Happy Halloween!!

Spiderman and Anikin getting some loot.

Enjoying a treat!

 

On Sunday night we had a great time painting pumkins while Michael carved one for our front porch.  Hutchinson hasn't been around paint very much, so I told Michael we really need to watch him, so he doesn't eat it.  I put a huge squirt of paint down, Hutchinson sticks his brush in it and RIGHT in his mouth it went.  Whooops.  Thankfully he didn't do it again.  Finnean took his painting very seriously and turned his pumpkin green.  Hutchinson went for a little more color but they both had a lot of fun! 

This is Michael's handy-work.  Finnean wanted our Jack-O-Lantern to just like the card that Grandma Lisa sent...I would say that Michael rocked it!  Way to go! 

Happy Halloween from the Waglers!

 

As you can see...Hutchinson was the sweet little lion around and Finnean was Spiderman!  He LOVED being Spidey and took it very seriously.  That kid cracks me up.

 

Finnean had his first door to door trick or treat experience last night. In Des Moines and the surrounding areas they call it Beggar's Night and everyone goes out on the 30th...I don't think this is normal but what can you do! Spiderman and the neighbor boy ran ahead of us and went up to doors, ringing bells and yelling Trick or Treat! After Spiderman would pick his candy he would yell back to me "MOM!!! A TWIZZLER!!!" M and M's were other favorite. He was pretty cute and most of the time remembered to say thank you.  The lion was just along for the ride in the stroller and he didn't seem to mind at all.

We were all having a lot of fun until Spiderman was running and didn't see a step down and ran right of the sidewalk. His little friend said kindly, "It's okay, you are Spiderman and you are strong!!" Finnean responded....still crying that he "just wanted more candy!" So off they went to get a few more pieces.

After the fall, Spiderman was done and Finnean was back. He really wanted to hand out some candy, so we sat outside and enjoyed one treat and handed out candy to some trick or treaters that stopped by. Finnean thought it was pretty cool and made sure to tell them "Just take one"---he must have heard that on his travels of the night.  It was a pretty fun adventure.

 

The boys dressed up a lot this year.  We went to our library's Trick or Read, hit up a Trunk or Treat on Saturday night and then Finnean got to wear his costume to school.  Not a lot is cuter than a bunch of 3-4 year old dressed up in costumes.  He thought it was pretty awesome to be Spidey at school!  Hopefully some of those pictures will make it to the blog soon...

Life is busy.

O how he loves to explore.  He is EVERYWHERE!  He is busy, which keeps me busy and he loves to check out whatever catches his big brown eyes.  He seems drawn to trees.  Always pulling up on them, feeling them, hugging them.  Maybe he will be an environmentalist.  :)

These eyelashes. o. my. goodness.  i can't get over how cute he is.  I know he just looks like a baby to everyone else but I am just smitten.  the cheeks.  the messy, soft hair.  he has me wrapped and is quite the momma's boy.

Now this guy...when did he turn 15!?!  He seems SO OLD!!!  He has this personality that just light up our house.  He is funny and he likes to be funny (which is not always funny)! He is sassy, smart, fast, full of life and energy, loves making new friends, not as timid as he used to be and looks just like Michael.  It has been so fun watching him grow into a little boy and he is just as wrapped around my finger as his little bro.  He LOVES Hutchinson so much, it is just awesome to see them interact.  I just didn't know that my heart had that much love to give, but with three boys like I have (michael too!), it does.   

Finnean got to go to the football game last month and GO ON THE FIELD!!!!  Michael will be doing a post on that experience soon.  Mind. Blown.  So fun:)

Okay.  So the blog may never get a picture on it again.  {Okay, I lied and had to put a few on this post after I typed it AND they actually uploaded.  Too bad I am super tired and can't do anymore! Anyhoo...on to what we are up too...}  Life seems busy right now and there isn't much time for waiting on my super slow computer to upload the pictures.  With that said, what have we been up to?!  What keeps us so busy??  Preschool is our biggest commitment of the week.  Finnean is LOVING it and it keeps me from scheduling too many things for our week.  It also keeps from scheduling too many things in the evenings, making us have an earlier bedtime...which is a good thing!  I will do a post just on preschool this week.  O man, he loves it!  We have been watching our little walker, Hutchinson, turn pro.  He walks all the time now and is just blowing us away with how old he seems!  He is starting to say Momma more and LOVES to say Dad, Hi Dad, Hiiiiii Dad etc.  He loves his Daddy.  Just his past week he started saying "nigh-nigh." O man-so cute.  The boys keep busy with going for walks (bike rides for Finnean), playing with friends, library time,  reading, playing, building, hitting the pumpkin patch, etc. etc. etc.  We try to keep the house clean with all that playing that we do.  I stay busy with Bare Root, Michael works late at least one night a week, we attempt to make it to church on Sundays and attend our bible study a couple Sundays a month-so our little calendar is full.  I am not complaining.  Life is good.  We get to spend time together as a family.  We are healthy and we have a house to keep us warm.  Life is good.  Just busy.

Wisconsin!!!

We left for our Wisconsin trip on Wednesday night.  We hoped that the boys would fall asleep in the car and sleep the whole way there.  Well, it didn't work out quite that easy BUT they still did great.  Hutchinson stayed up way longer than we thought he would and Finnean was so excited about going to Wisconsin that he couldn't fall asleep.  He wanted to see all the lights :)  Sweet boy finally fell asleep outside of Dubuque.  We got to Ashlyn and Adam's a bit before midnight and got settled in.  They made us feel right at home and they have a perfect little guest space!  On Thursday, we started our adventure...

Adam suggested Marigold for breakfast!  It was right downtown Madison and perfect for breakfast.  It was so nice because we got to take our time getting around and finally got to breakfast around 10.  Finnean LOVED that you could watch them cook our breakfast.  Food was amazing and the place was super hip.

Good thing we had such a good breakfast because we set out for the Madison Children's Museum!! WOW!  It was awesome.  If we lived there, we would totally have a membership.  This is the view from Capitol.  Madison is so neat because the Capitol Building is right there, you can get so close. 

The museum had all kinds of activities to do.  The boys enjoyed playing with babies, instruments and {pretend} fire in the mud hut.  They also planted veggies and picked them. 

Our little drummer.

Hutchinson loved doing a little canoeing.  He was just starting to take a few steps here-so it was fun to watch him explore!!

 

They had a water room that the boys LOVED!!!  It reminded me of landscape fountains but to play in!!  I love little Hutchinson's bare feet!

Then we went upstairs and they had a big window that overlooked the street that you could paint on.  Finnean loved that he could paint on the window and then wipe it off and start over.  I think he would have stayed there for hours if we let him.

Love his little hands.

Keeping clean.

They had these giant spoons...Hutchinson thought they were funny :)

We rode the biggest elevator we have ever been in (it took 16 Finnean hops to make it across) up to the green rooftop of the building.  It was a rainy dreary day but still very beautiful to see everything.

This is the spot we took a picture of from the street level.  You can see the Capitol in the back.  We headed back to Ashlyn and Adam's for lunch and a nap.  They so graciously took Thursday afternoon off to hang out with us.  It was so nice to visit and catch up with both of them.  Then they took us to...

...the tallest building on UW's campus.  Adam just happens to work in that building so we got to go all the way to the top.  The view was amazing!!! AND we got ride in a tiny elevator...just a few Finnean hops across.  You can see the Capitol just where the sky meets the earth.  Madison is on two lakes---so it was a BEAUTIFUL view!

Looking so old!!

The Waglers!

After our sky views we headed back downtown and did a little running on the lawn.  Finnean LOVED being chased and chasing Adam :)  They played a few rounds of hide and seek as well.  It was great because I got to chat more with Ashlyn.  They are expecting a baby in January-so it was fun to connect with her. 

Finnean checking out the AMAZING dome!

Silly boy!

We ended our night with dinner with Joe and Susan.  We were in Madison three years ago to celebrate them getting married.  You can see those posts here and compare how much Finnean has grown!!  We love getting to see Joe and Susan, seriously some of the nicest people we know.  We ate at the Great Dane Brewing Company and sat in their garden patio.  It was like a little sanctuary but right on the Capitol square.  Awesome way to end our first full day on vacation.