BOO!

The boys LOVED Halloween this year.  Finnean was really into things that were "spooky" but not scary.  So we made these "spooky" ghosts.  As you can see, they flipped out when I hung them from our little tree...

More Halloween pictures to come...it has been busy here!  

Nature walking.

Today was beautiful, like crazy beautiful.  Finnean had the idea to go look for some nature after rest time, (he rests, Hutchinson still naps!) so we headed out to a newly found trail that is really pretty and not far from our house.  The boys  were off and exploring the instant their tiny shoes hit the pavement.

We stopped to check out some bugs.  There were a ton of box elder bugs and a similar red bug that they boys thought were pretty darn cool.  As you can see, they were REALLY into checking them out.

We of course had to collect some nature while we were out there...Finnean took to a stick collection.  He found a Y shaped stick and a lower case R stick.  Pretty cool...letters are everyone when are you really learning about them!

The sticks became our instruments.  They made a cool sound when Finnean hit them together and then Hutchinson joined in.  I wish you could have heard the giggles that were going on, not to mention Hutchinson's cute dance moves.

Hutchinson REALLY wanted to get close to this little bug.

The little bug moved a little too fast and surprised him...I LOVE the expression on his face and his clenched little fists.  He was squealing in delight and a little bit of fear too. :)

Happy boy.

Hutchinson focused his collection on leaves.  I had to carry them all for him and it turned out to be quite the pretty bouquet.  He loved finding the "baby" ones and when he found a new color he would yell it out, pick it up and run it over to me.  I love watching him learn, right there in front of me.

They loved walking along the side of the path because that is where the leaves had collected from the bikes whizzing by.  They crunched under their little feet as they marched along, hoping to see a bunny or some sort of wildlife.  We only saw a few cats, maybe next time we will see a bunny or two.

Soaking them up...

This little boy just kills me.  I love everything about him but especially his messy hair and his grumpy faces.

You can't forget his dreamy eyes and cute little toothy smile.

Both boys are infatuated with Bare Root.  They love to help and usually want to help a little to much! :)  The weather has been A-MA-ZING here and we" needed" to be outside and I needed to work, so I just moved my office right outside!  It was great, even with my little helpers tiny hands helping me.

We went to the fire station for their open house on Wednesday night.  Hutchinson kept saying "fireman truck" and we would ask if he wanted to go see it and he would shake his head yes.  When we got up to the trucks he didn't want to go close to it.  Finally, we found one that had it's light on and he walked right up to it and all he said was "whoa."  He was mesmerized!

I could hardly believe my eyes when he laid down like this.  He just makes my heart burst with love and happiness.  He looks so dreamy here.  I had a flash forward (is that a thing?) of him laying in the grass with his college sweetheart, working on homework on the campus of his choice.  Can' t you just see him...probably won't be doing any studying but looking all googley eyed his date!

So Hutchinson is into screaming before he falls asleep at naptime.  Thankfully the time that he does it has decreased but on this particular day he just did NOT want to give it up.  He cried and cried and then finally fell asleep like this!

I just love this shot.  No one in my family would get up on the log to stand on it to get this picture.  I had to really talk Finnean into it but I am so glad he did it!  I just can't get enough of him or those Iowa sunsets. 

Sooooo...if you run into the trash can with the back of the car, your tail light will get busted up.  Note to self.
#drivingfail

On Tuesday night we headed down to the Blanchard's for a little bit of crazy fun!  The boys had fun running and playing and man is it crazy with 5 boys under five!

Go Cyclones!

Thursday night was PERFECT!  Well almost perfect, we were missing Michael (he was working hard on the road for us) but besides that it was a perfect fall night.  We headed to Ames for the Cyclone game against the "hook em' horns" as Finnean calls them.  We were set up for the night.  Tia took Hutchinson (Thanks, Tia!!) and dropped us off  at the stadium.  I had a free ticket (Thanks, Kate!) and the weather was amazing.  It kept threatening to storm but never did, so that left us to tailgate and enjoy the game.  Finnean LOVED it.  He really loves seeing Uncle Trav there and they tossed the football for most of the time we were tailgating.  We headed into the game and found a great spot on the hill.  Finnean was so excited to see the stadium and his face when we got to the top of the hill was priceless.  He spent a lot of the time making imaginary catches from the ISU players or doing touchdown dances.  He watched the game and clapped and cheered!  He didn't make one peep of grumpiness...it was glorious!  We has so much fun together.  The Cyclones were even playing well but ended up losing on a very controversial call or so we heard.  We didn't see the end of the game but left after we watched the band at halftime.  Our ride picked us up and we were in bed by 915!  I can't tell you how much I loved soaking up the time with just Finnean.  It doesn't get much better than soaking up a football game with your boy.
 

Tailgating with Uncle Trav is always FUN!  Finnean has that smile pretty much the whole time we were there.

This boy.  Oh my, he just tugs on my heart strings.  I don't even have the words to tell you how excited he was!

They have a "Flex Cam" at the stadium and Finnean was trying to get on the big screen :)
Cutest little muscles I have ever seen!

Uncle Trav surprised us at halftime and came to chat with Finnean.  As you can see from Finnean's smile, he thought that was pretty cool!

This is Finnean right when we headed up to find our seats.  He instantly started playing imaginary football.

According to Finnean this was his favorite part.  The players walk right underneath you when they were going back out from halftime.  I told Finnean to yell something to them and he said, "No Mom!  They are focused!"  HAHA! Where does he come up with this stuff?  He was pretty amazed by them.  He also said that he really liked the "hook em' horns" mascot.  My favorite part was when both of us were really paying attention and we got to see the Cyclone player rush into the end zone for a touchdown and we both started cheering and jumping.  The look on his face while he was yelling "touchdown!!!" was spectacular, just filled with pure excitement.  I can't get over how much fun it was to spend the evening with this sweet, almost five year old!

Finnean was pretending but Hutchinson was not.  He was out before we got on the interstate in Ames.  Tia said they had such a good time and Hutchinson spend most of the night giggling with Gabi.  What a fun night for everyone and thank you to everyone that made it possible!

Random fun.

Hutchinson looks a lot like me or so we are told very often.  I think so, most of the time BUT he doesn't always act like me...he gets is organizational skills from his Daddy!

Finnean has been REALLY into eating apples these days.  He is also really into getting his own snack.  For afternoon snack I usually tell him to pick something healthy and he usually comes back with an apple and a cheese stick.  He eats that thing to the core!  He is so proud when he finishes it!  When we went to the apple orchard the other day we picked up a bag of small apples-he has been loving that they are just his size!

Last weekend the boys made crowns at "church school" and they look pretty darn cute wearing them:)

We hopped in the car to head to school the other morning and I noticed this guy on the windshield wiper! He kind of freaked me out but Finnean thought he was super cool.  He made it all the way to school so I put him in a cup and kept him for Finnean to check him out.  We kept him all day and then released him when Michael got home.  We found out that they FLY!!!  The prayer mantis (as Finnean called it) made quite the exit by flying away very quickly!

On Monday we headed for the zoo.  I can't get over how long this guys legs are getting...

Can't beat an Iowa sunset.

I love fall. I love scarves.  I love the fall sunshine so I can wear scarves. 

  

"Air-pane!!!"
This little man just kills me in his cardigan.  Thanks Abby and Cory for that cute little cardi and thanks to Hutchinson for being a little guy he can still wear it from last year!  I am so proud of Hutchinson.  He is doing great in the nursery at a church that we don't go to (I am doing a bible study) and he acts like his owns the place.  I was worried that he would be nervous without Finnean but he is loving it!  I am so thankful because it makes it so much easier on me:)

  

Mr. Finnean cheesing it up at the zoo!

Last Sunday our church hosted a concert to benefit the Imagine No Malaria campaign.  I am on the committee for this group at our church, so I helped prepare and serve a potato bar for 100 people.  It was SO MUCH FUN!  We laughed a lot, got a lot done and I learned so much from the others on the committee.  The potatoes turned out really great and the concert was awesome.  The boys loved it and sat through the whole thing!!  Richard and Lisa came up, that was a bonus!

Check out Finnean's sweet fire truck!  Ms. Margaret (his teacher) said that she asked them to cut out a rectangle and make it into a fire truck.  He did just that!  Sorry the picture wouldn't come in the right way, so you kinda have to turn your head to see it.  He even added a ladder!  I just love his little imagination.

Last Friday night I had a girls night with my sweet friend, Michelle (HI MEL!!) and she taught me how to make her homemade pasta.  We had so much fun and stayed up WAY to late.  We will definitely be doing this again. 
PS-the pasta turned out really tasty.  We actually had it for dinner tonight and the boys ATE IT UP!!

Finnean

 

This kid.  He is something else.  He has my heart.  He makes me laugh out loud multiple times a day.  Just the stuff he comes up with, you never know what is going to come next.  He is full of energy and loves to play just about any kind of sport.  He would spend most of his time outside, all day everyday if we let him.  On the other hand, he loves to craft and draw and build Legos.  He has been coming up with some pretty cool Lego designs lately.  He loves to read and look at books.  He has been making "books" at preschool during writing time.  It is pretty cute to see what he creates, they are all about superheros!  He is into ninjas and being a spy lately.  His mind is always coming up with something fun for him and Hutchinson to do.  They are always teaming up on adventures.  Finnean gets so sad when Hutchinson doesn't want to play along.  He is still a pretty picky eater but does surprise us with tearing up a meal or two every now and then.  We are pretty sure that he is growing an inch a week.  I can't get over how long his legs are getting.  We really need to measure him!

 

 Preschool Update: Ms. Margaret said that he is doing really great and she thinks he knows how to read some words already.  She said that he is writing words by sounding them out but the best thing that she told me about school is that he is so kind to his friends.  I emailed her to make sure that he wasn't back talking and being disrespectful (like at home) and she said that he is far from it.  There is a little boy that is very trying and a lot of the friends get upset with him but Ms. Margaret said that Finnean is always so kind and sweet to him, even when everyone else is exhausted.  My heart just swelled up.  I am so thankful that he is kind.  That is probably one of my most important goals as a parent, to make sure that the boys are kind.  I am so glad that he is thriving at school.  He really loves his friends and it is so cute to hear about his day.

 

Finnean is in full force of trying to figure out what it means to be (almost) five.  We are learning about a lot these days.  Parenting is hard.  Being (almost) five is hard.  We will get it figured out, it just might take us a little while!  He can be so naughty and just a few minutes later he is just so full of love.  He gives the best hugs and loves to snuggle still (YES!!!).  I am so thankful that he still wants to snuggle up.  I can't believe that he will be FIVE in just a few months.  I am excited to see what the next year brings for this big guy but I am thankful that I get to soak him up right now.   And keep him little for just a little while longer. 

 

I love these shoes.  He just looks like an old kid here...see what I mean about his legs!?

Chucks and Trucks.
Finding and hot wheel of some sort is one of the first things he does when he gets home from school. 

A momma dog and a baby dog made by Finnean.

About two minutes before this, he was insisting that he "wasn't tired" and that he "couldn't sleep."  Then it got really quiet and I found him fast asleep.  Most days he doesn't take a nap but sometimes I just think it is too much for him.  I love that he looks so little here.  I know he is almost five but he is always going to be my sweet first born. 

Hutchinson

This boy has my heart.  He is so sweet and his tiny little voice is so darn cute.  He is getting a little feisty and is exploring what his personality should be like.  He LOVES to explore the world around him and loves to hang with his momma.  I feel like he is just a really fun age,  not too sassy and still really sweet!  I am just trying to soak up everything about him.   His long, crazy hair.  His sweet little cheeks that are still perfectly chubby.  His little hands that are always covered in dirt from driving Hotwheels around.  His tiny voice that kept saying "mo' leaf?" today on our walk, as he picked up every leaf we passed.   His little legs that are so tiny but prefect for his little frame.  His eyes, oh those eyes.  They are so brown and just have a way of melting my heart.   Or maybe it's the long lashes... those really get me.   I want to remember his sweet smile and his awesome grumpy face.  I can't keep a straight face when puts on the grumpy face.   I feel like it is my job to soak him up at this very age.  I just want him to stay little for a while longer.  

Today we set out on the trail for some exploring.  The weather is over the top beautiful right now.   The sun keeps your skin warm when the morning is chilly.   The leaves are just starting to fall.   Everything is about to get crazy beautiful, only like Iowa can do it.  Stay tuned for plenty of pictures from our fall adventures.   It just might be the most wonderful time of the year. For now, here is our little adventure from today or as I like to call it : today's work.

ISU fan fest

   At the end of August (we had a lot go on in August, thus the super slow blogging about it) we headed to Ames on a scorcher of a day for ISU Fan Fest.  It was SO FUN!  Finnean played softball, tennis, volleyball and basketball on the floor of Hilton Coliseum and even got to play with some of the ISU athletes!  He hit a round of mini golf before we headed outside to sweat it out! 

The highlight of the day was the obstacle course that the football team had set up.  Michael did a great job of capturing Finnean running through it.  The best part...he got to tackle REAL ISU football players at the end...

...before catching a touchdown pass from one of them.  Needless to say, they made this little Cyclone fan's day. 

This was the shot from my angle...I love his determination!  He looks so tiny but so mighty!

Hutchinson didn't do any tackling, he just played it cool. :) 
We will definitely be going back next year!!