The Magic of a 3 Year Old

He melts my heart.  Sam recently drew this picture for his Aunt Michelle's birthday.  I had to share it because it was so sweet.  It was a good reminder for me during those moments when I question if I am doing things right that maybe sometimes I am.  Sam is connecting Jesus with his own world.  If you ask Sam why firetrucks are red, don't be surprised if he tells you "Well, that's just how Jesus made them".  When you get down to it, this is a magical answer because most questions could be answered with this reply.  Good thing, because Sam has A LOT of questions for me lately.

A picture of Jesus on the cross.

I love that sweet smile.

Halloween In Review

Our pumpkins did get carved, but not too early.  We waited until the day before, as I wanted to bake them down to make into pumpkin pie.  It was so worth it!  Nothing like pumpkin pie from scratch (crust and all).

The boys had a very big trick played on them for Halloween.  Grandpa Bob and Grandma Cathy showed up for a visit.  Zeke and I picked them up while Sam was at preschool and was shocked to find them with me when I came to get him.  To say the least, he was speechless (which takes a lot for this kid).  We all participated in dressing up and took the boys to our church's trunk or treat (which ended up being inside due to the rain).  Then Sam went around the neighborhood...he was exhausted from all the walking added on to the sugar crash.  Zeke tagged along in the carrier, one of his favorite places to be. 

While Grandma and Grandpa were here we took a tour of the Boeing flight museum, visited a local beach, spent lots of time playing, relaxing, and shopping.  We were so glad they came to visit and Sam thought their surprise visit was "a good trick". 

Sam and Grandpa Bob playing firemen.  Sam was in his element.

Grandpa and Sam exploring

Zeke's favorite spot...strapped to momma

Zeke was exhausted from all the excitement!

Autumn Wonder

 We've been enjoying the rainbow of autumn colors.  The rain has started, but we did have a few weeks of sunny fall weather to enjoy before the endless water supply began.  The pumpkin patch was visited twice, once for a class field trip for Sam, and we went again so Hans could join us.  This is the best time of year and there are still some colorful leaves hanging on for us to enjoy. I've shared a few other random shots of our busy boys. Autumn blessings! 

Sam's class field trip to the pumpkin patch.

It's a blurry one, but it caught his pure joy that he was standing solo.  s

Capturing Our 1 Year Old

My photography skills are a work in progress, as is my ability to use Photoshop to its full potential.  Ezekiel's photos were taken over a few attempts and the end result we captured a handful of our sweet little boy.  Although he didn't want to share his smile in all of them, he certainty was willing to gave into the camera with his big round eyes and long envious lashes.  Those eyes can tell a story.  He's a deep thinker and is always absorbing what his big brother is doing, soon enough he'll be chasing that big brother around the house.  Here's a taste of Zeke's one year photos.

There's those beautiful eyes!

Tinkering in the Garden

We don't have green thumbs, but we have a little fun with gardening.  Sam and I get really excited when we see something actually growing.  When our first sprouts popped above the ground this past spring, we danced for joy.  Then our potatoes took off and Sam was thrilled to be able to dig up each treasured potato.  Now we have lots of carrots left to harvest, some onions, garlic, basil (which Sam loves to smell), and maybe we'll get a few more tomatoes to turn red.  This is a bit of what we've harvested thus far. 

Notice his garden gloves.  He LOVES these...they are not just garden gloves....they are work gloves too.  Anytime he's out helping Hans on one of the cars or in the yard he has to have these on...just-like-dad.

Nana.....and then Papa

Sam was counting down to September 1st all summer and kept asking "when is Nana coming?"  Now he wants to know when she is coming back.  We had lots of pajama days and visits to the park while she was here.  The boys very much enjoyed the extra attention and spoiling, and, I, the extra hands.  As always, we had to (this actually consists of my mom doing much of the labor and then I join in the easy parts) tackle a few sewing projects.  Papa came for the last week that Nana was here and they both were able to help us celebrate Z's 1st birthday.  We were very busy while both Nana and Papa were here.  During that time we toured around post, visited Mt. Rainier, took a boat out on the sound, and ate at some local places.  It was lots of fun.  Hans and I even were able to get away for an over night camping trip and visited a part of WA we had yet to see.  The boys were super spoiled, of course!

Is it a school day?

This morning I woke to Sam "whispering" loudly through my door "MOM, MOM, GET UP! Is it a school day?"  I must add that he had woke early and that usually my children do not have to wake me up in the morning.  To his disappointment, it was not a school day and he needed to go back to bed until it was time to get up. He is very much enjoying preschool and I love hearing about what he did at school each day.  Here he is on his first day of preschool this year and, yes, Lenny and Bunny made the picture.  I will miss the day he does not want to drag his two lovies with him and I think I will be just fine if he decides to stand holding them on his first day of his senior year of high school.