If you take a dinosaur to school...

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My baby boy had his Halloween party at school yesterday. And, one of the best parts about being the baby and not having to work full time is that I got to volunteer! Yeah! I'm going to try to make it into Emmett's class shortly - on a day when Henry's in preschool. Owen's teachers stopped welcoming "helpers" when he was in the second grade, and I suppose that's OK since he would probably die of embarrassment if I came in.

Princesses and goblins...

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Henry's class (in disguise)

Pure JOY!

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Carving pumpkins, carving pumpkins...

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This was the first year that all my boys stuck their hands in the pumpkins to carve out the goo. What a nice, wonderful getting older moment. They pulled out all the pumpkin seeds - dried them, and put them in bags with the intent of planting them in the spring. And, if we're lucky, we'll have a pumpkin patch in our backyard! Yahoo (can you feel my excitement??)

We started out w/ those pumpkin carving templates, and tried to do a really fancy carving. But - yeah...that didn't last long. Those things are really, really tough! So, each boy did their own shapes (I did Henry's).

Oh, and Owen's doing really, really well with his contacts. He can put them in by himself in one try, and take that out by himself with one try. He's starting the process of braces in December, too, with an expander being placed - to be followed by braces. My little boy is growing up :(.

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I'm not exactly sure what Emmett was carving? Emmett's eyeglass prescription just changed, and he got some cool navy sports goggles.

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Henry is still a leftie! I love it!

Obligatory pumpkin patch photos

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Anyone that knows me, knows that I hate fall. Hate it. I realize that I'm probably in the minority, but I dislike it very, very much.

I think I blogged about this last year, so I won't bore you again. But, I don't like rejoicing in the death of every plant, animal, and insect. And, more importantly, I hate knowing that the next season up is winter. I much prefer spring. Watching the bulbs poke up through the cold ground. Welcoming new life. And, summer ahead.

Oh, and I very much dislike carving pumpkins - especially because I am the only family member who will stick my hand in the pumpkin guts. Everyone wants to watch me clean out the pumpkins and carve them. Grrrr.....

But, I do. I carve pumpkins every year. And, I manage to do it without complaining to much - at least to the kids.

We picked out our carving pumpkins. The plan is to get them carved this weekend.

I must mention, that one thing I enjoy about fall is pumpkin flavor: pumpkin pancakes, pumpkin bread, pumpkin cookies...etc.

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Emmett's not so great photo of me.

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Pumpkin patch

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Henry would tell you that he found the "perfect pumpkin". He kept saying "my perfect pumpkin", "my perfect pumpkin"...

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Emmett's turn

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Columbus Day weekend we went to Philadelphia - again - for another soccer tournament for Owen. Our 4th trip there this year. We're getting pretty familiar with the town, and we like it a lot. It's an easy drive - 4 hours - and we didn't stop once. Not too shabby.

We got back on Sunday night, and Monday morning, Emmett played in his first soccer tournament in Syracuse. He was SO. EXCITED. And, he did awesome. I wasn't sure....because it's a lot of work - 4 games in a short time period. But, he was awesome. He even scored for the first time - which is fun, because he's typically a defensive player. This photo is Emmett with one of his new soccer buddies.

I'm envisioning the future, and it looks pretty complicated. Lots of weekends spent in many different locations playing soccer around the country. If Henry plays, we won't be able to divide and conquer anymore. Trying to talk my mom into moving here.....

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Love this photo. Emmett's off the ground.

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Proud Mama

Both of my big boys came home from school today w/ exciting news:

Emmett was chosen to be the student council representative for his class.

Owen was one of only 6 students from his school chosen to represent the school at a city wide track and field event.

They were on cloud 9. Their mama is pretty excited, too.

Do you recognize this child??

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Give up?

It's Owen minus the bright red goggles AND with his new contacts in!
Doesn't it age him considerably? (that's the sad part)

At his last eye doctor appointment, the doctor mentioned that around the age of 10 - we could talk about getting contacts. Owen was all WHY? WHY would I want to lose the red goggles? But then the doctor explained that it would probably help w/ soccer. It would improve his peripheral vision on the field, etc. Owen began to think...

A few days later, he played a soccer game in the rain and couldn't see a thing. His glasses were soaked - there was nothing to dry them on (since he was completely drenched), and he remembered what the doctor said....He also remembered how his glasses would fog up in the summer heat.

He decided it was time to see about contacts.

Fast forward about a week later, and he's doing great! It still takes him about 5 minutes per eye to pop them in - but he can get them out quickly. He's so far, really, really happy with them.

I kind of miss the red goggles.

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School Picture DAY!

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School picture day is always interesting at our house. I have to prep Owen well in advance that he will not be able to wear his sweats to school that day. He must wear something a little nicer. No t-shirts. No sweats. We seem to be able to compromise on a nice bottom down shirt - that he can take off right after his photo.

But, then we fight about his glasses. He loves his red goggles. LOVES THEM. He links them to his identity. He is convinced that some day is he is going to be a professional soccer player. And he will be different. Memorable. Because he is little and wears red glasses. He's convinced. He's hard to argue with. But, I did. I told him he must take off his glasses (or put on his nice ones) for the photos. He was sad. Argued more. He reluctantly relented. I drove them to school as I always do. As he jumped out of the door, I called him back. I told him that he could wear his glasses. He gave me a smile that I won't forgot.

What happened? On the way to school, I thought about it. I decided that I didn't want to alter his perception of himself. I thought that it might be fun to laugh about it many years from now. Isn't that what school pictures are about?

I made his day. I'm happy about that.

Side note: I can't get over how blond Owen's hair has gotten again? It seems so foreign to our family. It makes me smile.

Emmett, in stark contrast, doesn't complain about what I ask him to wear. Will he always be like that?

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Henry's at that age where he's mastered the fake smile. He was on his way to preschool this AM, too. Today was his 3rd day of preschool - and he loves it as much as he did the first day!