olds to kill 3 and a half hours at Bass Pro Shops? Here the kids are staring longingly at Santa Claus down below (since we were kicked out of line):

This is as close as we ever got to the jolly, old fellow :(

Apparently the key is to go on a weekday. Who knew!

Baby B is off to school!

'Baby B' is how the doctors referred to Aidan throughout my pregnancy. Well, today our teeny, tiny little 'Baby B' attended his first day of preschool. We went in last week to meet his teacher and see his classroom. That went really well and he said he couldn't wait to go back and see "TJ and the boys" (so cute). But still, we were a bit nervous to see how he'd handle being there all on his own for the full 2.5 hours. Well, apparently there was no need to worry (so far anyhow). When we picked him up, his teacher said "he had a good day". The only time he became upset was in reaction to another little boy who cried the entire time. So sympathy crying I guess; or maybe it was just too loud for him.


Here he is right before he left for school:




Heading down the stairs with Dad (who drove him to school since I knew any crying/screaming fits would cause me to put him the car and bring him right home):

And 'lest we forget our darling Maddie; here she is watching Aidan leave and feeling sad that she wasn't going to school too.

Luckily a package from Target arrived and she was momentarily appeased by her pink, imitation ugg-like fashion boots:

Of course she must have asked me 20 different times while we were out running errands about "when will it be time to pick Aidan up???". She missed her buddy.

Only one minor snafu when we picked Aidan up after school - the second he saw me, his eyes teared up and he laid down on the sidewalk and wouldn't hold the teachers hand. Not so bad in the grand scheme of things :) We're hoping that Aidan's second day of school goes this well! And also hoping for an easy transition for Maddie when she starts at her own school in January.

Fall Cleanup

We basically live out in the woods. So as you can imagine, our fall cleanup is no joke. This is a multi weekend project (even with Kurt's industrial leaf blower). Luckily the kids like to participate!


Here's Maddie loading piles of leaves onto the tarp:



And Aidan surveying the situation:




Tarp is full and they're ready for a ride:

Poor Kurt had to drag them like this all afternoon:

My cutie pies:

We are beginning to wonder if maybe next year we should invest in a little extra help!

Halloween 2010

Halloween weekend started off with a costume party at our twin friends, Jessica & Jada's, house. We arrived a few minutes late and were thrown right into the activites first thing. Here's Aidan taking part in the "eat a donut off a string" game. He was cheating a little bit because you are not supposed to use your hands. We did stop short of letting him eat everyone else's donuts like he wanted to ("mmmmm...Mommy, these are YUMMY", he said).




Here's Maddie, who quickly lost interest in the game after she accidentally touched the donut glaze ("EWWWWW", she said).

Here are the party attendees (minus Aidan who was busy searching for candy-filled pumpkins a little bit ahead of schedule).

Maddie fell in love with this bridge they had in their backyard. Eventually she led all the party-goers in a game of "cross the bridge, then walk through the stream bed", repeat)

Meanwhile Aidan was busy scoping out the cake:

Here they are eating cake with their twin friends Marcus & Samara. I thought it was absolutely adorable that Aidan & Marcus shared a seat :)

Riding the teeter-totter with Samara:

All that activity wiped our little guy right out!

DAY 2 of Halloween weekend involved a neighborhood get together for pizza & a scavenger hunt. Here's the gang that participated (notice Aidan was uncooperative yet again and is being forced into the picture by Kurt):

And here M&A are setting off on their maiden trick-or-treating voyage (last year doesn't count since we only went to 2 houses):

At our first house (our friend Aaron's), M&A got a little confused and almost pulled a "Ding Dong Ditch" (aka Ring 'n Run):

Thank goodness they caught us! Here we are getting our first treats :)

The kids really got the hang of trick-or-treating and eventually our wagon became obsolete. They kept asking to go to more houses and Kurt kept them out for over an hour and a half (I actually started getting a little worried). But it was well worth it; here's our booty:

I figure if I give them one piece of candy per day, we'll have enough to last us until next Halloween. Especially since Maddie isn't a candy eater and tends to "save" hers (eewwww for Mommy).

Now if someone could just break it to the kids that we aren't supposed to go trick-or-treating every night!

Big Kid Rooms

M&A's new bedroom furniture has arrived and the transition has been fabulous! The rooms look pretty spiffy; if I do say so myself!


Big girl Bed (theme of the room is Pink & Pigs - of course):



Her own fancy bureau that she is very proud of (the lamp seems to be her favorite part):




More decorations:




Her Reading Corner:

Aidan's Captains Bed - so tall it requires a set of stairs to get up into it:

Aidan's bureau:

Aidan's Reading Corner:

In case you can't guess the theme of the room:

M&A have these fabulous rooms while Mom & Dad sleep in a smorgasboord of furniture leftover from their childhoods. Someday....

Candy Apples

Fall is our favorite time of year and brings lots of great things:


YUMMMMMM



STICKYYYYYYEEEE





And this one's just here to prove that there was a day in history when Maddie actually let me put her hair in pigtails :)

Pumpkin Time!

This weekend we found ourselves at Ward's Berry Farm on a beautiful fall day. They have alot of fall activities for the kids. The biggest hit by far was the tractor-pulled hayride:




The kids shouted "WEEEEEE" and loved when the ride got very bumpy:

I've never been to an official pumpkin patch before and it was pretty cool. Here's Aidan picking his pumpkin right off the vine:

And here's Maddie with her choice:

Although, not shockingly, Aidan preferred to explore the landscape - we're pretty convinced he'll be a naturalist when he grows up:

And, of course, we picked a larger pumpkin for carving:

Things were fabulous, despite a slight snafu at the checkout where M&A decided they didn't feel like waiting in line. I don't blame them :) Next up is the Big Apple Farm for a hayride and some apples. Fall is definitely my favorite time of year!!!