So Handsome

Carter William 3 1/2 Years old
Elijah Brian 17 Months old

New Bench

My Dad recently had a hauling job and acquired this bench. It's true..."one man's trash is another man's treasure"....it looks gorgeous in my front flower bed! Thanks Dad!!!

Cutest Pumpkins I've Ever Seen

They are the reason that I strive to be the best Mommy ever!

School Update

I do not have any artwork to display this week as all crafts that were made this past Tuesday and Thursday are decorating Carter's classroom.

The theme this week was spiders and Carter made a very cute spider using his hand prints and lots of glitter! The spiders look adorable lining the hallway to class. Carter and I had a great time finding his spider and he was proud to show it off.

The color was yellow and the shape was a square. Yes....a Spongebob Squarepants was the other craft for this week. Carter's Spongebob hangs from the classroom's ceiling along with the other children's.

The religion theme was Jacob takes care of Joseph. The children also participated in chapel, something Carter particularly enjoys.

We had open house this past Thursday. Brian enjoyed seeing Carter's classroom and Carter loved showing his Dad everything. (i.e. potty, sink, his cubby and favorite toys) Mrs. McAtee was very complimentary on how far Carter has come since last September and commented that he has really calmed down and is following directions well. Pastor also told me how much he enjoys Carter. We met some new parents and children from different classes and had fun with Jacob and Maci and their families.

We are looking forward to the coming weeks. We have a field trip to the farm, picture day and a Halloween Party! Fun Stuff and I can't wait to share it all with Carter!

Snug as Two Bugs in a Rug

Last night we had our first official frost advisory for the season and the boys tried out their woolly pajamas. They had a nice warm tubby and then headed straight to Carter's bed for stories and snuggling.
My word! He looks just like me in this picture! (Mommy's note: yes, that is McGraw looking less than thrilled. He wants the lights out so he can sleep....lazy dog!)So happy to be spending time with his brother!

It seems kind of unfair to post this picture since Carter has been treating his brother rather nice lately. He has really been working on trying to be the best big brother he can be but he just looks like he is about to do something he shouldn't to Eli. The finger on the chin, the curl of his lips....it just says 'trouble'! (and to be fair, and also to prove me wrong, Carter did do something to Eli...he gave him a big hug after this picture was taken!)

Farms, Hayrides and Pumpkin Patches

This weekend marks the annual Northampton County Open Gate Farm Tour. At least a dozen farms in the county open their gates to the public for farm education, hayrides and fun! Alpaca, dairy and produce farms all participate. It is something we have been doing since Carter was a baby and enjoy it more and more every year.

The first farm we visited was an Alpaca Farm. These farms seem to be more and more popular in our area. I just think that these guys are the sweetest animals. The Alpaca below is named Big Kiby and he was very sweet and friendly but he seemed much more interested in the girls that were grazing in the pasture below than with us.

We then headed to a dairy and produce farm. The farm has 150 dairy cows and farms about 1,000 acres of land, a true family operation. The boys and I travel to the pumpkin patch.....I must add that this was a 'real' pumpkin patch with the pumpkins still attached to the vines and dirt and weeds and mud everywhere!.....Carter was in Heaven!! This was truly a little boy's dream and I was even amazed at how much Eli enjoyed himself and wanted to get dirty as well.

Elijah inspects the pumpkins we have chosen to make sure that they are all keepers! He also had a great time....especially sitting in the mud!!

Carter diligently followed the farmer around asking questions and offering to help the other passengers pick their pumpkins. He would have stayed all day!

My little pumpkin takes a break.

Enjoying the sunshine on a truly wonderful day!

This is our haul. Some are going home with my mom but the majority of these will decorate our porch. The really neat looking pumpkin that is the blue/gray color is suppose to make the best pies so we will see. My favorite is the green pumpkin....so cool that there are so many different varieties and we were lucky enough to learn about most of them yesterday!

Weekly School Update

Wow! October already! This month is a busy one for Carter as we have a field trip, Halloween Party, several classmates birthdays to celebrate, picture day and a visit from the firetruck! The class has been making firefighter themed crafts in anticipation of their visit from some local firefighters.
The religion theme this week was Jacob and Rachel have a baby. The shape was a square and the color yellow. (Mommy's favorite!)

Carter made a hand print magnet so I could display all of his crafts proudly!

These blue jeans were mentioned in an earlier post and helped to make the classroom festive.

I spent some time in class with Carter this past week and had a blast. Eli enjoyed his time as well and enjoyed all the singing and especially enjoyed snack time. I turned around to find that he had climbed up onto a chair and was waiting with the older kids for some crackers. Definitely preparing for the Tots class next year.

I was pleasantly surprised to see that Carter is very well behaved and follows direction quite well from his teachers. (if only he listened that well at home.) I enjoyed seeing him interact with his new friends as well as his friends from last year's Tots class. I found it especially sweet that at snack time when given the opportunity to sit where they chose Carter and his buddies from last year all sat together and snacked!!

The visit proved to be a great time for both Eli and myself and we can't wait to go back soon!!