Fall

We have had some beautiful weather this fall which means we have been spending a lot of time outside.

 The boys have been excited to see lots of bugs and worms.

 We have spent a lot of time raking and jumping in leaves.

 

These two like to climb the big oak tree in the back yard.

 I was putting the pool tarp away, which happened to have pockets of water in it, and two little people decided it was nice enough to use as a slip and slide.

 

 Grammy and Grampy came for a visit.  The boys spent 95% of the day outside soaking up the sun.

 Grammy did some legos with Chesney.

 Today is election day so the boys and I went to cast our vote.

 Someone had a good lunch.  Feet up and tomato soup on the forehead.

 We were outside playing one day and the neighbor's dogs started to bark.  Mackston stopped what he was doing, got down on all fours and started barking back at the dogs. I'm sure those dogs were scared of the barking little dude in the red flannel jacket.

 

Halloween

Halloween was extra special this year as we spent the week before in Disney (more on that in a later post). But the kids had lots of fun getting ready for and celebrating Halloween. The kiddos decorated cookies with Grandpa and Grandma one day.  I think they used a fair share of sprinkles, but the cookies were delicious.

They were especially excited to get the candy bowl ready.

 

 Cleaning pumpkins to make pumpkin seeds.

 

 

 And then the big night came, and we had three excited kids.  Brecken was Chase from Paw Patrol, Mackston was a turtle and Chesney was Cinderella.

 They did a lot of trick or treated but enjoyed handing out candy just as much.

 

 

This is my most favorite time of the year and the months ahead are sure to have some great fun in store.

Mackston {17 Months Old}

17 months old and this boy is practically a toddler tornado.

Here's a peek at your past month...

Playdoh fun.

An ice cream treat.

 

 

Pumpkin patch playing.

Your 17 month stats:

• Weight:  24.5 pounds 
• Length: 32.5 inches
• Clothes: You are wearing 12-18 month clothes and 18 month pjs.
• Shoes: You wear size 5 shoes
• Diapers: You wear cloth diapers day and night. 
• Food: Mommy milk, water.  You still eat almost anything.  You have very few foods you don't like. You seem to be slowing down on how much you eat, but then some meals you will finish your plate and try to get the rest of Brecken's food too.
• Development: You are a running, climbing, bike riding machine.  It pretty much seems that if anyone else is doing something, you will give it a try. You love to make car and truck sounds. You know where your eyes, belly, tongue, hair and feet are.
• Words: You can now repeat almost anything we say. The new words are Grandpa (Gapa) and Grandma (Gama), chickadee, gobble, turkey.  As well as the old words: Dada, Mama, hot, hat, moo, baa, hello, up, ni-ni, uh-oh, puppy, woof, neigh, meow, digger
• Teeth: You have 12 teeth. No new teeth this month.
• Sleep:  You go to bed around 7:30 pm and sleep until I wake you up to go to Grandma and Grandpa's house.  On the days I'm off, you sleep until 7:30 when I wake you up to take Chesney to school.  You take one 2 hour nap daily in the afternoon.
• What I love about you: You are a busy boy but will play by yourself for the most part. You would prefer to play outside all day if we let you.  When you are outside, you love to ride your firetruck or any bike you can find.

Brecken Happenings

Brecken has really started to become more of a little boy (thank goodness).  We are getting less and less of the rambunctious, hitting, biting boy and more of the considerate and thoughtful boy.  Don't get me wrong, he is still all boy, but at least there are some down moments.  He will sometimes sit and play or pretend with a toy for an extended period of time.

He is suddenly wanting to play school some which makes teaching him a lot easier.  He will still only sit for very short periods, but he is picking up on some letters and numbers.  He definitely learns different than Chesney and games are the best way to get him to comprehend. 

 Brecken has been potty trained for well over a year, but over the past couple months he has been waking up dry in the morning.  He is now dry nearly every morning.  The only time he wets is if he has too much to drink before bed. Dry nights are such a relief. 

And lastly, he is no longer napping.  We took naps away about a month ago because he was having trouble falling alseep at night.  It was an instant success.  He likes to have a little quiet time in the afternoon to watch a show, but he bounces back to playing and is good the rest of the day.

Siblings

Our kiddos get along sometimes and they fight sometimes.  But I would definitely say the getting along outweighs the fighting.

 Brecken was driving his police car by Mackston's crib to entertain him one morning while I got ready.

Two cool dudes.

 Lego building at Toys R Us. Chesney and Brecken are really starting to play together more.  The other night at dinner Chesney was talking and Brecken told her what she was saying was wrong.  Chesney replied "Brecken, you don't know everything".  To which Brecken said "yes I do".  So Chesney says "Oh yeah, what's 2 + 4?".  Brecken looks at her all serious and says "applesauce".   Chesney and I had a good laugh and Brecken went on to think applesauce was the correct answer.
 

Chesney's Field Trip

Chesney took her first field trip of first grade yesterday, and I was lucky enough to go along.  We went to Green Meadows petting farm, and it was a full day of fun. We boarded the bus at 8:45 and didn't return until 2:40. 

 

 

 

 

 Chesney was so excited to ride a pony.

 

 

 This was the best hayride I have ever been on.

 Petting and combing goats.

 

 

 Holding kittens.

 Petting all kinds of small animals including rabbits and hamsters.

 

 

 

 Petting a tortoise.

 Holding hands with her friend Josie.

 Catching chickens was a big highlight for the day.

 Her buddy Kendall was a pro at it.

 

 

 

 Feeding goats.

 

 Milking a cow.

 

 Petting sheep and llamas.

 

 Making lots of loud music.

 The zip line.

 

 One little girl fell while going down the zip line so Chesney's awesome teacher took that girl down the slide to cheer her up.

 I think they both liked it.

 And the day ended with picking a pumpkin from the patch.

 

 

 The kids each had a caramel apple sucker on the way. And a few even fell asleep.

This was a long day for the kids, but they had so much fun.  And I'm going to consider it a win that Chesney didn't ask for any new pets.