Perfect Family Day

We had such a fun family day today.  We started out by going to the Home Depot for their kid's workshop.  I've known about it for awhile, but we have always been busy or unable to make it for whatever reason.  Now, I think it's going to be a monthly treat!  Carter had such a ball, and he was so proud of the boat that he built.  The smile on his face when we were done was about a mile long!

 

 

 

 

Hammering!

 

Ava clipped her finger and then refused to hammer for the rest of the project.  She really preferred painting the best.

 

Interesting way to hold a hammer.....

 

Ava painted a pink and purple ship, Carter's was brown and blue.

 

It was crowded so Dawson and Daddy worked in a different location so I didn't have any pictures until completion.  Apparently he liked it, but really Mike did most of the project.  It says all ages, but I think it is really geared for ages four and up.

 

Every child that goes receives an orange apron and a pin.  Each month that they participate they receive a different pin for their apron.  They made these old fashioned ships that could be used at a thanksgiving table to hold a small salt and pepper shaker.

 

We called them the Nina, Pinta and Santa Maria.  Meme, I hope you have room at your Thanksgiving table for some ships!

 

On to the rest of the day.......

 

 

Every morning while Daddy is packing his lunch Dawson begs for some frosty beans.  Mike packs a frozen brown rice and black beans mix and adds other goodies to the mix.  Dawson loves to eat the frozen black beans (frosty beans)!  So today for breakfast he asked for a bowl of frosty beans!  Mike picked out a bunch of black beans and I added some frozen edamame.  Interesting breakfast all right!

 

 

 

After a quick trip to Target for some costumes at 70% off we came home to lasagna and movie night.  Iron Man and Thomas!

 

Plus a beautiful bee!  We watched Alice in Wonderland for the first time.  Dawson wouldn't sit for a second, but Carter and Ava were glued to it.  What a fun day!

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Crazy, busy, fast week with three playdates, three Halloween parties and lots of candy!

 

 

Camo Carter lounging in his pajamas with full head gear.

 

This week he was showing me a trick his bus driver taught him on our steamy shower door.  He made a baby foot print using the side of his hand, but he only put three toes on the foot.  I was a little confused and I asked him "Why does your baby only have three toes?"  He replied "Because that's all they start off with, Mom!"  And then he ran away laughing. 

 

Taking our sidewalk chalk inspiration from Van Gogh's The Scream.

 

Totally by accident by the way.

 

Carter got his first report card this week, Straight M's!  (A good thing by the way, it stands for mastered.)  His teacher also wrote that he is a hard worker and determined to do his best.  Glad to hear it!

 

 

 

Dawson's favorite spot in the house, with a tray of broccoli and computer access.

 

Dawson picked this up at Giant Eagle and said "I want this for lunch."  Ok, buddy I'll work on it.

 

 

 

One beautiful afternoon we took a walk around the neighborhood and found three rollers sitting on a side street.  This was the highlight of the day!

 

Luckily Ava has recovered from her little cold at the beginning of the week.  She was coughing pretty hard on Monday so I kept her home even though it broke her heart to miss school.  Ava, the complete opposite of her older brother, cannot get enough of school.  She was crying "please Mommy (cough hack), I just really want to (cough cough) go to school."  That's a first!

 

 

 

 

 

Dawson had his first play date.  Sure he has been on plenty of them, but this was the first one with two little boy playmates just his age!  It was at a play land and he had a ball.  He can running out with a big egg on his head.  I asked him "What happened to your head?"  His response, "nothing Mom.  I keep playing."  You can vaguely see the bruise on his forehead to the right.  He was having such a good time he didn't even care about a big bump to the head!

 

My poor little Ava is back to nightmares.  Last night she was up for almost three hours laying in my bed.  She just wanted to chat though "Mom, can we go to a park tomorrow?  Do you hear the rain?  I though I heard a ding dong at the door."  No Ava.  New rule, no talking at night unless it's an emergency.  I think it was a combination of Halloween sugar and scary images that they see everywhere this time of the year.  Hopefully tonight will be better, I'm looking forward to a decent night sleep!

Boo Bombs!

 

Our wonderfully creative Aunt Tiff made the kids "Boo Bombs" for Halloween, which were eggs with baby powder inside.  They had a ball smashing them on the concrete and watching the powder go everywhere!

 

 

 

 

Look at the air he got on this one!

 

Boo dust to the face!

 

Ava was a little more reserved but still enjoyed it!

 

Carter had such a great time doing it he later wrote a note that said:

 

Boms

 

(Bombs)

 

I lav the Boo!

 

(I love the Boo!)

 

 

 

Thank you so much Jay and Tiff!

Happy Halloween!

 

 

Tonight was trick-or-treat in our neighborhood and we were so lucky to have cousin Andrew join us for his very first Halloween!

 

 

Spidergirl, a soldier and a dragon

 

Poor Ava was a sick little puppy this evening.  She has a stuffy nose, sore throat and a frog in her throat.  But she really got into trick-or-treating tonight.  We were gone for over an hour and the kids just kept asking for more and more and more!

 

Aunt Tiffany and the cutest little pumpkin

 

 

Cute Family!

 

 

The village People:  YM, next year we will work on the CA!



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Tonight after dinner Mike and I were chatting and we didn't notice that Dawson had pulled over a chair to our computer and had decided to pull up a little Godsmack on Spotify.  Definitely not on my playlist!  Mr. Technology strikes again!

 

 

• Dawson wins the award for the biggest broccoli lover in our family.  Tonight I found him hovering over a head of broccoli that I had set out with the intention of cooking.  He was picking off the heads and eating them.  For dinner he polished off seconds and thirds of broccoli!
• Ava wins the award for the most adventurous eater.  This girl will try anything but can't take jelly or raisins.  Go figure.  She is also the most generous out of the three kids.  She is always thinking of others and asking to give old toys/ books/clothes to cousins or friends.  I can barely get Carter to throw away a piece of trash!  Whenever we go somewhere and they give you a treat (like the Eagle's Nest, or the bank, or even if I buy you a treat)  you always ask for a treat for both of your brothers.  Oh!  Almost forgot!  All of a sudden you have been sooo interested in writing.  You are writing strings of letters  (Mom, what does XGOUTMW spell?)  But also some words like Ava, Mom, Dad, dog, cat and bee.  It's funny because you have been confusing M with W so all lot of your papers say WOW AVA.  Which are supposed to be MOM AVA.  I love watching you learn.
• Carter had his first parent-teacher conference this past week.  Mike said that he felt like at times the teacher was talking about him.  But no, like father like son.  He is not a leader, but not a follower.  He just enjoys doing his own thing.  The good news:  you are doing well in school and are well behaved.  I guess you just save the grumpiness for me!

 

Look what Dockie has been doing!  He is riding his bike like a champ!

 

 

Poor Ava.  She loves to speed down the hill and then slam on the brakes.  This has resulted in a HOLE in her bike tire.  I didn't know that was even possible!

 

And now, onto a super busy weekend with a Halloween party, Birthday party, trick or treating, sunday school.  Stay tuned for lots of cute pictures!

 

 

5K and Pancake Breakfast

This morning I ran my first 5K!  Despite being passed by two speed walkers, a couple of sixty year olds and even a ten year old, I still finished and ran the whole way. 

 

 

After finishing the 5K we were able to get a free ticket for me to the Pancake breakfast that was being held at the high school.  So of course, we had to go.  I mean, who turns down free pancakes?

 

 

 

They met the polar bear and gave him all kinds of hugs.  Dawson in particular loved giving him hugs and laughing about it.  He still couldn't believe there was a polar bear in the school, even though Ava corrected him "it's just a person in a costume, Dawson."

 

Frozen yogurt and polar bear face paint

 

Ava picked the witch's hat

 

I can't believe this boy sat still as a statue for his face painting. 

 

Go Bears!

 

They also enjoyed watching the steel drum band that performed.  Would have never expected Mumford and Sons, but it was definitely enjoyable.

 

After we left, Dawson became very upset and we had to go back to watch the band for another song.  He was really enthralled!

 

The kids with their goody bags in front of the polar bear statue.  It was a health fair in addition, so we came home with plenty of trinkets (junk) for the kids to hoard forever, while I sneak it into the trash.  We saw a couple of kids from Carter's class and enjoyed our morning together!

 

 

Dawson

Dawson, I must say you have a knack of surprising me with advanced skills that I don't really expect from an almost three year old.  I think that you have an advantage as the third child.  You see Ava drawing figure after figure, writing names over and over again and you want to do them too.  And you do.

 

 

 

Great person!  Typically children start out with drawing faces with arms, but you jumped right into body, arm, legs, face.  It's tough to see but your stick figure comes complete with eyes, nose, body, arms and at least one leg.  Not too shabby for a not quite three year old.

 

This is your first attempt at writing your name.  Pretty good D!  And it's hard to see the A, but it's not too bad either.

 

During Ava's gymnastic class we are able to sit and play together.  You love to work on the Thomas the train puzzle book.  In fact, we've done it so many times you can complete all the puzzles by yourself.  You really enjoy puzzles, I'm going to have to find some more challenging ones for you soon!

 

 

My sweet third born enjoying his favorite sandbox.

 

Did I say sweet?  I may not have agreed with that statement last night.  Another night of multiple wake ups and then up for the day at 6:20 has lead to a sleepy day for your momma.  We baby-sat during your nap time so we skipped it, which lead to a cranky little boy come bed time.  Although you don't nap every day, you still need about an hour rest time every day. 

 

Now that we are in kindermusik and story time at the library, it is fun seeing you enjoying fingerplays and participating in songs/dance.  You are such a verbal little boy and you love to tell stories to everyone.  How quickly time has passed, you are leaving your toddler days behind and becoming a little boy.  We love watching you on this journey!