Halloween

A couple quick snaps on the porch before Dress Up Day at preschool, where Sam gets to choose to be either a Bible Hero or an animal from Noah's ark. He chose to recycle his elephant costume from last year which was fine with me!

We had a great time Halloween morning with our Lens Baby friends at our second annual Halloween Carnival. We brought a fishing game and Sam loved playing ring toss, pumpkin bowling and crawling through the spiderweb maze. Look closely and you'll see that behind this smile is a mouth full of pumpkin cookies.  I love how he placed his tail on the pumpkin just so.

Caught a double fish which means two prizes!  Yea!

I've never seen someone get so excited about ring toss.  Ha!

Thanks Lens Baby friends for another fun playdate.  The next time we see you I'll be snapping pics of two little Strakas!  Whoa!

Trick-or-Treat

Halloween night was kind of low-key this year.  The last two Halloweens we had grandparents out for chili and trick-or-treating but with me looking (and feeling) like I was smuggling a giant pumpkin under my shirt and Sam wearing the same costume as last year, we decided to keep it just the three of us.

He had asked to be the moon again - so glad I saved it from last year - and that was fine with me.  We ate a quick spaghetti dinner, snapped a few pics then Brian and Sam started down the street for candy.  Sam did a  really good job this year.  He warmed up really quickly to the whole "trick-or-treat" thing and even said thank you when leaving a house.  The Belly Bump and I stayed behind and passed out candy to the neighborhood kids.

Once the boys came back, Sam and I went for a quick stroll on the street behind us.  I wanted to see how big he looked saying "trick-or-treat".  Several neighbors threw extra candy in Sam's pumpkin because Mommy looked so miserable waddling up and down the sidewalk.  Sympathy candy - I'll take it!

Wonder what the kiddos will dress as next year?  A Halloween to look forward to, for sure!

Bike Ride

Sam enjoyed a little bike ride with "Popths" tonite. Thanks to our special friends for the bike. I think it will get lots of use. Thanks also to Pops for helping Sam ride around - and around - the block. He's sleeping soundly tonight. And pardon the body chop - Sam was coming straight for me and Mama doesn't move too fast these days!

Big Orange Pumpkin Farm

It has been two years since we visited the farm. The last time we went Sam was just a toddler and, if I remember correctly, quite a handful.  We went again with friends this year, and while the top photo was taken immediately post-tantrum, he was a good boy overall and had lots of fun. We played in the pumpkin patch, enjoyed a pumpkin-bread snack on the hayride (thank you Ms. Andrea), chased each other in the hay-maze over and over, and picked a pumpkin from the field to take home. The hayride was the big hit, hands-down. It was a windy day, hence the crazy hair, but pretty weather considering how warm it could have been.

Mommy ended up feeding the longhorns and the goats.  Sam said he was a little bit too scared. :) 

They are rather intimidating, lunging through the bars of the fence

with our buds on the hayride - they all looked so cute

this photo looked pretty whoppyjod in-camera, but I cropped it and cleaned it up pretty good

let's just say it was a mighty bumpy hayride, especially at a bunch-of-months pregnant

poking at a grasshopper

bunch of monkeys climbing the fence

the perfect pumpkin

happy boy!

Calendar Day

Calendar day is proving to be an exciting day.

Sam is constantly asking questions about when we're doing certain activities.  "When will we see Gram and Pops next? When are we going to Miss Jean's?" 

"Is it the day after this day?" he always says.

Gram found a great calendar this summer and thought it might help him understand how many days will pass until a certain event.  It also served as a "congrats on your new room" present.  Grandparents can always find a reason for presents, it seems...

We've changed it twice already, once for September, once for October, and both times he enjoyed finding the tiles to mark special days.  I think we have a year tile for as far out as 2015 so we'll get lots of use out of this calendar in the years to come!